Concerned with the reliability of the new Land Rover Defender? Unsure whether this is a good idea or not? We look at overseas research to find out what owners say.
The Land Rover Defender is the one vehicle that truly splits the population. It’s a Marmite car in that you either love it or hate it. If you really want to split it even further, you’ll have to probe them further as to which one it is they love or hate; the new Defender or the Series Defender that was in production for several decades.
Me, I didn’t want to like the new Defender but I will admit that I do indeed love it and would love to place one in my garage. It’s a radical departure from the Defender that preceded it but at the same time, it stays rather true to the heritage. Naturally, the fans of the old Defender will disagree. It’s a battle you won’t win.
Unfortunately, Land Rover has a rather chequered past and South Africans aren’t the quickest to forget. The Jaguar Land Rover brand has been plagued by reliability issues in the past and this has left a sour taste in many a former owner’s mouths. Word spreads quick and expressing interest in one of their products will have you warned against doing such at every turn.
The new Land Rover Defender
When the decision was made to base the current Defender on the monocoque body construction that one finds in the Discovery, the purists scoffed. According to them, a Defender should have a ladder chassis and solid axles; there’s no place for independent suspension in a Defender, they cry. With this switch to the more modern design came a host of body control electronics, air suspension and creature comforts that means that there’s more to go wrong that you won’t be able to fix next to the road or deep in the bush.
Despite all of this, the new Defender has proven to be a fairly reliable vehicle and the JD Power surveys, taken from 100s of owners see the Defender score 70 out of 100 in the reliability stakes. A separate study coincidently shows matching numbers with 30% of new Defender owners reporting an issue that required dealership intervention within the first year of ownership.
The one resounding takeaway from most owners is that the fuel consumption is considerably higher than claimed or anticipated, resulting in more frequent stops at the filling station.
The new Defender is covered by a 5-year/100 000 km warranty and also carries a 5-year/100 000 km maintenance plan. If you’re looking to buy new or used in 2022, all models should still be covered unless they’ve exceeded the mileage parameters.
Keyword: How reliable is the Land Rover Defender?