2021 Land Rover Defender exterior lighting problems
13 owner complaints filed with NHTSA name the exterior lighting on the 2021 Land Rover Defender — 33% of all complaints for this model 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…”
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.”
filed Aug 17, 2026
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Related recalls
- A voltage spike, triggered by a bright light shining on the rear of the vehicle, can…Campaign 21V435000 · Jun 8, 2021
Exterior Lighting problems in other Defender years
| Year | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 Defender | 2 | 8% |
| 2023 Defender | 6 | 7% |
| 2022 Defender | 13 | 18% |
| 2020 Defender | 19 | 35% |
Other reported problem areas on the 2021 Land Rover Defender
Counts are unique NHTSA complaints naming this component group. Complaints are unverified owner reports; mileage is computed only from complaints that included a usable odometer reading.