RE: Shed Buying Guide: Land Rover Discovery 3

[st4]

shirt said:

toyota verso, that well known direct rival to the landrover

i was thinking of buying a house but bought a biscuit tin instead, this hasn't cost be anything in repairs whereas the house would have cost thousands.

If you’re not doing heavy duty towing, off roading and just using the car to ferry people and stuff a Verso is a brilliant car and equal to the discovery in many areas. Except reliability and dependability where it excels.

[anonymous-user]

Rich Boy Spanner said:

My wife wanted one of these. I looked on warranty direct and it was the absolute worst vehicle, and I then asked a friend who works at a LR dealership and he almost pissed himself laughing when I asked if they were a viable buy. I bought her a Toyota Verso instead, it's cost me £190 in total to repair in nearly 12 years of ownership. It obviously isn't as complex as a Disco 3, but I don't think that extra complexity accounts for people stating they are spending £2K a year getting these things running. That's totally absurd.

Edited by Rich Boy Spanner on Thursday 14th March 09:05

Given the choice I'd rather pay the 2k per year running costs for a Discovery versus having to face getting into a dreary Verso everyday!

[aaron_2000]

ruprechtmonkeyboy said:

Rich Boy Spanner said:

My wife wanted one of these. I looked on warranty direct and it was the absolute worst vehicle, and I then asked a friend who works at a LR dealership and he almost pissed himself laughing when I asked if they were a viable buy. I bought her a Toyota Verso instead, it's cost me £190 in total to repair in nearly 12 years of ownership. It obviously isn't as complex as a Disco 3, but I don't think that extra complexity accounts for people stating they are spending £2K a year getting these things running. That's totally absurd.

Edited by Rich Boy Spanner on Thursday 14th March 09:05

Given the choice I'd rather pay the 2k per year running costs for a Discovery versus having to face getting into a dreary Verso everyday!

I'd rather save the £2k a year and get something like a Touareg or an X5, at least then you've got something that drives nicely on the road.

[300bhp/ton]

aaron_2000 said:

ruprechtmonkeyboy said:

Rich Boy Spanner said:

My wife wanted one of these. I looked on warranty direct and it was the absolute worst vehicle, and I then asked a friend who works at a LR dealership and he almost pissed himself laughing when I asked if they were a viable buy. I bought her a Toyota Verso instead, it's cost me £190 in total to repair in nearly 12 years of ownership. It obviously isn't as complex as a Disco 3, but I don't think that extra complexity accounts for people stating they are spending £2K a year getting these things running. That's totally absurd.

Edited by Rich Boy Spanner on Thursday 14th March 09:05

Given the choice I'd rather pay the 2k per year running costs for a Discovery versus having to face getting into a dreary Verso everyday!

I'd rather save the £2k a year and get something like a Touareg or an X5, at least then you've got something that drives nicely on the road.

I don't think X5's or Touaregs are immune to issues. Certainly doesn't seem to be the case if you look on any owner forums, or even the appropriate areas here on PH.

[aaron_2000]

300bhp/ton said:

aaron_2000 said:

ruprechtmonkeyboy said:

Rich Boy Spanner said:

My wife wanted one of these. I looked on warranty direct and it was the absolute worst vehicle, and I then asked a friend who works at a LR dealership and he almost pissed himself laughing when I asked if they were a viable buy. I bought her a Toyota Verso instead, it's cost me £190 in total to repair in nearly 12 years of ownership. It obviously isn't as complex as a Disco 3, but I don't think that extra complexity accounts for people stating they are spending £2K a year getting these things running. That's totally absurd.

Edited by Rich Boy Spanner on Thursday 14th March 09:05

Given the choice I'd rather pay the 2k per year running costs for a Discovery versus having to face getting into a dreary Verso everyday!

I'd rather save the £2k a year and get something like a Touareg or an X5, at least then you've got something that drives nicely on the road.

I don't think X5's or Touaregs are immune to issues. Certainly doesn't seem to be the case if you look on any owner forums, or even the appropriate areas here on PH.

Don't remember saying they were immune, but they're certainly much more reliable, and when they throw up bills they aren't usually fatally expensive. The reality is, if you're spending £3k on something like that, it's usually a false economy.

[300bhp/ton]

aaron_2000 said:

300bhp/ton said:

aaron_2000 said:

ruprechtmonkeyboy said:

Rich Boy Spanner said:

My wife wanted one of these. I looked on warranty direct and it was the absolute worst vehicle, and I then asked a friend who works at a LR dealership and he almost pissed himself laughing when I asked if they were a viable buy. I bought her a Toyota Verso instead, it's cost me £190 in total to repair in nearly 12 years of ownership. It obviously isn't as complex as a Disco 3, but I don't think that extra complexity accounts for people stating they are spending £2K a year getting these things running. That's totally absurd.

Edited by Rich Boy Spanner on Thursday 14th March 09:05

Given the choice I'd rather pay the 2k per year running costs for a Discovery versus having to face getting into a dreary Verso everyday!

I'd rather save the £2k a year and get something like a Touareg or an X5, at least then you've got something that drives nicely on the road.

I don't think X5's or Touaregs are immune to issues. Certainly doesn't seem to be the case if you look on any owner forums, or even the appropriate areas here on PH.

Don't remember saying they were immune, but they're certainly much more reliable, and when they throw up bills they aren't usually fatally expensive. The reality is, if you're spending £3k on something like that, it's usually a false economy.

As someone else pointed out. If they are as bad as some are touting, there simply wouldn't be many on the roads or available to buy. The fact there is tremendous choice and 1000's on the roads, suggests they can't all be as bad as some are making out.

For example, if you bought a car for £4-5k, you would be unlikely to keep it for 3 years spending £2-3k each year in upkeep. The only logical answer is, as such vehicles do exist, many people do not end up spending anywhere near this in maintenance.

[eldar]

Having considered all the advice, In true PH tradition I’ve ignored it all and bought a 2005 diesel manual of seater.

My other hobby is lion taming with a dining chair. I may be lucky...

[irish boy]

I've always struggled with the fact that it is widely accepted that land rover products are unreliable and expensive to run, but Jaguar seems to be, back as far as the xj40/300/350, pretty reliable.

[Slow]

300bhp/ton said:

aaron_2000 said:

300bhp/ton said:

aaron_2000 said:

ruprechtmonkeyboy said:

Rich Boy Spanner said:

My wife wanted one of these. I looked on warranty direct and it was the absolute worst vehicle, and I then asked a friend who works at a LR dealership and he almost pissed himself laughing when I asked if they were a viable buy. I bought her a Toyota Verso instead, it's cost me £190 in total to repair in nearly 12 years of ownership. It obviously isn't as complex as a Disco 3, but I don't think that extra complexity accounts for people stating they are spending £2K a year getting these things running. That's totally absurd.

Edited by Rich Boy Spanner on Thursday 14th March 09:05

Given the choice I'd rather pay the 2k per year running costs for a Discovery versus having to face getting into a dreary Verso everyday!

I'd rather save the £2k a year and get something like a Touareg or an X5, at least then you've got something that drives nicely on the road.

I don't think X5's or Touaregs are immune to issues. Certainly doesn't seem to be the case if you look on any owner forums, or even the appropriate areas here on PH.

Don't remember saying they were immune, but they're certainly much more reliable, and when they throw up bills they aren't usually fatally expensive. The reality is, if you're spending £3k on something like that, it's usually a false economy.

As someone else pointed out. If they are as bad as some are touting, there simply wouldn't be many on the roads or available to buy. The fact there is tremendous choice and 1000's on the roads, suggests they can't all be as bad as some are making out.

For example, if you bought a car for £4-5k, you would be unlikely to keep it for 3 years spending £2-3k each year in upkeep. The only logical answer is, as such vehicles do exist, many people do not end up spending anywhere near this in maintenance.

First gen x5 is just a L322 Range Rover basically.

When you are working on the early L322's everything is BMW stamped. How anyone can claim a x5 is more reliable is nuts. Excluding the later models but they cost much more.

I ran a £3900 2002 L322 in 2015 from 148k to around 175k miles with under £250 in parts during the year - think it had a sticky caliper, battery and a height sensor. I was a 19 year old student driving like a idiot while racing round the backroads of north Scotland, towing 3.5ton and a fair amount of offroad use as we ran a 4x4 course at the time.

Sold it to my Mum after a year, she replaced 2 arms, 2 sensors and a plate between gearbox/engine (cant remember the name, its a odd triangle of steel) which came to under £500.

The car is on 185k or so now and still going strong towing 3+ ton on a almost weekly basis.
Did require a gearbox rebuild when purchasing but that made it cheaper to begin with.

[anonymous-user]

st4 said:

shirt said:

toyota verso, that well known direct rival to the landrover

i was thinking of buying a house but bought a biscuit tin instead, this hasn't cost be anything in repairs whereas the house would have cost thousands.

If you’re not doing heavy duty towing, off roading and just using the car to ferry people and stuff a Verso is a brilliant car and equal to the discovery in many areas. Except reliability and dependability where it excels.

That's just way too funny. I sincerely hope you are joking. You've just excluded all the reasons to own a 4x4......

"If you’re not doing heavy duty towing, off roading" - then buy a Micra.

"Verso is a brilliant car and equal to the discovery in many areas" at being a car, yes, it's equal. In anything else, it's not. Apart from being cheaper.

The biscuit tin thing made me laugh too :-)

Takes me back to all the people (usually mechanics or car dealers) who'd say, on seeing my Renault 5 Turbo , "expensive if the turbo goes mate!!!". , "yes, but it's bloody good fun in the meantime!!"

There is no denying , buying a Disco 3/4 with your own money, for simply sitting higher up, is nuts. But if you go off road regularly (I do) , and don't want utilitarian interiors for the motorway miles, there just isn't anything else. I've even eyed up Grand Jeep Cherokees, but the feedback is equally horrific with maintenance. At the end of the day, you are driving a 2.7 tonne vehicle, owning a Disco. You just aint going to get away with one swing arm bush and a new offside brake light bulb come MOT time. If you cant' afford it. Grab a Verso. And get stuck the second you leave the tarmac.

[EazyDuz]

Regarding the Land Rovers popularity despite a terrible track record, well, look at Harley Davidson. Rated the most unreliable motorcycle brand out there, using ancient tech (pushrod engines, chain driven primary) yet people still buy them. They're literally buying the brand, lifestyle and road presence. They don't want a supremely capable machine, as long as it says Harley Davidson on it they don't care

[TurboHatchback]

irish boy said:

I've always struggled with the fact that it is widely accepted that land rover products are unreliable and expensive to run, but Jaguar seems to be, back as far as the xj40/300/350, pretty reliable.

Presumably it's all the pointless complication and electronics they add to them. The more components (especially electric ones) you have the greater the likelihood of a single component failure.

For example they could use regular suspension with springs and shocks but no, there is an electric air compressor, electric valve block, electric control module, multitudes of air lines, air springs, any one of which failing leaves the car sat on its arse. They could use a big lever to select low range and simple electric/air lockers but no, we need more electronic control modules, low range actuator and brake nibbling algorithms instead. They could use mechanical levers and knobs to direct cabin airflow and control temperature but no, we have more ECUs, actuators and wiring looms. It just goes on and on. Jaguars might have a load of interior electric crap but mechanically they have a lot less to go wrong.

[st4]

RogerDodger said:

That's just way too funny. I sincerely hope you are joking. You've just excluded all the reasons to own a 4x4......

"If you’re not doing heavy duty towing, off roading" - then buy a Micra.

"Verso is a brilliant car and equal to the discovery in many areas" at being a car, yes, it's equal. In anything else, it's not. Apart from being cheaper.

The biscuit tin thing made me laugh too :-)

Takes me back to all the people (usually mechanics or car dealers) who'd say, on seeing my Renault 5 Turbo , "expensive if the turbo goes mate!!!". , "yes, but it's bloody good fun in the meantime!!"

There is no denying , buying a Disco 3/4 with your own money, for simply sitting higher up, is nuts. But if you go off road regularly (I do) , and don't want utilitarian interiors for the motorway miles, there just isn't anything else. I've even eyed up Grand Jeep Cherokees, but the feedback is equally horrific with maintenance. At the end of the day, you are driving a 2.7 tonne vehicle, owning a Disco. You just aint going to get away with one swing arm bush and a new offside brake light bulb come MOT time. If you cant' afford it. Grab a Verso. And get stuck the second you leave the tarmac.

I wager relatively few discoveries (or JLR products) venture off road or much beyond a grassy field. They make, by virtue of their size, excellent family cars and this is how the bulk are used. Many would be better served in a Verso, a Ford Galaxy, S Max etc or a conventional estate car. That was my point. For ease of ownership especially as the car get's on.

[300bhp/ton]

st4 said:

I wager relatively few discoveries (or JLR products) venture off road or much beyond a grassy field. They make, by virtue of their size, excellent family cars and this is how the bulk are used. Many would be better served in a Verso, a Ford Galaxy, S Max etc or a conventional estate car. That was my point. For ease of ownership especially as the car get's on.

I suspect you'd be suprised how many do venture off road or are used for towing. You'll see lots of D3's with the rear cover removed on the bumper for the trailer electrics.

Yes there will always be people who might be suited to something else. But what ever happened to freedom of choice? I bet you could get a car equally as capable as yours for 1/2 the price, but you make the "choice" to get what you have.

[300bhp/ton]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

[AB1canotbee]

300bhp/ton said:

aaron_2000 said:

300bhp/ton said:

aaron_2000 said:

ruprechtmonkeyboy said:

Rich Boy Spanner said:

My wife wanted one of these. I looked on warranty direct and it was the absolute worst vehicle, and I then asked a friend who works at a LR dealership and he almost pissed himself laughing when I asked if they were a viable buy. I bought her a Toyota Verso instead, it's cost me £190 in total to repair in nearly 12 years of ownership. It obviously isn't as complex as a Disco 3, but I don't think that extra complexity accounts for people stating they are spending £2K a year getting these things running. That's totally absurd.

Edited by Rich Boy Spanner on Thursday 14th March 09:05

Given the choice I'd rather pay the 2k per year running costs for a Discovery versus having to face getting into a dreary Verso everyday!

I'd rather save the £2k a year and get something like a Touareg or an X5, at least then you've got something that drives nicely on the road.

I don't think X5's or Touaregs are immune to issues. Certainly doesn't seem to be the case if you look on any owner forums, or even the appropriate areas here on PH.

Don't remember saying they were immune, but they're certainly much more reliable, and when they throw up bills they aren't usually fatally expensive. The reality is, if you're spending £3k on something like that, it's usually a false economy.

As someone else pointed out. If they are as bad as some are touting, there simply wouldn't be many on the roads or available to buy. The fact there is tremendous choice and 1000's on the roads, suggests they can't all be as bad as some are making out.

For example, if you bought a car for £4-5k, you would be unlikely to keep it for 3 years spending £2-3k each year in upkeep. The only logical answer is, as such vehicles do exist, many people do not end up spending anywhere near this in maintenance.

That is exactly why they are soooo good ! [ "there simply wouldn't be many on the roads or available to buy"].The reason that there are so many to buy [according to you] is that these owners probably just want to get rid before they have to empty their bank accounts.Anyhoo, I was contemplating getting one of these, but after reading the review and the coments , I have rapidly changed my mind as it sounds just as bad as the last Landrover [P38] that I owned a few years ago....as they say, its a good job that they [landrover] made a good job of the seats , as you will need the comfort when sitting and waiting for the recovery truck to arrive !

[eldar]

eldar said:

Having considered all the advice, In true PH tradition I’ve ignored it all and bought a 2005 diesel manual of seater.

My other hobby is lion taming with a dining chair. I may be lucky...

Much to my surprise everything works, no warning lights and drives as well as can be expected for 150,000 miles - probably better.

I am, of course, furiously touching wood. Fnarr.

[Pioneer]

We've had a Disco sitting on the drive in one guise or another for the last 25 years. The wife is currently running a late Disco 4 that we've had from 6mths old. I'm not a massive 4x4 fan but running costs aside I can't think of one vehicle that is such a good all-rounder. Seats down and you have an off-road 'van', tip-run vehicle, help-your-mate-move vehicle etc, quick clean, seats back up and you can take 7 people to a wedding and not look out of place. They can be expensive to repair/service but maintenance is the key. Never really had any unexpected bills with any of ours. Very handy to know some trusted indies for when they come out of warranty. Actually, the older they get the cheaper they are to run once out the LR network. Really should get her a new one now but neither of us particularly like the current 5. Doesn't seem to offer the same space or seating flexibility which was one of the best things about the D's and made it a clear choice over competitors. Tech is obviously better but we're thinking about going into a RR or X7 now the kids are older.

[anonymous-user]

AB1canotbee said:

its a good job that they [landrover] made a good job of the seats , as you will need the comfort when sitting and waiting for the recovery truck to arrive !

Original. Another poster beat you to it with this one. Noticed that quite a few are using this old quote since MLB said similar on Top Gear recently.

[AB1canotbee]

ruprechtmonkeyboy said:

Original. Another poster beat you to it with this one. Noticed that quite a few are using this old quote since MLB said similar on Top Gear recently.

Sorry but we {design engineering crew at DB Stuttgart} used to say this about 20+ years ago ,long before the clowns on Top Gear etc were quoting it.The Landrover mark was then ,as now , a joke, but despite this I tried to support the [buy British] company when I returned from working there back in the 80's,and have owned several...the last one being the infamous P38 diesel some years ago...never ever again !
Don't take remarks about the seat comfort too seriously, after all it was one of the few redeeming features of the cars [apart from the series 2 and 3 land rovers of course].