There are 5 owner-reported steering complaints for the 2023 Land Rover Defenderin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
Steering wheel is locked and does not turn the wheels
The steering column won't move. The car starts, you can drive forward and back but the steering column doesn't move. This has happened twice now and I am afraid if this happens while I'm driving unexpectedly, death or serious injuries are very possible.
Lane assistance and power steering failed. There was no warning light or alarm. The warning light in the dashboard came on reading “Lane assistance not available” and “power steering resistance reduced” immediately when both systems failed. We were able to safely park, no one was injured. The car has been at the service center at the dealership for 10 days.
Dec 6. Started vehicle and steering wheel would nor move. All functions of car worked. Fwd, rev, engine running , lights all worked. Turned off and restarted 3 times and steering wheel still not moving. All of a sudden wheel became free. I worry now if this could happen while driving. Light did come on saying "lain assist not available"
The power steering failed and the car was not drive-able. The warning light for no lane assist available also turned on. The vehicle was in-operable and left us stranded. This would have been a much bigger issue in the winter time, or if I was not at my home. I contacted Land Rover, who had me call LandRover road side to have the car towed to the dealership, since this occurred on a Sunday. They confirmed the issue of power steering malfunction. There was no warning that his was going to happen. It first appeared when we tried to start the car and it was not drive-able. Once at the dealership, I was made aware there was a service bulletin-not a formal recall- regarding this malfunction. It required two code updates (that I was unable to complete with attempt to update software prior to tow) and a battery reset. With this being such a significant issue, making the car in-operable, it was frustrating to hear it was a known issue that was not a recall. The dealership told me there were others in the area that had the same issue and were fixed, with out recurrent of the issue.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 27, 2026