Best for: Off-road ability and family-friendly utility
When upscale family SUVs break £50,000 with little effort expended on the options list, many short of a mechanical link between front and rear axles, the £60,000 entry-point of Land Rover Defender 110 ownership suddenly doesn’t feel unreasonable.
Factor-in the lack of on-road refinement of its few rivals that can be considered viable alternatives.
It’s such an extraordinarily capable and practical car, yet it also feels satisfyingly special. Not ‘you’re not coming in here with food or drink’ luxurious but in a well-crafted, fit-for-purpose sense.
It’s a shame that Land Rover sullies that by charging a further £2000 for a third row of seats in the Defender 110. That’s a pricey option but one that does give the Landie an added dimension of versatility to what is an already flexible package.
We would out the extra cash needed for the air srings, too: sure, there’s a bit of suppleness, but it does give the Defenender and added layer of suppleness.
There’s impressive performance for its size, the six-cylinder diesel particularly so, but its thirst for fuel and niggling doubts about whether Land Rover is finally on top of its reliability woes will be on the mind of a Defender driver.
Keep it simple and the Defender delivers most.
