Anyone here had a Discovery 3?

Soldato
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Fife, Scotland
I'm just fishing here, really just wondering what opinions on it are?. Clarkson rated it quite highly iirc?.
 
I'm just fishing here, really just wondering what opinions on it are?. Clarkson rated it quite highly iirc?.

If he told me the sky was blue i would go and have a look to check, he's a comedian not a car critic :)
 
The disco 3 is a great car IMO. It does most of what it sets out to do very well. If it wasn't for the ugly rear quarter of the car, I think it would be a hell of a lot more popular than it is at the moment.
 
Chap I know has one - it's a very nice drive and the TDV6 is a nice engine.
But some of the electrics are poor - he'd only had his a year when the traction control/mfu doodad started playing up with flashing warning lights.

As with the earlier discovery 2 TD5, the elastic trickery is prone to problems. Certainly because of this there will be problems down the line if you're going to maintain it yourself.
Why I own a 300tdi instead (not that it does anything other than sit on the drive at the moment...££ :( )

http://forum.landrovernet.com/forum.php more info than you can shake a stick at :cool:
 
I had one and loved it, I really abused it, dog's in and out. All sorts of crap thrown in the back, great for towing, 7 seats when you need them. I'm thinking about getting a Disco4 in the new year as I miss it.

Only cons for me were, fairly thirsty and a full set of tyres set me back £700(Pirellis)+ and thats trade price to a garage.
 
Prices have picked up a stupid amount in the past 2 years, this time 2 years ago there were loads about for sub 10k, some even looked worth buying! Now you can't find any because values have recovered so well :/

Just sayin'
 
the later the better in terms of model year; the early ones were fairly ropey in terms of reliability (05-06). Common issues are the electronic parking brake (squealling servo's and sticking on) and the air suspension compressor failing due to crud getting into it (the car wont go up/down etc).

Seriously looking at a Disco4 in nxt 12mths..... or maybe a full fat RR :D
 
Couple of our customers have them, and as mentioned the electronic handbrake sticking on happened a few times but other than that a bit of oil burnt during running in and that was it...may not look as cool but if it was my cash i'd have one over a RR Sport...
:)
 
Cheers guys. Missus is pregnant, due in March so looking for a big safe and roomy new purchase. Was initially looking at a Peugeot 4007 GT, Ford Kuga or Mazda CX7 but then a Disco 3 caught my eye and whilst its somewhat of a different type of beast in practice, it is an interesting option for me. I'm looking at a budget of about £15k.
 
My boss had one for a year had no end of trouble with it, kept going into limp home, electrics were problematic, climate system never really worked.

He's had landies for years and won't go back.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. Appreciate it. I'll have a look at the Landy forums and see what is what there. I think you are right, it would be more prudent to go for a newer Pug 4007, Kuga, C-Crosser or CX7. Newer car, lower mileage etc. I had been previously looking at X5's and Cayennes but the investment of @£15k would be a gamble for either at an older age/higher mileage. I'm going to keep my sensible head on here methinks and go for a newer car instead. I know it is an aquired taste but the 4007 gets my vote so far. Drove one last week and it was excellent. The 2.2 oil burner feels quicker than it actually is and the handling is superb for something that sits that high on stilts. The CX7 looks interesting because of its performance potential, equipment and price. Plan to have a test drive of one this week and see how it goes.
 
Interestingly (or not) the 2.2 in the 4007 is closely related to that in the TD4 Freelander 2, which leads me to suggest looking at one of those perhaps?

The S models don't come with terrain response, but all the others do, and there seem like plenty of 07/08 GS specs around at your budget from Land Rover dealers. Its no BMW inside, but everything has a nice chunky, solid, feel it to, and nothing has fallen off in the 6 months we've had it either! Averaged ~40MPG over 6months.

However are you sure any of these cars are right for you? We went to visit some family friends with young-ish kids (6 and 8) and yes they wanted to travel in the big Land Rover, and had great fun while they were in it, but watching them trying to climb in, while amusing once, would probably start to grate after about a week :p

Before we had the F2 we had a previous gen V70 T5, and that was far more child friendly IMO :) A quick look on pistonheads says you might get a current gen model just about in budget, or you can go for a late, mint previous gen with all the toys. They do have the turning circle of a small warship, but are much more fun to drive (relatively) than the F2 if only because they have a lower centre of mass.
 
Had one as a hire car instead of the usual Zafira when I went to Belfast with some friends at the weekend. It was the 2.7 diesel. Really solidly built, comfy, loads of toys and reasonably economical (~35mpg iirc). Seven of us sat comfortably in the thing (some rather large), with still a little space for our hand luggage in the boot. It was rather slow though.
 
Freelanders - if you're looking at one make sure you get someone who knows about them to check the viscous coupling unit as this is a common bodge with unscrupulous sellers - dunno if this applies to the FL2 but as with them all it's worth doing your homework.
 
F2's use Haldex 4x4 systems, and I can't say I've heard of any problems :) The Freelander 1 was terrible, but the 2 is such a step forward
 
Freelanders - if you're looking at one make sure you get someone who knows about them to check the viscous coupling unit as this is a common bodge with unscrupulous sellers - dunno if this applies to the FL2 but as with them all it's worth doing your homework.

Not so much a bodge, it just means removing the prop so its fwd only...
:D
 
Some pics of my Disco3 last winter.

5188635511_420f5ec1bd_b.jpg

5189236688_de1b608775_b.jpg



I would agree 20k is the minimum budget for one the these.
 
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