After a heavy rainstorm in [XXX] , my 2005 Land Rover LR3 experienced catastrophic water intrusion through the A-pillar design flaw documented in Land Rover’s own TSB LA501-007. When I opened the passenger door, ~1.5 inches of water poured out. Immediately afterward, the vehicle developed multiple failures: flickering lights, radio inoperative, driver’s window stuck, ABS warning lights illuminated, “Transmission Fault” error displayed, and the air suspension automatically lowered into its fail-safe mode. This is not wear and tear. Land Rover has acknowledged the defect internally (A-pillar locator holes allowing water ingress into the footwell), but never issued a recall or owner notification. Flooding the footwell shorts the electrical/fuse boxes, causing cascading failures in braking, suspension, powertrain, and electrical systems. This presents a serious safety hazard as the vehicle may lose proper braking, suspension height, or drivetrain function simply from exposure to rain. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The worst 2005 Land Rover LR3 problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Suspension20
- Electrical19
- Fuel system19
- Transmission16
- Tires15
- Body10
- Engine8
- Airbags7
- Visibility6
- Acceleration5
- Brakes5
- Steering5
- Locks3
- Seat belts2
Specific symptoms reported on the 2005 Land Rover LR3
Recalls 4
Steering: column
- What is wrong
- Land rover is recalling 37,142 my 2005-2006 lr3 and range rover sport vehicles. Relative motion between the steering wheel hub and/or the steering column cowl with the clockspring, which includes the driver side air bag circuitry, could result in fracturing of the air bag wiring connection. If an air bag wire fractures, the SRS warning light will illuminate on the instrument cluster. The SRS warning light indicates to the driver that there is a concern with the SRS system in the vehicle and that immediate repair is necessary.
- Risk
- If the SRS warning light is ignored and a vehicle crash of sufficient severity to command deployment of the driver's air bag occurs, the air bag module may not deploy in the intended manner. The condition may result in the deployment of only one stage of the dual stage driver's air bag or the air bag may not deploy at all increasing the risk of serious injuries to the driver.
- Remedy
- Dealers will insert 1mm spacers between the lower left hand side of the column switch mounting point and the column lock to improve the alignment of the column switch. Two foam pads will also be fitted to the top of the steering column switch gear to provide assured clearance between the cowl and the clockspring face. The recall began on july 30, 2008. Owners may contact land rover at 1‑800‑637‑6837.
Recall number 08V248000 · Recall details
Fuel system, gasoline: storage
- What is wrong
- Some sport utility vehicles may have fuel tanks that contain an internal breather pipe that was not made to specification. This could result in excessive swelling and cracking of a grommet and subsequent detachment of the breather pipe from a connector tube. When the fuel level in the tank is above the level of the detached joint, fuel may then enter the breather pipe and excess fuel may be discharged onto the ground.
- Risk
- Fuel leakage in the presence of an ignition source could result in a fire.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the fuel tanks. The recall began on march 12, 2007. Owners may contact land rover at 1‑800‑637‑6837.
Recall number 07V011000 · Recall details
Electrical system: ignition: switch
- What is wrong
- Certain vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 114, 'theft protection.' when the ignition is switched off, after a period of time, it is possible to remove the ignition key when the transmission shift lever is not in park.
- Risk
- This condition increases the risk of a crash resulting from the unintended movement of parked vehicles.
- Remedy
- Dealers will reprogram the driveline control transfer box electronic control unit (ecu) with revised software. The recall began on june 30, 2006. Owners may contact land rover at 1‑201‑818‑8500.
Recall number 06V131000 · Recall details
Fuel system, gasoline: storage
- What is wrong
- Some sport utility vehicles may have fuel tanks that contain an internal breather pipe that was not made to specification. This could result in excessive swelling and cracking of a grommet and subsequent detachment of the breather pipe from a connector tube. When the fuel level in the tank is above the level of the detached joint, fuel may then enter the breather pipe.
- Risk
- The driver may notice fuel odor, drivability concerns such as hesitation, misfire, stalling, rough running, or difficulty in starting and the 'check engine' light may be illuminated. If the amount of fuel flowing into the breather pipe reaches the vapor canister and exceeds its capacity, the excess fuel may be discharged onto the ground. Fuel leakage in the presence of an ignition source could result in a fire.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the fuel tanks. The recall began on october 24, 2005. Owners may contact land rover at 1‑800‑637‑6837.
Recall number 05V376000 · Recall details
Technical service bulletins for the 2005 Land Rover LR3 73
Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.
- Rescinded
- Issue: Following what appears to be a successful software update to the Remote Function Actuator (RFA) or...
- Issue: This SSM is to support the description provided in Technical Bulletin LTB00631 for compact key low...
- Issue: Unable to resolve all customer concerns after successful recharge of a vehicle's primary or...
- Presentation from Dealer Shop Foreman Conference Call
- When attempting to update the Navigation maps to a newer level the update fails and the Navigation becomes...
- Situation: the door mirror may 'judder' during powerfold (manual or automatic) operation and/or may be...
- Situation: the windshield wipers may make a squeak noise, judder, or streak the windshield
- Situation: the exterior a-pillar molding may become loose
- Issue: a customer may report a concern that when the vehicle is started there is no cabin audio at all...
2005 Land Rover LR3 fuel economy
Official EPA estimates in miles per gallon (MPGe for electric). Ranges cover trims that share the same engine.
| Engine | Drive | City | Highway | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0L 6‑cyl | 4WD | 13 | 18 | 14 |
| 4.4L 8‑cyl | 4WD | 13 | 17 | 14 |
What 2005 Land Rover LR3 owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Others of same model and year were recalled and mine was not, despite having same issue with airbag fault in steering column
Since purchasing my second hand 2005 land rover lr3 in 2013, I have had problems with the fuel system. I experience drivability concerns such as hesitation, misfire, stalling, rough running, and difficulty in starting, and the 'check engine' light is almost always illuminated. I have been concerned about these issues, and have spent a lot of money chasing the problem by replacing equipment and spending a lot of time in doing so. The identification of this issue being a recall issue for 17263 other land rovers lr3 (the federal safety agency recall campaign id 05v376000) not discovered until I was researching the value of my vehicle in order to sell it. While on the kelly blue book website, I was alerted there were 2 recalls for 2005 land rover lr3. After reading the first recall description, I realized that I have had the identical issues with my vehicle. However, after inputting my vehicle identification number, the site stated that my vehicle VIN was not associated with the recall. I found this to be very disconcerting, as I have the identical issue. I then called land rover to speak directly to the manufacturer. I was told that my vehicle was no longer under warranty. I stated that safety recalls were not associated with warranties. I was then asked for, and provided my VIN. The representative stated that my vehicle was not covered under the recall and I had no recourse. I asked him, given that over 17,000 2005 land rover lr3 had been recalled due to the exact same issue, what were the odds of mine having the same piece of faulty equipment. He again stated that since my VIN was not listed, it was not covered by the recall, and I have no recourse. He then dismissed me and hung up. My wife had the stall issue occur this morning on her drive to work at 06:30 am!
The air ride suspension is totally dead. There was a recall years ago but I didnt get it done. Now when I search recalls its not there, because someone thinks the work was completed. That is simply false. I can barely drive this vehicle now because the left side dropped due to air suspension. The service guy told me the suspension was built improperly.
Shoulder bracket manufacturing defect, all years, probably lr4 as well as eoropean and international models discovery 3 and 4, range rover sport casting splits and cracks at multiple points around bolt hole over time. 4 of 4 units I inspected with similarr failure. There was no incident, frayed seatbelt, ordered used replacement, they were as bad as the one on the vehicle, all were cracked. No accident with the vehicle. Factory original and one additional unit available for inspection.
After coming to a complete stop, the engine revved up, almost getting into an accident, had to stand on the brake in order to keep it from taking off, immediately shifted to neutral, engine continued racing while in nuetral.
Vehicle after coming to a complete stop stationary with engine running in drive, ie, stop light, stop sign, and pressure is applied to gas pedal the vehcle fails to move forward for several seconds, more pressure is applied to gas pedal to elicit response from vehicle and suddenly everything seems to 'kick' in resulting in a violent jolt as vehicle suddenly revs up and begins to move. Delay between forward movemet and applied gas pedal is several seconds and happens often. Vehichle has been inspected several times with no visible issues and no error codes believe to be present. When reading on the online land rover forums this is a very common problem and has resulted in what is likely to be several thousand transmission replacements before 85,000 miles and is not safe. Continues to take place since vehicle purcahse. I have replaced transmission at my own cost and defect continues to take place!
This description was blank.
Driver and passenger seatbelt shoulder anchors have numerous cracks in them. I discovered this while removing internal body panels to diagnose rain water leaks/ingress.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 land rover lr3. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled intermittently after 10 to 15 miles of driving. The failure occurred without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the alternator was defective and needed to replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the fuel tank failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact referenced the federal safety agency campaign number: 05v376000 (fuel system, gasoline); however, the VIN was not included. The failure mileage was approximately 111,000.
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Questions about the 2005 Land Rover LR3
Is the 2005 Land Rover LR3 reliable?
Owners have filed 96 complaints about the 2005 Land Rover LR3, 5.6 times a typical LR3 model year. It is one of the years we flag to avoid.
What is the 2005 Land Rover LR3 year score?
The 2005 Land Rover LR3 scores 11 out of 100 (poor). The score compares it with the other model years of the Land Rover LR3: 75 is a typical year, 50 means twice the usual complaints, and serious complaints and recalls lower it.
What is the most common problem with the 2005 Land Rover LR3?
Suspension, with 20 complaints, typically around 26,000 miles. Next is electrical (19).
How many recalls does the 2005 Land Rover LR3 have?
4 recalls, covering steering, fuel system, gasoline and electrical system.
What year does the Land Rover LR3 have bad suspension?
The Land Rover LR3 model years with the most suspension complaints are 2005 (20 complaints) and 2006 (14 complaints).
What gas mileage does the 2005 Land Rover LR3 get?
Official estimates for the 2005 Land Rover LR3 range from 14 mpg combined. The most efficient version (4.0L 6-cyl, 4WD) gets 13 city and 18 highway.
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