Land Rover Defender vs Volvo XC90
The Volvo XC90 has the better MOT record of the two — 18.7% fail rate versus 20.9% for the Land Rover Defender across comparable years. The biggest single difference is steering, where the Defender records failures noticeably more often.
20.9%
Defender fail rate
18.7%
XC90 fail rate
2.26pp
Difference
Side by side
| Metric | Land Rover Defender | Volvo XC90 |
|---|---|---|
| MOT tests analysed | 669,569 | 411,468 |
| Pass rate | 79.0% | 81.3% |
| Fail rate | 20.9% | 18.7% |
Where they differ
| Category | Defender | XC90 |
|---|---|---|
| Steering | 6.4% | 0.0% |
| Body, structure & corrosion | 6.0% | 0.0% |
| Tyres | 0.0% | 5.5% |
| Lighting & signalling | 14.1% | 9.6% |
| Suspension | 7.7% | 4.4% |
| Visibility | 0.0% | 2.6% |
| Brakes | 7.0% | 9.1% |
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.