Land Rover · Large SUV

Land Rover Defender

Every model year 2020–2027: recalls, owner complaints, NHTSA crash ratings and EPA efficiency side by side, each value traced to the file it came from.

8 Model years 2020–2027

42 Recalls NHTSA campaigns, all years

303 Complaints owner reports, all years

A^* Newest grade 2027 Safety Signal

2020 Best on record cleanest filed year

The 2027 Defender →Which years to avoid Compare it

Land Rover Defender L663 — photograph via Wikimedia Commons — Land Rover Defender L663 · Photo: Alexander-93 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Every Land Rover Defender model year

Source: NHTSA · EPA · one row per year

Year	Powertrains	Safety	Recalls	Complaints	Crash	Best efficiency
2027	Hybrid	A^*	0	0	—	18 mpg
2026	Hybrid Gas	C	3	6	—	20 mpg
2025	Hybrid Gas	A	1	13	—	19 mpg
2024	Hybrid Gas	D	7	27	—	20 mpg
2023	Hybrid Gas	D	9	85	—	20 mpg
2022	Hybrid Gas	D	6	75	—	19 mpg
2021	Hybrid Gas	D	9	42	—	19 mpg
2020	Hybrid Gas	D	7	55	—	19 mpg

Which model year the record favours

Source: recalls and complaints per year on the road

Years to avoid, with the reasons →Best on the record 2020

On the filed record so far, the 2020 is the cleanest Defender year we hold, and the 2023 the one to check hardest.

Both figures are divided by the number of years the car has been on sale, because otherwise the oldest year on the page loses every time simply for having been around longer. The current model year and any year under three on the road are left out: their records are not finished.

Year	Safety Signal	Recalls /yr	Complaints /yr
2020	D	1.2	9
2022	D	1.5	19
2021	D	1.8	8
2023	D	3	28

Also on file Beside the Land Rover Defender

Best year on file The 2027 Defender Ranking Safest 2027 large SUVs Recalls Every Land Rover recall on file Compare The 2027 Defender against anything

What changed year to year

Source: computed from the filed record

2027: dropped gas; best combined mpg 20 → 18; 12 → 3 EPA configurations
2026: best combined mpg 19 → 20; 11 → 12 EPA configurations
2025: best combined mpg 20 → 19; 9 → 11 EPA configurations
2024: 8 → 9 EPA configurations
2023: best combined mpg 19 → 20; 6 → 8 EPA configurations
2022: 4 → 6 EPA configurations

Compare

Which is better for you? →

Head-to-head	Verdict
2027 Defender vs Chevrolet Traverse · Large SUV	Traverse +19.7

In the studies

Source: computed from the same record, method on each page

Same trim, next model year · 2025 → 2026 +4.2% at the median across 8 matched trims The manufacturer’s announced MSRP for the 2026 Land Rover Defender against the same trim in 2025; the fleet moved +1.8% on 394 matched trims. Base trim $56,900 → $59,400. MSRP excludes destination; not a transaction price.

Common questions about the Land Rover Defender

Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kits

Which Land Rover Defender year is the best used buy?

On the recall record, the 2020 Defender comes out top of the years before the current one: Safety Signal grade D (66/100), 7 recalls and 55 owner complaints on file. That ranks paperwork, not condition — a specific car's history and service record still decide it.

What Land Rover Defender years should I avoid?

2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 have the weakest recall records in this range. The year pages list every campaign, its severity and whether a repair exists yet. Every Defender model year ranked, with the reasons.

How many recalls does the Land Rover Defender have?

Across model years 2020–2027, NHTSA has posted 42 recall campaigns for the Land Rover Defender. They are counted per model year in the table above, because a campaign almost never covers the whole run — it covers a build range.