Land Rover Range Rover Reliability | A REAL Owner's Perspective

Summary

In this video, the host addresses the hotly debated topic of the 2020 Land Rover Defender's reliability. Despite his own love for his Range Rover, he strives for an unbiased discussion. He challenges the notion that the Defender is unreliable, citing a specific YouTuber's negative experience as an outlier. The host suggests that manufacturing errors or a single pinched wire could be the cause of such issues, which are difficult to diagnose. He argues against generalizing the reliability of the Defender based on a few incidents and encourages viewers to consider the vehicle's unique qualities over reliability concerns, pointing out that Land Rovers are not purchased for their dependability but for their distinctiveness and potential to exceed expectations.

Takeaways

• 🚗 The video discusses the reliability of the 2020 Land Rover Defender, aiming to provide an unbiased perspective despite the creator's love for the vehicle.
• 🤔 The video addresses the common belief that Defenders are unreliable, sparked by a YouTuber's experience with a faulty vehicle.
• 🔧 The creator suggests that the issues with the problematic Defender might be due to a manufacturing error, such as a pinched wire, which can cause hard-to-detect problems.
• 🧐 The video points out that high-end cars, like the Defender, with complex electronic systems can have hidden issues post-accident or manufacturing that are tough to diagnose.
• 👷‍♂️ The creator has consulted with local dealerships and mechanics who speculate that a manufacturing line error could be the cause of the specific Defender's issues.
• 🚫 The video criticizes the overgeneralization of reliability issues based on one instance, emphasizing that it's too early to judge the new Defender's reliability as a whole.
• 🌟 The creator shares personal experience with their Defender, having driven it extensively without significant issues, aside from a couple of minor, fixable problems.
• 🏞️ The video was filmed while driving in a mountain pass, showcasing the Defender's capability in challenging conditions.
• 📈 The discussion includes the idea that early models of any new vehicle line often have bugs that get ironed out over time through updates and recalls.
• 🚍 The video concludes by encouraging viewers to consider the unique qualities of Land Rovers over just their reliability, suggesting that Land Rover buyers seek a distinctive driving experience.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The main topic of the video is the reliability of the 2020 Land Rover Defender, specifically addressing the concerns raised by a particular YouTuber's experience with their vehicle.

What is the speaker's stance on the reliability of Land Rovers?

The speaker believes that it's too soon to judge the overall reliability of the 2020 Defender based on one instance, and they argue that Land Rovers are not known for their reliability but for their unique and exceptional features.

Why does the speaker think the YouTuber's Defender might have issues?

The speaker suggests that there might have been a manufacturing error, such as a pinched wire during assembly, which could cause undetectable issues that are difficult for technicians to diagnose.

What is the speaker's opinion on the importance of considering a single case when evaluating a vehicle's reliability?

The speaker believes that it is not fair to judge the reliability of an entire vehicle model based on a single case, as there are many factors that can contribute to an individual vehicle's issues.

What does the speaker suggest might be the reason for the YouTuber's Defender being in the shop for over 30 days?

The speaker speculates that there could have been a problem on the manufacturing line that led to a series of undetectable issues, which are now causing the vehicle to be in the shop for an extended period.

How does the speaker describe the typical Land Rover owner's expectations?

The speaker describes Land Rover owners as people who are not primarily seeking the most reliable vehicle but are looking for something unique, different, and capable of exceeding their expectations.

What is the speaker's personal experience with their Land Rover Defender?

The speaker has driven their Defender for 58,000 kilometers with only two minor issues, which were fixed under warranty, indicating their positive personal experience with the vehicle.

Why does the speaker mention other YouTubers and their experiences with the Defender?

The speaker mentions other YouTubers to provide a balanced view, showing that not all Defender owners are experiencing the same issues, and some have had no significant problems.

What is the speaker's advice for someone considering buying a Land Rover Defender?

The speaker advises potential buyers not to be deterred by a single negative experience shared online and to consider the unique features and capabilities of the vehicle that align with their personal preferences.

What is the speaker's view on the reliability of new car models in general?

The speaker believes that the first few builds of any new car model are usually full of bugs, which get worked out over time through recalls and updates.

Outlines

00:00

🚗 Discussing 2020 Defender and Land Rover's Reliability

The speaker begins by introducing the topic of Land Rover's Defender and its reliability, particularly the 2020 model. They aim for an unbiased discussion despite their love for their own Range Rover. The conversation is prompted by a video of a Defender getting stuck due to user error and subsequent discussions on the internet about the vehicle's reliability. The speaker mentions a specific case of a YouTuber named Roman, whose Defender has been in the shop for over 30 days with unresolved issues. This has led to a widespread belief that Land Rovers are unreliable. The speaker counters this by suggesting that it might be an isolated manufacturing defect and not indicative of the entire model's reliability. They also discuss the complexity of modern vehicles with numerous ECUs and computers that can lead to hard-to-diagnose issues.

05:01

🔧 The Challenges of High-End Vehicle Maintenance

In this paragraph, the speaker delves into the potential reasons behind the specific reliability issues faced by Roman's Defender. They hypothesize that a manufacturing error, such as a pinched wire, could be the cause of ongoing problems that are difficult for technicians to diagnose. The speaker uses the analogy of a car that has been in an accident and repaired, where a seemingly minor issue like a pinched wire can lead to significant electrical problems that are hard to trace. They argue that it's unfair to label all Land Rovers as unreliable based on this single, high-profile case. The speaker also mentions other Land Rover owners who have had no issues with their Defenders, suggesting that Roman's case might be an outlier.

10:01

🚀 Land Rover's Reputation and Buyer Expectations

The speaker concludes by discussing the expectations people have when purchasing a Land Rover, acknowledging that they are not typically bought for their reliability but for their unique qualities and performance. They mention that Land Rover is a smaller company compared to others like BMW or Toyota and thus may not have the same level of reliability. The speaker also addresses the common issues with new car models, suggesting that the first few builds often have bugs that are later resolved. They caution against relying too heavily on the opinions of a single incident and encourage viewers to consider the broader context. The speaker shares their personal experience with their Land Rover, having driven it extensively without major issues, and encourages potential buyers to make informed decisions based on a variety of experiences rather than just one negative case.

Keywords

💡Land Rover Defender

The Land Rover Defender is a model of vehicle produced by the British company Land Rover. In the video, the presenter discusses the Defender's reliability, which is a central theme of the discussion. The script references the Defender's performance in various conditions, such as snowy mountain passes, and compares it to other vehicles, indicating its off-road capabilities and ruggedness.

💡Reliability

Reliability in the context of the video refers to the dependability and consistency of a vehicle's performance over time without breakdowns or failures. The script discusses the reliability of the 2020 Land Rover Defender, questioning whether it is as unreliable as some might claim based on certain incidents. The presenter argues for a balanced view, considering both the positive and negative experiences of various Defender owners.

💡Auto Terrain Response

Auto Terrain Response is a feature in some Land Rover vehicles that automatically adjusts the vehicle's settings to suit different terrains. In the script, the presenter mentions putting the Defender in Auto Terrain Response mode while driving up a mountain pass, indicating the vehicle's advanced technology designed to enhance driving experience in challenging conditions.

💡Manufacturing Line

The manufacturing line refers to the process and assembly of vehicles in a factory. The video script speculates that issues with a particular Defender might be due to a problem on the manufacturing line, such as a 'pinched wire' that could cause undetectable long-term issues. This illustrates the complexity of vehicle production and the potential for human or machine error.

💡ECUs (Electronic Control Units)

ECUs are the 'brains' of a modern vehicle, controlling various functions and systems. The script mentions '84 ECUs' in the Defender, highlighting the complexity of modern vehicles and the potential for technical issues when so many interconnected components are involved. The discussion suggests that a problem with any one of these units could lead to broader system malfunctions.

💡Check Engine Light

The check engine light is a dashboard indicator that signals there is a problem with the vehicle's engine or emissions control system. In the script, the presenter mentions a check engine light coming on in a Defender shortly after purchase, which is a common sign of a vehicle issue that needs professional diagnosis.

💡User Error

User error refers to mistakes made by the operator of a vehicle or device, rather than inherent flaws in the vehicle itself. The video script mentions an instance where a YouTuber got a Defender stuck, suggesting it might have been due to user error rather than a vehicle defect, emphasizing the need to consider all factors when evaluating a vehicle's reliability.

💡TFL (The Fast Lane Car)

TFL, or The Fast Lane Car, is a YouTube channel that reviews cars and is mentioned in the script as having a Defender with reliability issues. The presenter uses this as a point of discussion, questioning whether one instance from a well-known channel should define the reliability of an entire vehicle model.

💡JD Power

JD Power is a company that provides consumer intelligence on customer satisfaction in various industries, including automotive. The script briefly mentions JD Power, suggesting skepticism towards their reliability ratings, and by extension, the idea that reliability assessments should be taken with a grain of caution and considered in context.

💡Overlanding

Overlanding refers to an extended journey through remote, challenging terrain in a vehicle. The script mentions a person driving a Defender to Alaska for overlanding, indicating the vehicle's suitability for such adventurous travel and the community's interest in its off-road capabilities.

Highlights

Discussion on the 2020 Defender and Land Rover's reliability

The presenter aims for an unbiased discussion despite personal love for Range Rover

Mention of a YouTuber who got stuck in the mud, highlighting user error

Reference to Roman's Defender from The Fast Lane Car, which has had reliability issues

Argument that one case does not define the reliability of all Defenders

Suggestion that there might have been a manufacturing error with Roman's Defender

Discussion on the complexity of modern cars with multiple ECUs and potential for glitches

Personal experience with a glitch in the presenter's Range Rover that fixed itself

Hypothesis that a minor assembly line error could cause significant issues

Comparison to high-end cars post-accident where hidden issues can arise

Critique of people generalizing Land Rover's reliability based on one incident

Mention of other YouTubers and their experiences with the Defender, some with no issues

Advice for those considering buying a Defender despite potential reliability concerns

Comparison of Land Rover's size and focus to larger, more reliability-focused companies

Acknowledgment that new car models often have initial bugs that get resolved over time

Encouragement for viewers to share their thoughts on the Defender's reliability

Closing thoughts on why people buy Land Rovers and the importance of not relying on a single narrative

Transcripts

what's going on everybody

[Music]

i figured i'd do a little video here to

talk about one thing that is such a hot

topic right now

um and it's an interesting one and i'd

love to get your guys's thoughts on this

and that is the 2020 defender

and overall land river's reliability

now is this video gonna be a little

biased well

i'm gonna do my absolute best to make it

as unbiased

as possible as i sit here driving my

range rover which i absolutely

love

but um let's let's be real here and the

reason this

i wanted to talk about this as we head

up to a very very what i'm hoping is a

very snowy mountain pass to play in film

some other videos

um is

i was i was watching a video of i can't

remember the reviewer's name but he's a

guy who got it stuck in the mud

because he decided to turn left in a mud

pit and

climb up something that he shouldn't

have if he went straight i'm pretty sure

he would have been fine but

whatever user error i've made mistakes

like that too

um but i was talking to somebody and

they were just talking about

how oh the defender is unreliable all

because of

one youtuber all because of

uh roman's defender which i'm sure you

guys all know on

the fastlane car uh tfl's defender

has been in the shop for i believe just

over 30 days now

and uh they had it for about a couple

days got a check engine light on it a

few hundred kilometers

and um it's been in the shop and lander

we can't figure out the issue

and so all of a sudden everyone's

screaming oh

you know of course land rover's not

reliable lander was not reliable

in all of that stuff but that's that's

not

the whole story that's not the whole

story

and i want to kind of talk about this

and have an honest discussion

not with you idiot keyboard warriors

that are probably just going to start

jumping in the comments um

you know saying oh that's not true they

are unreliable and it's like

no you don't get it and so

let's uh let's get going here and uh as

we climb up this mountain pass i'm just

going to put this in

auto terrain response

and uh we should get some snow here in a

little bit

but um so

here's my take on what's going on with

their defender

and and this was the argument i was

trying to make with this idiot in the

comments section

and i knew i wasn't going to win an

argument in the comment section with

somebody because

yeah that's enough side but my take is

this

they've had roland got 11. they got a

bad one

landovers had such a hard time

determining what's been the issue with

this and i've talked to

um local dealerships around my area

about his issue

and whatnot and of course they don't

have the truck so they can't find it

but they're like yeah there's a good

chance that there was some sort of

problem

on the manufacturing line something got

screwed up

because you have to keep in mind um 84

ecu's 84 computers

everything has to talk to itself i've

had a couple glitches on my truck

um one glitch that the dealership

couldn't really fix

and they they tried but then um the abs

computer went wonky and then they saw

that it was tuned

and they're like your tune's the problem

and it makes sense that they would

blame it on the tune because okay now

there's a foreign thing

in the car of course that's going to be

the problem now because we can't really

diagnose anything else because right now

you have a tune

and uh anyways the glitch ended up

fixing itself in a couple weeks

uh it just totally went away but here's

the thing

with romans they can't figure out the

problem it's a brand new truck

and my guess is this that

when it was being built there was

something that happened

when well the engine was getting put

together

um humans put it together mostly

machines put it together

but one little error or one little mess

up

one pinched wire for example i'm going

to talk about that in a second

one pinch wire sorry there's a lot of

snowfall on the trees

one pinched wire can cause a whole bunch

of

issues that you can't really find it's

going to be almost impossible for those

technicians to determine what's causing

these uh massive issues um

with their defender um

because one of the things that i can't

remember who told me this but they're

like yeah

you know for example high-end cars when

they're in an accident

like say somebody rear-ends you um so

somebody rear-ends you and they repair

everything

yeah but what happened is all the second

or third

um i don't call impact but you know

they fix the body and but you know you

get a wire or something that's been

pinched

um that goes undetected because

everything's working as it should but

now that wire

has been pinched

so now that wire's been pinched and you

fray it or it frays over time

and starts causing all these electrical

issues or causes this one system to stop

working

and they can never determine what it is

because it's been all covered up in the

accident you've got

everything around it got fixed or

repaired they're not going to just pull

apart the whole car

to find this one issue hopefully that

makes sense but this is one of the

problems with high-end cars especially

after their

accidents problems can occur that nobody

will find

because of that type of scenario and

that's what i've

you know spoken to mechanics and

technicians about

these type of issues so my guess

it's been backed up by a few mechanics i

don't know what let me know your

thoughts

are something happened on the assembly

line

they'll never find it they might not

never find it they'll probably have to

end up

taking the car back from them

for this one issue and the reason why

you can't

look at their land rover and say oh

it's it's unreliable it's unreliable

um because of because of tfl's defender

that that retards think like that

mentally channelized people think like

that okay

how many defenders have been built and

how many issues have been coming up

romans is the only one that's had major

issues and the reason it's getting blown

up proportion is because of

youtube

that's the only reason if it was like

joe blow

having this issue no nobody would really

care right everyone would be chucking

along

right let's see how doug has what issues

if any doug has with his defender

because he just picked one up

there's a guy from alberta and i'll try

to link these guys in the

description for their channels the guy

in alberta has a new defender he's

driving it all up to alaska by himself

doing some over landing there

he's had like zero issues right

um yeah well who else

uh there's uh the guy in the uk he had

one issue

in the beginning um

yeah i can't remember what it was and he

kind of got all

scared because everyone started

ripping him in the comments

[Music]

but i don't know what happened with that

but he took down the video because i

don't know

that was kind of i don't like that

ever since that i kind of stopped

following his channel because

it's like no i want to know about the

good and the bad that happened it's like

bro lando is not going to give two shits

that people are ripping apart your

channel

or your one video because you had a

problem and landover could have fixed it

or whatever the case was

i can't even remember what what it was

but he took it so personally

bro don't film videos get a fake

personally anyways

he still makes all right content but

i'll link it in the description because

uh check it out but you might like it or

whatever

but i don't know where i was going with

this but bottom line is

people who are thinking the defender is

not reliable

because of that one issue that roman's

been having

it just doesn't make any sense what

whatsoever

i've driven this thing 58 000 kilometers

now last year

i've had two issues with it right

um the water or the starter which could

have been my fault

who knows but they fixed it and the uh

there was a vacuum leak on the brake

that they actually found i didn't even

know about it but they found that

fix it under warranty boom it was all

good

so you know it's not like i'm gentle

with this

land rover reliability

man if you're thinking about buying one

go for it

i like i i just i

hate when people watch videos like that

they get all scared

and then they don't want to get the

vehicle that they are loving or that

they have their

their heart set on um one guy in the

forum

he just said that he came from alexis um

whatever and picked up his first range

rover

and uh he's like i'm a little nervous

what should i expect i'm like

don't expect lexus reliability loud land

rover is a tiny ass

automotive company they are very small

compared to bmw toyota

uh you know even mazda

they're probably smaller than little

nissan right they're a small company

um they don't focus on things like

reliability

like lander or like lexus and toyota are

known for

that's not their focus so yeah their

ship won't be

as reliable but there are people in the

forums

who have you know driven their land

reverse their range rovers

you know 150 200 000 kilometers

miles whatever zero issues

[Music]

zero issues yeah there might be the

occasional hiccup here and there

but all cars are gonna have the

occasional hiccup here and there

um especially this is another point with

the new defenders

the first second and third builds of any

brand new model are usually full of bugs

um it's like that with you think about

when the jeep grand cherokee first came

out

um the one that's about 10 years old

when it came out 10 years ago how many

bugs did that

little thing have where the the cherokee

oh my god that thing was littered with

bugs

when it first came out right with the

first couple builds

but over time they work out the computer

glitches

do a little recall do uh over-the-air

update and they

they fix

[Music]

but um anyways

i just want to offer a couple thoughts

on that

um what do you guys think

you know are are you what do you think

of the new defender

reliability issues i'd say honestly it's

too

too soon to tell um

but uh also another another stupid thing

well you can't trust anything trusting

jd jd power

any any article or any any uh

opinion piece that they put out is you

might just watch i'll wait

on a news channel whatever the hell that

weird thing is but

you see that a little slippage there

um

[Music]

so the um

[Music]

yeah so overall i don't know i wouldn't

call

obviously land rovers they're not the

most reliable vehicle

but people who buy land rovers are not

buying them because they want the most

reliable

reliable vehicle they want something

that's different something that's unique

uh something that's gonna go above and

beyond um

you know their their expectations if

they want something reliable they can

drive a lexus and be boring but

yeah i don't know that's just kind of my

thoughts you let me know what uh

what uh what your thoughts are i'd love

to kind of get your opinion on all this

and uh yeah you know keep the

conversation going

but uh

it is getting a little slushy out here

but uh anyways guys hope you're enjoying

this quick little video i did here

um i got some cool content i'm going up

in the mountains to film some content

for you guys

and um

but uh anyways guys i'm a mecca this is

driven hard

until next time everybody drive hard

you