1998 Land Rover Discovery problems
NHTSA has received 44 complaints about the 1998 Land Rover Discovery, and 14% of them involve electrical system. After that come brakes (11%) and seat belts (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 44 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 14% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 9 and 5
- Injuries and deaths
- 16 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 88,000 miles 17 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 2 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 3 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 9 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 3 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 17 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 88,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 9 complaints mention a crash; 5 complaints mention a fire; 16 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 98% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1998 ranks 10th most-complained-about out of 11 model years of the Land Rover Discovery with enough data (18 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Tl* the contact owns a 1998 land rover discovery. The contact stated that the vehicle was involved in a crash and the air bags deployed. As a result, there was an explosive spark which caused the driver's clothing to ignite. The driver sustained burns to the right hand and the left arm became blistered. Also, the contact mentioned that the other two passengers sustained minor bruising and abrasions. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available.
Our land rover discovery lost steering and brake control while on highway 99 nb south of the toulumne rd exit. We were traveling at low highway speed (50-60MPH) when we noticed the vehicle to begin swerving left and right causing the body to pitch dramatically with no response from steering, when the brakes were applied they were unresponsive. The directional occasional increased while we traveled approx another 500 yards before we hit the edge embankment and rolled over.
Rear view mirror became distorted. The mirror began to accumulate black splotches and opaque with wavy lines. Dealer claimed that the mirror was the consumer's problem. Also, consumer touched the back of the mirror, and came back with a sticky black substance in his eye.
I began to back out of a parking space. As my car cleared the parking space, I was turning my steering wheel as I backed out, I heard a click at the steering wheel and suddenly had no steering whatsoever. My steering wheel just spins free, easily, and the steering wheel no longer controls the front tires. It appears that a splined shaft coming out of the steering box is stripped. I had to have my car towed home as it is impossible to drive it without any steering control.