Range Rover 300 Tdi Manual
Range Rover 300 Tdi Manual
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Discussion

Caractacus

Original Poster:

2,621 posts

249 months

Sunday 24th April 2011
quotequote all
Hi all,

Just a couple of questions for those in the know...

Are these rare as hens teeth or what? Can't seem to find many (especially nice, cared for examples).

Do they suffer from the same issues that the Disco 300 Tdi did?

I'm looking to buy one for the Mrs (or a really nice Disco 300 Tdi) as I'm now back to using my Defender 110 300 Tdi each day. As much as she likes the Def, she is after a wee bit more comfort smile

Many thanks for ny help and Happy Easter if that's you kind of thing (if it's not, Happy long weekend!)

Cheers,

C.

anonymous-user

78 months

Sunday 24th April 2011
quotequote all
Caractacus said:
Hi all,

Just a couple of questions for those in the know...

Are these rare as hens teeth or what?
No. Rarer. After original 2-door Classics, these are probably the most sought after RRCs out there.

paintman

7,852 posts

214 months

Sunday 24th April 2011
quotequote all
300TDi didn't appear until around 1994 & the Classic was replaced by the P38 in 1996 so only relatively small number produced.
The late Classics suffered badly from corrosion. Far worse than the early ones. Consequently many have been scrapped.
If you are thinking of buying one have a thorough look at all the under panels, floor, arches, front inner wings, sills, pillar bottoms.

Caractacus

Original Poster:

2,621 posts

249 months

Sunday 24th April 2011
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies guys.

Lets see how I get on!

cpas

1,661 posts

264 months

Monday 25th April 2011
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The really late (soft dash) versions had a dash pretty similar to the Disco. A late 300 TDi Disco is a pretty fair bet though and there are plenty about. We had an 'air bag' version which have a nicer steering wheel and more modern looking IMHO.

tubster1275

36 posts

215 months

Monday 25th April 2011
quotequote all
Hi,

Watch pretty much the same places as a Disco of that age. Rust is a problem so look at the boot floor, rear cross member, inside the rear door shuts by the top of the wheel arch, inner and outer sills, inner wings, A post and B posts and the windcreen frame.

Mine is a late 1994 300 Tdi auto and so far it's had a new boot floor, cross member, windscreen header rail, rear arches and repairs to both sills and the bottoms of all the door posts. It'll need inner wings next year. The good news is that it's easy to repair the metalwork to Land Rover specs so the car is as good as new the bad news is that panels are hard to come by. There are reasonably big differences between the Soft Dash shell and the hard dash models and metal work for the inner shell on a softy has been discontinued.

That aside mechanicals are largely Disco so readily available elements of the trim are Disco or Rover 800.

The one I have is a keeper whilst slower than the V8 it's a much better proposition for the commute it's comfortable and does most things you'd want it to. I've given mine a basic restoration and it certainly gets more attention than my mates similar vintage disco.

cheers,

tubs

budrover

300 posts

228 months

Tuesday 26th April 2011
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Some people go for the Japanese import 300 tdi .... argueable one of the economically best LR product ... no rust / great engine ... but unfortunately normally with the auto box

Caractacus

Original Poster:

2,621 posts

249 months

Sunday 1st May 2011
quotequote all
budrover said:
Some people go for the Japanese import 300 tdi .... argueable one of the economically best LR product ... no rust / great engine ... but unfortunately normally with the auto box
We found two of these, but as you say - auto. frown

I've found a 300Tdi Disco three door which looks like the business for the Mrs though. Not sure about the three door access at this point tho.

niva441

2,097 posts

255 months

Sunday 1st May 2011
quotequote all
Don't dismiss the 300 TDi autos too readily. As the gearbox could take more power than the manuals they had a different setup to take advantage of this. The result being that they gave similar performance and economy to the manuals.

Caractacus

Original Poster:

2,621 posts

249 months

Sunday 1st May 2011
quotequote all
niva441 said:
Don't dismiss the 300 TDi autos too readily. As the gearbox could take more power than the manuals they had a different setup to take advantage of this. The result being that they gave similar performance and economy to the manuals.
The car is for the Mrs, and the good lady prefers to drive, so a manual she will have smile (makes my life easier to have a happy Mrs, too!)