I have stated I was always on the fence about this and was waiting for pricing to see if it held my interest. It is cool, but it does not inspire the "desire" which we feel when we see that car that we must have and are willing to pay any price. My first Disocvery was a 1997, with an MSRP of 37k, which is just under $70,000 in today's dollars - suprisingly close to the base Ineos. I think I just started making 60k when I bought that - to get financing I actually had to bring documentation of a raise I just got - only one dealer in my area found a way to finance me. It was a financially stupid purchase but I was young, in love the vehicle, and didn't care. I was just that passionate about it and "had to have it".
Skip to the Ineos Grenadier, the base model, which is logically better in every way than the Discovery and similary priced Defender 90 that was next to it on the lot, and is only 3k more when adjusting for inflation. It should make this a comparatively simple purchase. However, it does not inspire any such level of desire. It does not have that green oval logo I somehow coveted. It does not stir up images and connection to the Land Rover Series I that I giggled at as a kid watching "The Gods Must Be Crazy". It does not have any heritage or history or connection to anything what-so-ever. It has a BMW motor when I don't like BMW's (no idea why, I just don't). It simply a boxy looking truck that is a copy of a G-Wagon, Defender, and a few others amalgamated together. When I sit in current my 1995 Discovery, it feels good and it gives me smiles. The Grenadier did no such thing during the test drive. It was just a truck lumbering along and riding similarly to my Discovery, but doing so while lacking any soul and definately lacking that persistent smell of uniquely fake leather that only Series 1 Discovery's have.
When push comes to shove the heart doesn't want it, maybe at any price, but definately not at this price. Frankly, I think I said this i an earlier post, it makes the 53k base model Defender 110 look more interesting to me than it ever has before, but, that ain't happening, either, due to fear of reliability.
There are others who definately dig on it, and I say good for them. We'll see how this all plays out and maybe revisit the used market in a handful of years if my Discovery dies.
Tom