2021 Land Rover Defender problems & reliability
39 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2021 Land Rover Defender, alongside 8 safety recall campaigns. Last verified Sep 22, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several components.
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2021 Land Rover Defender vehicles were involved in 1 fatal crash with 0 occupant deaths. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Exterior Lighting → | 13 | 33% |
| Visibility/wiper → | 12 | 31% |
| Electrical System | 5 | 13% |
| Unknown / Other | 4 | 10% |
| Structure | 3 | 8% |
| Back Over Prevention | 1 | 3% |
| Engine | 1 | 3% |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 1 | 3% |
| Lane Departure | 1 | 3% |
| Steering | 1 | 3% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
All 12 reported components →Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“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…”
Exterior Lighting · filed Sep 13, 2026
“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.”
Exterior Lighting · filed Aug 17, 2026
“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…”
Electrical System · filed Aug 13, 2026
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Technical service bulletins
513 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2021 Land Rover Defender. The 10 most recent:
TCU Activation Failure And InControl App Inoperative After Software Update
SSM76492 - 20AUG26 · Other · issued Aug 21, 2026
Air Conditioning Inoperative / Intermittent Operation
SSM76487 - 20AUG26 · Other · issued Aug 21, 2026
Intermittent Passive Entry Operation 24MY Or With New Service Smart Key Fob.
SSM76477 - 21JUL26 · Other · issued Jul 22, 2026
Exhaust System Oxygen (O2) Sensors - Extended Warranty
E002 - 20JUL26 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 20, 2026
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.
SSM76324 - 06JUL26 · Other · issued Jul 6, 2026
Software Over The Air (SOTA) updates are failing to complete. Specifically Vehicle Domain Controller (VDC) PIVI and Gateway Module A (GWM). These vehicles have now been stopped from further SOTA attempts and require a…
N869 Defender 16JUN26 · Other · issued Jun 16, 2026
Software Over The Air (SOTA) updates are failing to complete. Specifically Vehicle Domain Controller (VDC) PIVI and Gateway Module A (GWM). These vehicles have now been stopped from further SOTA attempts and require a…
N869 Defender 15MAY26 · Other · issued May 16, 2026
Door Zone Module - Quiescent Drain
N811 Defender 15MAY26 · Other · issued May 16, 2026
The transfer case clutch and / or All Wheel Drive (AWD) lock cannot perform as designed. This may show as a reduction in torque to the front axle during driving or as an inability to apply the AWD lock.
D006 Defender 15MAY26 · Other · issued May 15, 2026
Arduous customer drive cycles have been found to accelerate the degradation of engine oil, leading to generation of engine oil sludge deposits in high pressure engine oil galleries of the engine and inside the…
N892v3 - 01MAY26 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 1, 2026
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2021 Land Rover Defender has 8 NHTSA recall campaigns — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2021 Land Rover Defender?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.