Land Rover Defender vs Land Rover Range Rover Sport
On MOT-testable defects the Land Rover Range Rover Sport comes out ahead: 14.8% of its tests record a failure against 20.9% for the Land Rover Defender, a 6.1-point gap. The biggest single difference is lighting & signalling, where the Defender records failures noticeably more often.
20.9%
Defender fail rate
14.8%
Range Rover Sport fail rate
6.11pp
Difference
Side by side
| Metric | Land Rover Defender | Land Rover Range Rover Sport |
|---|---|---|
| MOT tests analysed | 669,569 | 672,895 |
| Pass rate | 79.0% | 85.2% |
| Fail rate | 20.9% | 14.8% |
Where they differ
| Category | Defender | Range Rover Sport |
|---|---|---|
| Lighting & signalling | 14.1% | 4.7% |
| Steering | 6.4% | 0.0% |
| Body, structure & corrosion | 6.0% | 0.0% |
| Tyres | 0.0% | 4.9% |
| Suspension | 7.7% | 4.2% |
| Visibility | 0.0% | 2.5% |
| Brakes | 7.0% | 5.1% |
Methodology & source. Dataset: DVSA MOT testing data (2021,2022,2023,2024,2025). Data last updated 2026-07-27. Figures reflect MOT-testable defects only — read the methodology for how these are calculated and what they don't measure.