Testing the Defender MY23.5
#1
08-12-2022, 03:50 AM
Testing the Defender MY23.5
Hi all,
Thought I'd start a bit of a thread regarding my journey with my new Defender 110 SE P400 (MY23.5). I'm based in NSW, and am a wool broker that covers all through NSW/QLD, Australia. Annually, I'd cover over 100,000km per year, with the majority of travel in regional and remote areas (western NSW, central QLD and southern QLD) as well as a small component of city/town driving. I've always admired the Defenders and with the new model being released in 2020, it got me wanting one! With the global car shortage I put a new vehicle on hold, but I was driving past the local Orange, NSW dealership and saw one in the lot. After never seeing one in person, we wheeled in and had a look at the D300 but I wasn't too keen on the second hand price. By chance, the dealership had a customer pull out of their order a couple of weeks prior and their P400 110 was up for grabs and after a lot of soul searching, I thought it was the vehicle that was the most convenient to get (not to mention my bias towards it
).
The soul searching part of picking the vehicle was the fact that my mind was telling me a Toyota Landcruiser 200 series for it's reliability, re-sale and the ability to be looked after in most regional towns if something went wrong (it's safe to say where there's a car dealership in a remote town, it's guaranteed to be a Toyota). The negatives of the LR was it's reputation for reliability, complicated electrics (making regional troubleshoot away from a LR dealership near impossible) and lack of track record. In the end, the heart got what the heart desired, and I went the LR way against the recommendation of a lot of farmers and car enthusiast. I've always liked the Defenders and don't mind having something that's a bit different to a Prado and Cruiser driving around the country. I will admit, I've stuck my neck out by going the LR way and I let the dealership know it, but I told myself that the only way I could ever hand-on-heart tell myself that this will or won't work is if I get KM's under my belt and see if it can stand the mileage in a short time.
So far, the experience has been positive, with the build phase running smoothly. I opted for the SE with everything standard except for the colour (Carpathian Grey), sliding panoramic roof, tow hitch receiver, body-coloured spare wheel cover and Ebony Morzine headlining. I was going to put the raised air intake system, but after finding out it doesn't act like a true snorkel I'll give it a miss (if anyone has feedback on any efficiencies with the RAI, please let me know and I may reconsider). I will put on a bull bar after-market (hoping another manufacturer like ARB or ECB come up with one to avoid the AU$5,000 tag for a pretty exposed bar) for booster and 2-way radio antenna mounting as well as some protection from wild life , and may put on flares and mudguards for aesthetics. I'm keen to also put in a dual battery system to run a fridge while I'm travelling and look at some sort of protection options for high wearing areas as well as side steps. The estimated delivery date is 15/12/2022, with the build starting estimated to be completed by 09/09/2022.
As I told the dealership this exercise will go two ways; I'll either be in the dealership every two years getting a new one, or they will never see me again after 12 months if it doesn't work out. I usually like to turn cars over every 120,000-180,000km depending on make, but I will see what the market looks like in 12 months time for a used P400 SE. I've been assured that their roadside assistance will have me covered wherever I am, and flights/courtesy vehicles will be available if something does go wrong. I really do hope this goes all according to plan and I don't have clients telling me "I told you so". I don't do much intense 4WD-ing, but I am on a lot of dirt roads and off-road tracks with corrugations, pot holes and water crossing so I do think I'll be able to cover all bases and report as to its suitability in hard, remote areas over large distances. One concern everyone has for me is my safety if I'm broken down somewhere remote and I'd be silly to ignore this, but hopefully after these next 18-24 months I can report to you all on if it's a serious vehicle for Australia's harsh conditions as well as if it can handle the big KM's!
Thought I'd start a bit of a thread regarding my journey with my new Defender 110 SE P400 (MY23.5). I'm based in NSW, and am a wool broker that covers all through NSW/QLD, Australia. Annually, I'd cover over 100,000km per year, with the majority of travel in regional and remote areas (western NSW, central QLD and southern QLD) as well as a small component of city/town driving. I've always admired the Defenders and with the new model being released in 2020, it got me wanting one! With the global car shortage I put a new vehicle on hold, but I was driving past the local Orange, NSW dealership and saw one in the lot. After never seeing one in person, we wheeled in and had a look at the D300 but I wasn't too keen on the second hand price. By chance, the dealership had a customer pull out of their order a couple of weeks prior and their P400 110 was up for grabs and after a lot of soul searching, I thought it was the vehicle that was the most convenient to get (not to mention my bias towards it
).The soul searching part of picking the vehicle was the fact that my mind was telling me a Toyota Landcruiser 200 series for it's reliability, re-sale and the ability to be looked after in most regional towns if something went wrong (it's safe to say where there's a car dealership in a remote town, it's guaranteed to be a Toyota). The negatives of the LR was it's reputation for reliability, complicated electrics (making regional troubleshoot away from a LR dealership near impossible) and lack of track record. In the end, the heart got what the heart desired, and I went the LR way against the recommendation of a lot of farmers and car enthusiast. I've always liked the Defenders and don't mind having something that's a bit different to a Prado and Cruiser driving around the country. I will admit, I've stuck my neck out by going the LR way and I let the dealership know it, but I told myself that the only way I could ever hand-on-heart tell myself that this will or won't work is if I get KM's under my belt and see if it can stand the mileage in a short time.
So far, the experience has been positive, with the build phase running smoothly. I opted for the SE with everything standard except for the colour (Carpathian Grey), sliding panoramic roof, tow hitch receiver, body-coloured spare wheel cover and Ebony Morzine headlining. I was going to put the raised air intake system, but after finding out it doesn't act like a true snorkel I'll give it a miss (if anyone has feedback on any efficiencies with the RAI, please let me know and I may reconsider). I will put on a bull bar after-market (hoping another manufacturer like ARB or ECB come up with one to avoid the AU$5,000 tag for a pretty exposed bar) for booster and 2-way radio antenna mounting as well as some protection from wild life , and may put on flares and mudguards for aesthetics. I'm keen to also put in a dual battery system to run a fridge while I'm travelling and look at some sort of protection options for high wearing areas as well as side steps. The estimated delivery date is 15/12/2022, with the build starting estimated to be completed by 09/09/2022.
As I told the dealership this exercise will go two ways; I'll either be in the dealership every two years getting a new one, or they will never see me again after 12 months if it doesn't work out. I usually like to turn cars over every 120,000-180,000km depending on make, but I will see what the market looks like in 12 months time for a used P400 SE. I've been assured that their roadside assistance will have me covered wherever I am, and flights/courtesy vehicles will be available if something does go wrong. I really do hope this goes all according to plan and I don't have clients telling me "I told you so". I don't do much intense 4WD-ing, but I am on a lot of dirt roads and off-road tracks with corrugations, pot holes and water crossing so I do think I'll be able to cover all bases and report as to its suitability in hard, remote areas over large distances. One concern everyone has for me is my safety if I'm broken down somewhere remote and I'd be silly to ignore this, but hopefully after these next 18-24 months I can report to you all on if it's a serious vehicle for Australia's harsh conditions as well as if it can handle the big KM's!
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#2
08-12-2022, 07:55 AM
Pro Wrench
Excellent! We look forward to hearing of your experience. Sounds like you may rack up high miles much faster than most of us. Here’s to hoping your journey is a smooth one.
I just got back from a 3500-mile (5600km) road trip across 3/4 of the US, which pushed the total mileage on my 2022 X-Dynamic SE P400 to over 18,000 (29,000km) in the 13 months I’ve owned it. So far it has had zero trips to the dealer other than a windshield replacement (and that was from a limb hitting it in a big storm, so not even a “weak windshield” crack like many have experienced.) I get standard maintenance done at a local European car specialist who works on my Porsches/MBs and is much cheaper than the LR dealer.
I have had a few small, weird glitches that were reset by shutting down and restarting the engine. For instance, on a lonesome highway in Oklahoma yesterday my cruise control went out — Big message flashed saying “Cruise Control Off — Take Control of Car”; no amount of button pushing would get it to come back on till I pulled to the side of the road and restarted the car. All was perfect afterwards. I think something like that has happened maybe twice before, or maybe just once, and I think it was PIVI screen related, not actual driving-function of the car.
This is my first ever JLR product, and my first English car since a disastrous 1987 Sterling (joint venture between Rover and Honda) 825SL, which I returned for a full refund after 5 days of electronic/electrical mayhem. So I came into this expecting trouble and willing to give it a try anyway. So far, so good!
I just got back from a 3500-mile (5600km) road trip across 3/4 of the US, which pushed the total mileage on my 2022 X-Dynamic SE P400 to over 18,000 (29,000km) in the 13 months I’ve owned it. So far it has had zero trips to the dealer other than a windshield replacement (and that was from a limb hitting it in a big storm, so not even a “weak windshield” crack like many have experienced.) I get standard maintenance done at a local European car specialist who works on my Porsches/MBs and is much cheaper than the LR dealer.
I have had a few small, weird glitches that were reset by shutting down and restarting the engine. For instance, on a lonesome highway in Oklahoma yesterday my cruise control went out — Big message flashed saying “Cruise Control Off — Take Control of Car”; no amount of button pushing would get it to come back on till I pulled to the side of the road and restarted the car. All was perfect afterwards. I think something like that has happened maybe twice before, or maybe just once, and I think it was PIVI screen related, not actual driving-function of the car.
This is my first ever JLR product, and my first English car since a disastrous 1987 Sterling (joint venture between Rover and Honda) 825SL, which I returned for a full refund after 5 days of electronic/electrical mayhem. So I came into this expecting trouble and willing to give it a try anyway. So far, so good!
The following users liked this post:
djm1991 (08-13-2022)
#3
08-12-2022, 01:29 PM
Pro Wrench
The following users liked this post:
djm1991 (08-13-2022)
#6
08-16-2022, 01:15 PM
Rock Crawling
I think you made the right decision, you got what you wanted and it's important to have first-hand experience working with the dealership. It'll likely hold its value if it doesn't work out as planned. I do hope your luck is better than mine. Even with the issues I'm still glad that I bought one but now I have a better idea of what to expect if I ever get into another JLR vehicle.
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