Discovery 3 Commercial

[MJK 24]

Hello,

I'm wondering can anyone offer any advice re the Discovery 3, specifically the commercial.

I see they're available as a manual or auto. Are there any reliability or economy differences between the two?

Again, I see they're available with spring or air suspension. Is the air suspension reliable?

Are the engines reliable long term? A friend had a TDV6 that spun a bearing on the crank which was less than ideal!

Are Discovery's of this age reliable and hard wearing?

Thanks in advance for any replies

[bakerstreet]

MJK 24 said:

Hello,

I'm wondering can anyone offer any advice re the Discovery 3, specifically the commercial.

I see they're available as a manual or auto. Are there any reliability or economy differences between the two?

Again, I see they're available with spring or air suspension. Is the air suspension reliable?

Are the engines reliable long term? A friend had a TDV6 that spun a bearing on the crank which was less than ideal!

Are Discovery's of this age reliable and hard wearing?

Thanks in advance for any replies

A quick google would have thrown up several buying guides. I know, because I have read most of them.

The manual is crap. Gear lever is a bit awkward and it feels like it should have come out of a 7.5T truck. Auto is much better and suits the car.

Spring suspension will ultimately have much less to go wrong (compressors and airbags can and will fail)

It has two cambelts. One at the front of the engine and one at the rear. Quite labour intensive to change, but intervals are long at 100k.

Sadly, they have a lengthy list of niggles. Go and have a read on the D3 owners forums. A blown bulb can cause chaos with the electrics.

People will bang on about how reliable they are if serviced regularly. However, a lot of things that can and do go wrong aren't part of the service schedule.

The parking brake needs cleaning out with an airline as gunk can cause it to fail and throw error message on the dash. Tailgate electrics can fail.

Diesel engine is known to have the usual EGR valve uissues of all modern diesel engines, however the 2.7TD has two of the bloody things!

Its weighs nearly 3T and has 188bhp, so it certainly isn't spritely. In fact it is dog slow when compared to a Grand Cherokkee of the same vintage (More reliable lump and more powerful)

Fuel wise, expect 25 all the time.

Commercial will be E or S spec, so next to no toys. The interior can look a little bleak when there are no toys. Interior is quite hard wearing, but looks very dated now.

I grumble about LR a lot, but I still want a Disco. Wanted one since I saw the Mk1 at the motor show in the late 80s early 90s. Can't remember the year.

[MRPULLHARD]

Ireland is where you need to go - disco. commercials are very popular there and you can take advantage of good exchange rate !

try CARZONE.IE or DONEDEAL.IE , beware though FSH isn't as common as in UK.

[MJK 24]

MRPULLHARD said:

Ireland is where you need to go - disco. commercials are very popular there and you can take advantage of good exchange rate !

try CARZONE.IE or DONEDEAL.IE , beware though FSH isn't as common as in UK.

I've been looking at Touareg Commercials in Ireland today! The vehicle is to replace a 2004 Touareg 2.5 6 Speed that has been bomb proof. I was hoping for similar reliability going forward! The Touareg can be coaxed to 800 miles on 90 litres of fuel if you drive like a Nun at a steady 70 indicated.

Also found out today that there's a Shogun van too so that's a third option.

Thank you both for taking the time to reply!