Upper middle class Americans are weirdly obsessed about LR, especially the new Defender. Jaguar I'm not sure how it survives (if it even really does nowadays).
I'm definitely biased because I own Land Cruisers, but it's wild watching people throw many away on an inferior product like the Defender. I think I'd rather have a Wrangler than a Defender and that says a whole lot.
Our family has owned a '97 Defender 110 (originally bought for my parents' surveying business) for about 16 years now and I still don't understand how some people used to buy these for status. Not having owned a Land Cruiser (but am a happy owner of a Prius) or a Wrangler, I'd probably choose the Toyota over the Land Rover and leave the Jeep in the last place, though I do like the early generations.
Car obsession appears to be highly regional. In the Pacific Northwest, it is amusing how many Subaru vehicles you will find. To the point that it is always odd to go back to Atlanta and see how few are there. It would be interesting to see this mapped out.
For Land Rovers, specifically, I definitely recall seeing more when I lived in the south. Though, nowadays I think I notice Kia more. That is almost certainly just noticing more, though?
What region are new Land Rovers popular in? In the southeast I mostly see young guys with an ancient units with 200k+ miles that they bought cheap and refuse the let them die. I rarely see new units on the road.
the new Defender got to be the worst Land Rover ever built. It has terrible off-road capability even compared to the other (non Defender models like the Range). JLR alienated their entire existing Defender drivers where hardly any of them would buy this new model.
Granted, they also alienated their user base when the traditional TDI was replaced with the TD5 and then more alienation when they introduced the TD4.
But the latest thing (L663) has nothing in common with any of the previous models. (probably due to pedestrian safety laws becoming more strict)
> the new Defender got to be the worst Land Rover ever built
No it isn't. I own a 2022 D90 P300 with 18" wheels, coils, front jump seat, everything. It's been great for ~40,000 miles. I'm constantly on dirt and rocky roads here. It's never let me down.
They're used by tons of people for offroading and modified heavily as well, with companies like Sarek, Lucky8, etc.
The only people who hate on new Defenders are the ones that love the ~25 year old versions with 200,000 miles, tons of rust, a diesel engine that can barely make it to highway speeds, and spends more time in the garage every weekend than "exploring." But hey, they're cooler than us because they work on their cars and have a manual transmission.
hollywood_court|4 months ago
frantathefranta|4 months ago
taeric|4 months ago
For Land Rovers, specifically, I definitely recall seeing more when I lived in the south. Though, nowadays I think I notice Kia more. That is almost certainly just noticing more, though?
troyvit|4 months ago
antonymoose|4 months ago
DyslexicAtheist|4 months ago
Granted, they also alienated their user base when the traditional TDI was replaced with the TD5 and then more alienation when they introduced the TD4.
But the latest thing (L663) has nothing in common with any of the previous models. (probably due to pedestrian safety laws becoming more strict)
rob|4 months ago
No it isn't. I own a 2022 D90 P300 with 18" wheels, coils, front jump seat, everything. It's been great for ~40,000 miles. I'm constantly on dirt and rocky roads here. It's never let me down.
They're used by tons of people for offroading and modified heavily as well, with companies like Sarek, Lucky8, etc.
The only people who hate on new Defenders are the ones that love the ~25 year old versions with 200,000 miles, tons of rust, a diesel engine that can barely make it to highway speeds, and spends more time in the garage every weekend than "exploring." But hey, they're cooler than us because they work on their cars and have a manual transmission.
LtdJorge|4 months ago
frantathefranta|4 months ago