2002 Land Rover Range Rover: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2002 Land Rover Range Rover
On the 2002 Land Rover Range Rover, the failure owners report most often is water pump failure, with 5 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 55,000 miles. Overall it scores 63 out of 100, high risk for a 2002.
High risk for a 2002 — 262nd riskiest of the 329 2002 vehicles we can rate. 25 owner reports; fleet size borrowed from other years of the same model.
The failures owners actually file about
Owners have reported 11 named failure modes on the 2002 Land Rover Range Rover, and the three most-reported carry 48% of everything filed.
Water pump failure leads with 5 reports and about 0.5 per 1,000 vehicles.
Oil leak follows with 4 reports, median 40,000 miles.
Air suspension failure follows with 3 reports, median 55,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into transmission (7), cooling (5) and engine (4).
The mileage the reports cluster at
21 of the reports on the 2002 Land Rover Range Rover came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 55,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 48% by 50,000 miles, 81% by 100,000 miles and 90% by 150,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 0 and 10,000 miles, which alone holds 24% of the dated reports.
29% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the median reported mileage
How bad it is when it goes
Nothing in the reports on the 2002 Land Rover Range Rover mentions a crash, a fire or an injury. That is the ordinary case and it is worth stating: most defect complaints are about a car that stopped working, not one that hurt somebody.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 3.96, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: water pump failure at $500–$2,200, oil leak at $250–$2,200, air suspension failure at $900–$4,500 and other powertrain problem at $400–$4,500. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
72% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures, so more than half of what owners complained about here is expensive.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water pump failure | cooling | 5 | 5 | — | 100 | — | 0.5 | $500–$2,200 | High |
| Oil leak | engine | 4 | 4 | — | 39k | — | 0.4 | $250–$2,200 | Moderate |
| Air suspension failure | suspension | 3 | 3 | — | 54k | — | 0.3 | $900–$4,500 | High |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 3 | 3 | — | 103k | — | 0.3 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Transmission will not engage a gear | transmission | 2 | 2 | — | 76k | — | 0.2 | $1,500–$6,000 | Critical |
| Differential or transfer case failure | drivetrain | 2 | 1 | — | 33k | — | 0.2 | $900–$4,200 | High |
| Cruise control failure | adas | 2 | 2 | — | 180k | — | 0.2 | $200–$1,400 | High |
| Complete transmission failure | transmission | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $2,800–$8,000 | Critical |
| Torque converter failure | transmission | 1 | 1 | — | 92k | — | 0.1 | $1,100–$3,200 | High |
| ABS module or sensor failure | brakes | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $500–$2,400 | High |
| Other visibility problem | glass | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $150–$1,400 | Moderate |
This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2002 Land Rover Range Rover draws about 2.3 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 74th percentile of complaint rates among 2002 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model.
The working figure is 10,664 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2002 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Water pump failure
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 land rover range rover. The contact stated that the door locks jam and the vehicle doors are unable to be opened. There were no warning indicators and the failure occurred intermittently. The dealer diagnosed the cause of failure as the driver's door cam kit. The dealer replaced the part, however, the failure continues to occur intermittently. The purchase date, engine size, and current mileage were unknown. The failure mileage was 100. The speakers were fuzzy, the battery would disconnect, the radio was replaced, the air suspension failed, the front and left air bags were leaking, the heater core o-rings were leaking, the radiator failed, valve cover gaskets were leaking, the drive belt had worn out, the water pump was leaking. Updated 07/15/07. *jb
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 land rover range rover. The contact stated that the door locks jam and the vehicle doors are unable to be opened. There were no warning indicators and the failure occurred intermittently. The dealer diagnosed the cause of failure as the driver's door cam kit. The dealer replaced the part, however, the failure continues to occur intermittently. The purchase date, engine size, and current mileage were unknown. The failure mileage was 100. The speakers were fuzzy, the battery would disconnect, the radio was replaced, the air suspension failed, the front and left air bags were leaking, the heater core o-rings were leaking, the radiator failed, valve cover gaskets were leaking, the drive belt had worn out, the water pump was leaking. Updated 07/15/07. *jb
Oil leak
2002 land rover e.a.s is inactive. Service department found code right rear valve stuck closed. Valve block thermal switch shorted and compressor inoperative while filling system. *ts ***no answer required*** the consumer stated the electric air suspension collapsed. The valve cover gasket was replaced, but it was leaking oil. The exhaust valve was stuck. The cd player was replaced
2002 land rover e.a.s is inactive. Service department found code right rear valve stuck closed. Valve block thermal switch shorted and compressor inoperative while filling system. *ts ***no answer required*** the consumer stated the electric air suspension collapsed. The valve cover gasket was replaced, but it was leaking oil. The exhaust valve was stuck. The cd player was replaced
Air suspension failure
Purchased vehicle 1-28-06. Broke down on 2-05-06, eight days later. Had the vehicle towed to the nearest land rover dealer where they identified many problems with the car including some that make the car unsafe. The electronic air suspension broke, the front and rear brakes are down to 10%, there is a severe leak in the rocker gasket, the belts are bad with a crack in the serpentine belt. The car failed while driving on the freeway by losing it's suspension. Had the car towed to the dealer, undrivable. Rented a car to get home, 122 miles away. Was told by the dealer I purchased it from that I would have to pay for the repairs that the extended warranty that I also purchased did not cover. *jb
Purchased vehicle 1-28-06. Broke down on 2-05-06, eight days later. Had the vehicle towed to the nearest land rover dealer where they identified many problems with the car including some that make the car unsafe. The electronic air suspension broke, the front and rear brakes are down to 10%, there is a severe leak in the rocker gasket, the belts are bad with a crack in the serpentine belt. The car failed while driving on the freeway by losing it's suspension. Had the car towed to the dealer, undrivable. Rented a car to get home, 122 miles away. Was told by the dealer I purchased it from that I would have to pay for the repairs that the extended warranty that I also purchased did not cover. *jb
How it ranks in the 2002 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
How 2002 compares with the other years
High risk for a 2002 — 262nd riskiest of the 329 2002 vehicles we can rate. Every score on this site is a rank inside its own model year, which is what makes a 2004 and a 2019 comparable at all.
Across the 26 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 1996 comes out best at 61 and 2023 worst at 84, with 2002 itself at 63.
No other year of this model scores meaningfully better than 2002, so if this generation is what you want, the year is not the lever.
Within the 1996–2002 generation specifically, 1996 is the strongest year at 61 and 1997 the weakest at 70.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 1996-2002 generation, 1996 Land Rover Range Rover scores best at 61 and 1997 Land Rover Range Rover worst at 70.
The limits of complaint data
25 owner reports; fleet size borrowed from other years of the same model. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 25 reports, 21 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 84% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
The failure modes are assigned by software reading the owner's own words, which is accurate in bulk and wrong in individual cases. A mode with a handful of reports may contain a misfiled one.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2002 Land Rover Range Rover?
The most-reported failures are water pump failure (5 reports, median 100 miles), oil leak (4 reports, median 40,000 miles) and air suspension failure (3 reports, median 55,000 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2002 Land Rover Range Rover reliable?
It scores 63 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 262nd riskiest of the 329 2002 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2002 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Land Rover Range Rover is best?
Within the 1996–2002 generation, 1996 scores best at 61 out of 100 and 1997 worst at 70. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed