2023 Land Rover Defender D300SE owner review

I signed the final purchase contract for my Defender D300SE at 30,000 feet in 2021 using Qantas onboard WiFi and an iPad in the early days of Covid. Sitting next to another Land Rover friend, he witnessed my digital scrawl, and I emailed the sales contract in the hope that the anticipated eight-month wait would go fast. 

Little did I know that it would take 635 days to arrive, held up by supply-chain issues with the potential for various features to be stripped from the final build where semiconductors were a key component.

Of course, there was an upside to the continual delays. It gave the aftermarket accessory manufacturers time to develop new gear made especially for the growing popularity of these incredible vehicles. It also gave me plenty of time to begin a collection of the necessary equipment as I commenced a significant online purchasing habit, which usually arrived with the words 'Land Rover' on the parcel. There was no hiding from my family what all this spending was for!   

My seven-seat D300SE came with most of the option boxes ticked: black pack, air suspension, off-road pack, heated and cooled seats, all-terrain tyres and, of course, a tow pack. You see, this vehicle was all about the adventures it could take us on. I loved its utility and, despite its boxy shape, was in my eyes a perfect combination of comfort, safety and ability.

It finally arrived in June 2023 as an MY23.5 model. Feature reductions as a result of the Covid delays amounted to no head-up display and a couple of deleted USB ports. I could live with that. 

Importantly, it was perfectly matched to our 3.5-tonne Crusader Excalibur Castle caravan, which came complete with customised bunk beds to fit my six-foot-tall, and very broad, son Matty, and occasionally his older sister, Emily, a grade-two teacher.

Matty is a particular fan of the Defender and just loves the outdoors. Now 22 years old, he has an intellectual disability and no speech, yet none of this inhibits his ability to navigate through WikiCamps or Google Maps to point out his latest find and where we should travel next.         

My mates, too, will often receive a text with the latest place Matty has found. He has a propensity for action. No small talk about organising something, just a location and a pretty keen indication he wants us all to convene there. He’s very keen on camping near pubs too, and we are progressively ticking off places in the fabulous book Australian Bush Pubs. 

For people like Matty, you can get a long way in life with a ‘yes’ and a ‘no’ accompanied by a few signs and pictures when combined with his amazing attitude, smile and joy of life. I learn a lot from him. So could others. 

We have a little routine when it’s just the two of us, him riding high with the air suspension on full lift, tapping our hands on the window frames to the sounds of Luke Combs, Chris Janson or Morgan Wallen. He has even invented his own signing for the word ‘caravan’, such is his keenness for me to commit to another trip. The Defender is a pretty simple sign, the Auslan letter for ‘D’.  

With over 100 dots on a map of Eastern Australia, signifying the last 15 years of campsites we have stayed, the Defender has taken us to Kakadu and Litchfield national parks where it crossed creeks and tackled some pretty tough terrain, Betoota and Birdsville (twice), Innamincka, Cordillo Downs, Daly Waters, Undara Caves, Nindigully and Hungerford just to name a few a few places. 

All this towing the 9.5-metre-long ‘palace on wheels’ with ease. Of course, I dropped off the 'van to conquer Big Red on the edge of the Simpson Desert which, with very little pressure taken out of the tyres, handled the climb effortlessly. We’ve been there twice and have been lucky to enjoy it both times, almost to ourselves, where being able to stand on the edge of the Simpson Desert in silence and stillness is well worth the effort.  

Fuel economy has been excellent with the straight-six-cylinder diesel almost indiscernible from a petrol six, which are renowned for their smooth and silky, almost perfect, balance. While we carried extra diesel for a few of our outback NT and Queensland legs, it’s surprising how far its 89-litre tank will get you. Fuel economy (towing the Crusader) on long trips is around 17 litres per 100 kilometres. It comfortably uses less than 10L/100km without the van. AdBlue usage almost doubles when towing, so keeping an eye on those levels is important before going truly outback.

For remote trips, I carry four Maxtrax and a second spare tyre on the roof, along with plugs if things get really desperate. My last puncture was repaired in Betoota in searing heat; the previous one a year before near Blackall, where I had a complete 10mm spanner pierce the tyre after driving on a sand track near a camping site. It took an angle grinder to remove. I rang the local mayor and thanked him for his innovative tourist gift!  

My air choice is a portable ARB brushless compressor with two hoses to allow for easy caravan airing up and (most importantly) down when tracks get rough. Too often this is ignored, and is my number-one tip (next to reducing speed) when asked if a caravan will make it somewhere off-road. Communication is via Starlink, which also provides the necessary NRL coverage of Matty’s favourite Broncos should we be away from a match!

Accessories fitted soon after purchase include an OEM bull bar and platform roof-rack, GME UHF radio, STEDI light bar and various protection plates to shield the bodywork from the inevitable wear and tear you get from actually using these vehicles. Perhaps the most obvious add-ons are the side ladder and toolbox, which I think add to its industrial look and provide surprisingly great utility. 

I do tend to embarrass my family when I drop the ladder outside Bunnings to tie down the latest home renovation purchase, while standing proud on top of my much-loved machine! A drop-down table inside the tailgate door is a nice addition too. 

Our most recent trip from Toowoomba to Nindigully in country Queensland was part of the Endeavour Foundation’s Great Endeavour Rally, Weekend Edition. A ‘taster’ for those wishing to participate in the much longer trek, which will leave in September and travel from Toowoomba to Mt Dare in SA.

It’s a two-person effort, with a navigator required to follow the detailed track notes, which took us through some little-used tracks and trails and some amazing scenery. The route was narrow and tight, so we left the Crusader at home this time. 

I’m told very few Endeavour Foundation CEOs have participated in our rallies, which over the course of 36 years have raised over $14 million. While many know of our Endeavour Lotteries, we are of course so much more – supporting thousands of people in homes, housing, community programs, hubs and disability support.

We are also Australia's largest employer of people with intellectual disability. Few would know that it is our very own Endeavour Foundation employees who have been bottling and hand-labelling Bowden’s Own car care products for the last decade. While there are more cost-effective ways to machine label and fill the products, Bowden’s says it likes the human touch this gives to each bottle.  

After a full day of driving, we arrived at Nindigully Pub, south-east of St George, in the late afternoon. Established in 1864, the hotel is low-set, with a huge timber verandah and an almost movie-set feel about it. NINDIGULLY PUB is written along its roof with rows of cars parked nose in, just as horses would have been tied up from days gone by.

One of Queensland’s oldest continuously licensed hotels, the ‘Gully’ has significance for Matty as he had his 18th birthday there with some close family friends on our way back from a trip further west coming in from Charleville. It is the place he tried his first beer – the photo I took with his tongue out tells me he’s not too keen on the amber fluid, so it’s been ginger beer ever since!

The Defender has now travelled more than 50,000km, and with little gone wrong, it’s lived up to its promise of a car built for adventure. Perhaps the upright windscreen is a weak point with now two replaced – the last one took a hit just minutes into an 8000km, three-week return adventure to the NT, flicked up by a Mazda CX-5 only kilometres from home. The dash-cam footage and audio are too rude to repeat here! 

The lower plastic door sills take a beating off-road too, so I’d be cautious of optioning them in gloss black if you want to use the car as intended, even with the full ‘classic’ mud flaps fitted.  

My modifications continue and include additional rear shelving, 270-degree awning, removable dual-battery/fridge setup and brighter reversing lights. As car number 27 for me, it’s been the best vehicle (form and function) since my 1991 Suzuki Sierra. Funnily enough, it was equally kitted out – only a tiny bit smaller. But a great car that did what it said on the box. Just like the Defender. 

Owner: Andrew

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