Land Rover Range Rover Velar review

Prices for the 2023 Velar S start at £54,105, an £8k step up from a couple of years previously. That's for a 200bhp four-cylinder diesel – the 250 petrol is slightly more. And with a nod to the company car chooser, this spec can also be had as a PHEV for £64,745.

That's a minimum of around £700/month lease deal or so for the non-hybrids and £50 a month more for the PHEV, which you might see back in fuel saving.

But hold on. This car is about style, and ambulance-white paint and sofa-castor wheels aren't exactly stylish. So you need to add a minimum of £1,600 to jolly up your colour and hoops.

Also, if you're a strict vegan, or just happen to like cloth cabins, note that non-leather can't be had on the lower two trim levels. The tech pack (HUD, wade sensing, surround camera) is a tempting £1,685, and driver assist £1,615. You probably want the cold climate pack (£1,015) too, you rugged outdoorsy lifestylist you.

So in the end you'll probably step up to Dynamic SE trim and get the 20-inchers as standard, and a superb Meridian hifi. This doesn't add any of the above packs, mind, and you can spend even more here (£2,225) for the adaptive air suspension.

Dynamic HSE trim must be the meat of the range, because it comes with all five powertrain options. The six-cylinder diesel is a tick under £70k, the P400 and P400e just over. By this stage, 21-inch wheels are standard, as is the driver assist and air suspension and 20-way powered seats. The Kvadrat cloth cabin becomes optional here, at no cost.

Finally, it's Autobiography, six-cylinder engines only, starting beyond £76k including most of the packs.

For the non-plug cars, CO2 varies from 178k/km for the four-cylinder diesel to 227g/km for the petrol six. The pluggable P400e is a tax-friendly 42g/km.

Warranty is three-years unlimited mileage as standard. If you intend to keep it beyond that, you can buy Land Rover's extended warranty to cover up to 10 years/100k miles. Not saying anything about Range Rover's reliability and repair cost reputation, but, y'know, we would.