Disco 3s

Evening all,

Any disco 3 owners on here? Have they been reasonably reliable?

Reading mixed reviews on the net, got a budget of about 9k and am hoping to get a 55 plate with under 100k in decent looked after regularly serviced condition.

Any hints or tips much appreciated

Not an owner, put off with a hundred different scare stories. When they are going though, they’re damn good off road.
I bought a Touareg instead. Not as good off road, 5 seats only but better every other way.

My advise….. Look elsewhere. I had a Disco 3, 08. Full service history, low mileage for year but the first six months saw suspension issues, brake issues, electric issues, gearbox issues. Roughly £5k spent getting it sorted only to have the garage diagnose the gearbox as a 50:50 chance of it popping it’s clogs soon which would be a mahoooosive bill. Got shot of it after a year as couldn’t afford to throw more money at it. Shame really as it was an awesome car to drive but reliability is questionable.

Used to be a body off service at 100k miles – but I expect someone has figured how to do the job with the bodywork on by now. Do a google though.

As with all newer LR high end products – if you don’t have the abilities/tinkering space/dedicated equipment to DIY then they get very expensive very quickly.
Seen this first hand on a mates L322 RR

Just sold our Disco 06 for 7 grand, having had it from new. 85000 miles, brilliant car until the last year when it let us down twice in France with suspension failures. Decided it was too complex a car to drive into the ground,especially using it for long overseas journeys , and too difficult to repair when things go wrong.
Just to prove the point to us the EGR valve failed when we were on the way to hand it over. That was embarrassing, and cost us another £350 🙁

Just got rid of Disco 3 (part ex’d for 2014 Kia Sportage) … still have 2 Defenders though.
Disco 3 thoughts…
+ve’s Very comfy (especially long distance – we’ve travelled the highlands, South of France etc.) great off road around the farm, very roomy & 7 seats, great cargo carrier, high driving position,looks great.
Sorry to see it go.

-ve’s Fragile suspension (changed 4 swing arms), super expensive when it goes wrong (too many sensors & electronics), very turbo reliant engine with zero low end grunt, so poor at towing loaded horse trailers anywhere with hills, electronic handbrake (when it goes, your in for an expensive experience), Service Bills!!!

We need 4×4’s to get to where we live … Kia is used for comfort & long distance (badge snobbery? – we’ve had ML’s, Audi’s etc & love the little Sportage) … the Defenders are used for everything else & are excellent.

Just to prove the point to us the EGR valve failed when we were on the way to hand it over. That was embarrassing, and cost us another £350

… I forgot to mention the EGR’s & the £1.5k clutch!!

Thanks for the input so far folks. Seems like you are adding to the horror stories I’ve heard.

I was going to go for a touareg but having driven a couple didn’t really like them. Sat in a disco 4 yesterday and fell in love with the thing… Realised that was a dream and convinced myself a disco 3 would be nearly there and in budget.

Seems like nearly all 4x4s have iffy reliability when you start reading hence trying to get some real world views and experiences.

I take it the £1500 clutch is on manuals not a part of the auto box?

It’s complex electronically and very heavy, so lots to go wrong and will eat suspension components.

Nice places to be though…

Not sure what le were snokibg when designing

Colleague had to had a turbo replaced ….. Body off . On what planet does that make sense

Planet accountants probably…

You can get a fully loaded 2007 2.4l diesel auto Volvo XC 90 with 85k on the clock for ten grand on Autotrader – so probably even cheaper/newer ones about

Anyone know how the l322 range rover stacks up in comparison?

Just chopped in ours after ten+ years, as I longer need the towing capacity. Reckon it has been around £1200 a year on tax, MOT, insurance & maintenance, and twice that on depreciation. Perhaps I was just lucky, but no major issues and only a couple of minor – e.g. rodent damage to fuel tank pipe. Check for sale part of disco3 website for some better specimens, but don’t leave it too long- prices will rise as winter is coming*.

(*Sorry, children chanting almost this, thanks to GoT)

A mate competes in off road events with a landy. It’s awesome he tows it to events with his everyday runabout a 3.2Did Shogun. That has been utterly reliable and never put a foot wrong. He would never use any landrover product for every day use.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/comment/2015-10/five-grand-friday-mitsubishi-shogun

early Range rover sport is a disco 3 with a different body shell.

The l322 is a different beast al together,

My neighbours boyfriend has an early v8 all chavved up with a matt black paint job.

He hasnt had any major issues with it , and its bloddy old. Hes a fitter though and has no issue getting his hands dirty for the minor stuff….probably only classes major as – total vehicle failure.

Im a land rover fan – and i probably wouldnt even go there.

Id stick at a d2 my self, thats as complex as id go in a land rover product.

Your mrs bought a horse or something paul

Thanks for the suggestions, Mitsubishi and Volvo don’t quite have the kudos I want from my next car though. I know that’s cliche… but I’ve not had a really nice car in years and I’m after something that’s slightly special.

Cayenne it is then 😉

My parents are looking to trade in there toy range rover(evoke) for the lexus/infiniti 4×4 suv 3.0 diesel toyota , that looks like a good move in my eyes , would rather see them get a land cruiser though, but either way it gets rid of the time bomb that is the RR

Q7

That looks like an a4 estate on stilts.

Designed using the scale up scale down function at audi.

About as exciting as tofu.

No Terry, been after another car for 6 months or so. We’ve got a crv and a civic at the minute but the speed bumps and pot holes around here have literally killed the civic. So maddy is getting the crv and I’m after something comfy and a bit flashy. Had a few promotions over the last few years now and am in a position to not worry too much about fuel tax insurance and tyre costs… Still trying to avoid something that can spank me for 4 figure sums regularly though. Just want a really comfy high seated vehicle that is a nice place to be and has a bit of status with it. Being able to swallow bikes and go anywhere is a bonus.

Cayenne isn’t a bad shout… Although aren’t they worse than disco 3’s for reliability?

Q7 is out of budget. I’ve got 8k for this toy 9 at a push for the right one

https://www.toyota.co.uk/new-cars/land-cruiser/index.json?gclid=CJ_m76HxucgCFUe3GwodVvEHnw&gclsrc=aw.ds#modelsComparer

Saw one of them( in a group of full fat range rovers the other week on a shoot up glen esk .

It was holding its own and looking the nuts in a sea of toffs range rovers and gamekeepers defenders .

I’ve had a 3.0 TD6 Range Rover L322 for the past 8 years (its a 2005, bought just over 2 years old). About 85k on it now, and it’s been brilliant.

Only issues have been fuel pumps (replaced high and low pressure at about 50-60k miles – garage reckoned it was dodgy fuel that caused them to go faulty) and recently had to replace a couple of the brake callipers. I keep thinking I should change it, but it continues to go really well without any issues.

Interesting. We were thinking about a disco last summer but decided to keep our xc90 as it’s been very reliable. It’s a bit of a bus though, no where near as refined as the disco but very comfortable on long trips (to skiing). The stories above are putting me off discos! I like the look of the new xc90 but a bit out of price range for a bit.

If your not bothered about absolute offroading ability what about a BMW X5. Should be in your price bracket for 9k.

Shogun’s for me, I’m on my third. I love the look of the disco 3’s but it’s Japanese reliability for me.

Thanks for the suggestions, Mitsubishi and Volvo don’t quite have the kudos I want from my next car though.

there’s not much kudos in having your car spend more time on a recovery truck and in the garage than on the road 😉

X5 is a potential, I’m not a big fan of how they look, but I am going to test drive one.

Had 2 x D3’s – one was an 06 and one was an 07. Both were bought carefully so I knew the background but I can echo previous comments above. Amazing offroad (had mine on a couple of offroad days and, on mud tyres, truly amazing!!), so comfortable to drive (3 adults, 3 lots of luggage, 3 bikes all inside for a drive to Morzine no problems), absolutely loved mine.

This was way steeper than it looked – you couldn’t walk / climb up it as it was too steep and loose:

But… Heavy on suspension parts, and list of other know issues – EGRs, air suspension, electronics, alternators etc. I’d have another one if I could justify the cost / depreciation of buying new and it had a LR warranty!! No way would I consider a 55 plate now though – sorry 🙁 If you are buying, try Disco3 forum, more chance of a good example through there.

Had a 55 plate Disco 3 S in manual for about 5 years before selling it on at the start of last year, just before moving to Braemar! In terms of ride comfort and allround capability, it was a fantastic vehicle. Driving long distance and Alpine roads was a doddle, noticeably less tired the following day then with previous vehicles. Ability to get food to a friend’s stranded horse was great, load it all with gear to be away for weeks on end, superb. However, the large but is the same as that of every one else; wear and tear was high compared to most cars of a similar value. I didn’t have anything in particular go wrong, but there was a constant drip of money to the garage, with the odd flood! After a while, decided to sell at a point where I thought resale values were about to suffer. Overall, loved it and often miss it. Most important thing, in my view, is to have a good independent LR specialist in the area, since the quality of the work was far higher, and overall cost far lower, as compared to a main stealer. If you decide to go for one then, given the stated spec, I’d suggest looking on disco3.co.uk to see if a forum member is passing one on, the stuff I learned from there was great and their vehicles tend to be cared for a little better than most

Thanks for all the info earlier folks. I test drive an x5 3.0d earlier… Flipping awesome, really didn’t want to like it as I’m not a big fan of the image that they portray, however I’m pretty sure if I can find a good one in silver with black leather and full history I’ll be purchasing straight away.

I remember seeing what they put those Shoguns through on the Ewan McGregor round the world motorbiking thing, & thinking they must be good. I’m sure the director went & bought one when he got back home.

We got our Galaxy & Caravan stuck a few years ago, at a scout camp. Chap with a Disco3 pulled it out. I was in awe of the thing, but £60 a week for repairs (& kudos)…no thanks.