Started my trip out West to Colorado. The Defender performed well, gas mileage was not great 15-16 mpg. Two hours in on the interstate, my adaptive cruise control quit working which is very frustrating, then a few hours later, its started working on its own. The next day, the same thing happened with the adaptive cruise control. I had 500 miles to my destination, and I really needed the cruise control to work. I figured out that if you press the "reduce gap" button on the steering wheel, it will cancel out the adaptive cruise, and you can then set the cruise without the adaptive function. That was a relief.
With 78 miles left to my destination, traffic on the interstate came to a stand still on both lanes, so I stopped and turned my flashers on. Five minutes later while stopped on the interstate with flashers on, a semi tractor trailer out of nowhere rams into the left side of the Defender, slides it to the left and hits the front left side, which spins the Defender to the right in the middle of the interstate. Within seconds of the impact, LR Assist is on the speaker checking if the car was in a crash as they detected, and asking if I was OK. LR Assist stayed with me until they reported the accident to the local authorities. When the emergency responders arrived to the scene, they asked if the car would run so that it can be moved to the side. I said I would give it a go, and the Defender started and I was able to move it. I kept the Defender running for about 6 hours while waiting for the tow truck, and everything inside the car from max defrost to bluetooth to carplay was functional. I escaped this horrific accident without a single scratch and I am extremely thankful for the Lord above keeping watch. These Defenders are tough and well built. Unfortunately, this is the second Defender that we had totalled. The first one was a 2020 Defender with 5000 miles on the odometer when a tow truck hit it from the rear at 60 mph. My son was driving it at the time and he escaped without a scratch. The 2020 Defender was replaced with a 2022 V8 Carpathian Edition. This accident was in my 2023 Defender with 4000 miles on the odometer.

 

wow! unbelievable! thankful you are ok!

 

Praise the Lord! I am glad you are ok and glad to know our defenders can take a lick.

I can see where many of the sensors would be rendered unusable in heavy ice and snow by being obstructed. Good to know about how to use regular cruise when adaptive is not available due to conditions.

 

Oh my... glad you are ok. Those are some seriously hard core photos.

I would agree that the post-accident pics I've seen of L663 Defenders... (ie this one, that crazy rollover one about 12-18 mos ago in FL), they seem to hold up very well.

 

Glad you and family are ok. Wtf was the trucker thinking? Do you have a missing taillight recall? I thought it would still work with hazards on. It shows the structural stiffness of the Land Rover product. Saw an evoque fall from a bridge in Russia and the driver walked away, a stolen sport rollover and it kept its structure to save the perp and a dog. Of course the FL rollover case.

 

Glad you and your son were not injured. Impressive that the truck was able to move with that rear end damage.

 

I would have had my rear fog lights on as well in that reduced visibility-anything to alert people behind me as early as i can

 

man, you've had some terrible luck with keeping a vehicle over 10k miles, glad you are ok. that really wrinkled the drivers side, wild.

 

Posts deleted, no need to insult anyone’s faith.

 

I don't have a dog in this hunt, but I didn't see any insults.

I saw someone joke about the extreme bad luck of two such accidents in such a short period of time on two new cars. I chuckled.

That said, I'll add my voice to the chorus of "thank Gods" or whoever you want to thank. I'm glad the OP was in good hands, be it God or Land Rover engineers or both.