Common problems

Land Rover Defender (before 2020) common problems

What MOT testers find on the Land Rover Defender (before 2020): the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 291,433 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025. These figures cover cars first used before 2020. Later cars sold under the same name are not included; see Land Rover Defender cars first used 2020 or later.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 10 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=20,497)14.7

All cars at 10 years (n=9,049,507)11.2

Brakes advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=20,497)20.1

All cars, same age (n=9,049,507)21.6

What stands out

Lights and electrics fails show up on 14.7 of every 100 MOTs of a Land Rover Defender (before 2020) at 10 years old (n=20,497), against 11.2 for all cars of that age (n=9,049,507).
Tyres fails are less common: 1.7 per 100 MOTs against 6.9 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 10 years: side/position light not working, on 4.7 per 100 MOTs (all cars 2.4).
The most common advisory or minor defect: rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material, on 11.3 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 10 years

How many of every 100 MOTs found a fail, or an advisory or minor defect, in each area. A test with faults in two areas counts in both.

Land Rover Defender (before 2020) at 10 years (n=20,497) against all cars at 10 years (n=9,049,507). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	14.7	11.2	2.8	5.9
Brakes	6.0	6.5	20.1	21.6
Suspension	5.2	9.7	14.2	18.2
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	4.9	4.4	4.9	3.9
Steering	3.4	2.1	8.3	2.4
Tyres	1.7	6.9	8.5	26.4
Body and structure	1.3	2.9	1.8	3.9
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	1.1	2.8	6.2	4.0
Number plates and VIN	0.6	0.3	2.0	2.0
Seat belts and airbags	0.5	0.7	4.3	0.4
Road wheels	under 0.1	0.4	under 0.1	0.8

What testers fail most on the Defender (before 2020) at 10 years

Fail items on the Land Rover Defender (before 2020) at 10 years (n=20,497), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=9,049,507).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Side/position light not working	Lights and electrics	4.7	2.4	£10 to £47 per lamp
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	3.1	2.0	£10 to £47 per lamp
Shock absorbers: has an excessively worn bush	Suspension	3.0	0.2	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded	Brakes	2.5	0.5	£137 to £392 per car (rough guide)
Wipers not clearing screen	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	2.3	1.8	£15 to £30 per blade
Headlamp aim: too low	Lights and electrics	2.0	1.2	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Headlight aimed too high	Lights and electrics	1.8	0.8	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	1.5	2.1	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps	Lights and electrics	1.5	1.2	£10 to £47 per lamp
Reversing lamps: inoperative	Lights and electrics	1.3	0.2	£10 to £47 per lamp

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 10 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Advisories and minor defects on the Land Rover Defender (before 2020) at 10 years (n=20,497), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=9,049,507).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material	Brakes	11.3	2.8	£137 to £392 per car (rough guide)
Shock absorbers: has a slightly worn bush	Suspension	8.0	0.3	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	5.4	9.6	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	5.4	8.1	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	4.1	17.0	£88 to £145 per tyre
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	3.8	8.6	£88 to £145 per tyre
Transmission oil leaks: leak, but not excessive	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	3.5	0.5
Windscreen: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	3.2	2.4
Seat belt condition: webbing slightly damaged or frayed	Seat belts and airbags	2.6	0.2
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	2.5	3.4

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

How problems change with age

Fails per 100 MOTs in the three most common areas at 10 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Brakes	Suspension
6 years	1,902	10.0	4.1	3.2
7 years	8,529	11.9	4.1	3.7
8 years	14,244	13.1	4.8	4.1
9 years	18,539	13.6	5.2	4.3
10 years	20,497	14.7	6.0	5.2
11 years	17,896	16.7	7.2	6.1
12 years	16,016	16.8	7.9	7.3
13 years	15,281	16.9	8.8	8.2
14 years	15,080	15.9	9.7	9.1
15 years	15,057	16.0	10.0	9.4
16 years	14,742	16.2	10.2	9.5
17 years	15,548	16.3	10.4	10.7
18 years	16,022	16.4	10.5	11.2
19 years	16,519	16.9	10.5	11.1
20 years	16,718	17.0	10.5	11.8
21 years	15,682	17.9	10.7	12.0
22 years	14,450	18.0	10.1	12.8
23 years	12,960	18.7	10.0	13.1
24 years	12,663	19.6	9.3	12.9
25 years	13,088	19.8	9.2	12.8

Mileage

At 10 years, Land Rover Defender (before 2020) cars showing under 30,000 miles failed 12.2% of MOTs (n=3,945); the band that failed most, 90,000 to 120,000 miles, failed 33.8% (n=2,143). For pass and fail rates by age, see Land Rover Defender MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Land Rover Defender (before 2020), testers most often record side/position light not working; brake light not working; shock absorbers: has an excessively worn bush. Look at these first, then the areas below.

Lights and electrics

With someone outside, try every light: dipped and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and number plate lamps.
Check that the warning lights come on with the ignition and go out once the engine runs.
Look for misted, cracked or yellowed headlamp lenses.

Brakes

On the test drive the car should stop in a straight line without pulling, juddering or grinding.
Look at the discs through the wheels for a deep lip, heavy rust or scoring.
Check that the handbrake or electronic parking brake holds the car on a slope.
Ask when the pads, discs and brake fluid were last changed, and for the receipts.

Suspension

Listen for knocks or clonks over speed bumps and rough roads on the test drive.
Push down hard on each corner: the car should settle at once rather than keep bouncing.
Look behind the wheels for broken or heavily rusted coil springs and split rubber bushes.
Check that the car sits level and that no tyre is worn on one edge only.

Ask for the car's MOT history and service record: advisories that repeat from one year to the next show what has been left. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the most common problems on the Land Rover Defender (before 2020)?

At 10 years, the age with the most MOT tests (20,497), the fail items testers record most often on the Land Rover Defender (before 2020) are side/position light not working (4.7 per 100 MOTs), brake light not working (3.1 per 100 MOTs), shock absorbers: has an excessively worn bush (3.0 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material (11.3) and shock absorbers: has a slightly worn bush (8.0).

Which parts of the Land Rover Defender (before 2020) fail more often than on other cars?

At 10 years: lights and electrics (14.7 per 100 MOTs against 11.2 for all cars); steering (3.4 per 100 MOTs against 2.1 for all cars). Compared with 9,049,507 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Land Rover Defender (before 2020) problems by area

Other Land Rover models

All Land Rover models · Common problems by make

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Land Rover Defender (before 2020)?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

See a sample report Car tools · MOT fail rates by model · Compare models by MOT record

Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 28 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources