Reliability & cost of ownership

Champion Defender Reliability & Common Problems

How reliable is the Champion Defender? Compare every model year side by side — NHTSA recalls, owner complaints, and crash-test stars — then open the year you're shopping for its AI reliability outlook where NHTSA has enough data.

Champion Defender problems by model year

86 recall entries and 0 owner complaints on file across 20 model years, sourced from the federal NHTSA database.

Year	Recalls	NCAP stars	Full report
2019 Defender	1	No NCAP test	Recalls & complaints →
2018 Defender	2	No NCAP test	Recalls & complaints →
2017 Defender	2	No NCAP test	Recalls & complaints →
2016 Defender	1	No NCAP test	Recalls & complaints →
2015 Defender	4	No NCAP test	AI reliability outlook →
2014 Defender	6	No NCAP test	AI reliability outlook →
2013 Defender	5	No NCAP test	AI reliability outlook →
2012 Defender	4	No NCAP test	AI reliability outlook →
2011 Defender	3	No NCAP test	AI reliability outlook →
2010 Defender	7	No NCAP test	AI reliability outlook →
2009 Defender	9	No NCAP test	AI reliability outlook →
2008 Defender	11	No NCAP test	AI reliability outlook →
2007 Defender	10	No NCAP test	AI reliability outlook →
2006 Defender	5	No NCAP test	AI reliability outlook →
2005 Defender	4	No NCAP test	AI reliability outlook →
2004 Defender	2	No NCAP test	Recalls & complaints →
2003 Defender	2	No NCAP test	Recalls & complaints →
2002 Defender	2	No NCAP test	Recalls & complaints →
2001 Defender	3	No NCAP test	AI reliability outlook →
2000 Defender	3	No NCAP test	AI reliability outlook →

Champion Defender recalls (all years) Check a Champion VIN Run a free VIN check