RoadVitals

2026 Land Rover Defender Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
3
+2 complaints in 30 days
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
0
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
3
Reports on file since Jul 8, 2026

What this page shows

Our database holds 3 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2026 Land Rover Defender. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–3 of 3

Filed Aug 9, 2026

WE WERE DREIVING ALONG AT 40 MILES PER HOUR THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON A EMERGECY WARING CAME ON 2 SECONDS LATER AND THE CAR COMPLETE STOP WENT DEAD. THE CAR WAS TOWED BACK TO THE DELAERSHIP AND SET THEIR BEING WORKED ON FOR 3 WEEKS, WE NEVER GOT A INDICAITO AS TO WHAT HAPPENED, GET CAR BACK 3 DAYS LATER CHECK ENGONE LIOGHT ON AGAIN. THIS TIME WE PULLED OVER ON THE ROAD AND CALLED ROADSIDE, CAR WAS PICK UP 10 DASY AGON NO COMMUNICATIONS FROM DEALER. THIS IS A SATEFY HAZARD THAT NEED TO BE REVIWED

NHTSA ID
11755745
Incident
Jul 30, 2026
Airbags
Filed Aug 4, 2026

Dealership sold me vehicle with open recall

NHTSA ID
11754768
Incident
Jul 13, 2026
BrakesEnginePowertrain (other)
Filed Jul 8, 2026

The transmission has failed twice while the vehicle was in motion, causing loss of gear control and, on one occasion, loss of parking brake function. Incident 1 — March 24, 2026: While driving on the highway, the transmission failed and the vehicle entered a "safety mode." The vehicle was in dealer service for 8 days at Findlay Land Rover. Incident 2 — July 4, 2026, approximately 9:55 AM, at 6.1 miles into the trip, near South Buffalo Drive / Summerlin Parkway, Las Vegas, NV: While making a right turn off the Summerlin Parkway exit, the vehicle suddenly shifted into neutral with no prior warning. A check engine light and "Gearbox fault detected" alert appeared on the dashboard. The vehicle coasted downhill and my worker was able to steer it to the shoulder. Once stopped, the gearshift would not engage any gear other than neutral, and the electronic parking brake also failed to engage. My worker kept his foot on the brake pedal continuously and did not turn off the engine, fearing the vehicle could not be safely towed otherwise. A tow was requested at 10:09 AM and arrived at 11:01 AM; at that point the parking brake functioned again, and the vehicle was winched onto the tow truck. The vehicle was dropped off at Land Rover Las Vegas at 11:41 AM. Upon repair pickup on July 7, 2026, the service advisor stated the issue was software-related — the vehicle's computer had taken the transmission offline. The malfunctioning transmission and intermittent loss of parking brake function on a moving public road presents a serious safety risk, particularly since the failure occurred without warning during normal driving conditions.

NHTSA ID
11749201
Incident
Jul 4, 2026

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .