So I have a Defender TD5 that I've owned since new. It's been a great car. Mostly been used for remote touring with multiple desert crossings. I really can't speak strongly about how well it's treated us. I can honestly say it's going as well now or better than it has ever which is pretty impressive. It's incredibly capable. Can carry a huge amount of stuff. Doesn't use much fuel.
The thing is the family is getting bigger. The last 8000k family holiday involved four people over 180cm, and one shorty at 175. The defender is the ferrari of the desert but the days of driving to the start and end of these trips is killing me.
Plus - it's a bit of a beast to drive around town and no one other than myself will drive it.
I'd kind of given up the idea of replacing it because there just isn't anything else like it. The new defender turn out to be a discovery with defender written on it, so I'm down to the toyota 78 which has lots of things I'm less than impressed with.
I've been watching the grenadier with interest. And now there is a local dealer 2k from my house.
Anyway I've had one look at a prototype. I'm going to have a better look while the car is still here and keen to test drive in Feb when they have their cars off the line. I'm hopeful that it's going to be a nicer car on the road than the defender but with the off road ability too. Would be great if it was not unpleasant for the occasional town duties.
I've been scarred by buying prototype cars in the past. I'm nervous about reliability of early models, and the long term support of ineos.
I joined this forum to watch the reports of owners as the cars make it into their hands. Here's hoping it's a gem.
www.quickpitchsa.co.za
