"How reliable is the 2023 Land Rover Defender?"

"Based on 90 NHTSA complaints, the 2023 Land Rover Defender has a median complaint mileage of 40000 miles. The most common issue is ELECTRICAL SYSTEM."

"What are common problems with the 2023 Land Rover Defender?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 2023 Land Rover Defender is ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, accounting for a significant portion of the 90 total complaints filed."

2023 Land Rover Defender: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 90 complaints

Total Complaints

40,000mi

Median Mileage

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

13,000 25th Percentile

40,000 Median Mileage

61,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

VISIBILITY/WIPER

ENGINE

STEERING

POWER TRAIN

LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

EXTERIOR LIGHTING

LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"Vehicle makes uncommanded shifts from drive into neutral when the engine restarts after stopping during an auto start-stop cycle. Driver has to manually re-engage drive after this happens."

"When stopped at stoplight engine gear slips to neutral without warning. When applying gas it becomes apparent itâs no longer in drive. Has happened 8 plus times and Iâve had this new car less than 2weeks. Reported to dealer who tells me 2 other customers have reported this as well. No one is sur..."

"Stopped on an uphill grade, start stop on vehicle activated, engine stopped. Upon brake release, engine started, vehicle made uncommanded shift from drive to neutral, rolled backward several feet before brake could be reapplied. Land Rover has been aware of the uncommanded shift to neutral issue for..."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28