Complaints about the 2025 Land Rover Defender peaked in 2025, with 2 filed
Owner complaints about this model year, by the year they were filed with NHTSA.
SUV, hybrid, AWD/All-Wheel Drive, built in Slovakia. Owner complaints on file from Jul 9, 2025 to Sep 10, 2026.
Owner complaints about this model year, by the year they were filed with NHTSA.
Owner complaints by component. Hover or focus a bar for the crash, fire, injury or death count.
Check a specific vehicle by VIN on NHTSA's site: a campaign may cover only part of a model year's production.
| Campaign | Filed | Subject | Component | Vehicles | Remedy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26V-389 | Jun 12, 2026 | Driver’s air bag clockspring connector may corrode, which can cause the air bag not to deploy as intended | Airbags | 250,857 | Repair or modification |
| 24E-102 | Dec 6, 2024 | Raised air intake may not be secured properly, which can allow the intake to detach from the vehicle | Equipment | 485 | Repair or modification |
The full text of every complaint filed with NHTSA about this model year, newest first. Complaints are filed by owners and are not verified by NHTSA; NHTSA removes personal details before publishing.
13 complaints on file, page 1 of 1.
My child was in the car seat and I noticed that the harness was not staying tight. I did research and apparently if a small object and or crumbs gets stuck under the fastener the harness won’t lock in place. I reached out to the manufacturer and they failed to do anything about this. They have no warnings regarding it and did not want to replace it. Something must be down, if this is happening on mine it is happening to many others.
NHTSA complaint 11763448The windshield cracked the 1st week owned the car. Land Rover didn’t warranty the windshield and have to buy a new one for 2500. The second windshield got a rock chip and now it expanded into a crack over 3 days.
NHTSA complaint 11750447I am now on my 4th windshield on my 2025 Land Rover Defender 110. I have had 5 chips/cracks on these windshields. Only 1 crack was from a rock that you might expect glass breakage, the others were all caused by small pebble sized road gravel that was more like insect splatter. Safelite was repairing 1 very small chip and the windshield cracked during this common repair. Clearly the provided glass is substandard and should be upgraded for all Land Rover Defenders. I now never drive this car without the thought of another windshield break that’s about to occur.
NHTSA complaint 11736334I am now on my 4th windshield on my 2025 Land Rover Defender 110. I have had 5 chips/cracks on these windshields. Only 1 crack was from a rock that you might expect glass breakage, the others were all caused by small pebble sized road gravel that was more like insect splatter. Safelite was repairing 1 very small chip and the windshield cracked during this common repair. Clearly the provided glass is substandard and should be upgraded for all Land Rover Defenders. I now never drive this car without the thought of another windshield break that’s about to occur.
NHTSA complaint 11736333I am now on my 4th windshield on my 2025 Land Rover Defender 110. I have had 5 chips/cracks on these windshields. Only 1 crack was from a rock that you might expect glass breakage, the others were all caused by small pebble sized road gravel that was more like insect splatter. Safelite was repairing 1 very small chip and the windshield cracked during this common repair. Clearly the provided glass is substandard and should be upgraded for all Land Rover Defenders. I now never drive this car without the thought of another windshield break that’s about to occur.
NHTSA complaint 1173633130 years of car ownership have never had a chipped or cracked windshield. 2025 Land Rover Defender has had 3 rock chips in a year and now a 20" crack from very minor impact from a pebble. This windshield has a design flaw and is extremely fragile.
NHTSA complaint 11726310Driving down the road and my windshield spontaneously cracked. No road debris, no rock, no trauma or accident.
NHTSA complaint 11721273While driving on Back Rd in New Hampshire at approximately 30 mph on Saturday, Feb 14, the vehicle suddenly lost power steering assist and simultaneously shifted into neutral. I received warning messages and immediately lost propulsion. Luckily, there was no traffic on the road with me, but that is not always the case on this particular road. I had to manually steer the vehicle without power assist and muscle it to the side of the roadway. The vehicle was disabled in the road and required towing. The vehicle has approximately 5,400 miles and is a 2025 model year, purchased in late June of 2025. The dealer has indicated the likely cause is a failed DC-DC converter, and I have been told the part is on backorder with extended delays. I've look online at forums, and it sounds like this is a widespread known issue that effects Land Rover cars with model years of 2022 and potentially prior as well. This sudden loss of steering assist and propulsion created a safety hazard in traffic, and it is possible that Land Rover has known about this issue for awhile.
NHTSA complaint 11718508The DC converter went bad and within 30 seconds while driving on the highway I got a battery warning and then the car went into neutral and stopped and went into park and the car turned off in the middle of the road and couldn’t be moved at all. Luckily some cops came and protected the car from behind until a tow truck came. The part needed is out of stock and may not be in stock for months!
NHTSA complaint 11717995I had the car while driving loss of power then engine light came on. Dealer twice checked and stated no issue until they tested and found that the replacement of the Hybrid battery system was issue. I've found this same issue with Converter system showing up with others on the facebook 'The New Defender Owners' group. It seems to be a larger issue JLR is not telling people about that has been issue over a couple years.
NHTSA complaint 11709570The 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 complaint 11708566I 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 complaint 11690159Front 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 complaint 11672321Technical service bulletins and other notices the manufacturer sent to dealers. A bulletin is not a recall; the 60 most recent are listed.