2021 LAND ROVER DEFENDER — Complaint #2102175
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about EXTERIOR LIGHTING filed June 19, 2025
NHTSA complaint #2102175 (ODI reference 11668024) concerns a 2021 LAND ROVER DEFENDER and was filed on June 19, 2025. The owner reports the failure occurred on January 20, 2025. The report was geocoded to Arizona based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as exterior lighting, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same LAND ROVER DEFENDER cohort independently describe similar exterior lighting failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2021 LAND ROVER DEFENDER shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
1. The driver side DAYTIME Running Light has failed as of 1/20/25. 2. Some states require the DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS to be operating. (So, I need to replace this headlamp.) 3. Three auto repair companies have confirmed the DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS are not operating and the entire headlight will need to be replaced. 4. No warning lights are available for the Daytime Running Lights. I found the issue while observing the front headlights of the Defender. 5. The issue is that I have been told by 3 different auto repair companies that numerous Defenders have the same issue. The Daytime Running Lights have failed and the entire Head Lamp has to be replaced. 6. The auto techs say this seems to be a BAD SUPPLY CHAIN and the issue should be addressed by Land Rover. This is due to so many Defenders having the same issue. 7. In addition, I was told by every auto company that the passenger side DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHT would be going bad anyday because these headlamps are a problem
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2102175 |
| ODI Number | 11668024 |
| Date Filed | June 19, 2025 |
| Failure Date | January 20, 2025 |
| VIN | SALEX7RU8M2 |
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Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.