Photo: Land Rover
The new generation Land Rover Defender won’t be working on its tan this summer, as the British automaker has issued a recall for certain 2020-2022 model year trucks in the United States and federalized territories.
Conducted together with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the safety campaign covers 2,622 units of the Land Rover Defender, made from July 15, 2020 to May 26, 2021, all of them fitted with the OEM smoked taillights.
According to a bulletin released by the safety agency, “a voltage spike triggered by a bright light shining on the rear of the vehicle, can cause the turn signals, brake lights and taillights to fail”. In other words, the sun could damage the clusters, and while the turn signals and stop lamps could reset without intervention, the taillamps “will extinguish until power feed is cycled”.
Should these components fail, then other road users may not be aware that the vehicle is slowing down, stopping or changing direction. Moreover, they might not be seen at night, so the risk of injury and/or accident is high. Nevertheless, Jaguar Land Rover is unaware of any accidents, injuries or fires related to this concern.
The issue is blamed on the component manufacturer, Varroc Lighting Systems of Suvorovova, Czech Republic, and will be corrected by the Jaguar Land Rover’s technicians, who will replace the taillight assemblies. All work will be performed free of charge, as the vehicles are covered by the company’s warranty program.
Dealers will be informed this week, and owners should hear from the car manufacturer on or before August 3. The latter date is also when the recall is expected to commence.
In the meantime, concerned owners with question on the topic can contact the Land Rover customer service at 1-800-637-6837, using the recall number N598. They can also reach out to the NHTSA’s Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236.
According to a bulletin released by the safety agency, “a voltage spike triggered by a bright light shining on the rear of the vehicle, can cause the turn signals, brake lights and taillights to fail”. In other words, the sun could damage the clusters, and while the turn signals and stop lamps could reset without intervention, the taillamps “will extinguish until power feed is cycled”.
Should these components fail, then other road users may not be aware that the vehicle is slowing down, stopping or changing direction. Moreover, they might not be seen at night, so the risk of injury and/or accident is high. Nevertheless, Jaguar Land Rover is unaware of any accidents, injuries or fires related to this concern.
The issue is blamed on the component manufacturer, Varroc Lighting Systems of Suvorovova, Czech Republic, and will be corrected by the Jaguar Land Rover’s technicians, who will replace the taillight assemblies. All work will be performed free of charge, as the vehicles are covered by the company’s warranty program.
Dealers will be informed this week, and owners should hear from the car manufacturer on or before August 3. The latter date is also when the recall is expected to commence.
In the meantime, concerned owners with question on the topic can contact the Land Rover customer service at 1-800-637-6837, using the recall number N598. They can also reach out to the NHTSA’s Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236.
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