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Problems · NHTSA complaints

1997 Land Rover Defender 90 problems

Owners filed 3 complaints about the 1997 Land Rover Defender 90 with NHTSA between Nov 1997 and Jun 2010. The most-cited component is structure (1).

Full 1997 Defender 90 research
Complaints
3
Filed with NHTSA
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
People reported injured
Deaths
0
Reported to NHTSA
01 —By component

Complaints by component

One complaint can cite several components
  1. Structure1
  2. Electrical system1
  3. Equipment1
  4. Exterior lighting1

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API · synced Nov 10, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
02 —Trend

When complaints were filed

Does it get worse with age? Complaints per calendar year filed
View as table
Model yearComplaints filed per calendar year
19971
19980
19990
20000
20010
20020
20030
20040
20050
20060
20070
20080
20090
20102

Mileage at failure isn’t a structured field in NHTSA complaint data, so we don’t chart it. Some owners mention it in their reports below.

03 —Owner reports

Top problems in owners’ words

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first

Structure

1 report
“THE VEHICLE FRAME IS PREMATURELY RUSTING TO THE POINT IT MAY FAIL. *TR”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jun 7, 2010StructureODI 10335026
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Electrical system

1 report
“THE ODOMETER IN MY 1997 LAND ROVER DEFENDER 90 BLINKS AT 135000 KM AND IT STOP SHOWING THE NUMBERS. NOW I CANT READ HOW MANY KILOMETERS I DRIVE THEREFORE I M WORRY ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE OF THE DRIVE TRAIN. I M AFRAID BY NOT KNOWING HOW MANY KM I M DRIVING MAY LEAD TO ENGINE DAMAGE AS I MAY NOT CHANGE ENGINE OIL AT THE REQUIRED INTERVAL RESULTING IN COSTLY REPAIR. *TR”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Apr 10, 2010Electrical system, EquipmentODI 10324809
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Equipment

1 report
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Exterior lighting

1 report
“CONSUMER STATES MOISTURE IS ENTERING IN THE TAIL LIGHTS ASSEMBLY, CAUSING THE TAIL LIGHTS TO BECOME INOPERATIVE. CONSUMER HAS CONTACTED THE DEALER, DEALER HAS REPLACED PARTS. CONSUMER STILL EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS. PLEASE PROVIDE FURTHER DETAILS. *AK”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Nov 10, 1997Exterior lightingODI 818700
Get this fixed
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 10, 2026

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.