73%
Land Rover Defender pass rate
Used Land Rover Defender buying guide
In 2025, Land Rover Defender cars passed 73% of 121,149 initial MOT tests, 0.7 points above the 72.3% UK average. Here is where it fails and what to check before you buy.
Looking at a specific Defender? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.
Land Rover Defender MOT record in brief
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded.
72.3%
UK average, all cars
+0.7
percentage points above average
Ranked on pass rate the Defender sits 293rd of 575 models in the data. Land Rover as a brand averaged 77.3%, so this model runs 4.4 points behind its own brand. Land Rover Defender cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 90.6% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 67.4%.
A pass rate is not a reliability score. The full Land Rover Defender MOT record has the pass rate by age, every common failure and how the Defender compares with similar cars.
Defender fuel types
Diesel made up 94% of Land Rover Defender MOT tests in 2025, against 39.3% across all models in this data. Almost every used example you look at will be a diesel.
Where the Defender fails its MOT
Where Land Rover Defender cars that failed their 2025 MOT were marked down, as a share of all recorded failure items.
The specific items testers recorded most often were position lamp not working (4.4%), shock absorbers has an excessively worn bush (3.8%) and wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (3.1%). See every common Defender MOT failure.
These are DVSA failure records across every Land Rover Defender that failed, not a claim that every Defender has these problems.
What should you check when buying a used Defender?
The areas above, most common first, and what an MOT tester looks at in each.
1
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Walk round with every light on: headlights, brake lights, indicators, fog lights and the number plate lamp. Check no warning lights stay on after starting. 30.2% of Defender failure items.
2
Suspension
Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters. 16.1% of Defender failure items.
3
Brakes
Make sure the pedal feels firm, the car stops in a straight line, the handbrake holds on a slope and no brake warning light is showing. 14% of Defender failure items.
4
Body, chassis, structure
Look underneath and along the sills for corrosion, and check for damaged or poorly repaired panels. 11.4% of Defender failure items.
5
Steering
Feel for play, knocking or stiffness in the steering, and check there is no steering warning light. 9.9% of Defender failure items.
None of this replaces the car's own record. Run a free MOT history check on the registration to see every test, advisory and recorded mileage for that car.
What the MOT record doesn't tell you
Knowing Land Rover Defender failures cluster around lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension tells you what to inspect. It tells you nothing about whether the car is safe to buy. An MOT does not show money still owed on the car, a write-off, a theft record or a clocked odometer.
Check the exact Defender you are looking at. One £15 report, instant results, backed by a £30,000 data guarantee. More on the Land Rover history check.
- Outstanding finance
- Write-off records
- Stolen markers
- Mileage history
- Previous keepers
Other used Land Rover models
The most-tested Land Rover models in 2025, with how their MOT pass rate compares with the Defender.
- Used Land Rover Range Rover Evoque 82.3% MOT pass rate
- Used Land Rover Discovery 74.6% MOT pass rate
- Used Land Rover Range Rover Sport 80.8% MOT pass rate
- Used Land Rover Discovery Sport 81.2% MOT pass rate
- Used Land Rover Freelander 65% MOT pass rate
- Used Land Rover Range Rover 79.5% MOT pass rate
See all 8 Land Rover models ranked by MOT pass rate.
Used Land Rover Defender FAQs
Is the Land Rover Defender reliable?
MOT data does not measure reliability. It records whether a car met the roadworthiness standard on the day of its test. What it does show is a 73% first-time pass rate for the Land Rover Defender across 121,149 tests in 2025, above the 72.3% average for all cars.
Do older Land Rover Defender cars fail their MOT more often?
Land Rover Defender cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 90.6% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 67.4%. On an older example, the car's own MOT history tells you more than the model average.
What should I check before buying a used Land Rover Defender?
On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, suspension and brakes. Then check the individual car's history: outstanding finance, insurance write-off records, stolen markers, mileage and previous keepers. None of these appear in the MOT record or on the V5C.
How do I check a Land Rover Defender's history?
Enter the registration of the specific car. A Carpeep car history check reports outstanding finance, write-off category, stolen markers, mileage history, previous keepers, MOT and tax status, import and export markers and scrapped status in one £15 report.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.