Grenadier or Defender?

[loose gravel]

With the Grenadier finally in production If you had the $ would you buy one? The Euro version is reportedly $55,000. Or buy a new Defender, starting at $53,500? Or take the $60 grand and buy another Series and fix it up? For me maybe a Timm Cooper frame/transplant with 4xdiscs and lockers all the way around......... Poll ends with the year.

https://www.autoweek.com/news/luxury...rts-in-france/

[64osby]

If I had the money could I vote for more than one?

[cnfowler]

I'd buy a Grenadier. It looks so good and could be a great daily driver. I'd have to have nearly six figures to get the Series I want, a North America Overland 88.


Colin

[dporter110]

I've already seen the Grenadier prototype in person. I will buy one when they are available. It's a cool blend of Defender and Gelandewagen like features that appealed to me.

[50 wulf]

Tough call. I like the new Broncos, but am not sold on the build quality yet. I like the general look and build specs of the Grenadier much more than any current offerings from LR, so it would be tempting. But I'd have to either sell my Tacoma or talk the wife into selling her van and getting it, which is a long shot I'm afraid. I might just drop a supercharger in the Tacoma instead. I've really been considering it.

At least with a Series, I don't have to spend all my money at once, past the initial purchase price anyway. I can buy parts and build it as time and money permit. So if something comes up, I'm not locked into a specific (and expensive) monthly payment.

[greenmeanie]

I have no love or interest in a new Defender - to my eye it just looks like a great big flabby SUV. I'd be on a Grenadier like a tramp on chips if only it had a manual gearbox. With an auto.... well I would also have a parking spot for another Series but in reality, I would spend the money on something entirely different just for a change.

[LR Max]

In for the new Defender.

Despite the interwebs hating it, its absolutely fantastic. A comfortable, capable, modern vehicle. We can poke holes in it all you want but it goes GREAT off road (driven a number off road), drives BETTER than any SUV from America or Japan (once again, this is from my experience), and cruises perfectly. I assume you want a modern vehicle, and the Defender will do that. The new defender is THE PERFECT 4x4 for "out west" trails. Just works great.

The modern rovers are fantastic for driving long highway drives, then doing medium-difficulty trails, then drive to work on Monday. Many vehicles can do this, but the new rovers do it, easily.

Oh and you can totally throw that L663 defender into the corners. It GRIPS on twisty mountain roads.

Cons for the new defender: Dealers are playing games because high demand and short supply. Shop around. But also new LR dealers won't sell to an "out of town" customer. So that'll be the main issue. Along those lines, pricing is an issue. Real talk, Good luck finding a $55k new defender. Dealers aren't ordering base model defenders for stock and make it difficult to order one. Simply put, they have limited ordering slots, they want the defenders spec'd to the hills because their profit margins are higher. The higher spec defenders are super nice. Lastly, the 110 has a small trunk, especially compared to my old LR3 or my D5.

In all honesty, other than nostalgia, I'm not sold on the new Grenadier. Inside looks cramped and I am always wary of jeep axles+suspension. Also like with the L663 defender, $55k spec'd vehicles aren't common. Seems like most are being spec'd in the $100k USD range.

Lastly, an old series is always the right answer.

I push you toward the new L663 as its a great vehicle. If the 130 had been available as a CPO last year, I probably would've bought one of those instead of my D5.

[xplorUtah]

I recently bought a field fresh Fj40 as a project. And a month later a very original CJ8, so you can see where my preferences lay. None of the above?

[RustCollector]

My vote is for another series. I "need" a long wheelbase 4 door (a 110 would also work) because my kids are getting cramped in the Jeep seat I put in the back of the 88.

If I win a jackpot sometime I reserve the right to change my vote to "all of the above".

[rover03]

I might just drop a supercharger in the Tacoma instead. I've really been considering it.t.

Isn't the supercharger like $6,500? I'd love a Tacoma with a 6-speed and a supercharger but DANG trucks are still crazy money. My 268,000 mile silverado will have to do for another year or 5.

[50 wulf]

Isn't the supercharger like $6,500? I'd love a Tacoma with a 6-speed and a supercharger but DANG trucks are still crazy money. My 268,000 mile silverado will have to do for another year or 5.

Yep, about $6500, and that's if I install it myself (which I would; but figure another $4k to pay someone else to install it). The only thing stopping me (other than the money) is that you're then locked into running only premium fuel.

My truck is paid for, but let me tell you what's REALLY expensive now, roofs. I fought with my insurance company (Satanfarm, scum of the earth) for 8 months, even getting a lawyer involved before finally giving up and paying it out of pocket due to leaks. The loan for that was more than my truck! (Still a shingle roof, but one of the best available.) Had Satanfarm for 15+yrs, no claims. Good neighbor my ass.

BTW, plenty of these stickers left if anyone needs one:

[cnfowler]

...I fought with my insurance company (Satanfarm, scum of the earth) for 8 months, even getting a lawyer involved before finally giving up and paying it out of pocket due to leaks. The loan for that was more than my truck! (Still a shingle roof, but one of the best available.) Had Satanfarm for 15+yrs, no claims. Good neighbor my ass...

To be fair, that's every insurance company, regardless of what they insure. The whole goal is to take as many dollars as they can while paying out as few pennies as possible. And they'll do everything in their power to be on the winning side of a claim. Us little people have a slim chance of coming out on top, unfortunately. Insurance is legalized stealing IMO.


Colin

[rover03]

A guy in the town over had these giant signs in his front yard for years, opining similarly about State Farm. I think he even had a website for awhile. Had a claim after some tree damage and they porked him.

[50 wulf]

A guy in the town over had these giant signs in his front yard for years, opining similarly about State Farm. I think he even had a website for awhile. Had a claim after some tree damage and they porked him.

One way they get you is that they have the local offices handle only auto claims. All homeowner's claims are handled offsite. The people at the local place are super friendly and draw you in. But when you have a major claim they say that it is out of their hands, so the local guy you were dealing with for 10-20yrs has no say in how the claim is handled/processed. And he says, "John, I wish there was more I could do..." They know people won't go back on those employees. They just pretend to be your neighbor. The thing is, if the local agents actually handled the homeowner claims, you'd have a lot more payouts because they know where that fool lives, works, and goes to church, and you'd be damn sure that one disgruntled homeowner would burn his shit down for refusing to pay on a justified case! Not me personally, just saying. So statefarm was probably wise to separate the two, but the average Joe doesn't know that until he files a claim.

[64osby]

I've never had a homeowner claim and have never used SF. Auto claims I've had a bunch with no issues on any of them.

Three totaled vehicles, one a deer hit, a tree falling on one when my son was hit hard. Many other partial claims for deer hits or them hitting me, have seven so far.

Insurance has also paid over $1.4 million for hospital bills and related rehab for my daughter related to an accident when her boyfriend was driving. Worth every penny because if you met her you would never know unless she told you.

Insurance is a racket, but a necessary evil. I used to employ about 50 people. My work comp bills were $200 to $250K per year. Had three small claims in twenty years, stitches and a broken finger. If something really bad would have happened it would have been covered.

Insurance companies have all the statistics down to a science. They know the mean, and average of every type of injury and accident and what the payouts will be. The things that screw up their statistics are hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and major health claims like COVID.