Owners have filed 8 complaints with NHTSA about this car, most about the wipers and visibility and transmission. The 6 checks below target those problems, in the order you would do them at the car.
2025Tick items off on your phone at the car, or print it. Ticks stay on this device.
0/6 checked
2025 Land Rover Defender 110: inspection sheet
Before you go, or before you touch the car0/4
Engine off, key in hand0/1
At least 20 minutes, with some highway0/1
These checks are specific to this model year. For tires, body panels, fluids, and the other basics every used car needs, use the general inspection guide.
Nearby years usually share most parts, so their problems are worth checking on this car too.
Worth adding to your 2025 checks
Worth adding to your 2025 checks
EPA figures for each version of the 2025 Land Rover Defender 110. Use them to confirm you are looking at the version that was advertised, and as a yardstick on the test drive.
| Version | Drive | EPA rating |
|---|---|---|
| 2.0L 4-cylGas | 4WD | 19 mpg |
| 5.0L 8-cylGas | 4WD | 16 mpg |
| 3.0L 6-cylHybrid | 4WD | 19 mpg |
| 4.4L 8-cylHybrid | 4WD | 17 mpg |
NHTSA complaints for the 2025 Land Rover Defender 110, grouped by the part owners named. Open a row to read what goes wrong.
Windshields chip and crack far more easily than owners expect. Small pebbles leave rock chips, and minor chips grow into long lateral cracks within weeks or months, sometimes after a professional chip repair. One report describes a crack spreading nearly two feet across the glass. Another describes the windshield cracking while driving with no debris or impact at all. These failures appear on low-mileage vehicles driven only on city streets and highways, not off road. A spreading crack in the driver's view limits visibility.
Drive power can fail without warning, and both reported failures leave the vehicle unsafe to drive. A transfer case fails at about 5,000 miles, and the owner is warned it could seize and cause loss of control. In a separate failure, a DC converter fault triggers a battery warning on the highway, then the vehicle shifts into neutral, goes into park, and shuts off in traffic. It cannot be moved until towed. The replacement part is reported out of stock for months. One of these reports involves the longer Defender 130.
Excerpts from complaints Defender 110 owners filed with NHTSA, as written. Listen for the same symptoms on your test drive.
30 years of car ownership have never had a chipped or cracked windshield. 2025 Land Rover Defender has had 3 rock chips in a year and now a 20" crack from very minor impact from a pebble. This windshield has a design flaw and is extremely fragile.
Filed with NHTSA, March 2026
The DC converter went bad and within 30 seconds while driving on the highway I got a battery warning and then the car went into neutral and stopped and went into park and the car turned off in the middle of the road and couldn’t be moved at all. Luckily some cops came and protected the car from behind until a tow truck came. The part needed is out of stock and may not be in stock for months!
Filed with NHTSA, February 2026
Complaints for this year next to the average for the other model years, area by area.
The 2025 has the fewest owner complaints of the 5 Defender 110 years we cover, well under the average of the others. Newer years have had less time to collect complaints, so compare like with like.
Recall repairs are free at any Land Rover dealer, but the seller may never have had them done. Check each campaign number against the VIN.
Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (Land Rover) is recalling certain 2020-2025 Land Rover Defender vehicles equipped with Raised Air Intake (RAI) aftermarket accessory equipment, with part number VPLEP0543. The raised air intake may not be secured properly, which can allow the intake to detach from the vehicle.
Risk: A detached raised air intake can fall off the vehicle and become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect, and if necessary, remove and reinstall the RAI accessory, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed February 20, 2025. Owners may contact Land Rover customer service at 1-800-637-6837. Land Rover's number for this recall is N964.
Cars shoppers compare with the Land Rover Defender 110, with their own 2025 checklists.
2025 owner complaints, side by side
