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2025 Land Rover Defender

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Limited comparison data

There is not enough comparable history to draw a useful model-year comparison.

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How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

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Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.

What owners reported most

All reported categories

Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

Limited mileage data: 0 of 13 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Visibility/wiper. Review the 7 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Power Train. Review the 3 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 2 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

0 crash reports1 fire reports0 injury reports

What owners actually said

13 reports
Mileage unknown · Jan 3, 2026
Power Train

The transfer case on my new 2025 LR Defender 130 went out at 5,000 miles. This unit distributes power to the axles. I was told that if I continue to drive it, it could seize up, possibly leading to a loss of control of the vehicle. Land Rover is aware that they installed a bad batch of transfer cases on their new vehicles. They …

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The transfer case on my new 2025 LR Defender 130 went out at 5,000 miles. This unit distributes power to the axles. I was told that if I continue to drive it, it could seize up, possibly leading to a loss of control of the vehicle. Land Rover is aware that they installed a bad batch of transfer cases on their new vehicles. They have the batch number(s), and have apparently issued a 'service bulletin,' but not a recall. Nor did they contact owners to let them know of this problem proactively. Given the potential danger in the failure of this unit, a recall is the only safe option.

NHTSA ODI #11708566

Mileage unknown · Sep 28, 2025
Fuel/propulsion SystemFire

I was driving on [XXX] In Sarasota County, Florida, at approximately 70mph I witnessed flames coming from passenger rear portion of the car, I pulled over and jumped out at the interior was filled with smoke. In less than 15 minutes the car completely burned to nothing but black molten metal. The vehicle was purchased new, had…

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I was driving on [XXX] In Sarasota County, Florida, at approximately 70mph I witnessed flames coming from passenger rear portion of the car, I pulled over and jumped out at the interior was filled with smoke. In less than 15 minutes the car completely burned to nothing but black molten metal. The vehicle was purchased new, had been on order for over 5 months and had approximately 1,300 miles on it, and was only approximately 45 days in my possession. The vehicle was inspected by police and fire department, it has been towed to the local Land Rover dealer in Sarasota, Florida. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI #11690159

Mileage unknown · Jul 9, 2025
Visibility/wiper

Front Windshield has cracked. Defender has less than 10K and has only been driven on city roads and highway. No offroad. Chip left of center occurred from pebble while driving on Freeway back February. Took vehicle to Safelite for repair within a week. Two months later Chip expanded into a lateral crack extending nearly t…

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Front Windshield has cracked. Defender has less than 10K and has only been driven on city roads and highway. No offroad. Chip left of center occurred from pebble while driving on Freeway back February. Took vehicle to Safelite for repair within a week. Two months later Chip expanded into a lateral crack extending nearly two feet towards passenger side. Crack is now extending towards driverside almost 10" Land Rover claims Defender is made for offroad but there appears to be the windshield is structurally weak.

NHTSA ODI #11672321

Official recalls

1

26V389000 · Air Bags:frontal

Jun 12, 2026

Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (Land Rover) is recalling certain 2020-2026 Land Rover Defender, 2021-2026 Discovery, and 2022-2026 Range Rover vehicles. The driver’s air bag clockspring connector may corrode, which can cause the air bag not to deploy as intended.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An air bag that does not deploy as intended increases the risk of injury in a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will apply a protective lubricant gel to the driver’s air bag connector terminals, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed August 3, 2026. Owners may contact Land Rover's customer service at 800-637-6837. Land Rover's number for this recall is D120.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.