NHTSA investigating Land Rover drive shaft issues
Head's up if you're one of the 33,000 owners of 2002-2004 Range Rovers. The NHTSA has launched an investigation into those vehicles' front driveshafts and differentials. The government agency said it had received 38 owner questionnaires pertaining to the situation and 17 of those claimed the drivetrain parts had failed while traveling at 40 mph or more.As you might expect, chatter on the Internets helped push this problem to the forefront. RangeRovers.net in particular seems to not only have a thorough description of the problem, but also several solutions. We can only imagine the party that will be going on over there when they hear the news.
To read NHTSA's summary click through to the jump.
[Source: Automotive News]
From NHTSA.gov...
Defect Summary
Make: LAND ROVER
Model: RANGE ROVER
Year: 2002
NHTSA Action Number: PE07019
Summary:
ODI HAS RECEIVED 38 VEHICLE OWNER QUESTIONNAIRES (VOQS) ALLEGING FAILURE OF THE FRONT DRIVE SHAFT AND/OR THE FRONT AXLE DIFFERENTIAL. MANY OF THE COMPLAINANTS ALLEGE THAT THE FAILURE RESULTS IN A LOSS OF VEHICLE PROPULSION AND SUBSEQUENT VEHICLE IMMOBILIZATION. SEVENTEEN OF THE COMPLAINTS ALLEGE THAT THE FAILURE OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING AT SPEEDS GREATER THAN 40 MPH. SIXTEEN OF THE COMPLAINANTS ALLEGE THE VEHICLE REQUIRED TOWING AS A RESULT OF THE FAILURES. ADDITIONALLY, EIGHT OF THE COMPLAINANTS ALLEGE THAT THEY EXPERIENCED TWO FAILURES OF THE FRONT DIFFERENTIAL AND/OR FRONT DRIVESHAFT. A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION HAS BEEN OPENED TO ASSESS THE SCOPE, FREQUENCY AND SAFETY CONSEQUENCES OF THE ALLEGED DEFECT.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike 7:56AM (4/10/2007)
I love LR and their vehicles but WTF can you improve your quality already?! Paying $70k for an LR3 only to have part of the drive train catastrophically fail will not make me a happy camper...
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Avinash machado 8:04AM (4/10/2007)
Imagine it happening when one is off-roading. Quite a scary situation.
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felipe 8:57AM (4/10/2007)
um, sure hope Hyundai stops compairing their cars to these problematic crappy LR's.
Hyundai quality rating was way over LR....
http://www.jdpower.com/autos/brand-ratings/
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Chris 9:09AM (4/10/2007)
If you look at the Consumer Reports quality rankings, Land Rover is dead last. And to have drivetrains that can't even get you home from work is even more pathetic, especially for a car company that prides itself in its rugged, off-roading heritage.
I'd buy one, if they weren't total junk.
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Brian Collins 10:58AM (8/21/2007)
I purchased a low mileage 2000 LR Disc Series II. While driving on the interstate last week my front drive shaft busted and punched a hole the size of a baseball in my catalytic converter.
DriftPunch 10:27AM (4/10/2007)
I guess I won't complain that my 4Runners (99) drivetrain is so flexable that my transmission shifter moves slightly when the suspension is bounced around. Originally, I thought that this was a problem so I researched it only to find out it's normal.
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Ryan 12:37PM (4/10/2007)
Correction-it is the 2003-2005 models that are at issue. 2002 was the old P38 body style, the problem relates to the new body style BMW engineered vehicle that was sold from 2003-2005, the 2006 forward cars were re-engineered by LR/Ford/ and droped the BMW motor for a Jaguar sourced unit. So much for BMW 4x4 engineering.
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phil 1:27PM (4/10/2007)
What in the article mentions the LR3? This is about the range rover. No, Land Rover's quality hasn't been very good in the past, but they're shaping up their act. Notice that it's not about the new models.
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Fisler 11:48AM (4/23/2007)
2006 LR3 HSE TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS ARE NOT RESOLVED AS PROMISED BY LAND ROVER 6 TIME NOW.
BIGGEST WASTE OF $50,000 in my life. It's been nothing but an ongoing horror story. What a hunk of junk. DONT BUY THE LR3. YOU'LL REGRET IT, I PROMISE.
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Eddie 8:32AM (8/16/2007)
Unfortunately purchased disco 3 HSE TDV6 brand new 30 days ago at 800 Kilometres diff ceased solid at 80 kph both front wheels skidding to a halt stalling engine, agents fitted as claimed new diff, discovered it was 2nd hand, at 2000 kil agents report, noise comes from diff, navigation not working either. Open for comments please.
vlad_40 2:10AM (6/24/2007)
Notice the article mentions RANGE ROVER ......... not ALL LR models. Additionally, after BMW (Blew My Wad!) got out of it, LR has been a much better quality brand. I've had my LR3 for 18 months and 23,000 miles and not ONE glitch.
As with any vehicle, if you take NORMAL care of it, it will last you for a decade or more without major work. This DOES require that you do little things like change the oil every so often and take it in for the years of free routine maintenance that are offered.
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Charlie Abbott 8:42AM (7/04/2007)
Owner of 2005 Vogue 3 Litre Diesel Range Rover. Last Friday night whilst travelling in Mid Wales at 50/60 mph the mesage board came up with "select neutral". Fortunately there was a lay by just ahead and having pulled over, switched off the engine etc. the vehicle then would not move and all that we had was a grinding sound without any engine take off. As we were miles from a phone box, (no mobile signals in the area) I had to leave family and walk to a phone and eventually 2 hours after making contact with Land Rover assist a breakdown vehilce arrived and loaded the car, taking us back home for about 2am. I now find that the vehicle needs new differential and the parts will be available on Wednesday. (I understood parts were available within 24 hours at the Main Dealerships). Vehicle will be out of Warranty within a few months and the call to Land Rover Customer Service was appalling to say the least. A chap called Lee (not allowed to give Surname. God knows what the secret is!!) said that there was no problem with this part and that unless I took out an Extended Warranty then any further problems were in my hands to resolve at my expense.In my view his attitude is not what I expected and would dismiss someone in my businesses for handling the matter in this way. He referred me to the dealer all the time and said they were not technical, whatever that may mean. It struck me as a scripted way of getting you off the phone. This is my 4th Range Rover over a number of years and I am now questioning the ownership and will consider moving the vehicle on and buying another make, mainly due to there appalling attitude to someone spending money on what is perceived to be a Top End vehicle. My other cars such as Mercedes SL's etc get excellent service etc in all ways. Maybe thats the way forward.
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