Land Rover Defender Complaints (2023)

79 consumer complaints on file.

#11718347February 16, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Vehicle was started, while still in park, an alert appeared on the dashboard “stop safely electrical fault detected”. Vehicle was turned off and restarted, with the same warning light on. Called LR dealer, Vehicle was backed out of garage at service advisors advice, parked and flatbed tow truck called.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11717507February 12, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
While driving on the freeway I recieved and elctrical fault detected please pull over when safe. The issue is the DC to DC converter failed resultign in the loss of charging for the car and relaince on stored elctricity in the battery to drive systems. I was on the highway at freeway speeds and had to exit the highway quickly to avoid the vehicle completly shutting down on the freeway. The dealer has verified the issue. There is significant discussion on owner boards about the numerous failures across all years of the mhev defender resulting in owners being stranded on the side of the road. Land Rover needs to issue a recall to replace this defective part.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11717107February 10, 2026
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
The contact owns a 2023 Land Rover Defender. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was white smoke coming from the engine compartment. The message to “Add Coolant” was displayed. The coolant was added to the coolant reservoir; however, the failure reoccurred. The contact was constantly adding coolant; however, there were no coolant leaks found. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic; however, the cause of the failure was not yet determined. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact referenced an unknown recall; however, the VIN was not under recall. The dealer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle needed to be diagnosed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 97,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11716962February 10, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
DC/DC converter failed on the 2023 Land Rover Defender about 2000 miles out of warranty. The parts are on back order with no ETA because so many LR Defenders are having this issue. This can cause your car to die while driving.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11716498February 7, 2026
POWER TRAIN
The DC to DC converter Failed. It is part of the mild hybrid system. Multiple cars in my state and globally have reported the same failure around the same time. Supposedly these failures are due to the cold weather. At the 1st start up of the day a warning message displayed "Stop safely Electrical fault detected" the it disappeared after 1minute. After the 2nd start up the message reappeared and stayed on. I drove straight to the dealership where the vehicle would not be able to start or move again. My safety and others would have been at risk if the vehicle would have been immobile on the road. The vehicle has since had the DC to DC converter replaced as well as the battery which suffered power drain. These repairs were done by the manufacturer/dealership under warranty. The DC to DC converter was on back order for months due to so may vehicles suffering the same failure. With more cold weather ahead is the replacement part or system safe? I think this issue needs to be investigated.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11716175February 6, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
DC-DC converter has failed causing the car to shut of while driving. During this period of time the car shuts off and the steering wheel locks. Seems to be a massive problem as every dealer we call doesn't have the parts to repair and are quoting months to fix the car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11715745February 5, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The DC/DC converter failed when I turned the car on and I received a warning. Drove straight to the dealership to drop it off for service. Reviewing others with this issue online, it is an extremely common problem and no recall has been issued. Many report their cars dying in the middle of nowhere. To make matters worse, there is a long backlog for the part, months for some people. I’m waiting to hear back from the dealer on my wait time. I hope by submitting a report that you will consider requiring Land Rover to issue a recall.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11715474February 4, 2026
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, STEERING
While driving the vehicle warnings alerted me that the battery was low and to start the vehicle ( it was running as I was driving) then the alert changed to pull over when possible. At this time the power steering and power brakes started to fail by the time I pulled into a parking lot the vehicle completely died and I had to push it into a parking spot. I called Land Rover they towed it to a dealership. The dealership in Orlando Florida said that the DC to DC converter failed and that it would need a new one (but the part is on a back order because it’s a common issue and they have no idea how long it will take to get the part) it will take at least 30 days or more to get a new part. Before I managed to pull over in a safe location the steering became very heavy and the brake pedal got very hard and barely stopped the vehicle ( almost had a collision) and steering into the parking lot was extremely difficult.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11714802February 1, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
While driving my Defender 130 at Highway speed a warning for a faulty electrical system light came on. Within a mile while I was trying to exit the highway, all electrical systems failed. I had a gearbox failure warning and the car went into neutral at highway speed. Power steering failed and I had to manhandle the vehicle off the road into a snow drift to get off the highway.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11714705January 31, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
I own a 2023 Land Rover Defender 130 that I purchased brand new. Since buying it, it has been back to the dealer many times for serious issues. The vehicle has had repeated cooling system failures, including replacement of all upper coolant hoses. Most recently it was at the dealer for coolant loss / no coolant, and the dealer diagnosed failed O-rings going into the turbo and repaired it. I was told this is a common issue but there has been no recall. Shortly after getting the vehicle back, while traveling with my family, I received a dashboard warning: “Stop safely – electrical fault.” Immediately after this warning, the vehicle lost power and died in the street with my family in the car, creating a major safety hazard and risk of being hit by traffic. The vehicle had to be towed. I am currently stranded in NY (away from home in MA) and the vehicle is now at a dealer here. It has been difficult to even get it seen by a technician, and we are supposed to return home tomorrow (Sunday). I have learned many other owners are experiencing similar “Stop safely” failures and it appears related to the P400 DC/DC converter. There have also been incidents where the steering wheel would not turn, and the only way to restore function was disconnecting the negative battery terminal to reset the vehicle computer, which is extremely dangerous. Additionally, the heated steering wheel overheated and burned a hole through the steering wheel and burned my hand while driving. The dealer replaced it under warranty, but the repair notes suggested the damage caused the heater issue, when the damage occurred because of the overheating/burn. This vehicle has had repeated safety-related defects involving the cooling system, electrical system, steering, and heated steering wheel, including sudden shutdown in the roadway with passengers. I request NHTSA investigate for a potential recall.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11714701January 31, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Car only has 42K miles on it- we were driving down the highway at approx 75mph, when the dash alarms started going off indicating an electrical system failure. A few minutes later all systems started flashing failures (lane keep assist system, braking system, etc)....then suddenly the gear box system failure alerted and the gears disengaged, the RPM's shot up and red-lined, and the CAR lost power in the middle of the highway. Fortunately we were able to get off to the shoulder without getting hit by a semi-truck. The car was completely dead. It had to be towed to a dealer, to find out that the DC/DC converter had failed- and these parts have been on back order for months- apparently this is a common issue with these cars, and people have been talking about it online...many have been without their car for 3-4 months waiting these parts.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11714514January 30, 2026
ENGINE
Stop safely electrical fault detected appeared on dash DC failure Vehicle is not drivable
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11714244January 29, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The car completely died. Unable to be jumped. Had to be towed. There’s a problem with the DC/DC converter. The parts going to take at least 3-4 weeks to come in. My dealer states they have over five or six vehicles waiting for the same repair. This should be a recall issue!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11713872January 28, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
On December 29th 2025 my car displayed an alert "Electrical Fault Detected: Please Pull Car Over Safely". I was in rural New Hampshire at the time so continued driving (for about 5 minutes) until I lost all power steering, stability controls and ability to drive the car - luckily by this point I had made it to Gorham, NH. Luckily it was just me in the car and not my family as the temps were below 10 F that day and Land Rover couldn't get a tow until the next day. Since then the car had to be towed to Land Rover Bedford and has been in the shop since as they dont have any DC Converters (Part number 433123464) in the US. Apparently there are 1400 Land Rover Defenders all sat in garage lots as nobody can get this part in the US from the manufacturer. There is no ETA on when the part will arrive in the US and I will have my car back.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11713553January 27, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The contact owns a 2023 Land Rover Defender. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle shut off unintendedly. There was an unknown electrical warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with a failure with the DC converter Part Number: 433123464. The contact was informed that the part needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired because the part was on backorder. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 61,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11712995January 23, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, 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.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11712225January 20, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
DC Converter for Hybrid system malfunction with complete battery discharge rendering the vehicle inoperable while utilizing. Lucky that the occurrence occurred in low traffic area! Unable to move vehicle onto flat bed truck because of electrical controlled gears. Unable to secure vehicle because of electrical controlled door locks. Replacement product on back order -estimate at least 6 weeks.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11712027January 20, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
A known LR Defender MHEV system problem. Specifically, a DC-DC converter failure - while driving vehicle on busy highway. Failure systematically shuts down vehicle. Please refer to: Land Rover Charging System Fault: The DC-DC Converter This is a serious safety issue. The Defender becomes completely disabled while driving.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11711036January 14, 2026
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
The vehicle experienced an electrical fault and shortly after receiving the warning on the dash, the vehicle completely lost power in the middle of traffic. The dealership has told me that the hybrid battery and DC converter both need to be replaced, but the DC converter is on indefinite back order. Based on information I’ve learned from others and I’ve heard from the dealership, Land Rover has been aware of this issue for about a year, but parts have been unavailable for several months. My dealership alone has several of the same vehicle suffering from the same problem, get Land Rover seems to have no path towards resolution.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11710926January 14, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Powerconverter failure. Repair part unavailable Constant coolant leak (documented more than 4 repair attempts since purchase.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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