2020 Land Rover DEFENDER

Problems, Recalls & Reliability Report

Average

Quick Summary

The 2020 Land Rover DEFENDER has 60 owner complaints filed with NHTSA — that's 0.8x the segment average of 80. The most common issue is lighting problems (23% of all complaints), specifically: 1. head light escutcheon blocks light in direction of right or left turn. when turning, this leaves the corner in the dark. 2. the touch screen display is "white", and too bright when driving at night. very distracting. should have been a black background, with white info.. ⚠️ 2 fire reports filed.

2 fire reports 2 crash reports 2 injuries

Total Complaints

Recalls Issued

—/5

Safety Stars

0.8x

vs Segment Avg

Known Problems

LIGHTING

14 complaints

23%

• 1. HEAD LIGHT ESCUTCHEON BLOCKS LIGHT IN DIRECTION OF RIGHT OR LEFT TURN. WHEN TURNING, THIS LEAVES THE CORNER IN THE DARK. 2. THE TOUCH SCREEN DISPLAY IS "WHITE", AND TOO BRIGHT WHEN DRIVING AT NIGHT. VERY DISTRACTING. SHOULD HAVE BEEN A BLACK BACKGROUND, WITH WHITE INFO.
• THE CONE OF LIGHT PROJECTED FORWARD BY THE HEADLIGHTS IS TOO NARROW. WHEN TURNING RIGHT OR LEFT FROM ONE DARK ROAD ONTO ANOTHER DARK ROAD, ONE CANNOT DETERMINE IF IT IS SAFE TO TURN. THE LIGHT CONE IS BLOCKED BY THE ESCUTCHEON AROUND THE HEADLIGHT, WHICH ARE SET INWARD TOO DEEP.
• I sell car parts and accessories online through my website powerfulUK.com and I have sold a quantity of smoked rear lights for the Defender 2021 models to the USA. These lights are fitted as an upgrade to the standard lights as they are smoked/tinted. These smoked lights are the subject of a recall

Typical onset: 50K miles Est. repair: $500

“1. HEAD LIGHT ESCUTCHEON BLOCKS LIGHT IN DIRECTION OF RIGHT OR LEFT TURN. WHEN TURNING, THIS LEAVES THE CORNER IN THE DARK. 2. THE TOUCH SCREEN DISPLAY IS "WHITE", AND TOO BRIGHT WHEN DRIVING AT NIGHT. VERY DISTRACTING. SHOULD HAVE BEEN A BLACK BACKGROUND, WITH WHITE INFO.”

— NHTSA complaint filing

ELECTRICAL

8 complaints

13%

• WHILE DRIVING MY VEHICLE AT HIGH SPEEDS ON AN INTERSTATE, THE BATTERY WARNING LIGHT ACTIVATED. BEFORE I WAS ABLE TO PULL THE VEHICLE OVER THE AIR CONDITIONER I'LL PROBABLY BEGIN TO STOP WORKING. FOLLOWING THIS, A SERIES OF MULTIPLE WARNING LIGHTS ACTIVATED. THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AND I WAS
• I was driving at a speed of 66 miles when the engine died, the cluster showed a red triangle and showed an alarm setting message. Steering wheel vibrate and I could not moved. This event last around 3 seconds and the alarm disappeared and the engine came back.
• Engine light came on while at a stop light, engine faltered completely and car stalled. Would not restart. Shifted car into Park and tried multiple times to restart, finally got it restarted. Rolled forward per the flow of traffic and engine died again in the middle of the intersection putti

Typical onset: 50K miles Est. repair: $500🔥 1 fire reports

“WHILE DRIVING MY VEHICLE AT HIGH SPEEDS ON AN INTERSTATE, THE BATTERY WARNING LIGHT ACTIVATED. BEFORE I WAS ABLE TO PULL THE VEHICLE OVER THE AIR CONDITIONER I'LL PROBABLY BEGIN TO STOP WORKING. FOLLOWING THIS, A SERIES OF MULTIPLE WARNING LIGHTS ACTIVATED. THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AND I WAS”

— NHTSA complaint filing

STEERING

7 complaints

12%

• WHILE DRIVING ON STRAIGHT HIGHWAY, THE VEHICLE'S LANE KEEP ASSIST FEATURE WHICH WAS TURNED OFF (THE DEFAULT POSITION) ACTIVATED AUTOMATICALLY WITHOUT DRIVER INPUT OR WARNING AND CAUSED THE STEERING WHEEL TO TURN AND ABRUPTLY MOVED THE VEHICLE FROM SIDE TO SIDE. THIS REQUIRED THE DRIVER TO TAKE CORRE
• TOTAL BRAKE AND STEERING LOSS AT 60MPH ..I CAN SEND YOU THE SCREEN SHOTS TOMORROW/ NOVEMBER 23RD (PROM THE PHOTOS TAKEN ON MY SON'S PHONE OF THE DASHBOARD NOTICE...PLUS A VIRTUAL GHOST-LIKE ABRUPT TAKE OVER OF LANE ASSISTANCE DESPITE MY HAVING TURNED THAT OFF!
• Steering wheel locked and I was unable to drive the car. Tried to start and restart but the steering wheel is locked and a safety hazard for me.

Typical onset: 50K miles Est. repair: $500🔥 1 fire reports

“WHILE DRIVING ON STRAIGHT HIGHWAY, THE VEHICLE'S LANE KEEP ASSIST FEATURE WHICH WAS TURNED OFF (THE DEFAULT POSITION) ACTIVATED AUTOMATICALLY WITHOUT DRIVER INPUT OR WARNING AND CAUSED THE STEERING WHEEL TO TURN AND ABRUPTLY MOVED THE VEHICLE FROM SIDE TO SIDE. THIS REQUIRED THE DRIVER TO TAKE CORRE”

— NHTSA complaint filing

VISIBILITY

7 complaints

12%

• I WAS AT A RED LIGHT AND COULD NOT TURN ON THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS DURING A RAINSTORM. I TOOK A VIDEO OF THE INCIDENT BUT IT IS TOO LARGE TO UPLOAD TO YOUR WEBSITE
• The contact owns a 2020 Land Rover Defender. The contact stated that while driving at 25 mph, she lost control of the vehicle and crashed into two mailboxes but the vehicle kept driving down a curved road onto the left lane. The brakes had failed to engage. The contact did not receive medical attent
• My windshield cracked with no apparent strike with under 5K miles on the vehicle. Researching this, LOTS of people experience broken windshields on Defenders and Land Rover products. There are lots of discussion in online owners' forums about the frequency of this and some notion that JLR uses gla

Typical onset: 50K miles Est. repair: $500💥 1 crashes

“I WAS AT A RED LIGHT AND COULD NOT TURN ON THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS DURING A RAINSTORM. I TOOK A VIDEO OF THE INCIDENT BUT IT IS TOO LARGE TO UPLOAD TO YOUR WEBSITE”

— NHTSA complaint filing

ENGINE

7 complaints

12%

• TOTAL BRAKE AND STEERING LOSS AT 60MPH ..I CAN SEND YOU THE SCREEN SHOTS TOMORROW/ NOVEMBER 23RD (PROM THE PHOTOS TAKEN ON MY SON'S PHONE OF THE DASHBOARD NOTICE...PLUS A VIRTUAL GHOST-LIKE ABRUPT TAKE OVER OF LANE ASSISTANCE DESPITE MY HAVING TURNED THAT OFF!
• I was driving at a speed of 66 miles when the engine died, the cluster showed a red triangle and showed an alarm setting message. Steering wheel vibrate and I could not moved. This event last around 3 seconds and the alarm disappeared and the engine came back.
• Hello! My 2020 P400 Defender is repeatedly not restarting itself at stoplights when the standard auto start/stop functionality engages. Upon removing my foot from the brake pedal to begin moving, what normally happens is thst the engine restarts itself and I drive off as normal. However, at le

Typical onset: 50K miles Est. repair: $500

“TOTAL BRAKE AND STEERING LOSS AT 60MPH ..I CAN SEND YOU THE SCREEN SHOTS TOMORROW/ NOVEMBER 23RD (PROM THE PHOTOS TAKEN ON MY SON'S PHONE OF THE DASHBOARD NOTICE...PLUS A VIRTUAL GHOST-LIKE ABRUPT TAKE OVER OF LANE ASSISTANCE DESPITE MY HAVING TURNED THAT OFF!”

— NHTSA complaint filing

Estimated Repair Costs

LIGHTING(~50K mi)

$500

ELECTRICAL(~50K mi)

$500

STEERING(~50K mi)

$500

VISIBILITY(~50K mi)

$500

ENGINE(~50K mi)

$500

Estimates based on average reported repair costs. Actual costs vary by location, shop, and severity.

🔍 Pre-Purchase Inspection Checklist

Based on 60 owner complaints for this specific year, here's what to check or ask about:

☐
LIGHTING: 1. HEAD LIGHT ESCUTCHEON BLOCKS LIGHT IN DIRECTION OF RIGHT OR LEFT TURN. WHEN TURNING, THIS LEAVES THE CORNER IN THE DARK. 2. THE TOUCH SCREEN DISPLAY IS "WHITE", AND TOO BRIGHT WHEN DRIVING AT NIGHT. VERY DISTRACTING. SHOULD HAVE BEEN A BLACK BACKGROUND, WITH WHITE INFO.
Typically appears around 50K miles. Repair cost ~$500
☐
ELECTRICAL: WHILE DRIVING MY VEHICLE AT HIGH SPEEDS ON AN INTERSTATE, THE BATTERY WARNING LIGHT ACTIVATED. BEFORE I WAS ABLE TO PULL THE VEHICLE OVER THE AIR CONDITIONER I'LL PROBABLY BEGIN TO STOP WORKING. FOLLOWING THIS, A SERIES OF MULTIPLE WARNING LIGHTS ACTIVATED. THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AND I WAS
Typically appears around 50K miles. Repair cost ~$500
☐
STEERING: WHILE DRIVING ON STRAIGHT HIGHWAY, THE VEHICLE'S LANE KEEP ASSIST FEATURE WHICH WAS TURNED OFF (THE DEFAULT POSITION) ACTIVATED AUTOMATICALLY WITHOUT DRIVER INPUT OR WARNING AND CAUSED THE STEERING WHEEL TO TURN AND ABRUPTLY MOVED THE VEHICLE FROM SIDE TO SIDE. THIS REQUIRED THE DRIVER TO TAKE CORRE
Typically appears around 50K miles. Repair cost ~$500
☐
VISIBILITY: I WAS AT A RED LIGHT AND COULD NOT TURN ON THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS DURING A RAINSTORM. I TOOK A VIDEO OF THE INCIDENT BUT IT IS TOO LARGE TO UPLOAD TO YOUR WEBSITE
Typically appears around 50K miles. Repair cost ~$500
☐
General: Get a pre-purchase inspection from an independent mechanic ($100-$200)