Range Rover Recall Covers 93,997 SUVs With Water-Damaged Camera Risk

A basic drainage problem can disable a required visibility aid in one of the market’s most expensive luxury SUVs. Jaguar Land Rover North America has recalled 93,997 Range Rovers from model years 2022 through 2026 because water can collect around the tailgate-mounted rearview camera, producing a distorted image or leaving the driver with no camera view at all.

JLR ordered the U.S. and Canadian recall on October 8, 2026. The affected SUVs were built at Solihull between July 8, 2021, and June 4, 2026. Dealers will drill additional drain holes into the underside of the trim holding the camera, test its operation and replace the camera when necessary. The work is free under recall D171, listed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as 26V678.

Existing SUVs get drainage; factory builds get a new seal

The difference between the dealer remedy and the production correction illustrates the underlying water-management problem. Range Rovers already in service will receive holes that give intruding water a route out of the camera trim. Vehicles produced after June 4 received a revised seal intended to keep water out in the first place.

Both approaches address the same exposure but at different points in the water path. A revised seal is an exclusion strategy, while added drainage accepts that some water may enter the surrounding trim and prevents it from pooling around the camera mount. For existing vehicles, drilling the specified holes avoids replacing the complete trim arrangement solely to incorporate the newer production design.

Replacing a failed camera by itself does not provide that drainage path. An owner whose camera was replaced previously still needs the recall modification because a new camera installed in unchanged trim remains exposed to the same pooling condition. JLR says owners who previously paid for a camera replacement may seek reimbursement under its general reimbursement plan.

A 100 percent defect estimate does not mean universal camera failure

JLR estimates that 100 percent of the recalled population contains the defective design. That figure means all 93,997 vehicles share the tailgate drainage configuration at issue; it does not mean every rear camera has already leaked or failed.

The investigation began after JLR’s product safety committee identified unusually high rear-camera replacement rates on July 31. Warranty data showed that Range Rovers in the United States and Canada were receiving replacement cameras more frequently than vehicles in other markets. The claim rate fell significantly after dealers were required to provide supporting evidence, but supplier examination of the first returned units found that most had failed because of water ingress.

JLR recorded 2,295 U.S. claims and field reports involving camera replacement between August 3, 2022, and September 28, 2026. The company reported no crashes, injuries or fires associated with the condition.

Why the camera remains a safety system

Rear cameras are more than a parking convenience. Federal requirements have applied to new light vehicles since May 2018, with systems required to show drivers a defined area directly behind the vehicle. NHTSA adopted those requirements because its testing found that video systems helped drivers avoid unexpected objects more effectively than sensors or supplemental mirrors alone, as detailed in the agency’s rear-visibility rule.

The new Range Rover filing treats the condition as a safety defect but leaves the federal safety-standard classification fields blank. That filing choice does not reduce the practical consequence: water can remove the image that drivers expect when reversing, particularly important in a large SUV with limited direct visibility immediately behind it.

JLR has addressed related water problems before. It recalled 15,535 model-year 2021–2025 Discovery vehicles for the same drainage issue and specified a similar drill and inspect repair. A separate 2024 campaign covered 58,729 model-year 2018–2022 Range Rover and Range Rover Sport vehicles because water could enter the rear-camera housing.

Dealers were scheduled to receive notice of the latest campaign on October 29, and owner letters are due by December 11. The essential repair is the drainage modification, followed by a functional test and camera replacement where needed not a camera swap that leaves the original water path unchanged.

By Thomas Caldwell — AMI’s senior editor for mechanical and mobility engineering, covering vehicle electronics, systems integration, electrification, chassis systems, propulsion, and safety policy.