2004 Land Rover Range Rover: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2004 Land Rover Range Rover
On the 2004 Land Rover Range Rover, the failure owners report most often is differential or transfer case failure, and the reports cluster around 55,000 miles. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 72,500 miles. Overall it scores 66 out of 100, high risk for a 2004.
High risk for a 2004 — 181st riskiest of the 329 2004 vehicles we can rate. 61 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
What breaks on the 2004 Land Rover Range Rover
Owners have reported 22 named failure modes on the 2004 Land Rover Range Rover, and the three most-reported carry 36% of everything filed.
Differential or transfer case failure leads with 11 reports, about 1.7 per 1,000 vehicles and with the middle half of reports between 47k to 65,000 miles.
CV axle or driveshaft failure follows with 6 reports, median 75,000 miles.
Radiator or coolant leak follows with 5 reports, median 65,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into drivetrain (17), transmission (8) and steering (7).
The mileage the reports cluster at
51 of the reports on the 2004 Land Rover Range Rover came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 72,500 miles.
Cumulatively, 20% by 50,000 miles, 73% by 100,000 miles and 96% by 150,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 60,000 and 70,000 miles, which alone holds 22% of the dated reports.
6% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles, so this is mostly a story about older, higher-mileage cars.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 22. The full list is in the table below.
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
Across the named modes, 2 a fire. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 4.25, 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: differential or transfer case failure at $900–$4,200, CV axle or driveshaft failure at $450–$2,200, radiator or coolant leak at $350–$1,900 and other engine problem at $300–$4,000. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
57% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Differential or transfer case failure | drivetrain | 11 | 9 | 47k | 53k | 63k | 1.7 | $900–$4,200 | High |
| CV axle or driveshaft failure | drivetrain | 6 | 6 | — | 76k | — | 0.9 | $450–$2,200 | High |
| Radiator or coolant leak | cooling | 5 | 5 | — | 64k | — | 0.8 | $350–$1,900 | High |
| Other engine problem | engine | 4 | 4 | — | 99k | — | 0.6 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other steering problem | steering | 4 | 3 | — | 100k | — | 0.6 | $350–$2,400 | High |
| Complete transmission failure | transmission | 3 | 3 | — | 67k | — | 0.5 | $2,800–$8,000 | Critical |
| Fuel gauge or level sensor failure | fuel | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.5 | $300–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Steering column or shaft failure | steering | 3 | 3 | — | 140k | — | 0.5 | $600–$2,500 | Critical |
| Strut, shock or spring failure | suspension | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.5 | $500–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 3 | 3 | — | 80k | — | 0.5 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Transmission will not engage a gear | transmission | 2 | 2 | — | 84k | — | 0.3 | $1,500–$6,000 | Critical |
| Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure | electrical | 2 | 2 | — | 74k | — | 0.3 | $700–$3,000 | High |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 2 | 2 | — | 98k | — | 0.3 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other brake problem | brakes | 2 | 2 | — | 137k | — | 0.3 | $300–$1,800 | High |
| Thermostat failure | cooling | 1 | 1 | — | 76k | — | 0.2 | $250–$900 | Moderate |
| ABS module or sensor failure | brakes | 1 | 1 | — | 75k | — | 0.2 | $500–$2,400 | High |
| Brake line, hose or caliper failure | brakes | 1 | 1 | — | 48k | — | 0.2 | $250–$1,600 | Critical |
| Air suspension failure | suspension | 1 | 1 | — | 61k | — | 0.2 | $900–$4,500 | High |
| Catalytic converter failure | emissions | 1 | 1 | — | 109k | — | 0.2 | $900–$3,500 | Moderate |
| Tail light, brake light or signal failure | lighting | 1 | 1 | — | 80k | — | 0.2 | $100–$900 | Moderate |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 1 | 1 | — | 60k | — | 0.2 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other wheel or tire problem | wheels | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.2 | $200–$1,500 | High |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. 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 2004 Land Rover Range Rover draws about 9.5 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 86th percentile of complaint rates among 2004 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 6,389 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2004 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.
Differential or transfer case failure
My husband, son 10 yrs old, myself , and two pugs were driving on highway 31 at appx 65 MPH when suddenly our car made a loud crack noise and suddenly stopped accelerating telling us to put the car in neutral. We were on our way on vacation appx 90 miles out of town. Fortunately the land rover dealer was open at 630 pm and when we described what had happened he knew exactly what the problem was. We had to wait 3 hours on barely what would be considered the shoulder of the road in the snow and wait for someone to tow our car to the nearest land rover dealer. The car has 54,000 miles on it and we paid 63,000 dollars for the vehicle. It was completely incompacitated and left us stranded in a very dangerous place with absoutely no recourse other than towing. Thank god we made it safely however this situation could have resulted in a very different outcome. To date my car is still out of service and I a, left without a vehicle. *tr
I was traveling home on I-h201 when there was a loud gear cranking sound and the vehicle could no longer accelerate. The warning came on and said to put the vehicle in neutral. The vehicle rolled to the side of the road and needed the emergency brake to stop because it couldn't shift into park. It was towed in and the dealer said that it was a front differential failure which was common with this year. It's lucky that it happened in the middle of the night when there wasn't any traffic. There weren't any mechanical warnings prior to this incident. *tr
CV axle or driveshaft failure
I was traveling in my 2004 range rover with 47k miles on I-h201 in hawaii at 55 MPH with cruise control on when the engine suddenly revved up, the warning sign came on and said to put the car in neutral and it stopped accelerating. I put the car in neutral and rolled to the side of the highway. The car could not longer get into gear, made horrible grinding noises, and only could only stop with the emergency brake engaged (putting the car in park did nothing). The car had to be towed into the land rover dealership. They said that the front differential was completely gone and needed to be replaced, along with the drive shaft. This is an incredibly dangerous fault and should be addressed by land rover. *tr
Vehicle looses all forward drive when drive shaft and differential spines sheer off. This has been reported on the internet by a large population of owners of this vehicle. I was traveling in heavy traffic on I-75 north at the I-75 and I-10 interchange when without any warning the shaft failed leaving me without the abiliy to do anything other than stop. I was nearly hit by a tractor trailor as I was on an up hill grade and was not able to get completely off the express way before the vehicle came to a stop. The vehicle's park selector on the shifter was inoperative and the vehicle could only be held in place using the parking brake. The dealer said this was a common problem and that a retorfit was in the works and would be available within 30 days. The dealer had to install an original part which according to him does not contain the re-engineered fix. This leaves me out $3,000 and with a part I know will fail again in the future without notice.
Radiator or coolant leak
Car idles high and revs to 4 rpms to change to another gear it appears transmission struggles to switch gears and problem not fixed... I believe it is a dealer defect and should be replaced by dealer ....it appears its a sensor not sending correct message to transmission , however sensor is connected to radiator and thus I would have to replace entire radiator....... This is absolutely a dealer malfunction I should not be responsible for this I have 59,000 miles and my warranty was up at 50 thousand.......has this been reported before?? I asked dealer why hasn't there been a recall if they are aware of problem and he said cause problem doesn't affect car for many years. *tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 land rover range rover. Whenever the vehicle was started the contact noticed that the engine made a loud clanking sound similar to a diesel engine sound. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where the radiator , valve gasket cover, and the front differential were replaced; however, the contact continued to experience the failure. The failure occurred since the vehicle was purchased. The failure mileage was 18000. The current mileage was 73000.
Recalls on the 2004 model year
NHTSA has issued 1 recall campaign covering the 2004 Land Rover Range Rover, affecting an estimated 6,389 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover power train:driveline:driveshaft. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
One caution about reading these together: a recall usually raises the complaint count for the same part, because owners who read about it go and file. The mileages stay informative; the counts get noisy.
POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:DRIVESHAFT
19,168 vehicles 2008-12-03- Defect
- Land rover is recalling 19,168 my 2003-2005 range rover vehicles. The front differential coupling sleeve and the propeller shaft may be misaligned, resulting in spline wear over a period of time. As the wear between the propeller shaft and the differential spline coupling progresses, noise and vibration are expected.
- Consequence
- Continued vehicle operation can eventually result in the splines shearing and a loss of drive, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will install a revised design of the propeller shaft, the flange kit and heat shield kit. The recall began on january 6, 2009. Owners may contact land rover at 1-800- 637-6837.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 2004 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 2004 compares with the other years
High risk for a 2004 — 181st riskiest of the 329 2004 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 2004 itself at 66.
If the model year is negotiable, 1996, 2007, 2002, 1999 and 2000 score lower than 2004 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 2003–2008 generation specifically, 2007 is the strongest year at 61 and 2003 the weakest at 72.
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 2003-2008 generation, 2007 Land Rover Range Rover scores best at 61 and 2003 Land Rover Range Rover worst at 72.
Where to spend the inspection money
The mileages below are where the first quarter of reports for each mode had already been filed, which makes them the point at which a fault is worth looking for rather than the point at which it happens: differential or transfer case failure from about 47k.
On a 2004 Land Rover Range Rover with more miles than that on it, the useful question to put to a seller or a mechanic is whether differential or transfer case failure has been dealt with, and if so with what parts and at whose expense. A car that has already had the repair is in a different position from one that has not.
Treat it as where to point the inspection, not as a prediction. A well-maintained example can sail past every mileage on this page, and a neglected one can fail well before the first of them.
What this page cannot tell you
61 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. 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 61 reports, 51 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 2004 Land Rover Range Rover?
The most-reported failures are differential or transfer case failure (11 reports, median 55,000 miles), cv axle or driveshaft failure (6 reports, median 75,000 miles) and radiator or coolant leak (5 reports, median 65,000 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.
At what mileage do 2004 Land Rover Range Rover problems start?
Differential or transfer case failure is the earliest failure mode to show up, with a median reported mileage of 55,000 miles and a quarter of reports before 45,000 miles. Across all failure modes on this year, the median report sits at 72,500 miles.
Is the 2004 Land Rover Range Rover reliable?
It scores 66 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 181st riskiest of the 329 2004 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2004 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 2003–2008 generation, 2007 scores best at 61 out of 100 and 2003 worst at 72. 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