Land Rover will drill extra drain holes on 93,997 Range Rovers whose backup camera can drown

Land Rover is going to drill additional drain holes in the tailgate trim of 93,997 Range Rovers from the 2022 through 2026 model years, because the existing holes do not let water escape from around the rearview camera. Water that stays pooled there can damage the camera, and a damaged camera can leave the screen blank when a driver shifts into reverse.

Save more, waste less: The Cool Down’s newsletter sends smart, simple changes that help you and the planet in your everyday life.

Subscribe to The Cool Down →

We may earn a commission if you sign up.

The repair is a small piece of machining, not a new part: a drill, a few holes in the underside of the trim, and a camera swap only where the camera has already been harmed.

Water that has nowhere to go

Jaguar Land Rover North America reported the problem on Oct. 15, 2026, and NHTSA published it as campaign 26V678000, which Land Rover tracks as recall D171. The agency’s component label is back-over prevention, sensing system, camera. The defect summary says water may not be able to drain away from the rearview camera because there are insufficient drain holes, and the stated consequence is that a camera image that does not display can reduce the driver’s view behind the vehicle and raise the risk of a crash.

The design problem is a drainage one. A camera set into the tailgate sits where rain and wash water run down the back of the vehicle, and the trim around it is meant to let whatever gets behind it drain out. The filing says that on these Range Rovers the drainage is insufficient, so water can collect around the camera instead of leaving.

The Discovery recall that came first

This is not Land Rover’s first tailgate-drain recall this year. In July, the company filed campaign 26V458 (manufacturer recall D145) for 15,535 Land Rover Discovery SUVs from the 2021 through 2025 model years, with almost the same language: the tailgate’s water management system may not be sufficient to let water drain from the rearview camera. That filing records that NHTSA opened an investigation on Feb. 20, 2026, after warranty data showed a possible rise in rear camera replacements, and that the matter went to the agency’s decision forum on July 9.

The Discovery filing counts 100 U.S. claims and field reports between Aug. 31, 2021 and March 30, 2026, and no accidents, injuries or fires. Its remedy is the same one now ordered for the Range Rover: extra drain holes drilled in the underside of the tailgate trim, the camera checked, and the camera replaced if needed. The Range Rover campaign is more than six times the size of the Discovery one.

The repair drills extra drain holes

The dates on the Discovery filing show how slowly this kind of problem moves from warranty counter to recall. NHTSA opened its investigation on Feb. 20, the decision forum ordered a recall on July 9, Jaguar Land Rover North America filed on July 16, dealers were to be notified on July 30, and owner letters were due on or before Sept. 11. The Range Rover filing followed on Oct. 15, and its interim letters are set for Dec. 11, so a Range Rover owner may wait roughly two months after the filing for the first piece of mail.

Neither record attributes the problem to a single supplier or build week for the Range Rover, and the Range Rover record says nothing about incidents, claims or injuries. What it does state is the mechanism, the remedy and the dates. The remedy also tells owners something about priorities: the first step is to drill, the second is to inspect the camera, and replacement happens only where inspection finds damage, so a Range Rover whose camera still works should keep its original unit. Owners cannot judge that from the driver’s seat alone, which is why every one of the 93,997 vehicles is in the campaign.

Under the Range Rover record, dealers will drill additional drain holes in the underside of the tailgate trim and inspect the rearview camera, replacing it as needed. Repairs will be performed free of charge, in the record’s words. The covered years run from 2022 through 2026, one entry per year, and all of them carry the same 93,997 count.

Interim owner letters are expected to be mailed on Dec. 11, 2026, with further letters to follow once the final remedy is available. That wording signals that the remedy is not fully settled on the filing date. Owners can reach Land Rover customer service at 800-637-6837, or look up a vehicle identification number on NHTSA’s recall lookup; the agency’s campaign page carries the same record.

The campaign also appears in the dataset that NHTSA publishes for reports received from Oct. 14 onward, where the open recall data confirms the campaign number and the Oct. 15 date. The Discovery precedent suggests how the next stage may go: drill, test the camera, replace it only if it has failed.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

Save more, waste less: Subscribe to The Cool Down →

We may earn a commission if you sign up.