2021 Land Rover Defender Complaint Log

Both daytime running lights failed simultaneously. Not covered by warranty and told that they would cost >$5,000 to repair. There have been hundreds of these reported and it should be a recall

DC/DC converter failure

The daytime running lights (DRL) have failed in the passenger side. After some quick research, it's apparent that this is a widespread issue with the "Signature" halo lights in the Defender headlamp assembly. Reddit discussion: [XXX] ) Here is a Youtube video showing the issue and "fix". So many people have had this same issue that this guy figured out the problem: [XXX] ) The original warranty would have covered it but my warranty just expired earlier this year and the extended warranty will not cover it. The dealership is telling me that the entire headlamp assembly will need trashed and replaced all because this small "chip" within the unit has failed. The cost to repair is close to $3,000. Seeing that the issue causes the DRL's to fail which could lead to a failed vehicle inspection, the issue should be reported more widely and a recall should be issued. Thank you for your time! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The halo headlight went out, and I have an extended warranty that supposedly doesn't cover it. After researching, this seems to be a national event. The headlights need to be recalled and the manufacturer needs to be held accountable.

The contact owned a 2021 Land Rover Defender. The contact stated that after refueling the vehicle, the contact noticed a fuel odor while driving. The contact continued driving; however, the fuel odor had grown stronger. The contact arrived at the residence and inspected the vehicle, and became aware that the main fuel line had fractured, causing fuel to leak onto the engine. The dealer was informed of the failure and confirmed that the vehicle was no longer covered under warranty, and there was no recall on the VIN related to the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact traded the vehicle with another dealer, Courtesy Subaru 601 E Omaha St, Rapid City, SD 57701, and no longer owns the vehicle. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and confirmed that the repair was not covered under a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.

On or about August 7 or 8, my wife was driving our vehicle when it suddenly stalled and stopped running. Prior to this incident, we received a warning that the battery was low and that the vehicle needed to be started immediately. On August 9, I replaced the battery. That same day, we contacted the dealership where we purchased the vehicle and reported the issue. We were advised not to drive the car and instead have it towed to the dealership for inspection. In researching the problem, I found information about recall N599, which involves vehicles of this model year suddenly stalling. However, when I entered my VIN, no active recalls were shown for my vehicle. Given the similarity of the issue we experienced to the recall description, I believe my vehicle should be included. The vehicle is currently in the dealership’s shop undergoing a computer system reset, but I strongly feel any necessary repairs related to this stalling issue should be covered under the recall. My primary concern is the safety of this vehicle for my family and all passengers, and I request that this matter be reviewed and addressed under recall coverage.

Vehicle suspension fault detected light turned on. Vehicle keeps adjusting on its own while on the freeway in traffic. Feels like it stalls. Hear popping noise. Vehicle only had 14k miles and was never used for off roading.

See attached document for complaint.

1. The driver side DAYTIME Running Light has failed as of 1/20/25. 2. Some states require the DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS to be operating. (So, I need to replace this headlamp.) 3. Three auto repair companies have confirmed the DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS are not operating and the entire headlight will need to be replaced. 4. No warning lights are available for the Daytime Running Lights. I found the issue while observing the front headlights of the Defender. 5. The issue is that I have been told by 3 different auto repair companies that numerous Defenders have the same issue. The Daytime Running Lights have failed and the entire Head Lamp has to be replaced. 6. The auto techs say this seems to be a BAD SUPPLY CHAIN and the issue should be addressed by Land Rover. This is due to so many Defenders having the same issue. 7. In addition, I was told by every auto company that the passenger side DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHT would be going bad anyday because these headlamps are a problem on Defenders. 8. Land Rover has told me I will have to pay around $4,000 and up to $5,000 to have Land Rover replace the entire HEAD LAMP that has failed on many 2021, 2022, and 2023 Defenders. 9. This is WRONG when Land Rover Defenders have so many Daytime Running Lights Head Lamps going out. There is a BAD SUPPLY CHAIN problem I believe just like the auto techs have told me. 10. I firmly believe some Defenders owners don't even know their Daytime Running Lights are out. It takes you actually checking out the front of your vehicle and noticing the head lamps. (Also, some owners just have the head lamp replaced and write the check.) Please help me with Land Rover replacing this headlamp with a headlamp that doesn't have issues. Land Rover North America should be held responsible for this common Daytime Running Light problem.

a random crack appeared without incident in the front window and proceeded to progress across rapidly where repair was not an option.

The windshield of the vehicle had a crack form from the upper passenger corner down to the middle of the glass then turning towards the middle of the glass. It is about 16 inches long and the temperature was a modest 85 degrees F.

It happened after being parked at work for 9hrs. The “lane assist not available!” warning came on when I started the car. I noticed the steering wheel was VERY hard to turn. You have to use both hands and lean with body weight to turn the wheel a few inches which when the car is at a stand-still. It did get a little easier if the car was moving. The screen didn’t dim but now I recall, just for a few seconds, part of the cameras on the display screen were grayed out when I put it in reverse. This only happened once for a short time during the multiple engine on/off cycles I tried hoping it would go away. The “20 sec pivi reboot” didn’t fix it (I tried it about 3 times). Walking away and coming back didn’t fix it.

The passenger side headlight is malfunctioning. The halo and outer bulbs do not come on which disables the daylight running lights and reduces the effectiveness of the headlight at night. There is no warning light or message indicating the failure. The vehicle has been inspected by the manufacturer’s dealer and they confirmed that the headlight is faulty. I feel like this issue should be repaired by the manufacturer and at their expense. My research has shown that this is a common issue in this vehicle and is reason for a recall.

Ever since I purchased my Defender back in 2021, the instrument cluster automatically dims. Usually when at dusk or dawn, the cluster dims so much, it is impossible to read with sunglasses, and very poorly lit without sunglasses. I have the dimmer switch set to the brightest setting, but it still automatically dims despite being set to the brightest.

Since I got Certified Pre-Owned 2021 Defender 90 First Edition exactly a month ago I noticed at speeds higher than 65mph a crackling noise that sounded like sand hitting my windshield and assumed it was coming from the windshield wipers being "loose" since the noise came from both front sides. Today while driving on the highway at about 70mph I heard a loud noise coming from the front right side of the car and when I looked the right windshield pillar molding had broken off and was hanging by the bottom. I had to pull over immediately and saw that the molding had broken off from the pillar and the plastic plugs were broken and therefore not able to be re-attached. Luckily I had Duct Tape on the car and had to use it to be able to continue my trip home. When it broke off, the molding also made scratches on the pain of the surrounding side panel and hood, plus the black door molding. During the remainder of the trip, I noticed that the crackling noise had stopped coming from the right side (since I had taped it with duct tape on all sides) however it was still coming from the left side, which led to the obvious conclusion that the moldings were not properly sealed and when in higher speeds the wind was coming in and causing the noise, and eventually led to the right side breaking. I inspected the left side molding and noticed at close look scratches on the hood pain at the base of the molding, which indicates that it had either previously broken off like what just happened to me on the right side, or had been previously assessed for the noise and the scratches happened during the process. Now that I arrived home I did a Google search and found that this is a frequent issue that many other owners experienced, I am surprised a factory recall wasn't issued for this problem, as it is dangerous since it could lead to accidents, and that the inspection for Certified cars also didn't catch the issued and addressed it.

Headlamps are faulty. Replaced the drivers side at almost the end of the 49k miles and after about another 900 miles, the passenger side went out. There is a defect with these lights and they’re back ordered through the UK. Police have told me that I have a headlight out and there is nothing I can do about this.

This vehicle has been at the dealership for six weeks waiting on both headlamp replacements. Daytime running lights do not function. Intermittent headlamp function.

Bought a used 2021 defender with 5k miles and at 12k miles my windshield while driving makes a huge popping sound and i look to see that it cracked right down the middle, startling me while driving at night. There was ABSOLUTELY nothing that hit the windshield. It was a clear night driving with no other drivers on the road nor anything above me that could have fallen out of the sky. Land rover wouldn't take responsibility had to pay 2k out of pocket to fix this at 12k miles only having the car 2 months.

6" hairline crack in windshield, no impact detected.. just appeared one morning.

The windshield spontaneously cracked from the middle of the pillar on the driver's side to the center of the windshield. No rock strikes.

2 complete windshield replacements needed since taking delivery June 2021. This incident was a small chip from a rock on the road that then spread across bottom half of drivers side windshield. These incidents are not isolated, seems other owners are reporting the same thing on this vehicle.

Windshield crack from no none source, appears to be pressure related. Happened at highway speed. Reading Defender forums this has happened to many customers, some 2-3 times

Windshield cracked for no reason. ie no chip caused by rock, etc. Happened while I was driving with no traffic.

12 inch crack developed overnight. No signs of rock hit or any other impact.

Component: windshield Issue: under adverse temperature conditions ( e.g. high temp or low temp ) the windshield can develop a sudden crack, without any external impact. Conditions: above 95 deg F or below 30 deg F ; Status: vehicle could be stationary, or in motion; Hazard to occupants: Yes; Safety concern: yes, if the vehicle is in motion the size of the crack can develop very fast and create a catastrophic failure which may impact the occupants. JLR - fails even to acknowledge any issues and denies any design fault or responsibility.

The passenger A-Pillar on the vehicle is not secure tight enough to the vehicle or the windshield allowing air to pass underneath the weather stripping that lies on the windshield. When driving at highway speeds this allows the air turbulence to create a flapping or tapping noise on the windshield caused by the weather strpping.

Problem statement: Windshield Issue: The windshield developed a sudden crack while the vehicle was stationary, with no external impact or action Conditions: stationary, outside temp: 97 deg Impacting: visibility and safety features such as cameras, sensor, and lane departure assist

The contact owns a 2021 Land Rover Defender. The contact stated that the windshield cracked without impact, causing electrical issues. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed but not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and told the contact that they were unable to assist. The failure mileage was approximately 1,500.

We have two 2021 Defender 110 SE North American Specification models and these do not have the smoked tail lights as are on another recall. When subjected to a bright light, the entire assembly of tail, brake and turn signals fails on one side of the vehicle. This is also repeatable on the rear lights on both left and right sides of both vehicles. Since the current recall only appears to cover those vehicles with smoked tail lights the recall needs to be extended to all models.

Windshield has hairline and becomes 2 differnt hairlines after a small peeble hit it Now on my 3rd windshield it happened again another hailine crack that keeps growing Land rover does not want to be responsible

2 cracked windshields, car has only 15K miles- TONS of Defender owners on FB groups and forums same- some one 4th and 5th windshields- current wait to new ones from UK is 2-4 months. Land Rover knows these are defective and won'y admit/recall, just passing this off to customer. A new windshield is $1800 a pop- people getting hit paying high deductible, getting pulled over, poor visibility, some have cracks so large that they can not operate their vehicle. Currently, I am in wait, no ETA for my 3rd new windshield- I have a large crack and 2 small chips from all separate incidents. Huge safety issue, bc cracks interfere with driver assist Dates of Cracks: Car has only 15K miles 1. May 29, 2021 2. August 18, 2021 People on New Defenders Group on Facebook have started survey for owners with the problem - and forums have tons of issues. Imagine all the owners who have only had one crack and just think it's bad luck and don't realize there's an issue?

Shortly after buying the car a small people hit the windshield while driving on the highway and broke the windshield right in the eyesight of the driver side. It was a little larger than a quarter in size and took 3 months for replacement due to back order. 2 weeks after the replacement the windshield spontaneously cracked while driving from the middle base of the windshield up and towards the passenger side about 20 inches long. Nothing hit the car, it just cracked. No heater or defrost was on. It took 6 months for replacement due to Land Rover ordering the wrong windshield and back orders. During this time the windshield got 3 more chips from pebbles/small rocks while driving. 2 weeks after this replacement a small rock hit the windshield on the driver side and chipped it about the size of a nickel. I am getting this filled tomorrow. This is clearly a defect with the windshield as I have had maybe 2 broken windshields in my life up to this point.