SLROC Forum

OK for my 94 300tdi has let her down few time starter, fuel pump etc, nothing terminal, but its got 142k on the clack and though there is no rust (jap import thats been regularly waxoled) its probably a great base for a re-build or project car than something for the wife to use to get to work and shops.  I read so many horror story's about TD5s and as I have always wanted to have a V8 I am thinking maybe I should go for a late disco 2 4.0 V8i?  thoughts please?  dont do much mileage, maybe 5k a year so running costs are not really a priority.  I do need something reliable, apart from routine servicing I dint have the skills or the time to be under it every weekend, and an unreliable car will only give me black marks with the wife.  Or, do I raid the savings and get an early Disco 3?  and the 3rd thought, I have seen on the interweb companies that can supply a '3rd row' for for the Range Rover, http://www.scotseats.co.uk/estateseats.htm  in which case is an early 'new style' (post P38) Rangi a more or less reliable buy than a Disco 3?

you will find a bigger selection of 4.4 V8 L322 Range Rovers than V8 Disco3's - suggest you take a look at the For Sale sections on www.Disco3.co.uk and www.fullfatrr.com Early L322's have their problems but as they were engineered from the same BMW parts bin as X5 you will often find the same parts are cheaper from a BMW dealer and they work OK in an L322! L322 TD6's are now available down at ?12000 but they will be weary and have stratospheric miles. If you want something with lots of toys and don't mind the petrol (or LPG as a lot are converted) then the 4.2 Supercharged is down in the mid-teens pricewise now, apart from being a bit thirsty they can't half shift for a 2.5 tonne brick! Disco3 V8i's are real gas guzzlers (12-15mpg!) which is why they are a bit rare in the UK. BTW the 3rd row of seats in an L322 can be a problem with some insurers. If you intend to go offroad the RR at that price range will not have LR's clever Terrain Response (that came in with the 2007 facelift for L322), the Disco 3 will have it.

Thanks Tim, really helpful, will need to check out Lancaster Insurance...  We hardly ever use the extra seat in the Disco but they are handy when the in laws are up - putting the kids in the back -  As reliability more than costs of running is my main concern at what millage do I stop looking, I have been reading about auto boxes only lasting 100k for example, I will be looking for lowest miles I can find and afford but are here milestones to consider.  Anyone got any thoughts on a late Disco 2 V8i  Seen a couple but whats with the rust? was this a problem or am I dust looking at bad examples?

Graham, you could spend ages reading the Disco 3 forums and their problems! L322 FFRR isn't that bad considering. I think ensuring previous owners have carried out the right maintenance is really important with the modern Land Rover models, too many systems are served by ECU's that can go wrong and cost a fortune to replace. I don't know anybody who has a D3 that has covered more than 100k, but if you join the FullFatRR forums there are loads of them on there with more than 100k miles on their cars. One problem with the D3 and FFRR is Land Rover told everybody there was no maintenance on gearboxes as they were sealed for life........................ yes the life of the warranty, which is 3 years! A lot of gearbox problems on D3, RRS and FFRR can be cured with a change of gearbox fluid and clean out of the filter. Airsuspension compressors can be a problem - people don't read the insruction manual and then jack the car up with the jack in the wrong place - squashing airsuspension lines or worse, damaging the air tank! And don't even think about any of the modern RR's or D3 if the one you are looking at has wheels bigger than 20" on them - LR don't engineer the cars for any bigger, you can fit 24" but it causes premature transmission wear, steering wear and suspension wear. 19" are the best wheels for them - you preserve the ride quality and can now get a huge variety of suitably weight and speed rated tyres for them

When reading any car Forum you must remember that the vast majority of time you only read of bad things because people want advice, nobody writes "could you tell me how to do nothing coz its not broken!"

However, as far as running a D3 (or RRS or RR) then I would say buy the newest, best one you can, even if that means you can only afford the base model, and whatever you do the single most important thing is make sure you get a manufacturers warranty for at least a year when buying, if you buy a just under 3 year old then you should get a years warranty from a Land Rover dealer. I have just been in for a slight misfire on a D3, the bill so far is ?3200 with at least another ?4k to go for a new engine  , I bought an after market warranty which has rejected my claim without even sending an engineer out so far!

That said, I have had quite a few BMWs and other flash cars, but none has given me the permagrin as much as the D3, it is a truely superb car and I can't wait to get it back!

I went from a 300Tdi to a 4.0 V8 manual Disco 2. Top of the range with all the extras. What a nice car it was too. Went like stink if you wanted to and I did most of the time. I got about 18 mpg average but more like 8 when I thrashed it. It was a 2001 so cheap road tax, less than my sons 1.8 MG. When I traded it in it had no rust so the ones you are looking at must be really old or rubbish. Problems were mostly the leaky sun roofs and a slight misfire. One thing I did discover is there are a lot of so called experts out there. But I found a Landrover trained mechanic in Edinburgh who doesn't charge the earth.
Anyway I have now got a Disco 3 2.7 Diesel and it is a completely different car. Still very nice,quiet and quite quick but 30 mpg. Things to look out for are the brakes, it is about 2.7 Tons,and the handbrake in particular ( its electric). Also the suspension bushes wear out after about 60K and there's lots of them.
The Disco 2 V8 was a good car but finding one that's been properly looked after might be difficult. So save up your pennies and get the youngest Disco 3 you can afford.
                                               Pete.

Thanks Pete, the other half has been doing some window on autotrader and announced that we are getting a Disco 3  so a shopping I must go, so bushes at c60k and brakes , anything else?

I'll say it again

single most important thing is make sure you get a manufacturers warranty for at least a year

Any other warranty is questionable at best, the only other one that was as good was Tesco, but they have stopped that now, hmm wonder why!

Join www.disco3.co.uk  it's the biggest specialist website on the net. Much Much better than Landrovernet.com as far as D3/D4 goes

If you get an after market warranty avoid the AA. My son got their 5 Star policy and it covered nothing, money down the drain.
I have heard other people moaning about the rear hatch not opening, but I have never had a problem.
Tyres look like they will be expensive.
Make sure you try all the toys and some have better HiFi's than others.

                Pete.

         

Rear hatch on RRS and D3 is usually because there has been condensation in the upper section and it runs down into the switch and corrodes it. It happened to my last RRS 2 winters ago. The dealer told me it required a whole new tailgate................  Turned out that was the easiest way to get the parts, they order a complete new tailgate and butcher it for the release switch!  There has been a lot of reports of this on all the forums for F2,D3/4,RRS and FFRR this winter.
If it is the rear door of a D2 or D1 then prise out the Land Rover badge which exposes the levers for the door latch and spray well with WD40 or spray 3 in 1 to free them up, worked every time for me when I had the problem on a D2.