Land Rover Defender MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The Defender is 2.1 percentage points above the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is above average. The unadjusted figure is 72.8%; the difference is what the age and mileage of this model’s fleet was hiding.

DVSA recorded wording

Most common failure items

Share of failed Land Rover Defender tests in which each item was recorded. One failed test often lists several items, so these do not sum to 100%.

1. 1.A shock absorber bush excessively worn14.4%

   3,872 occurrencesShock absorber defective explained

2. 2.A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning12.7%

   3,417 occurrencesLamp not working explained

3. 3.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded11.1%

   2,989 occurrencesBrake pipe corroded explained

4. 4.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen9.4%

   2,536 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

5. 5.The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired8.4%

   2,270 occurrencesSuspension mounting corroded or insecure explained

6. 6.An obligatory rear fog lamp missing, or a front or rear fog lamp inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning8.0%

   2,155 occurrencesLamp not working explained

7. 7.Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc7.1%

   1,910 occurrencesSteering rack gaiter split, damaged or missing explained

8. 8.Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning7.1%

   1,905 occurrencesStop lamp not working explained

9. 9.Body, cab or chassis excessively corroded at a mounting point6.5%

   1,761 occurrencesCorrosion in a structural area explained

10. 10.A wheel bearing with excessive play6.4%

    1,729 occurrencesWheel bearing has excessive play or is rough explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Land Rover Defender tests carrying each advisory. The denominator differs from the failure list above because an advisory can be issued on a car that passed.

1. 1.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded17.4%

   20,844 testsBrake pipe corroded explained

2. 2.Fluid leaking excessively and likely to harm the environment or to pose a safety risk to other road users15.3%

   18,290 tests

3. 3.A tyre seriously damaged9.8%

   11,767 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

4. 4.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured9.7%

   11,658 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

5. 5.A shock absorber bush excessively worn8.5%

   10,134 testsShock absorber defective explained

6. 6.A wheel bearing with excessive play7.7%

   9,262 testsWheel bearing has excessive play or is rough explained

7. 7.Unknown (32135)7.4%

   8,887 tests

8. 8.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened7.0%

   8,356 testsRoad spring broken or fractured explained

How wear changes the picture

Pass rate by vehicle age

Bands holding too few tests to be meaningful are omitted rather than shown as a rate.

What gets tested

The Defender fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

96,844

Across examples of every age, so this is a description of the fleet rather than an annual figure.

Fuel mix of tested cars

Diesel94.7%

Petrol4.1%

Hybrid1.0%

Compare within the range

Other Land Rover models

• Land Rover Range Rover Evoque — 82.3% adjusted
• Land Rover Discovery — 80.1% adjusted
• Land Rover Range Rover Sport — 81.1% adjusted
• Land Rover Discovery Sport — 81.9% adjusted
• Land Rover Freelander — 72.6% adjusted
• Land Rover Range Rover — 82.4% adjusted
• All Land Rover models →

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

• Volvo XC60 — 79.1% adjusted, ranked 62
• Audi Q5 — 81.6% adjusted, ranked 42
• Dacia Sandero — 64.4% adjusted, ranked 226
• Ford Ranger — 70.5% adjusted, ranked 166

Common questions

Is the Land Rover Defender reliable?

On MOT evidence the Land Rover Defender is above average. It passes 74.4% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%. That figure covers 77% of the national age and mileage range, which is enough to quote but not to rank. This measures how often the car meets the MOT standard, not how often it breaks down or what a repair costs.

What is the most common MOT failure on a Land Rover Defender?

The item recorded most often is "A shock absorber bush excessively worn", which appears in 14.4% of failed Land Rover Defender tests. Because one failed test can list several items, these shares do not add up to 100%.

What do testers most often warn about on a Land Rover Defender?

The most common advisory is "Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded", noted on 17.4% of all Land Rover Defender tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Land Rover Defender usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 96,844 miles. This is the mileage across all tested examples of every age, not an annual figure, so treat it as a description of the fleet rather than a target for one car.

Does a Land Rover Defender get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 91.1% of Land Rover Defender tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 66.4%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Are most Land Rover Defender models petrol or diesel?

Of the Land Rover Defender cars tested, 95% are diesel, 4% are petrol, 1% are hybrid. Fuel type affects which items tend to fail, particularly emissions and exhaust components.

How this was worked out

Method and limits

Figures come from the DVSA anonymised MOT testing dataset, published under the Open Government Licence. Only class 4 initial tests are counted: retests are excluded so a car appears once, and abandoned tests are excluded entirely. The adjusted rate is directly standardised across twenty-five age and mileage bands and reweighted onto the national distribution, so this model is compared against cars that have lived a similar life rather than against a younger or lighter-used fleet.

An MOT measures whether a car met a legal standard on the day. It is not a breakdown record, a service history or a running-cost estimate, and a pass rate is a property of a fleet rather than a prediction about one car.

Further reading

Make sense of the numbers

• How to judge reliability from evidence rather than reputation
• What counts as high or low mileage for a car’s age
• The most common MOT failures and how to avoid them
• What to check before buying a used Land Rover