Your Comments On This 2005 RRS Gents - What Should I Know?

[LoonyTunes]

Thinking of something like this:

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Your thoughts please. I've never owned a 4x4 before and want to try one on for size for a year or two so am treading into it lightly in case I end up hating it.

This is diesel, will it be an issue if I try to sell it in a year or so? There don't seem to be any petrol versions in my price range of >£11,000

Should I be asking to see or checking anything in particular in the showroom?

Basically, HELP ME PLEASE!

[w1bbles]

Having had two Disco 3s of that age, you need to check the following:

> Engine glow plugs ok (they're a pain/expensive to replace)
> All suspension functionality ok - compressors go
> Electronic handbrake working without any odd noises
> Auto gearbox (torque converter) - get fully warmed up and then find some steep road inclines to drive up - check for revs hunting
> No warning lights
> No MoT advisories on mechanical suspension part wear

That should avoid any significant costs in the very short term, but it will bite you on the backside at some point. Budget £2000 per annum for garage fixes and you should be ok.

Tons of buying guides and problems to look for.

[GT03ROB]

w1bbles said:

Budget £2000 per annum for garage fixes and you should be ok..

I must have some nasty surprises coming. I've got one of that age with 110k on the clock. Never come close to spending that in a year.

[LoonyTunes]

Any problems with reselling a diesel vehicle in today's market?

[CAPP0]

LoonyTunes said:

Any problems with reselling a diesel vehicle in today's market?

You'll get as many responses saying Yes as saying No at present.

However, I've bought two petrol 4x4s recently, slightly higher budget than yours, and they weren't easy to find, and probably commanded a premium over a diesel. The first dealer agreed with me when I said I wouldn't spend c.£20k on a diesel today. The second one, a seller of premium cars (mine was at the bottom end of his stocklist, pricewise) said that he had some £50k-ish diesels on his forecourt and was starting to feel distinctly squeaky about them; the phone, in his words, is simply not ringing.

Look at JLR and Nissan's recent statements on the subject....

My personal view is that unless you can treat it as either a disposable amount of cash, or as something which you'll keep until it falls apart or is completely depreciated, as well as swallowing up whatever cost uplifts come your way, then don't buy diesel.

I'm picking up a 5.0 SC petrol Rangie at the weekend, and for what I paid I could have got a diesel 2 or 3 years newer with less miles, but I just don't want one and I don't want to write off that sort of cash.

That said, there are millions of diesel cars out there and many member of the Joe Public group will buy cheap diesels simply on MPG and colour/style for a while yet. But it's not where my money would be going.

[Bill]

Imo (bearing in mind I've had a few...) you have got to really want a Landrover in order to put up with the potential grief. It may well be fine, but you're more likely to get hassle. The plus side is there are plenty of well experienced Indies.

Personally, if I was after that kind of vehicle for that kind of money I'd be looking at V8 Grand Cherokees. You might even squeak one of the quick ones into budget.

[w1bbles]

GT03ROB said:

I must have some nasty surprises coming. I've got one of that age with 110k on the clock. Never come close to spending that in a year.

You may be a good statistic then! I've had two Disco 3s. A TDV6 and a V8. Both high milers. The log burner went onto eBay last year as I couldn't justify the continual eye-watering maintence, but it did have 185,000 miles on it.

The V8 is here to stay, and it's been surprisingly cheap on mechanicals in the last 18 months... but the torque converter is going.

[bakerstreet]

Bill said:

Imo (bearing in mind I've had a few...) you have got to really want a Landrover in order to put up with the potential grief. It may well be fine, but you're more likely to get hassle. The plus side is there are plenty of well experienced Indies.

Personally, if I was after that kind of vehicle for that kind of money I'd be looking at V8 Grand Cherokees. You might even squeak one of the quick ones into budget.

What he said and its not a case of potential. It WILL go wrong and it WILL be expensive.

There are plenty of experience indies out there because....you've guessed it, they go wrong a lot! I once saw a t-shirt which stated 'Land Rover. Turning men into mechanics since 1948'.

I recently sold my D3 for a number of reasons. Was having a chat with the independent. He doesn't run LRs as his daily. He said he actually needs to get his kids to school every day He runs a Land Cruiser!! Another well respected Indie has lease Mercs and in his own words, does want his daily taking up time on his own ramps. It really is quite funny.

Don't have much to add to the list above, but as they get older wiring gets fragile and can break. This causes a lot of issues and diagnostics won't pick it up either. Parking sensors and suspension faults are very very common.

However, my D3 was amazing car, but ultimately I got fed up with the running costs and faults. Mine was a good one too!!

Hunting on the revs doesn't necesserily mean instant TC replacement. Many popel flush the box and the cars can go on for another 30k like that. Box flush is £250 and a TC is £1200, so you take your chances. Knackered TC can fook the box too and then you are in for anything from £1500 to £2500.