Does an LR3 fit my needs/lifestyle?
 

Hi guys I'm considering buying a a big SUV and I'm quite taken almost by everything in the LR3 but I'm not sure how much it can fit my needs and lifestyle that's why i need your help. I get a monthly salary of 1400$ but it's gonna reach 1900$ 4 years after, a period during which I'm willing to be settling payments for my car loan over my future SUV. I work in city and get through traffic jams for about 2 hours daily...every weekend i go to my hometown in the mountains driving on zero quality pavements and a region covered in snow and ice for 3 months a year.
I'm used to the luxury of my previous mercedes E and C class and can't get easily to love any japanese made car even though i know toyota may be an icon for reliability.
I did my calculations for a 2007 LR3 and I may need 400$ for monthly payments and insurance and I drive around 1400 km (900 miles) per month.
I'm afraid of the reliability concerns (and expensive parts) of the LR3 and mileage along with expensive 18 inch tires.

Note: i use my vehicle off roading in deep 50cm of snow will an LR3 do the job confidently?

My other options are a jeep grand cherokee 2006-2007 and a toyota 4runner 2007.

What do you think guys? I need help please

$1400 a month car allowance or salary?.Don't get me wrong I love my LR3 but they are high maintenance and can empty out your wallet pretty quick.Do your research here and read read read.

The lr3 is extremely capable off road, if you can afford the maintenence and poor gas mileage which I assume you can having had Benz as I doubt they are any cheaper to maintain

Whatever you do take any rover to a dealer for pre purchase inspection with emphisis on rears and suspension

Do a good carfax and be sure it reflects proper maintenence

No dear that's my salary :s what should I read more? I already downloaded and read the owner's manual hehe...I know their maintenance is pretty expensive...

Well I know in my country the Land Rover spare parts are pretty expensive...even the used ones. I've been driving a 4matic E class, so i recently asked and guess what I've found...the brakes on the Land rover cost more than the double of the cost of my previous benz. That's too bad, making an astonishing car such as the LR3 and making it unreliable (as I'm reading on other blogs) with very high maintenance values. God damn BMW !

Ours has been OK so far most of what I do is extra stuff not maintenence, that said I do have to address the fuel tank and rear diff in the spring

I've had my 2006 LR3 for a little over two years. I have put roughly 25K miles on it. It currently has 106K miles on it. So far, I have only had to change the oil (4x) and the axle oil (front & back - 2x) Fix water leak from sunroof. But I'm sure many people on the forum will say I'm abusing her lol... This spring, she will get a tuneup, because of miles only. Other things I need to do? Front Air Block - (lowers over night), change transmission fluid. Point I'm trying to make is, Yes, when they break - it won't be cheap. But they don't break every other month either. This is my third land rover (1994 Disco, 2001 Disco) and the LR3 has required less work in the same time range than the other two. I can't wait to get an LR4 - but won't happen until my current one need an engine (hoping that's around the 300K mark)

You make $1400/month and you want to put $400/month towards a car even before putting any fuel into it? $28% of your income... You should be seeking the advice of financial planners, not Land Rover owners. How many months is the loan for? What's the outright purchase price? What percent is the loan at?

2 hours a day in stop and go traffic? Hello 10 mpg! What is the price of fuel in your country? LR takes premium grade fuel. Here I would be looking at $320/month in fuel or more to cover the mileage you are after, but gas is fairly expensive here. That would be close to half of your salary gone on just the car and you haven't covered any maintenance.

From the little information you have given so far buying a Land Rover LR3 for you is a really really dumb idea.

Thank you for being the first one to talk financially about my issue. Yes you may be right that it would be so dumb to take a move on LR3 with my current salary. But as I mentioned above that my salary will be raised fast the following years and regarding a 14 mpg (as most of auto reviews are saying onling about the LR3) I would be spending around 200$ monthly on fuel.
No i don't need financial planners dear, I need guys like you to tell me about practical mileage of the car and yearly service costs. Oh and I'm sorry i didn't clear the thing out...it's 1400$ without the monthly 150$ transportation allowance and it's gonna be soon 1900$ without the transportation allowance too.

people aren't kidding when they tell you to expect 11mpg in the city. If its stop and go, its usually going to hover around that. Highway is better, but you'd better be careful about it. Personally, the yearly maintenance isn't that bad but blow a diff and its already $1500 just for the part, depending on who you ask. Can you devote your entire $1900 take-home to your vehicle??? On that salary I wouldn't say its entirely impossible, but I hope you find a cherry rover, and that takes a lot of luck or a lot of waiting.

You better buy it with some insane good warrenty that covers everything including a rental cause one electrical issue or as above diff failure and that's your entire months salary and it may be down several days /week waiting for part and repair

The only reason we. Can afford ours is I bought it cash and do my own work, gas mileage is poor not as advertised

Need to disclose your area it also makes a difference in types of repairs to expect, you talk about snow if they salt heavy in your area expect rust issues with brakes, lines, wiring etc.like all other cars but higher repair cost

Iirc one guy just bought an lr3 for $11 k , the p.o. spent over $15k in repairs last year documented so can you afford that on top of a payment, insurance, gas, and the rest of your bills in one year? That's prbly worst case scenario but have to think that way if its your only car

Alright Tom thanks anyways :)
I knew it would be difficult to me to handle it otherwise I wouldn't post anything on a blog for the first time. And thanks everyone for your advices but can you please help and advise which SUV could fit instead of the LR3 for now? An SUV with the same price range and capable in snow conditions as I explained?

Maybe a 4runner or fjcruiser. Much cheaper to operate but way less of the love factor you get with a land rover.

There are so few true 4x4s out there anymore....

second to everything everyone else has mentioned.

i can only think no, no, and no to an LR3 consideration. if this is your daily commuter, and your assuming better than 11 mpg in stop and go, then no. and that's just because of the fuel costs, not to mention what you will likely have to do to the truck once you take ownership to get it up to snuff for your specific desires/needs, if any.

you have to, imo, know these trucks are very tech heavy, very engineered to do what they are known to do. with that, they require a mindset that is not focused on luxury without capable rugged ability, and that usually means when something needs to be maintained OR repaired, there's a minimal charge to look under the hood and expect anywhere from $400 - $2000+ to repair, replace, mod, etc.

"my previous mercedes E and C class and can't get easily to love any japanese made car even though i know toyota may be an icon for reliability."

there are some extremely capable "japanese" cars that, with the right wheels and tires, will get you through snow just as well, if not better, as an LR3.

sounds like there might be more to research for what you need from your next vehicle.

check out forums for toyota rav4, 4runner, and jeeps.

Maybe a little bit carried away to say that there is a Japanese 4x4 that can do better in snow than an LR3. Nothing against the Japanese makes, but I just don't see it. Not stock-for-stock and not similarly-equipped.

That said, I'd say the FJ Cruiser would be a good choice and I really like the Infiniti QX56; the NEW one build on the Nissan Patrol platform. That would be a luxury 4x4 that you can expect to be reliable as hell. Of course, the cost of admission is high; just like on the LR3, and the used market is not deep since it's a fairly new model.

agreed, not stock for stock, but a combo japanese reliability (or any-less-costly-choice-than-LR3 reliability) PLUS better-than-LR3 mileage PLUS wheel/tire package and whatever else to meet the demands of op's daily commute (esp those 3 months in the winter)

Fair enough.

Thank you and thanks everyone.
My second temporary choice to the LR3 was the toyota 4runner 2007 model, until I went personally to contact car sellers just to find out that this SUV is present in a very limited number in my country due to many concerns of reliability and its irrelevant class between the rav4 and prado. I hate Jeeps they really suck in all means, the only advantage they hold on is their cheap auto parts.
I must confess I may be really picky choosing any car...I think every benz owner experiences the same attitude of mine. I think my choices are now limited to keep on my heavy duty E class 4matic that takes me anywhere on road in any conditions, even through deep snow where many Jeeps and Pajeros get stuck in front of me...Until the time comes and be able to switch to LR3/LR4 the only SUV that convinced me in terms of price, luxury and capability.

imadazar, with only you knowing all the nuances of your circumstance (budget, daily commute, extracurricular road trips, do-it-yourself capabilities) it's good that you're getting all the research you can get about any car. don't give up, but definitely take your time and make sure your research has two categories: regularly scheduled maintenance costs AND potential repairs. this forum is full of advice on issues that are best to plan for as well as best preventative maintenance practices.

i find that sometimes the two get categories get clumped unfairly. what one owner may maintain well and has spent on maintenance, another may have spent double or triple on repair. though both may be pricey, relative to anyone starting their research, the preventative maintenance costs seem more likely linked to a well-cared for vehicle, while a repair might have dealt with an overt issue that has caused another underlying issue that has not yet shown signs of needing attention.

and then there are just some random things that happen...like the emergency parking brake throwing faults because the motor that activates it is toast, but, after manually disengaging the parking brake, the truck is fully operational. the only way for the fault to stop showing is to replace the motor. the truck senses a healthy motor and the fault can be cleared. that repair cost was close to your one month salary. i was told that there is no way to check the health of an epb motor if you buy a truck used. it's one of those parts that just breaks when it breaks.

i know i may be overthinking this, but i think that's just what we do here...over think and try to help out.

imadazar....there is NO WAY that your MB Sedan is out-performing a Pajero in the snow. Sorry, my friend. If anything, you are a skilled driver and the person driving the Mitsubishi was not. All things considered and equal driving skill at the wheel, I'll take the Montero, er uh, "Pajero" any day.

(I still own a '97 Montero that I bought new in 1996, and while it can't keep up with the LR3 in the snow or anywhere else, it's remarkable how well it can do in snow up to about 10". Also, it has 260,000 miles and just keeps going.)

Yes way hehehe
Oh you should see the grand cheerokee too :D

I understand and thanks for the clarification. But we are used here to buy very good original used parts...at least for my benz they come in very good conditions and I always inspect the parts before installation. If I'm talking about new original parts I think I could never be able to own any car with this salary.
So with this new fact I gave you do you have any other considerations regaeding my case?

2009 lr3
 

I've had my lr3 for awhile now. I'm up to 78k miles. It hasn't been much of a problem but that's because I take it in to the dealer for everything it needs. If you take care of your ride it will treat you right. Now the downside is the few things that have been replaced a arms sway bar and oil injector sensor were not cheap. I purchased an extended warranry to cover most of the cost. I average about 13.1 in the city and 15.5 average in a more rural setting with 93 octane. Not cheap. All around I love the truck. If you can get a warranty do so. If not just keep a rainy day fund for when things break.