2023 LAND ROVER DEFENDER Complaints

On several occasions my car has shifted from Drive into Neutral while I was at a light and the vehicle had shut itself off as part of the Intelligent Start Stop feature. I see that this same issue has been happening to several other Owners who have reported this to the NHTSA. Ironically it seems as though all these vehicles were purchased in Houston TX.

The media screen will randomly go blank so you can not see your navigation map, radio information or any other data that the screen should show. The dealer told us to press the door lock twice and wait several minutes before restarting. Very unsafe if emergency is occurring and you do not have access to navigation system. This has occurred several times since we purchased the vehicle new on March 18 at Buckhead Range Rover in Atlanta. the phone charger does not work and only heats up your phone after you lay the phone on it for a period of time.

When driving the new 2023 vehicle with 956 miles we got a lane keep malfunction dialogue box pop up on digital instrument cluster. At the same time the power steering ceased to work or the lane keep fought to keep it centered even when trying to make maneuvers to stay in lane of traffic, navigate turns or avoid other vehicle. It endangered the lives of my wife, 3 young daughters and lives of other drivers/passengers on the road. The vehicle was parked about a mile from it occurring and roadside assistance called. It was taken to Jaguar Land Rover Hunt Valley to be repaired. Where they duplicated same issue. They could not get the computer to flag any codes that something was wrong but witnessed it not being able to be steered properly. They proceeded to do a hard reset on the steering module as they could not communicate with it, they then downloaded new software and said it fixed the problem. We drove 3.5 hours round trip to go pick it up. It drove just like is should for trips but then at 1145 miles the exact same issue with dialogue box saying lane keep malfunction and power steering or it fighting my wife to stay straight and fighting her to navigate road turns, obstacles or other vehicles. This again put my family and other families on the road at extreme risk. It was then towed again. This time it went to Jaguar Land Rover Harrisburg. They too witnessed the same issue and I told them of what happened before and what they did to fix. It has been in the dealership service centers care for a week and they can’t figure out why it’s doing it. They contacted Land Rover corporate for help and have open ticket with Engineer. The service managers words to me where that they can’t do anything until LandRover engineer figures out why this is happening to Defenders. I said there is more, he said yes. I called corporate to request they take the vehicle back as it is unsafe for my family and other families in the road. They said it has to happen 3 times! Not Safe At All.

Stopped on an uphill grade, start stop on vehicle activated, engine stopped. Upon brake release, engine started, vehicle made uncommanded shift from drive to neutral, rolled backward several feet before brake could be reapplied. Land Rover has been aware of the uncommanded shift to neutral issue for sometime. Local dealer has a bulletin on this issue, but Land Rover has no fix, instead advising to manually disengage auto start stop every time vehicle is driven. Unfortunately, sometimes I forget to do this. It’s a problem.

When stopped at stoplight engine gear slips to neutral without warning. When applying gas it becomes apparent it’s no longer in drive. Has happened 8 plus times and I’ve had this new car less than 2weeks. Reported to dealer who tells me 2 other customers have reported this as well. No one is sure why it happens.

Vehicle makes uncommanded shifts from drive into neutral when the engine restarts after stopping during an auto start-stop cycle. Driver has to manually re-engage drive after this happens.