[Venkatesh]

Land Rover Defender Hard Top Officially Confirmed, Launch Later This Year and it is developed by Land Rover SVO (Special Vehicle Operations).





It will be offered in both the Defender 90 and 110, the Hard Top variants will expand the range further.



https://gaadiwaadi.com/land-rover-de...ter-this-year/

[sparky@home]

This video just shows what the new Defender is capable of and that its perfectly great off road without any modifications. What a ride!!!

https://youtu.be/frTPchIuD4U

[Venkatesh]

Land Rover Defender V8 new spy photos

Land Rover's 5.0-liter V8 could be on the way out, replaced by a BMW-sourced twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8. It's capable of producing 617 hp and 750 NM. Land Rover will likely detune to reduce its output.























https://www.motor1.com/news/435256/l...nder-v8-spied/

[sparky@home]

This is an interesting ruling by the British court that lets the continued development of the recently unveiled Ineos Grenadier, even if it resembles the Defender. The other question is now will there be Chinese clones available for the Defender? Time will tell.

https://autos.yahoo.com/land-rover-l...133300467.html

[Venkatesh]

Land Rover Defender V8 Spied testing at Nurburgring























https://www.carscoops.com/2020/08/do...tter-in-black/

[BlackPearl]

I had been following the development of the new Defender for so long that I was really excited to see it in flesh. It was supposed to happen in April 2020 but then got pushed due to the pandemic. Recently Lookers Land Rover posted on Facebook and Instagram about an extended test drive program where one can drive the Defender for 3 hours. This was too good to be true and I signed up for it immediately. Got a confirmation email from them.



A few days before the event I got another email from them as a further confirmation.



I was so excited about it that I had made some plans where to take the Defender to click pictures. I had my Nikon D810 and DJI Osmo Mobile 3 charged and ready and I could not sleep properly the night before. I woke up quite early and was ready before time. Rajsri was quite unhappy with all this excitement and about the fact that I did not her sleep properly. She even commented that she has not seen me this excited before. The place was hardly 1 mile from where we stay and we reached sharp at the appointed time.

When we reached the dealership it was a bit of a dampener. It looked almost deserted and there was one black Defender standing outside. I had seen innumerable pictures and videos online and had hoped that it would look different in flesh. Many people had mentioned that it looked like a bigger Yeti and I had dismissed those opinions as being biased. But frankly speaking, the first look was not impressive. Maybe it would have been if I was sitting in a lower vehicle, but through the windscreen of my Range Rover Sport it did not look exciting at all. Maybe it was the colour. A white one with black inserts would have looked better.

I parked my car and went to the reception. There was no one to be seen anywhere. After a few minutes I found one guy and showed him the printout of the email. He said that he would find someone who could help. Meanwhile I started taking pictures of the vehicles inside the showroom.





There was another black Defender on display.











Meanwhile a person came back and asked me for the driver's license. He had a look at the license and said that he is very sorry that I will not be allowed to drive the car as my license is less than 2 years old. I asked where was this clause mentioned. He said that it was mentioned in fine print. At that point I was quite disappointed but I thought that it must have been my mistake that I had not checked properly. The guy said he will try one more time and went back inside. After 5 minutes he came back and said it is actually 4 years and not 2 years! He also said that the Defender is a very powerful vehicle, 300 bhp to be precise and it is not allowed to be driven by novice drivers. Really? I could not believe that a Land Rover salesperson could give such a lame excuse. For a moment I wished I was in India and would have taken this up on Team-Bhp. I showed him my Indian driving license that I have had for over 20 years, but he said it had to be an UK or an EU license. I have no issues with policies but such things should not be mentioned in fine print. I find fine printed things very dodgy and unethical. The sales person said that he apologises for this but he cannot help further.

It was a very bad experience to say the least. But I did not let it hamper my plan for driving down to Chiltern as planned. Instead of the new Defender, I clicked pictures of my Range Rover Sport in a beautiful surrounding. The pictures don't do justice of the place though.









After a long drive we came back home and then I decided to look into the details of the emails. I could not find any fine print anywhere mentioning the 2 year or 4 year clause. So I decided to post about this incident on the Land Rover and Lookers Facebook pages.

This is what I posted on their FB page


Instead of responding to this post they removed it I replied on the Lookers Land Rover event thread on FB as well and got a response today.





I don't know if it is just a standard response or whether they will seriously look into it. As I have said before, I have no issues with policies. The only thing I want is that this should be mentioned upfront in the invitation email and not hidden somewhere where no one can find it. Being an ardent follower of Land Rover, this incident has left a bad taste.


Edit: I have become quite obsessed with this incident, maybe more than I should have been. But not able to help myself. So I went to Facebook posts and registered again to see if I had missed anything last time. I went through all the terms and conditions and the 2 year clause is not mentioned anywhere. In fact on Lookers Land Rover post there is no mention about license. However there is another dealer called Stratstone Land Rover. Pasting the screenshot of their terms and conditions. It only mentions 21 years and valid UK license.

[adg_andy]

Judgemental people should not be in sales at all. Novice drivers, really !! That behaviour of his is downright cheap and racist. And the deletion of post is really dodgy. Do keep us posted on how the story unfolds .

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

For a moment I wished I was in India and would have taken this up on Team-Bhp. I showed him my Indian driving license that I have had for over 20 years, but he said it had to be an UK or an EU license.

You are an existing JLR customer, why would they do something like that?

Well, have they forgotten who the boss is?

Why not involve Tata Group? Lots of cases on the forum itself when EU parents were involved for problems with the Indian subsidiary. Give it a shot, maybe separate out this post as a different thread to give it better visibility.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by adg_andy

Do keep us posted on how the story unfolds .

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Give it a shot, maybe separate out this post as a different thread to give it better visibility.

Thanks Andy and Dry Ice for the support. Land Rover has come back with an explanation. They have said that the clauses given by the dealer is specific to that dealer and not a Land Rover policy. So they have found out one dealer whose clauses are less strict. LR contacted the dealer Rockar Land Rover Westfield Stratford City and told them about my case.
Rockar Land Rover has sent me the confirmation email attached below and also validated my license. So all set for the drive on 22nd August. Only problem is that this dealership is a bit far from my place. Will keep the group posted about the driving experience.




Edit: Just now got a call from Lookers Land Rover manager apologising for the bad experience that I had. He said he personally wanted to say sorry that the clause for 2 years was not mentioned anywhere. He will work with the marketing team to ensure that this clause gets mentioned upfront to the customer so that such case do not happen in future. I am very happy that they have acknowledged their fault!

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

So all set for the drive on 22nd August.

That's great news! All the best and looking forward to the report

[Altocumulus]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Thanks Andy and Dry Ice for the support. Land Rover has come back with an explanation. They have said that the clauses given by the dealer is specific to that dealer and not a Land Rover policy. So they have found out one dealer whose clauses are less strict. LR contacted the dealer Rockar Land Rover Westfield Stratford City and told them about my case.
Rockar Land Rover has sent me the confirmation email attached below and also validated my license. So all set for the drive on 22nd August. Only problem is that this dealership is a bit far from my place. Will keep the group posted about the driving experience.

Great News ! LR jumping in is commendable.

Like I told you offline, just to be safe, drive into the showroom in your RR Sport and get down.

Off Topic: Couldn't help but notice that the Defender model mentions AWD. Let me know how it is against the Duster.

[sbanerjee]

Hey BlackPearl, did you manage to get the test drive? Do update us.

[Turbanator]

Dealerships in India will be getting first examples by end or early next month. Most have ordered Four door demo vehicles. Do keep in touch with your local dealer.

[harishpr]

I'm seriously considering Defender alongside Discovery sport in the final shortlist. (Skipped the Germans and Swedish options as its too familiar, and good as urban/stylish options).

I learnt a lot in the last few weeks about the new Defender and its getting a 5 star rating from most reputed reviewers in UK and USA. The best part is its NOT body on ladder chasis, and its monoque design gives a very car like drive. Power is adequate and all parts are built to out last the owners.
Defender easily triumps in the off road challenge and there is simply no match to its versatility. It gives lot of confidence to take off road without having to worry about expensive part replacements.

Test drives are not yet available, and im keenly watching this one to launch officially here.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by harishpr

I'm seriously considering Defender

all parts are built to out last the owners.
It gives lot of confidence to take off road without having to worry about expensive part replacements.

Sorry to disappoint you. But these points are mostly not valid on any of the Land/ Range Rover products. You can buy these if you like, the decision will be from your heart and there is no harm in buying what you like.

Ask the dealership, spare prices of service/ body parts & the stocks availability of the Discovery sports. Better if you can speak to an owner holding LR for over 2-3 Years.