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What 12 owners told NHTSA about the 2025 Land Rover Land Rover Defender 90

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (12)Crash / fire / injury (1)Visibility & wipers (7)Transmission & drivetrain (3)Electrical system (2)Engine (1)Fuel system (1)Steering (1)

3 of 12 complaints match · Transmission & drivetrain · clear filters

Feb 17, 2026SteeringTransmission & drivetrainElectrical system

While driving on Back Rd in New Hampshire at approximately 30 mph on Saturday, Feb 14, the vehicle suddenly lost power steering assist and simultaneously shifted into neutral. I received warning messages and immediately lost propulsion. Luckily, there was no traffic on the road with me, but that is not always the case on this particular road. I had to manually steer the vehicle without power assist and muscle it to the side of the roadway. The vehicle was disabled in the road and required towing. The vehicle has approximately 5,400 miles and is a 2025 model year, purchased in late June of 2025. The dealer has indicated the likely cause is a failed DC-DC converter, and I have been told the part is on backorder with extended delays. I've look online at forums, and it sounds like this is a widespread known issue that effects Land Rover cars with model years of 2022 and potentially prior as well. This sudden loss of steering assist and propulsion created a safety hazard in traffic, and it is possible that Land Rover has known about this issue for awhile.

NHTSA ODI 11718508

Feb 14, 2026Transmission & drivetrainElectrical systemEngine

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!

NHTSA ODI 11717995

Jan 3, 2026Transmission & drivetrain

The transfer case on my new 2025 LR Defender 130 went out at 5,000 miles. This unit distributes power to the axles. I was told that if I continue to drive it, it could seize up, possibly leading to a loss of control of the vehicle. Land Rover is aware that they installed a bad batch of transfer cases on their new vehicles. They have the batch number(s), and have apparently issued a 'service bulletin,' but not a recall. Nor did they contact owners to let them know of this problem proactively. Given the potential danger in the failure of this unit, a recall is the only safe option.

NHTSA ODI 11708566

Working with the data? Download all 12 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 18, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2025 Land Rover Land Rover Defender 90 verdict →