Land Rover Defender MOT Pass Rate & Official DVSA Failure Statistics

Land Rover Defender MOT History and Failure Rates vs UK National Average

The Land Rover Defender passed on its first attempt in 76.4%, and its overall record sits −0.7 percentage points below the national average for all cars. These figures come from every recorded DVSA MOT test for the Land Rover Defender in the 2023–2025 data: 256,078 tests across 22 model years (2000–2023). A test still carries exactly one pass or fail verdict.

Figures are computed from every recorded DVSA test for this model in the 2023–2025 data.

Most Common Land Rover Defender MOT Problems by Failure Category

Every MOT failure a tester records belongs to one inspection section of the DVSA manual. For the Land Rover Defender, the Visibility section leads the record — the breakdown below shows where the recorded failures cluster, then the exact strings behind the three biggest sections.

Shares are over the Land Rover Defender's recorded defect strings, merged across its year pages.

Top Recorded Land Rover Defender DVSA MOT Test Statistics & Defect Descriptions

The descriptions below are the exact DVSA failure strings testers recorded most often for the Land Rover Defender, each with how many of the model's 256,078 tests it was noted on.

• "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view" (Minor) — noted on about 9,713 Land Rover Defender tests, 3.8% of the model's MOT record.
• "Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt" (Minor) — noted on about 8,663 Land Rover Defender tests, 3.4% of the model's MOT record.
• "Position lamp not working" (Major) — noted on about 6,524 Land Rover Defender tests, 2.5% of the model's MOT record.
• "Shock absorbers has an excessively worn bush" (Major) — noted on about 6,137 Land Rover Defender tests, 2.4% of the model's MOT record.
• "Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded" (Major) — noted on about 4,702 Land Rover Defender tests, 1.8% of the model's MOT record.
• "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated" (Minor) — noted on about 4,142 Land Rover Defender tests, 1.6% of the model's MOT record.

Best and Worst Land Rover Defender Model Years by Pass Rate

The strongest Land Rover Defender model year on record is 2023 (100.0% across 54 tests), and the weakest is 2000 (74.7%). The gap between them is 25.3 points. Years with fewer than 50 recorded tests are excluded, so these are the years with enough MOT history to mean something.

Land Rover Defender reliability is improving in the DVSA data — the pass rate moves about 2.3 points a year across the most recent model years shown above.

Newest model year first. Only years with at least 50 recorded tests are listed.

Pre-MOT Inspection Checklist for Land Rover Defender Owners

These checks follow this Land Rover Defender's own most-recorded failure strings, starting with what a tester is most likely to flag on a Land Rover Defender.

• the windscreen — “windscreen damaged”

  Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.

• the suspension joints — “track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated,”

  With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.

• the lights — “position lamp not working”

  Switch everything on and walk round the car: both headlamps on dip and main, every indicator, both brake lights, reverse, fog and the two number-plate lamps. A bulb is a few pounds and a five-minute job.

Derived from the DVSA failure strings testers recorded for the Land Rover Defender. A check that finds nothing means the item is likely fine, not that the test is guaranteed.

Where the Land Rover Defender is most common

Across every Defender model year on record (2000–2023): 101,959 Land Rover Defender cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 256,065 tests. Ashford (TN) has the most, with 2,784 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.

The twenty areas with the most Land Rover Defender cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →

Frequently Asked Questions: Land Rover Defender MOT & Reliability