Land Rover Defender vs Land Rover Discovery
On MOT-testable defects, the Land Rover Discovery (fail rate 17.0%) performed better than the Land Rover Defender (21.9%) across comparable years. The biggest divergence was lighting & signalling, where the Defender recorded failures more often.
21.9%
Defender fail rate
17.0%
Discovery fail rate
4.9pp
Difference
Side by side
| Metric | Land Rover Defender | Land Rover Discovery |
|---|---|---|
| MOT tests analysed | 627,043 | 1,357,150 |
| Pass rate | 78.1% | 83.0% |
| Fail rate | 21.9% | 17.0% |
Where they differ
| Category | Defender | Discovery |
|---|---|---|
| Lighting & signalling | 15.0% | 7.5% |
| Steering | 6.8% | 0.0% |
| Tyres | 0.0% | 4.1% |
| Body, structure & corrosion | 6.4% | 3.6% |
| Suspension | 8.3% | 5.8% |
| Brakes | 7.5% | 5.9% |
Methodology & source. Dataset: DVSA MOT testing data (2021,2022,2023,2024,2025). Data last updated 2026-07-01. Figures reflect MOT-testable defects only — read the methodology for how these are calculated and what they don't measure.