FaultScore

Land Rover Defender vs Volkswagen Touareg

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure Land Rover Defender Volkswagen Touareg
Complaints on file 391 945
Model years covered 1990–2026 2004–2017
Worst model year 2020 2004
Best model year 2025 2009
Crashes reported 5 22
Fires reported 8 30
Injuries reported 5 30
Deaths reported 0 0
Most complained-about part Electrical System Fuel & Propulsion
Share of complaints involving harm 4.6% 8.7%

Land Rover Defender by year

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Lights 50 12.8%
Engine & Cooling 41 10.5%
Steering 26 6.6%
Transmission & Drivetrain 20 5.1%

Volkswagen Touareg by year

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Fuel & Propulsion 152 16.1%
Engine & Cooling 134 14.2%
Electrical System 102 10.8%
Tires 54 5.7%
Airbags 53 5.6%
Steering 46 4.9%