I am contemplating purchasing an 03/04 Range Rover but am trying to make sense of the multitude of opinions stating how unreliable this vehicle is. How can the best off road vehicle in history have this glaring handicap and why won't Land Rover engineers address this issue?

Also, how does the RR Sport and Disco II compare? I've heard that they are more reliable.

 

If you take care of it and are up to date on various technical service bulletins you will be alright. In my dad's machine shop, we do at least 3-4 RR 4.4 rebuilds a month and just recently we did a 07 4.2 supercharged RR that had its warranty voided. At one point the whole shop was filled with the late model RRs, shop fits 10 cars. All of them, ALL of them were due to neglect. Not changing the oil or not servicing regularly. I wish i had taken some pics of some of these motors, not even 30,000 miles and they are packed with gunk and sludge.

Its amazing how much time and money you can save just doing general maintenance work to your truck every 3000 miles.

Also, I have crates of used connecting rods and pistons for these motors, so if anyone ever needs one, give me a shout.

 

Range Rovers are considered "unreliable" because they are a somewhat rare and highly misunderstand vehicle. LR has continually worked on reliability. However, as the best off-road vehicles they are crammed with advanced systems that will never be as reliable as vehicles without.

'03-'04 Rovers are generally considered more problematic then most because '03 was the first production year of the newly designed MKIII model. That being said, most MKIIIs are more reliable than the older P38's. I personally would avoid the MKIII until '06 and beyond because i've heard they have electrical problems which are difficult to fix DIY.

The RRS is said to be more reliable but as I never have (and never will) own a RRS I wont comment on that. Disco II's are pretty comparable to RRs from what i've heard and seen with an acquaintance's Disco.

 

Makes sense to me...properly maintain the vehicle to avoid unnecessary repair costs. Any unique or hard to come by parts to be aware of? I don't have a problem working on my Range myself. My father has a Disco and has been able to fix the minor issues he's had with it.

I heard there were some issues with the 03 model. Anyone have one? I'll consider your advice when I make my purchase ldivine.

I'm planning on "using" my RR. Camping trips, road trips, dirt roads, etc... SO many people have bad mouthed it's reliability, however, I'm a bit concerned about taking my family on long trips. Guess I'll have to see for myself.

 

The MKIII rrs seem to be solid mechanically, aside from the front differential recall. Like Idivine said, they have mainly electrical problems, that can be some what of a pain to solve. The P38 is not as reliable, but is a very good DIY vehicle, there is TONS of documentation on them. For reliability, mine has 163k miles on it now and runs better than my 04 hyundai. I think that is kind of a testament. Maintenance is EVERYTHING when it comes to a vehicle. I see a lot of mistreated rovers on the road, and want to scream at the owner for not taking care of them. Most of the ones that are mistreated are the newer ones, and I see them outside of starbucks all the time . When failures do occur, they usually give you fair warning, such as noises and unusual behavior. If ignored they will eventually leave you stranded. If you are on top of things, you should be fine.

If it were up to me, I would wait to get an 06 or newer RR with the jaguar engine and different electronics. Not to say the BMW RR is bad, but after having 2 XJRs in the family, I LOVE THAT ENGINE! It is built like a tank, and will suck you back in your seat.

 

Do the XJRs have the same motors as the 06 S-type? We have one coming in for a motor either tomorrow or Friday for an R&R, ill take some pics of the engine to show how stupidity can even ruin a reliable motor.

 

The xjrs have a v8. The s-type offered several v6s and v8s. Both are good engines from what I've heard and read.