Disco 3 (LR3) Disco 3 Super low prices

I had a chat to a mate of mine today, about the Disco 3's. The prices seem so low its actually worth buying two to make one good one... I have the room to buy several cheap ones, so am considering it. However, some of the Disco 3 issues far outway the time and money you have to put in to keep an old one on the road.... thoughts, as I might sell my Disco 2, and upgrade as Disco 2's seem to be holding their own price wise.....

Good cars IF you keep on top of them, ignore issues at your peril.
I am 8 yrs and about 60k in, not let me down once and used every day.
Oil and filter every 5k, and not 10k like they say, thing only holds 5 litres.

Are there any particular years or models to avoid, with known issues.... Im only looking at a few grand to spend, as its just for a spare car for bad weather, and fetching logs from our wood. Im going to part fund it by selling my TD5 D2.

Plus 1 ^^^ as indeed can become serious money pits if not kept on top of

after 2007 to blank the egrs ur need a software patch , before that it’s not required , also the oils pumps have the weaker casing which when it breaks can cause catastrophic engine failure

I did do a write up which hopefully is useful to u

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/buyers-guide-inc-video.312800/

many of us have got to know these vehicles very well, decent diagnostics is also a must or ur be chasing errors all day long

base models are cheaper to ensure than the HSE’s , plus the satnavs in them I’ve heard are useless , 2004 / 5 x seat models were coil sprung , would have one with air suspension all day long due to there great ride quality , which is quite simple to work on or fix errors once u know how it works , plse don’t ask me how I know, lol

personally got a base model as it hasnt got , sunroof , satnav, steering wheel column adjustment , memory seats etc , simply didn’t want all the extra modules or problems and to be honest one of the best mods I done were fitting non memory electric seats , blanked egrs

oh and plse make sure the EPB is serviced , adjusted

handy with u being able to do the work urself , timing belts and oil pump to be done every 7 x years or 105,000 miles

hope that also helps

tilly2 said:

Are there any particular years or models to avoid, with known issues.... Im only looking at a few grand to spend, as its just for a spare car for bad weather, and fetching logs from our wood. Im going to part fund it by selling my TD5 D2.

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Tbh all of them!
Anything after the tdi models is a liability just waiting to fail.

They aren't cheap cars to run and every cheap d3 you find will be a disaster waiting to happen. Thing is with the tdv6 you can do all the right things, keep on top of the servicing and look after the thing like it was a family heirloom, then one day the crank will snap out of the blue and leave you with nothing.

lynall said:

Tbh all of them!
Anything after the tdi models is a liability just waiting to fail.

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Now that's not a fair statement for the TD5

discovery 3 is a double edged sword if you have a good one their the dogs if your crank breaks its not so good many associated with oil pump failure (not all) only thing you can do is service regular which i do everything early my old D3 has done 270k read @gstuart s guide

NPG said:

Now that's not a fair statement for the TD5

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I reckon its not far off, just have a read over a week or so on the forum and it goes like this, fl1/fl2/td5 non start/running issues/fl1/fl2/td5 non start/running issues repeat repeat, odd d3/4 request that nobody can help with as htye are so complicated, rrp38 die hards that just wont give up, few fl2 in disguise ewok/disco sport owners with questions regarding why is their car so expensive to fix.

Now go back to the 200/300 tdi and you wont see to much on them regarding issues.

Modern vehicles are bloody amazing when they are working correctly, wallet emptiers when they are not.

Just wait until August the market will be flooded with good used D3s and RRS running derv cnt kharn has banned them inside the m25 so unless people want to pay 12.50 per day extra to drive there cars which most won't just wait.
We will be selling ours at some point it's never let us down we've travelled around the country and to France in it a few times the wife drives it daily and I keep on top of any of the issues that a rise.
Iv done the big main things like
Front lower arms
Air tank
Air pump
Iv fitted the V8 brake upgrade
X4 at tyres
Oli n filter every 5k
When we 1st got it we swopped out the oil pump a known cause of failure, the wife is truly upset at the thought of giving up her car due to a politician vomit is in my throat as I type that I can't actually type what he really is.
It returns +35 mpg on a run currently showing 27mpg around town.

Yes iv bought a V8 D3 to replace it with but it's not ready for her to use as a daily just yet
And yes i

Thats what I was thinking.... wait for them to be offloaded by the M25 set. They are so cheap, you can afford to get two donor cars, and still have enough parts to fill the garage.

Do the D3's use a standard obd set, or do you need a nanocom like the D2.

TBH, any old car is a bleedin money pit. Just sorting my daughters i30 out for mot, and its set me back £550 in parts (trade) for the soddin thing so far... and its still not ready.. Front spring snapped and so had to replace them both plus shocks, plus drop links, arb rubbers and pads all round.

lynall said:

I reckon its not far off, just have a read over a week or so on the forum and it goes like this, fl1/fl2/td5 non start/running issues/fl1/fl2/td5 non start/running issues repeat repeat, odd d3/4 request that nobody can help with as htye are so complicated, rrp38 die hards that just wont give up, few fl2 in disguise ewok/disco sport owners with questions regarding why is their car so expensive to fix.

Now go back to the 200/300 tdi and you wont see to much on them regarding issues.

Modern vehicles are bloody amazing when they are working correctly, wallet emptiers when they are not.

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Granted - reliability is inversely proportional to complexity - at least that's the theory. And if I'm living somewhere on the Caucasus mountains, I'd probably would want a TDI (or perhaps a mule ). But one has to give credit where credit is due. The TD5 was a brand new design and did not have much time to evolve, with just one upgrade to Euro 3, before it was discontinued when Ford took over. Despite the initial skepticism, the electronics turned out solid and unless they are messed with or get in contact with water, they are rarely a problem. And the manual gearbox and transfer box are top notch. The TD5 drives better with more torque and acceleration and will last a lifetime if maintained properly and is not abused. I don't know the extent of the electronics on TDI LRs such as the Disco 1 but the ones installed on the TD5 are pretty much basic compared to modern LRs and yet, can really make life easier with problem diagnosis.

NPG said:

Granted - reliability is inversely proportional to complexity - at least that's the theory. And if I'm living somewhere on the Caucasus mountains, I'd probably would want a TDI (or perhaps a mule ). But one has to give credit where credit is due. The TD5 was a brand new design and did not have much time to evolve, with just one upgrade to Euro 3, before it was discontinued when Ford took over. Despite the initial skepticism, the electronics turned out solid and unless they are messed with or get in contact with water, they are rarely a problem. And the manual gearbox and transfer box are top notch. The TD5 drives better with more torque and acceleration and will last a lifetime if maintained properly and is not abused. I don't know the extent of the electronics on TDI LRs such as the Disco 1 but the ones installed on the TD5 are pretty much basic compared to modern LRs and yet, can really make life easier with problem diagnosis.

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I liked my td5 disco, had it 4yrs and 50k ish, the lower rpm flat spot always psised me off big time, it was a manual though I did test drive an auto, holy crap how to ruin a good car!

Elecs body/shell wise tdi and td5 much the same, late tdi had edc which then made it as techy as a td5, you wont find many cars with edc still running.