Land Rover Defender years to avoid: the early ones
Based on 93,196 real MOT tests from DVSA records. Each year is compared against every other car first registered the same year — otherwise the numbers would only tell you that older cars fail more, which you knew.
The short answer
Avoid 1991. The worst is the 1991, which fails its MOT 16% more often than other cars of the same age. The 2016 is the strongest, failing 40% less often than average.
Found a Land Rover Defender you like?
Averages tell you what to expect. Its registration tells you what actually happened — every MOT, every advisory, and whether the mileage adds up.
Every Defender model year
Shaded rows are the years that differ most from other cars of the same age — worse, better.
| Registered | MOT tests | Fail rate | vs same-age cars |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 1,637 | 28.3% |
about average
|
| 1991 Worst | 1,717 | 31.6% |
16% worse
|
| 1992 | 1,487 | 29.5% |
about average
|
| 1993 | 1,927 | 30.3% |
about average
|
| 1994 | 2,356 | 31.5% |
about average
|
| 1995 | 2,889 | 30.6% |
about average
|
| 1996 | 3,523 | 31.1% |
about average
|
| 1997 | 3,404 | 32.2% |
about average
|
| 1998 | 3,504 | 29.6% |
about average
|
| 1999 | 3,057 | 30.6% |
about average
|
| 2000 | 2,997 | 32.4% |
about average
|
| 2001 | 3,162 | 30.9% |
about average
|
| 2002 | 3,836 | 30.8% |
about average
|
| 2003 | 4,337 | 30.5% |
15% better
|
| 2004 | 4,209 | 29.0% |
21% better
|
| 2005 | 4,112 | 29.3% |
19% better
|
| 2006 | 3,723 | 29.6% |
18% better
|
| 2007 | 3,936 | 27.3% |
23% better
|
| 2008 | 3,700 | 26.8% |
23% better
|
| 2009 | 3,483 | 28.1% |
16% better
|
| 2010 | 3,962 | 25.7% |
20% better
|
| 2011 | 3,902 | 24.1% |
20% better
|
| 2012 | 3,832 | 22.1% |
21% better
|
| 2013 | 4,314 | 19.3% |
25% better
|
| 2014 | 5,789 | 16.8% |
26% better
|
| 2015 | 6,600 | 14.5% |
26% better
|
| 2016 | 1,801 | 10.2% |
40% better
|
How this is worked out
Every MOT test recorded by DVSA in 2023 on a Land Rover Defender, grouped by the year the car was first registered. Retests are excluded, so a car that failed and was fixed still counts as a failure. Each year's rate is then divided by the rate for all cars first registered that year — so 120 means 20% more failures than its contemporaries, not 20% more than a brand new car.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.