verydisco wrote:

aja500 wrote:

@drF,
There's really no excuse for this. I'd start to look elsewhere, after all, the price you pay will be the same wherever you order from.

unless you opt for Carwow

I agree. To be fair to JLR, it was the retailers who were empowered to give out the invitations (with a few guidelines reference criteria). I’d seriously be questioning the loyalty you put your retailers way.

As an aside, I genuinely don’t believe the L405s that have been factory ordered will arrive…

My L405 has a build slot date of 5th November, so should be with me mid to late November, so I guess we'll soon find out.

If the L405's are all un-slotted, then I'll have no choice but to switch to an L460, so I hope it's as good as you say.

I’d seriously be considering switching to L460 based on what I’ve seen.

Sounds ominous......

I know an L460 in my life is inevitable at some point, but I'd just rather wait until I've seen a few so I make the right choice in terms of spec. Also, it would give Land Rover more time to rectify any potential teething problems which are likely to occur.

Thanks for the heads up though, I appreciate the nod. Based on your confident comment, I at least feel slightly better prepared if this is going to happen.

We all know that the L405 will be phased out at some point soon, the question is when, your comment however suggests this is likely to be much sooner, rather than later.

I've waited this long for the L405, so I might as well wait for it to be un-slotted by the factory if that's going to happen, before changing to the new model.

If what you're saying is right, I should find out within the next three weeks, so will change then

Thanks again

The L460 will be released to the world on 26th October (I don’t believe this is a secret as it seems to be common knowledge from what I’ve seen)!

A teaser campaign is imminent I imagine too.

I realise that, but with you saying:

"As an aside, I genuinely don’t believe the L405s that have been factory ordered will arrive…"

It suggests that you believe all L405 orders will be un-slotted in line with the launch on the 26th.

Or have I misunderstood, and you're just saying, you were so impressed with the new car, that you believe to buy an L405 now would be an unwise choice?

It all depends on your current circumstances and personal preferences as history tells us the new model would always require financial investment vs the outgoing model.

Reference the L405, my understanding is production has finished but that’s not to say it isn’t continuing in some way to finalise orders that have been in the system for months to please customers. Dealers were told a few weeks ago now that they could sell their showroom vehicles as the model is soon to be obsolete. You’re highly unlikely to see an L405 in a showroom right now.

I would say it’s almost certain production won’t continue once the L460 is announced but that’s more speculation (albeit from multiple sources) than fact. If you have a firm ‘slot’ then I can’t see them cancelling that.

Thanks for clarifying Autobiography, that all makes sense.

It's a really difficult one for me. Typically I would never buy a current model with a new one being so close. Even if the new model was 9 months away, I would rather wait than take what would soon be an obsolete vehicle, who's value and desirability is almost certainly going to be hit.

However, with Range Rover I find familiarity to be its biggest appeal. The only reason I got rid of my 2016 Autobiography was because I found the base of the seats too firm on long journeys, a problem which I think was corrected on the 2018 MY onwards.

Also, I know I've said this before, but I have a fantastic L322 2007 MY 4.4 V8 Vogue Petrol which I drive everyday locally with the dogs and I absolute love it, to the point that I intend to have it resprayed and fully restored back to "as new" when I get time. It doesn't have the latest tech, but with it's comfortable seats, big windows and quiet engine, just the overall feeling it gives - It's a fantastic car.

Another thing, is I want to make sure that the new one hasn't lost its driving characteristic. There seems to be this great desire to make all 4x4's drive like a sports car nowadays and I'm not sure why that is. I've had a Bentayga as a loan car before for several days, which you can drive pretty hard if you want to (but it's dull), and as many of you know, I sold my Cullinan earlier this year in favour of a new L405, which I think says an awful lot about this outgoing Range Rover.

I suppose what I'm trying to say, is that I don't doubt we will have better, faster tech, a couple of new gimmicks and a slicker fresher look, I just hope they haven't changed the character of the car in favour of making it's driving ability so dynamic, to the point that it's lost it's identity.

I'm certainly going to watch with great interest, and I may find myself ordering an L460 within the next few months, or even few weeks, if I'm completely blown away by what I see and hear. However, I'm still going to take the heavily discounted L405 I have on order (if it appears), as I doubt I'd lose much between now and delivery of an L460, especially when taking into account the current chip shortage and overall inflated used car prices, and if I don't like the way the new one looks or drives, I'll stick with what will no doubt be a great last of line 5.0 V8.

@aja500 - isn't the Cullinan much more like the Range rover in terms of ride quality/sportyness?

The Cullinan is a fantastic car, but at over £320k RRP, it wasn't three times better than a Range Rover.

It definitely has the edge in terms of build quality and materials used, you can't take that away from it, but for me that wasn't enough to justify the significantly higher cost.

More importantly, it actually made me feel a bit travel sick. It was so quiet that I had to keep opening a window, as I felt a bit disorientated. I also have a 2014 Series 2 Phantom Drophead, so I'm used to quiet cars, but I think the quietness combined with the higher driving position, just made me feel a bit weird.

It has things like rear wheel steer (which I think the L460 is getting), but you don't really notice it unless you're performing a tight manoeuvre.

Is the Cullinan similar to the Range Rover, largely it is yes, and I guess that's why it seemed pointless spending the extra £200k,

Also, we've had Range Rovers for years now. When we began considering ordering another L405 earlier this year, I went to the showroom with my wife, and when we sat in it, she summed up the L405, by saying "it just feels like home in here", whereas the Cullinan didn't.

We had a Cullinan Black Badge on demo for a weekend when our local dealer were on a charm offensive. I agree with the above comments; it's almost too wafty and whilst beautifully built, I couldn't get over the degree of part sharing with BMW at a vehicle that was over £400k with options.

Separate to this, regrettably, I do feel it has a bit of an image issue and I wouldn't feel comfortable using the Cullinan in a workplace setting, whereas with the L405 (even in SVA trim), I feel it is more under-the-radar (relatively, anyway!).

I definitely won't be replacing my 14 year old L322 with a £320k Culinan then.

You're right Autobiography - I wanted something I could go on long journeys in but also nip to the shops, you can do that in a Range Rover, but not in a Cullinan.

KurtVerbose wrote:

I definitely won't be replacing my 14 year old L322 with a £320k Culinan then.

Nothing wrong with a 14 year old L322

Click image to enlarge