Land Rover Defender MOT pass rate, common failures and mileage
In 2023, 73.5% of 112,814 MOT tests on the Land Rover Defender ended in a pass, 3.0 points below the 76.5% average for all cars.
Pass rate and mileage by age
Each row covers the Land Rover Defender MOT tests at that age. Mileage shows the median and the middle half of odometer readings, from the 25th to the 75th percentile.
| Age | Pass rate | Mileage |
|---|---|---|
| 23,086 tests | 92.3% | 27,000 · 19k to 35k |
| 31,283 tests | 91.4% | 29,000 · 21k to 37k |
| 6712 tests | 85.0% | 27,000 · 13k to 47k |
| 74,794 tests | 86.7% | 35,000 · 19k to 57k |
| 86,596 tests | 84.5% | 45,000 · 29k to 69k |
| 95,368 tests | 81.2% | 55,000 · 37k to 77k |
| 104,198 tests | 78.4% | 61,000 · 41k to 85k |
| 114,123 tests | 76.6% | 69,000 · 49k to 97k |
| 124,321 tests | 74.7% | 77,000 · 53k to 103k |
| 133,960 tests | 72.8% | 81,000 · 59k to 107k |
| 143,590 tests | 70.4% | 87,000 · 61k to 115k |
| 154,410 tests | 73.1% | 93,000 · 71k to 123k |
| 163,915 tests | 70.7% | 97,000 · 71k to 127k |
| 174,197 tests | 70.2% | 103,000 · 75k to 137k |
| 184,382 tests | 70.4% | 109,000 · 81k to 143k |
| 194,519 tests | 69.1% | 117,000 · 89k to 151k |
| 204,533 tests | 68.8% | 123,000 · 93k to 157k |
| 213,613 tests | 69.0% | 123,000 · 95k to 157k |
| 223,126 tests | 67.5% | 127,000 · 97k to 161k |
| 233,223 tests | 67.8% | 131,000 · 99k to 163k |
| 243,519 tests | 69.2% | 131,000 · 93k to 169k |
| 253,696 tests | 68.5% | 135,000 · 99k to 173k |
Most common MOT failures and advisories
How often each item came up, per 100 MOT tests on the Land Rover Defender. Advisories are things the tester noted that did not fail the car, often wear that will need attention soon. Follow an item to see what it means and how serious it is.
Failures
Advisories and minor defects
What to check on a used Defender
The parts that come up most often in Land Rover Defender MOTs, and how to look at them on a viewing.
- Brake pipes and hosesLook underneath at the metal brake pipes for heavy rust, and at the rubber hoses for cracks or bulges.
- Wheel bearingsOn the test drive, listen for a hum or rumble that rises with speed.
- Brake discs and padsAsk when the discs and pads were last replaced, and look through the wheel for a raised lip on the edge of the disc.
- Shock absorbersPush down hard on each corner: it should rise once and settle. Oil on the shock absorber body is a sign of a leak.
- TyresCheck the tread across the full width of every tyre, including the inner edge, and look for cuts and bulges in the sidewalls.
Check a specific Defender
Fleet averages only go so far. Enter the registration to see that car's own MOT history, mileage record and current condition, free.
Questions
What is the MOT pass rate of the Land Rover Defender?
What fails most often on a Land Rover Defender MOT?
What is a normal mileage for a 10-year-old Land Rover Defender?
What do MOT testers most often advise on a Land Rover Defender?
Other Land Rover models
Overall MOT pass rate in 2023. Compare all Land Rover models or see every make.
How these figures are made. We counted every initial MOT test (not retests) of cars and light vans in Great Britain in 2023 from the DVSA anonymised MOT dataset, 33,842,940 tests in all. Pass rate is the share of initial tests that ended in a pass, counting faults fixed during the test. Age is whole years from first registration to the test, so a car having its first MOT a few weeks early counts as 2.
Like-for-like pass rates average each model's pass rate at ages 3 to 10 with the same age mix for every model, so a model is not flattered by a young fleet or penalised by an old one. Models are grouped by the first word of the DVSA model name, and names that cover several models are left out.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. RegTail's analysis of the DVSA anonymised MOT dataset, 2023 tests.