I had it on my 2020 and it's not on my 2023. Miss it sometimes as I feel like LR just cheaped out by not including it and some other things my 2020 had like the exit monitor and clearsight mirror. Don't really miss the clearsight mirror. If I go ahead and get the parts from PowerfulUK to do the soft close I will go ahead and get the inside door release and do it at the same time.

 

I wish it was on all the other doors. The passenger door needs a hard push to close it. My daughter fails to close it properly at least 25% of the time. Part of that is because my last few cars had soft close and part of it is just the Defender door. Once you get used to soft closers it's a nice feature but I wouldn't call it a must-have.

Speaking of the rear door why is there no power lift gate option and/or interior release/close button? Every SUV has this option. Is it because of the sideways opening design?

 

Soft close passenger doors are no go for Defender if camping. Actually they can be retrofitted from Range Rover, I've seen some pictures.

 

Sure seems like an internal release should be there. That's why I am considering adding the one from PowerfulUK.
https://www.powerfuluk.com/collectio...-defender-l663

 

FOB button can release trunk if programmed with GAP tool.

 

Add me to the list of those having it, liking it, but wouldn’t really miss it if it wasn’t there. As far as spending the extra money, I’ll agree also to spend it on something else for the Defender.

 

My 2020 came with soft close. It isn't working anymore and my taildoor rattles and drives me crazy. Do they offer OEM replacements?

 

I was wondering about this actually.
As Defender's soft close trunk door acts like luxury sedan soft close passenger door style which you still have close 90% yourself in order to use the soft close function (unlike auto close trunk from other cars which automatically close with button).

So how other use this function and when this can be useful?
I'm not criticizing or anything. I really want to know how others use this function so I can evaluate about adding it as it's simple enough job.

 

I did the retrofit to my defender. It isn’t completely necessary but it definitely comes in handy like this morning when I’m carrying in the last of the groceries and did a hip bump to shut the rear door. I didn’t bump it hard enough to completely latch but the latch caught it and the soft close shut it the rest of the way.

 

I just finished installing the soft-close parts for the tailgate, too. It was at the request of my wife, but only after I mentioned that it was available. Everything is straightforward and it took about an hour. The hardest part was getting the power cable routed from the tailgate to the fuse box.

So far it's a 10/10!