Anyone help me buy a Landy?

ok, so i've started my search for a Freelander 2, however, I keep seeing the Disco pop into the listings and they're equally a nice looking machine.

My criteria:
I'd like auto - had my left hip replaced and a manual just becomes painful after a while
I'd like an HSE spec ideally, I like the toys.
Economy isn't a huge issue, I work from home so it'll mainly do a few short trips and every month will be put on the work run so few hundred miles - which is all expensed anyway so as long as 45p/m covers it i'm happy.
I'm not limiting myself to any model really.
I'd like to be able to get into a local owners club, do a bit of greenlaning or similar.
Budget around £6,000 but lower the better really.

what would you buy?

Freelander 2 - budget seems to put me into something like this:
2007 Blue Land Rover Freelander 2.2 TD4 HSE 5d 159 BHP Finance from 10.9% APR for sale for £5,000 in Burton On Trent, Staffordshire (autotrader.co.uk)

Disco 3
2007 Silver Land Rover Discovery 3 2.7 TD V6 HSE SUV 5dr Diesel Automatic (270 g/km, 190 bhp) for sale for £5,495 in PLYMOUTH, DEVON (autotrader.co.uk)

there are dozens of range rovers in the budget but my impression is that wouldn't really do the job? unless i'm wrong there.

would love some advice.

A freelander would be much cheaper to run on all counts. A friend had a disco 3 which nearly bankrupted him and more when the crankshaft failed. Add into that the fuel consumption and road tax too. A nice automatic Td4 freelander with decent history would be a better bet in my opinion.

Hudson1984 said:

Budget around £6,000 but lower the better really.

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What's your maintenance and repair budget?

A Freelander 2 on the whole shouldn't cost much more than maintenance per year, with the occasional expensive issue with the AWD system (service it regularly to increase life) and random odd repair costs.

A D3 will cost you 30% more in fuel over the FL2, and will generally cost £2k or more per year in repairs, considerably more if the engine fails (quite common) or the suspension system craps out big time.
Everything on the D3 is expensive to sort, which is why I have a Freelander.

I like my d3 but would be hard pressed to recommend one to anyone!

Grand a year on parts alone year after year, though that does include tyres.

If you see a tidy old d3/4 on the road, the owner either has deep pockets or a decent spanner collection.
If you see a tidy old freelander on the road, then wave them down and make your next hair appointment

Had a fl2 myself on a 09 plate, td4, quite perky engine with decent poke, mine was manual and moved it on at 135,000 miles as flywheel had started to rattle, 4wd system failed, this was the splines that link the rear prop, drove fine but was just front wheel drive, was gs spec, so cloth seats etc, did plenty of long runs and found it comfy and very good on fuel.

After that got a disco 2, again slower than fl2 but had more character, for me great car then x5, now had a 54plate td6 Range Rover vogue, slower than the fl2, faster than the disco,
Used for work within the Manchester area aad family use, burns about £80 a week in fuel, later ones tdv8s are better on fuel and better gearbox, with 6 and 8 speed so probably why there better on fuel.
If it’s for local and family duty’s and work travel one a week look at range rovers, plenty in your budget, very comfy and roomy, disco 3/4 has bigger boot with last row seats down but not found anything iv struggled to fit in the RR, even my older one cruises lovely on motorway, parts are relatively cheap and by most accounts far more reliable than a disco 3/4.