11 of the 106 complaints about the 2023 Land Rover Defender are about the driver-assist systems — 10% of everything reported for this model year. Half of the failures with a mileage on record happened before 13,000 miles.
11
Complaints
0
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
Filed with NHTSA, in their own words.
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The DC/DC converter failed causing the generator not to charge. This caused the car to lose all power whilst I was driving the vehicle and come to a complete stop on an active road.
NHTSA complaint #11712995 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The DC/DC converter failed causing the generator not to charge. This caused the car to lose all power whilst I was driving the vehicle and come to a complete stop on an active road.
NHTSA complaint #11712995 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
The contact owns a 2023 Land Rover Defender. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH with no other vehicles or objects nearby, the Forward Collision Avoidance system activated with the Automictic Emergency Braking function drastically slowing the vehicle nearly causing a crash. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 13,000.
NHTSA complaint #11579564 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The contact owns a 2023 Land Rover Defender. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH with no other vehicles or objects nearby, the Forward Collision Avoidance system activated with the Automictic Emergency Braking function drastically slowing the vehicle nearly causing a crash. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 13,000.
NHTSA complaint #11579564 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
Steering wheel is locked and does not turn the wheels
NHTSA complaint #11566651 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
Steering wheel is locked and does not turn the wheels
NHTSA complaint #11566651 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
The steering column won't move. The car starts, you can drive forward and back but the steering column doesn't move. This has happened twice now and I am afraid if this happens while I'm driving unexpectedly, death or serious injuries are very possible.
NHTSA complaint #11564087 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
Lane assistance and power steering failed. There was no warning light or alarm. The warning light in the dashboard came on reading “Lane assistance not available” and “power steering resistance reduced” immediately when both systems failed. We were able to safely park, no one was injured. The car has been at the service center at the dealership for 10 days.
NHTSA complaint #11562181 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
Dec 6. Started vehicle and steering wheel would nor move. All functions of car worked. Fwd, rev, engine running , lights all worked. Turned off and restarted 3 times and steering wheel still not moving. All of a sudden wheel became free. I worry now if this could happen while driving. Light did come on saying "lain assist not available"
NHTSA complaint #11558909 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
The power steering failed and the car was not drive-able. The warning light for no lane assist available also turned on. The vehicle was in-operable and left us stranded. This would have been a much bigger issue in the winter time, or if I was not at my home. I contacted Land Rover, who had me call LandRover road side to have the car towed to the dealership, since this occurred on a Sunday. They confirmed the issue of power steering malfunction. There was no warning that his was going to happen. It first appeared when we tried to start the car and it was not drive-able. Once at the dealership, I was made aware there was a service bulletin-not a formal recall- regarding this malfunction. It required two code updates (that I was unable to complete with attempt to update software prior to tow) and a battery reset. With this being such a significant issue, making the car in-operable, it was frustrating to hear it was a known issue that was not a recall. The dealership told me there were others in the area that had the same issue and were fixed, with out recurrent of the issue.
NHTSA complaint #11555087 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
When driving the new 2023 vehicle with 956 miles we got a lane keep malfunction dialogue box pop up on digital instrument cluster. At the same time the power steering ceased to work or the lane keep fought to keep it centered even when trying to make maneuvers to stay in lane of traffic, navigate turns or avoid other vehicle. It endangered the lives of my wife, 3 young daughters and lives of other drivers/passengers on the road. The vehicle was parked about a mile from it occurring and roadside assistance called. It was taken to Jaguar Land Rover Hunt Valley to be repaired. Where they duplicated same issue. They could not get the computer to flag any codes that something was wrong but witnessed it not being able to be steered properly. They proceeded to do a hard reset on the steering module as they could not communicate with it, they then downloaded new software and said it fixed the problem. We drove 3.5 hours round trip to go pick it up. It drove just like is should for trips but then at 1145 miles the exact same issue with dialogue box saying lane keep malfunction and power steering or it fighting my wife to stay straight and fighting her to navigate road turns, obstacles or other vehicles. This again put my family and other families on the road at extreme risk. It was then towed again. This time it went to Jaguar Land Rover Harrisburg. They too witnessed the same issue and I told them of what happened before and what they did to fix. It has been in the dealership service centers care for a week and they can’t figure out why it’s doing it. They contacted Land Rover corporate for help and have open ticket with Engineer. The service managers words to me where that they can’t do anything until LandRover engineer figures out why this is happening to Defenders. I said there is more, he said yes. I called corporate to request they take the vehicle back as it is unsafe for my family and other families in the road. They said it has to happen 3 times! Not Safe At All.
NHTSA complaint #11512581 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.