Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Land Rover Defender 2020: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 88 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2020 Land Rover Defender were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre condition (rear).

Summary

A 2020 Land Rover Defender passed first time about 3 in every 100 less often than the 2021 model year next to it.

At a glance

How 3,949 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
88 in every 100
Did not pass first time
12 in every 100456 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
5 yearsabout 44,880 miles
First tests counted
3,949

What failed most often

  1. Tyre condition (rear)15 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Individual sidelight or tail light (front)12 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Diesel engine warning light11 in every 100 failed tests

How we count this. Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Only Class 4 cars on their first MOT of the year are counted. A car that fails and is fixed at the test station still counts as a fail in the first-attempt rate. These are raw results, not adjusted for age, mileage, or peer mix. The MOT does not test engine or gearbox internals.

Note:

These are patterns across 2020 Land Rover Defender vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Lamps and electrical

Two faults. The strongest is the individual sidelight or tail light (front): 19 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 456 failed first attempts in 2025 that had a mileage recorded, which allows a like-for-like comparison.

We only list faults with at least 20 failures and a rate of about 2.0 times that of similar cars, which keeps one-off results out of the list.

Individual sidelight or tail light (front)

Failed on 55 first tests19 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A position lamp showing red light to the front or white light to the rear is Major. Rear lamps must show a steady red light, and front ones can show white, predominantly white with a blue tinge, or yellow if combined in a yellow headlamp. With a multiple light source, up to half not working is Minor and more than half is Major.

Daytime running lights (front)

Failed on 23 first tests18 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Daytime running lamps are inspected only when fitted as original equipment to cars and similar passenger vehicles first used on or after a set date. A lamp that is missing or not working, or that shows red light to the front, is Major. These lamps need not operate when the engine is not running, the parking brake is on, or park is selected on an automatic.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Noise, emissions and leaks

One fault: diesel engine warning light, 4.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Diesel engine warning light

Failed on 51 first tests4.6 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

An engine malfunction indicator lamp that is illuminated to show a malfunction is graded Major on a diesel, but only on the diesels the test covers, which depends on the vehicle type and when it was first used. DVSA lists it under exhaust emissions for compression ignition engines, and the detail line for the row also names an inoperative lamp.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

MOT pass rates

How first tests ended, and how the pass rates are counted.

Passed first time
88in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
3in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
9in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 88.5% of 3,949 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 90.6%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 3 fixed and the 9 not fixed make the 12 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Diesel3,28045,660 miles8888
Petrol65740,477 miles9090

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Cars with more miles usually fail more often, so the same-mileage figure gives every fuel the mileage mix of all the cars in this year.

Same model, other years

Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
2020 This car88 in every 1003,949
202191 in every 1008,065
202292 in every 1009,369

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 90 in every 100 passed first time.

If you are buying one

What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.

Mileage matters most on a 2020 Defender.

Of 2020 Defender vehicles with under 32,000 miles, 92 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 60,000 miles or more, 84 in every 100 did.

Under 32,000773 tests
92
32,000–41,000811 tests
90
41,000–49,000 Typical car787 tests
90
49,000–60,000795 tests
87
60,000 and over783 tests
84

Petrol or diesel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Diesel45,660 miles8888
Petrol40,477 miles9090

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 45,660 against 40,477). At the same mileage there is no clear difference between the two.

What to check at your mileage

How often each fault turned up on a failed first test, by the car's mileage. Read it as: what is likely to need looking at on a car like the one in front of you.

Under 32,00041,000–49,00060,000 and over
Tyre condition (rear)1.21.72.7
Individual sidelight or tail light (front)0.51.81.9
Diesel engine warning light0.40.82.8

Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.

When a car fails

59in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

14in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

3in every 100

of all first tests had a defect the tester marked dangerous (unsafe to drive away).

Every figure here is a first-attempt MOT rate from DVSA open data for this model line, for cars of this model year tested in 2025. Each mileage band holds a fifth of the tests. MOTs do not test engine or gearbox internals, so this is a pre-purchase checklist, not a full reliability score.

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

A 2020 Land Rover Defender passed first time about 3 in every 100 less often than the 2021 model year next to it. In 2025, 88.5% of 3,949 first MOTs on the 2020 Land Rover Defender passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 90.6%. Among 456 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Individual sidelight or tail light (front) appears more often than on similar cars (12.1% of those tests; 55 observed failures; about 19× more often than similar cars). There is no single reliability score here; this is a pre-purchase checklist built from DVSA open data, not a guarantee for any individual car.
Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2020 Land Rover Defender at the first attempt were Tyre condition (rear) (14.9%), Individual sidelight or tail light (front) (12.1%) and Diesel engine warning light (11.2%), each as a share of the year's failed first attempts. That is what goes wrong most often on the car. The common faults table shows a different measure: faults that are unusual compared with similar cars.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Individual sidelight or tail light (front) (12.1% of those tests; 55 observed failures; about 19× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Individual sidelight or tail light (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (12.1% of those tests; 55 observed failures; about 19× more often than similar cars). That does not prove a design fault. Age, mileage, and how the car was used still matter. Treat it as a pre-purchase checkpoint, not a manufacturer service bulletin.
Common MOT problem areas for the 2020 Land Rover Defender include Individual sidelight or tail light (front), Daytime running lights (front), Diesel engine warning light. These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2020 Land Rover Defender (registration year) using UK DVSA open data for the selected test year. Patterns are compared with cars of a similar age and mileage. It is a buyer checklist from MOT defect statistics, not a full service history or manufacturer service-bulletin list.
No. MOT tests do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronic modules. Patterns here come from MOT defect statistics only and should not be read as engine or gearbox reliability scores.

About this data

How this page is built and what it can (and can't) say.

These figures come from UK MOT open data for this model year. We surface common failure patterns against similar cars, not a full reliability score, and not a pass/fail verdict on any individual vehicle.

2024 2025

What we include

UK Class 4 cars only. Normal MOT tests (not retests); first test per vehicle per calendar year; results pass, PRS, or fail.

Same-day repairs

PRS means the car failed items that were fixed at the test station and then passed the same day. We count PRS as a first-attempt fail in headline rates so same-day repairs do not hide problems.

How we compare

We compare this model year with other Class 4 cars of similar age and mileage in the same test year. This model family is left out of the peer group so the car is not measured against itself.

What this does not cover

  • MOTs do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronics; this is not a full reliability score.
  • Common faults come from MOT defect stats, not manufacturer TSBs or recalls.
  • Age and mileage matching reduces, but does not remove, differences in how cars were used and maintained.
  • If the data for a car is too thin to say anything useful, we say so rather than guess.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Check any vehicle’s MOT history

Full MOT history, mileage records, and reliability insights for any UK vehicle.

Run a free check