When I had my import repair shop, I made a fortune repairing Jags and LRs. My business partner named his lake house 'Discovery' because of all the money we made off of those things.
Based on all of my anecdotes from being in the repair industry for years, the only vehicles I will ever own are Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus.
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)
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.
My father told me many stories about the old Land Rovers they had in the military service in Spain. One time, he successfully climbed a hill with two captains after snapping the back axle (the one coming from the transfer case), by locking the differential. These new machines rely too much on electronics without backup, I believe.
Also, and this is fully my opinion, I would never take an automatix off-road.
The few annoyances we've had LR have resolved for us at zero cost, even when we were out of warranty.
What's funnier is most of the "new" Defender owners I meet love the old ones (including me, I miss driving manual.) It's the old owners that still seem to have an attitude (calling them "Pretenders", etc.)
I'm genuinely interested whether you have some reviews that point to how great the new model performs:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgk0Wl4ap6I - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi1k-zUPFH4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh2AjbzR9TI
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?
But apparently the company is even profitable, which came as a surprise to me.
As an Indian auto enthusiast, I’m both happy, but wish more came out of it. (Insert meme of guy poking something with a stick and saying “Go on, do something”)
Tata had approached Ford in 1998 proposing some kind of partnership for their first passenger hatchback.
Apparently Ford officials were arrogant and dismissive so it became a personal matter for Ratan Tata, and when Ford was in trouble, he bought the brand off them.
https://www.financialexpress.com/life/lifestyle-ford-vs-tata...
I had scores of customers who would test drives these vehicles (Usually a LR, a Mini, a V8 Audi, or a V8 BMW) and bring them all the way to me for prepurchase inspections. I would tell them every single time "do not buy this vehicle." Then they would buy it and my employees and I would wager on how long it took the vehicle to be towed in for repairs.
And the type of people who buy used luxury vehicles from lots in Atlanta are also the type of people that cannot afford any repairs. So I ended up with many abandoned LRs, Audis, Minis, and BMWs all over my lot. Then I had to jump through all of the hoops to get the titles and have them sold and towed away.
Honestly, I've been eyeing up a 2015 Jaguar F-Type for a while now. It was a £85k car depending on trimming that you can pick up for £20k now with a V6 supercharged VS. An old-school style coupe, without all the modern ADAS beeping and handholding, that will just plod away if you look after it seems very appealing.
I believe it's something to do with the coating they use on their wiring and harnesses. But I never had a Jaguar in my shop that didn't suffer from some type of wiring damage as a result of rodents chewing on the wiring.
Soy-based wiring insulation. And it’s not just Jag/LR, Honda had enough of a problem that they wrap their insulation in a tape with capsaicin (active ingredient in peppers) to keep the mice away.
The original Range Rover is an upmarket agricultural vehicle, and used the same platform from 1970 until the 2000s. When you actually use them as intended, for off road farm work you realise they’re better off road than they are on road.
It's all about status. If you want a reliable car, you buy a Toyota.
A Lexus LS and a Toyota Land Cruiser are the perfect pair of vehicles for someone to own. There will always be at least one of each in my garage.
Of course that's only true if you get the V8 modals of each. I wouldn't touch the new LS or new Land Cruiser unless they were given to me for free.
-> Reading this as a European with one small electric car, the idea that two V8 vehicles could be considered the perfect vehicle choice is quite out there!
I had for a few years mini cooper 5d - amazing vehicle. Fun to drive, quite reliable. Of course, that mini will not be comfortable for "plus" size people. Maybe that is the main reason why trucks are so popular in the US.
Of note, there was a V10 straight-piped RAM in a jam due to construction. It sounded great, but it was obnoxiously loud, almost hurting.
This means, seals, gaskets, shocks, etc will all still wear out over time like every vehicle.
If you don't listen to the manufacturer's recommendation and change your fluids far more often, especially the "lifetime" fluids, almost any vehicle will last much longer.
At the same time, the recent and latest Toyotas and Lexus' look sharp. Usually they are pretty conservative.
I don't know if this counts but a quick look shows: https://www.jdpower.com/cars/2025/porsche/911
There's a joke in my country: A guy stops at a red light next to a Ferrari and asks the Ferrari driver: "Are those cars any good? Because and I don't see too many people buying them."
Turns out the cause was a leaking sunroof!
Water got in through the sunroof and the genius design had some kind of electric junction box (or fuses or something) at the lowest point of the passengers footwell. So water got in, flowed to where all the electrics were and things stopped working.
Fortunately it doesn't rain that often here in Scotland so it wasn't a big problem ;-)
Had to get the dealer to remove all the seats and carpets and dry thing out.
I've thought about replacing it, but why.
Maybe I had some kind of exception or are there dramatic differences between models and engines?
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2025-us-vehi...
Was it ransom they declined to pay? Did the hackers do it for the lulz? Was a nation-state testing out their capabilities?
So, all 'tech' is done by TCS?
Here's the press release from the organisation which might be a better link: https://cybermonitoringcentre.com/2025/10/22/cyber-monitorin...
> This estimate is based on the information available as of 17 October and represents scenario-based analysis rather than confirmed operational data
I found this hilarious in another article. Lol so you sold the company to India Tata Motors and then you went full incest and had your IT done by Tata Consultancy Services.
Mgtyalx•3mo ago
giuliomagnifico•3mo ago
The main issue appears to be that the attack crippled JLR’s internal systems and production databases, preventing them from manufacturing new cars because they cannot properly track parts or generate serial numbers.
I’ve also read reports claiming that around 40k vehicles have already been built but are now essentially “ghost cars” since they aren’t registered in the system.
Imagine what would happen if JLR had to issue a safety recall without knowing which components are installed in which vehicles.
alistairSH•3mo ago
And that 40k ghost car doesn't sound realistic. LR only makes ~400k vehicles/year. That 10% of their annual output got "lost" beggars belief.
onionisafruit•3mo ago
intrasight•3mo ago
noir_lord•3mo ago
Late stage capitalism in action as usual - privatise the profits, socialise the costs.
Technically what the government did was underwrite the loan but again - why is the government underwriting the loan when Tata has the resources to do that (13bn net income at last FY).
DyslexicAtheist•3mo ago
> The breach was enabled through stolen Jira credentials harvested via Infostealer malware, a known hallmark of HELLCAT’s operations. The exposed data includes development logs, tracking information, source code, and a large employee dataset with usernames, email addresses, display names, and time zones. The presence of verified employee information from JLR’s global workforce raises significant concerns about identity theft and targeted phishing campaigns.
then
> the JLR breach escalated when a second threat actor, “APTS,” appeared on DarkForums on March 14, 2025. APTS claimed to have exploited Infostealer credentials dating back to 2021, belonging to an employee who held third-party access to JLR’s Jira server. Using these compromised credentials, the actor gained entry and shared a screenshot of a Jira dashboard as proof. APTS also leaked an additional tranche of sensitive data, estimated at around 350 GB, which contained information not included in Rey’s original dump, further amplifying the scale and severity of the breach.
criddell•3mo ago
The headline should be "Land Rover's Poor Cybersecurity and ITSEC Practices Cost UK Economy Billions", or something like that.
Noumenon72•3mo ago
fuzzzerd•3mo ago
eptcyka•3mo ago