looking at an 04 today, anything in particular I should be looking at when buying? Did they work out the oil pump issues with the 04's? Thanks

 

There is a vin# range for bad oil pumps.
The consensus seems to be, that if you find a LR in that vin range, the oil pump has likely already been replaced.
Oil pumps are cheap, and simple to install.
They can grenade, ruin the timing cover, and obviously stop pumping oil, ruining the engine. Or they break in one or more places. They will still pump oil, just not as well at low rpms.
I'm new to LR's, but not working on cars.
I got a great deal on an 04 last month.
It had the infamous LR ticking. That can be several things. Mine was the oil pump, broken external gear (gears are cast, not forged).
No damage to the timing cover, or the engine, looks great inside. I have a new oil pump and I'll put it in next week sometime.
If the engine doesn't over heat, smoke, or knock, it's worth fixing.

 

As mentioned above, The issues you reference were all worked out while under warranty.

However the oil pump can and will break on any year of these engines whether or not it is that VIN range. It is a common wear item.

The difference was there was a manufacturing defect in 03/04 that led to the "premature" failure of an oil pump that will probably fail more often than the head gaskets in most of these motors or once or twice in the lifetime of the vehicle.