2008 Land Rover Range Rover: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2008 Land Rover Range Rover
On the 2008 Land Rover Range Rover, the failure owners report most often is airbag inflator rupture, with 8 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 95,000 miles. Overall it scores 67 out of 100, high risk for a 2008.
High risk for a 2008 — 226th riskiest of the 356 2008 vehicles we can rate. 36 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
What breaks on the 2008 Land Rover Range Rover
Owners have reported 16 named failure modes on the 2008 Land Rover Range Rover, and the three most-reported carry 39% of everything filed.
Airbag inflator rupture leads with 8 reports and about 0.8 per 1,000 vehicles.
CV axle or driveshaft failure follows with 3 reports, median 5,000 miles.
Differential or transfer case failure follows with 3 reports, median 130,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into airbag (9), brakes (7) and drivetrain (6).
When these failures get reported
19 of the reports on the 2008 Land Rover Range Rover came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 95,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 26% by 50,000 miles, 53% by 100,000 miles and 95% by 150,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 130,000 and 140,000 miles, which alone holds 21% of the dated reports.
26% 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
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 16. 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
What happens when these parts fail
Across the named modes, 2 mention a crash and 1 an injury. 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 4.89, 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: airbag inflator rupture at $0–$0, CV axle or driveshaft failure at $450–$2,200, differential or transfer case failure at $900–$4,200 and brake line, hose or caliper failure at $250–$1,600. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
19% 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.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbag inflator rupture | airbag | 8 | 1 | — | 100k | — | 0.8 | $0–$0 | Critical |
| CV axle or driveshaft failure | drivetrain | 3 | 3 | — | 4k | — | 0.3 | $450–$2,200 | High |
| Differential or transfer case failure | drivetrain | 3 | 3 | — | 130k | — | 0.3 | $900–$4,200 | High |
| Brake line, hose or caliper failure | brakes | 2 | 1 | — | 110k | — | 0.2 | $250–$1,600 | Critical |
| Parking brake failure | brakes | 2 | 2 | — | 130k | — | 0.2 | $250–$1,300 | Moderate |
| Air suspension failure | suspension | 2 | 2 | — | 70k | — | 0.2 | $900–$4,500 | High |
| Other brake problem | brakes | 2 | 1 | — | 102k | — | 0.2 | $300–$1,800 | High |
| Torque converter failure | transmission | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $1,100–$3,200 | High |
| Fuel leak or fuel odor | fuel | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $300–$2,500 | Critical |
| Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure | electrical | 1 | 1 | — | 32k | — | 0.1 | $700–$3,000 | High |
| Engine sensor failure | electrical | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $180–$900 | Moderate |
| Loss of braking | brakes | 1 | 1 | — | 97k | — | 0.1 | $400–$3,000 | Critical |
| Seat belt or retractor failure | airbag | 1 | 1 | — | 136k | — | 0.1 | $200–$900 | High |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 1 | 1 | — | 65k | — | 0.1 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other wheel or tire problem | wheels | 1 | 1 | — | 32k | — | 0.1 | $200–$1,500 | High |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 1 | 1 | — | 92k | — | 0.1 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Unclassified problem | other | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.5 | — | Moderate |
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 2008 Land Rover Range Rover draws about 3.4 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 80th percentile of complaint rates among 2008 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 10,664 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2008 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.
Airbag inflator rupture
Takata recall. This has been in effect since last summer. Range rover has not made any attempt to remedy problem and I am driving around everyday with an eminent danger to me and my family. I have made numerous calls to dealership as well as range rover headquarters in nj to no avail. I was treated rudely at the headquarters and told that there was nothing that could be done and no promise of remedy in the future. I think this is outrageous and should require your attention. I will take this to the media if I do not receive some kind of action.
CV axle or driveshaft failure
Driving south on I-75 at 70 MPH,(speed limit), and their was a high pitched sound, followed by 2 metal sounding clicks, and we pulled to the side of the interstate, however, prior tp getting off the interstate the car started shaking violently, making the most incredible loud sound, as if it was going to explode, and my husband got us into the ditch embankment, and the rangerover would not move, when the tow truck arrived, it would not back up , required us to push. From the start of the hum to the complete failure of the steering, and off road to safety was aprox. 10 seconds, and the worst 10 seconds of our life. We were towed to jaguar/land rover, of ft. Myers, and the front differential and completely come apart, and needed replacing of the internal front differential assembly, front driveshaft, and frontdifferential. *tr
Driving south on I-75 at 70 MPH,(speed limit), and their was a high pitched sound, followed by 2 metal sounding clicks, and we pulled to the side of the interstate, however, prior tp getting off the interstate the car started shaking violently, making the most incredible loud sound, as if it was going to explode, and my husband got us into the ditch embankment, and the rangerover would not move, when the tow truck arrived, it would not back up , required us to push. From the start of the hum to the complete failure of the steering, and off road to safety was aprox. 10 seconds, and the worst 10 seconds of our life. We were towed to jaguar/land rover, of ft. Myers, and the front differential and completely come apart, and needed replacing of the internal front differential assembly, front driveshaft, and frontdifferential. *tr
Differential or transfer case failure
Front end differential locked up on the interstate without warning. Front tires will not turn and are completely locked up. This would have been a wreck if there were other drivers on the road at the same time. Had it towed to a service shop, and a mechanic said the front end differential is completely blown up and should be a factory recall.
Recalls on the 2008 model year
NHTSA has issued 3 recall campaigns covering the 2008 Land Rover Range Rover, affecting an estimated 19,788 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 air bags:frontal:passenger side:inflator module and service brakes, hydraulic:power assist:hydraulic:hoses, line. 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.
Recalls also distort complaint counts. Publicity about a campaign reminds owners that complaining is possible, so reports for a recalled component often spike after the recall rather than before it.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
8,711 vehicles 2017-01-10- Defect
- Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (Land Rover) is recalling certain 2012 Land Rover Range Rover vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan) and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or "Zone A." Additionally, Land Rover is recalling certain 2009 Land Rover Range Rover vehicles, originally sold, or ever registered, in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky…
- Consequence
- An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Land Rover will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag assemblies, free of charge. The recall began December 18, 2017. Owners may contact Land Rover customer service at 1-800-637-6837. Land Rover's number for this recall is P082.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
34,738 vehicles 2016-05-27- Defect
- Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (Land Rover) is recalling certain model year 2007-2011 Land Rover Range Rover vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or "Zone A." Additionally, unless included in "Zone A" above, Land Rover is recalling certain model year 2007-2008 Land Rover Range Rover vehicles, originally sold, or ever registered, in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware…
- Consequence
- An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Land Rover will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag assemblies, free of charge. The recall began March 2017. Owners may contact Land Rover customer service at 1-800-637-6837. Land Rover's number for this recall is P081.
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:POWER ASSIST:HYDRAULIC:HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS
74,648 vehicles 2015-01-27- Defect
- Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (Land Rover) is recalling certain model year 2006-2012 Land Rover Range Rover vehicles manufactured April 15, 2005, to September 4, 2012. One or both of the flexible front brake hoses may rupture causing loss of brake fluid.
- Consequence
- If one or both of the flexible brake hoses fails, the vehicle may require a longer distance to stop, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Land Rover will notify owners, and dealers will replace the left and right front brake hoses, free of charge. The recall began on July 28, 2015. Owners may contact Land Rover customer service at 1-800-637-6837. Land Rover's number for this recall is P054.
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 2008 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
Better and worse years of the same car
High risk for a 2008 — 226th riskiest of the 356 2008 vehicles we can rate. The comparison is always within the same model year, so an older car is never penalised for having had longer to break.
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 2008 itself at 67.
If the model year is negotiable, 1996, 2007, 2002, 1999 and 2000 score lower than 2008 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.
The limits of complaint data
36 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 36 reports, 19 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 53% 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".
Named failure modes come from matching phrases in the complaint text, so a badly worded complaint can land in the wrong bucket. The effect washes out across hundreds of reports and does not wash out across five.
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 2008 Land Rover Range Rover?
The most-reported failures are airbag inflator rupture (8 reports, median 100,000 miles), cv axle or driveshaft failure (3 reports, median 5,000 miles) and differential or transfer case failure (3 reports, median 130,000 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 2008 Land Rover Range Rover reliable?
It scores 67 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 226th riskiest of the 356 2008 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2008 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