2021 Land Rover Defender problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Exterior Lighting (16) · Visibility/Wiper (12) · Structure:body (2)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Land Rover Defender model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (10)
Electrical System:propulsion System:dc/Dc Converter 2026-09-17 · campaign 26V599000 · 23,677 vehicles
Defect: Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (Land Rover) is recalling certain 2019-2024 Land Rover Range Rover Sport, 2020-2024 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, Land Rover Range Rover, Land Rover Discovery Sport, Land Rover Defender, 2021-2024 Land Rover Range Rover Velar, Jaguar E-Pace, F-Pace, and Land Rover Discovery vehicles. The DC-DC converter may malfunction due to an electrical overload that can occur during high power demand. Additionally, a software error can cause the DC-DC converter to stop f
Risk: A loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will update the vehicle software, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk are expected to be mailed November 13, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the final remedy is available. Owners may contact Land Rover's customer service at 800-637-6837. Land Rover's number for this recall is E008. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 26V248.
Air Bags:frontal 2026-06-12 · campaign 26V389000 · 250,857 vehicles
Defect: 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.
Risk: An air bag that does not deploy as intended increases the risk of injury in a crash.
Fix: 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.
Electrical System:propulsion System:dc/Dc Converter 2026-04-17 · campaign 26V248000 · 170,169 vehicles
Defect: Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (Land Rover) is recalling certain 2021-2024 Land Rover Range Rover Velar and Land Rover Discovery, 2020-2023 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, 2019-2024 Land Rover Range Rover Sport, 2020-2024 Land Rover Range Rover, 2020 Land Rover Discovery Sport, 2020-2024 Land Rover Defender, 2021-2024 Jaguar F-Pace, and 2021-2022 Jaguar E-Pace mild-hybrid electric vehicles (MHEVs). Insufficient electrical load balancing during times of high demand can lead to a current ove
Risk: A loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will update the central software, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed June 17, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the final remedy is available. Owners may contact Land Rover's customer service at 800-637-6837. Land Rover's numbers for this recall are D126 and H575.
Equipment 2024-12-06 · campaign 24E102000 · 485 vehicles
Defect: Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (Land Rover) is recalling certain 2020-2025 Land Rover Defender vehicles equipped with Raised Air Intake (RAI) aftermarket accessory equipment, with part number VPLEP0543. The raised air intake may not be secured properly, which can allow the intake to detach from the vehicle.
Risk: A detached raised air intake can fall off the vehicle and become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect, and if necessary, remove and reinstall the RAI accessory, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed February 20, 2025. Owners may contact Land Rover customer service at 1-800-637-6837. Land Rover's number for this recall is N964.
Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:oil/Lubrication 2023-02-02 · campaign 23V044000 · 6,724 vehicles
Defect: Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (Land Rover) is recalling certain 2019-2023 Range Rover Sport, 2020-2023 Range Rover, Defender, 2022-2023 Discovery, and 2023 Range Rover Velar vehicles. The engine cam carrier oil channel may be blocked, which can lead to an oil leak.
Risk: An oil leak in the presence of an ignition source can increase the risk of a fire.
Fix: Dealers will inspect and replace the engine cam carrier and related components as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 29, 2023. Owners may contact Land Rover customer service at 1-800-637-6837. Land Rover's number for this recall is N763.
Seat Belts:rear/Other:retractor 2021-08-26 · campaign 21V668000 · 32,687 vehicles
Defect: Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (Land Rover) is recalling certain 2021 Range Rover, 2022 Range Rover Sport, 2020-2021 Range Rover Velar, Discovery Sport, 2020-2022 Discovery, and Defender vehicles. The seat belt automatic locking retractors may deactivate early, which can prevent the child restraint system from securing properly.
Risk: An unsecured child restraint system can increase the risk of injury during a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect and replace the seat belt assemblies as necessary, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed October 20, 2021. Owners may contact Land Rover customer service at 1-800-637-6837. Land Rover's number for this recall is N630.
Child Seat:vehicle Latch Anchor 2021-07-29 · campaign 21V584000 · 7,027 vehicles
Defect: Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (Land Rover) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Land Rover Defender vehicles. The owner's manual incorrectly states that the third-row seating is equipped with LATCH child seat restraints with top tethers. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 225, "Child Restraint Anchorage Systems."
Risk: Incorrect child restraint information may result in a child seat being improperly secured, which can increase the risk of injury in a crash.
Fix: Land Rover will mail owners the correct information to insert into the owner's manual, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 23, 2021. Owners may contact Land Rover customer service at 1-800-637-6837. Land Rover's number for this recall is N601.
Seats 2021-07-01 · campaign 21V499000 · 603 vehicles
Defect: Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (Land Rover) is recalling certain 2021 Defender 90 vehicles equipped with manually-adjustable front seats. The front seat track end-stop bracket may become deformed, which could prevent the seat from locking into place.
Risk: A seat that is not properly locked into place can move unintentionally during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: Dealers will replace the front seat tracks, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on October 28, 2021. Owners may contact Land Rover customer service at 1-800-637-6837. Land Rover's number for this recall is N609.
Exterior Lighting:turn Signal 2021-06-08 · campaign 21V435000 · 2,622 vehicles
Defect: Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (Land Rover) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Defender X vehicles equipped with smoked rear light assemblies. A voltage spike, triggered by a bright light shining on the rear of the vehicle, can cause the turn signals, brake lights, and tail lights to fail.
Risk: Turn signals, brake lights, and tail lights that fail to illuminate can reduce visibility to other drivers and increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the rear light assemblies, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed September 27, 2021. Owners can contact Land Rover customer service at 1-800-637-6837. Land Rover's number for this recall is N598.
Electrical System:software 2021-06-03 · campaign 21V424000 · 163 vehicles
Defect: Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (Land Rover) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Land Rover Defender vehicles equipped with 6-cylinder engines. The Powertrain Control Module (PCM) may unexpectedly switch off while the vehicle is in motion, resulting in an engine stall with no warning.
Risk: An engine stall can increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: The Connected Diagnostic Services (CDS) and the Over-the-air (OTA) diagnostics functionality will be disabled, either by a dealer or through an OTA update, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 28, 2021. Owners may contact Land Rover customer service at 1-800-637-6837. Land Rover's number for this recall is N599.
Service bulletins (514)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Structure:body 2026-09-25 · SSM76493 - 25SEP26 · Other
accessory wheel arch protection - gaps present between protection and vehicle body
Unknown Or Other 2026-08-21 · SSM76492 - 20AUG26 · Other
tcu activation failure and incontrol app inoperative after software update
Unknown Or Other 2026-08-21 · SSM76487 - 20AUG26 · Other
air conditioning inoperative / intermittent operation
Unknown Or Other 2026-07-22 · SSM76477 - 21JUL26 · Other
intermittent passive entry operation 24my or with new service smart key fob.
Unknown Or Other 2026-07-20 · E002 - 20JUL26 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
exhaust system oxygen (o2) sensors - extended warranty
Unknown Or Other 2026-07-06 · SSM76324 - 06JUL26 · Other
a low-speed ‘clonk’ type noise from the rear driveline, audible during low speed throttle inputs, often coupled with up/down gear changes. the noise is audible during normal road driving conditions.
Showing the 6 most recent of 514 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-09-28 · Exterior Lighting“the failure of the daytime running light on defenders is a known issue caused by a design flaw. it is not covered by warranty and costs over $3000 to replace.…”
2026-09-24 · Exterior Lighting“the signature halo led ring on the front headlight stopped working and has now failed completely, impairing headlight performance. land rover previously replaced one of these units when under warranty, but now refuse to fix the second one unless privately paid for (i am now out of warranty). this is a known and common issue and is clearly a safet…”
2026-09-18 · Exterior Lighting“on my 2021 land rover defender 110, the front daytime running light (drl) halo unit experienced a complete illumination failure due to an internal component defect. because the led drl system is permanently sealed inside the headlamp assembly, replacing the failed light required a complete headlamp replacement costing nearly $3,000 out of pocket. s…”
2026-09-13 · Exterior Lighting“i am reporting a severe and known thermal design defect regarding the factory led headlight assemblies on the 2021 land rover defender 110.the integrated daytime running light (drl) led module has completely failed and burned out prematurely on my vehicle (current mileage: 66,800). this is a well-documented engineering failure across the l663 defen…”
2026-08-17 · Exterior Lighting“driver side daytime running lamp illumination failed at 45 thousand miles. there is no internal notification of the failure and it failed prematurely. its outside of the jlr warranty and they are not supporting any repair nor is the dealer who wants to replace both lamps at the cost of $6,000. …”
2026-08-13 · Unknown Or Other“on xxx at approximately 8:10am i received this red warning on my vehicle: "ok to drive with caution. hybrid system fault detected." i was driving my daughter to daycare at the time and didn't feel safe continuing to do that. my wife had to drive 25minutes to come and get us and safely continue our trip. no other issues with the vehicle prior to thi…”
2026-08-05 · Exterior Lighting“the left headlight daytime running light has died due to a defective chip in the light itself. it may cause a higher chance of a daytime wreck because of reduced visibility. also, more chance of me getting pulled over for my headlight not working. apparently it’s a common issue that jlr know about, but won’t do anything. jaguar land rover (jlr) s…”
2026-08-04 · Electrical System“the contact owns a 2021 land rover defender. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 26v248000 (electrical system); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. the local dealer was contacted. the contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the manufact…”
2026-07-06 · Structure · 35,000 mi“the contact owns a 2021 land rover defender. the contact stated that while driving at highway speeds, the driver-side windshield exterior a-pillar trim detached from the vehicle and blocked the driver-side rearview mirror, obstructing rear visibility. the vehicle was driven to the shoulder of the highway, and the detached a-pillar trim was complete…”
2026-04-27 · Exterior Lighting“headlight drl failure - it's safety issue. this is known issue with defenders but when i contacted local dealer in atlanta area, they refused to replace it without me paying $3200. …”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.