I am new to Land Rover, currently searching for my first one and am trying to decide which to buy - low mileage 2004 discovery or 2006 low mileage LR3. I have not found a suitable candidate yet, and could use opinion from LR owners. I can't seem to find much comparison data as the search function will not recognize LR3 -too short a string

I live in PEI Canada - no local dealers. LR will replace an aging rusty 1999 4runner that has extremely reliable. I don't expect the LR to compare in that department but I want something that with proper maintenance at a reaonable cost can be kept reasonably reliable. I am pretty good at most DIY repairs if there is a decent manual available and I will call upon a good local foreign car/truck mechanic as needed. My fun car is an 84 Porsche 911 and I do all of my own maintenance on that car.

Vehicle will be a daily driver and all around utility vehicle, will see significant winter snow service. Roads are terrible around here,especially in spring. Vehicle will not see much dedicated hard core off road use but will definately not be a garage queen.

2004 Disco's are about half the price of a 2006 LR3. Is there much difference in the reliability/ease of DIY service between the two?

I am leaning towards the Disco however the LR3 has appeal with the larger interior size (I am 6'3") and fold flat rear cargo area.

Thanks for any comments

Ross

 

With proper maintenance either the Disco or the LR3 (Discovery 3 everywhere in the world but North America) will be very reliable vehicles. My 97 Disco with 117,000 has never left me stranded. Rovers are definitely not drive and forget vehicles like a Toyota but that doesn't mean they aren't reliable.

The 2004 is a much simpler vehicle than the LR3. The LR3 uses full independent air suspension while the Disco uses solid axles front and rear with an optional air bag system (SLS) in the rear. In all honesty, even though both vehicles are part of the same Discovery family, they couldn't be more different. And both will handle anything you throw at it.

I personally am thinking of getting an LR3 as my second vehicle in the future. I want to replace my Dodge pickup with the LR3.

 

With no dealer to go to get the '04, the LR3, while very nice, is ALL electronic, even the throttle is controlled by a computer, instead of a cable like the '04 for example.
So unless you can trouble shoot and repair computers and computer controlled things get the simpler truck.

 

my vote would be for the 04 as well. Easier to work on, and built more for the extreme. The LR3 is capable, but the start price is refected in the maintenance. It will cost you twice what it would with the 04.

 

I'm 6'5" and am not as cramped in my 04 Discovery as I would have imagined after reading some of the posts....

And there is a mod to move the drivers seat back even further.

Besides reliability, I'd say it comes down to your desire for luxury. If you don't need luxury, then Disco all the way. But the LR3 interior is very nice. Moving from a 99 4Runner, sounds like luxury is not a necessity.

 

Concensus seems that the 2004 is the way to go considering my location and less complex troubleshooting.

The luxury of the LR3 sound nice but not really a necessity for me. The old 4runner is quite rough, actually much rougher than many SUV's - I hope that the Discovery may be of some improvement in that regard but the short wheel base usually results in a rough ride in any SUV.

I like the looks of the Discoveries more as well so it seems like the best bet.

Oysterhead, did you make the seat mod ? I had to do something similar in my Porsche , now it s the most comfortable sports car I have ever been in.

My 4runner with a sunroof was always fine for legroom but short of head room. A neighbor has a 2000 discovery I am going to check for fit/ride as these vehicles are scarce around here, none at dealers.

Thanks for all of the comments.

 

Ignore the reputation LRs have about reliability. The reason they get low scores in that area is (pardon my french) bull**** like wind noise. As long as you follow the manual and stay up to date on maintenance you can put 300,000 miles on one no problem.

Disco's are a bit weird for leg/head room. Miles of head room, but slightly restricted leg room, though easily extended.

 

I am 6'6" and headroom , no problem... getting in is another story... if I ever have to get in or out in a hurry, I am in trouble. Once in, I am comfy... but I am going to get the courage one of these weekends to do the surgery to make my power seats go back further... it is stupid that they will go forward far enough to toch the steering wheel, but not back far enough...

 

I have not done the seat mod.

Funny because I think the issue with leg room has a lot to do with how reclined the driver puts the seat. My seat is WAY reclined, so getting in and out is no problem.

Also, while headroom is no problem, the headliner comes way down on the windshield which makes it difficult to see stop lights if you're tall. If your truck isnt muddy, you can just look at the reflection off the hood. Who needs stop lights anyway.

Can't find the write-up, but here are pics for the seat mod:
http://www.myrovers.com/Photos/Refer...Mod/index.html

 

I am nearly 6 foot 7 and I have room in the Discovery 2. I have not done the seat surgery either. Great headroom, but as oyster said, you will duck down at a traffic light. Especially if your headliner sags down like mine!