I would not ask the dealer to pay the cost. If he does then he ownes the report, not you. The inspection really has no benefit for the dealer and I highly doubt he would agree to it. You need to pay for the inspection and then use the results to negotiate the price down if anything comes up.

 

If you really want the car, $155 is not a lot to pay to make sure it is in working order. Sounds like a pretty good bargain for some peace of mind, to be honest, AND you can use it as a bargaining chip to drop the price if they find anything. Dealers won't (and shouldn't) pay for these inspections.

 

Again, as everyone has suggested have it inspected. Even then, realize that these are not the cheapest vehicles to do repairs on. I don't have the inclination or the skill to do a lot of repairs so I found a good mechanic to work on mine. He's good, but he's not cheap, and neither are the parts.

 

My personal experience to offer a counter point to someone who works on their own.

Parts are very reasonable ONLINE. If you call land rover then forget about it. The problem is what if you have something break that keeps you off the road? Local parts? forget it.

Working on them is actually pretty easy. They are just nuts and bolts assembled intelligently.

Do not and I repeat do not buy any vehicle with rust if you want to DIY. Makes everything twice as hard.

Here's some parts i've replaced and cost.

AC compressor - $233
Front axle shaft - $80
Speed sensor - $29
Brakes and rotors - 50 for pads 40ish per rotor(going standard)
Rear upper control arm - $95
Ball joints(2) @ around $30.
Tie rod end @ $30.

Just to give you an idea the axle shaft I paid $80 for brand new land rover wanted $700 for an OEM...

Most LR3's are barely worth 8-10 grand or according to land rover 4 new axles gets you 1/3 the way of a used one.

If you're smart about it everything is reasonable. That crazy expensive ZF tranny fluid? Just Ford Mercon(1/10th the cost).

The one thing you can't get around is buying a IIDtool.

I wouldn't own this vehicle if I had to get repairs and more importantly maintenance(needs alot) done at a shop.

 

And I posted to offer the information that if you're not as "handy" as MrWesson then be aware that there are costs involved with keeping them running. I shop around for parts and find a good deal but have someone else do the installation.

 

Both sides are needed because a potential buyer is going to fall on one side or the other.

I'm handy but there's also been times in my life where I simply don't have time which is a problem alot of people have.

2 sides of a coin but everyone needs to know that the actual coin is they need attention to stay 100% as they age.

 

I love my 06 LR3, it started off as a true love hate relationship though as it kinda had what I'd like to call a LR seizure after 1 week of ownership. First it started off with a weak battery, then a battery light, ordered the new alternator, and installed it very easily. Battery Light was gone and the battery was getting fully charged. Then I got a small issue with "Cruise Control Not Permitted". After that it went downhill very quickly with 4 amber idiot lights, lowered suspension, transmission faults, and basically a LR3 on the bump stops 25 miles from home at 9PM in the dark..... Then it wouldn't shift out of third gear and it wouldn't go over 40MPH. Pulled over to find the front brakes looking like hot lava (needed replacing anyways so no big deal), but I was truly like WTH.... Finally got the brakes to stop acting nuts and got it home. After that the brakes squealed like a pig...

Finally figured it out as a faulty brake switch............ Now nearly 5 weeks later my LR3 is flawless. I've installed new slotted/drilled rotors, and ceramic brake pads. I also just grabbed some 19inch 06-08 RR 7 Spoke wheels (the OEM HSE ones I honestly couldn't stand the look). The other nice upgrade was the 2015-2016 Nav Disc Update.

I could have taken my LR3 to have it inspected, but honestly all the stuff that went wrong happened 1 week after I bought it and I seriously doubt during the inspection the alternator, and brake switch would have come up as issues as it took 1 week of driving it for the faults to occur. (I had metered the battery voltage after buying it as I wanted to check the battery status and it was fine and the battery was dated 9/15). The alternator was doing 13.7v according to my scangauge II at the time I bought it.

I'm 99% sure the previous owner sold it due to the issues I encountered, but honestly they were very simple and cheap items to fix vs just selling it.

It's not a hard vehicle to work on, but I do agree that buying a LR specific scantool/programmer is a great investment vs taking it to the local Stealership.

 

I really appreciate all the advice, definitely came to the right place (forum)
i have done most of my repair for my current vehicle (ford explorer) and youtube has come very handy for that also, I'm pretty sure i could work on most issues as long as i have the right tools, my biggest concern with a vehicle this old yet stuffed with so much technology is reliability, as this will be my daily driver and also my traveling vehicle, this will be the vehicle that i'll be hauling my wife and 2 kids (and even mother in law)
I'm just waiting for payday to take a trip to the dealer and to talk trade etc, but haven't stopped thinking about this vehicle.
I keep looking elsewhere and have only found a couple more in the $8k but higher mileage and out of state, this one is actually only like 14 miles from where i live, anyway.

thank you again.

 

Well, this turned out to be a novel. I didn't mean for that to happen, my fingers just started flying.

I for one am not going to sit here and tell you that the LR3 is super reliable. It's a solid vehicle, it's durable (meaning it will last forever if maintained) but it's the maintenance part that most people fail to do properly. The fact that you're on this forum researching hints at the fact that you will do that part right, but now the risk is if the person before you did. I think you know those things.

My own experience has been pretty good. There have been some big ticket items but I've been well taken care of by my dealership. Worst things that have happened:

1. Failed an airshock on a trail, wearing my 32" MT/Rs. I don't put this on the LR3 as a "poor reliability" item. I should have recognized the symptoms. To the Rover's credit, even after the shock gave up limiting travel and I sheared a swaybar end link and tore up my wiring loom and lost EAS calibration (causing cross-articulation faults) I could STILL get the suspension back up to Off-road height, pull the fuses, and drive home.

2. I had an EAS calibration get fouled up the evening before an overlanding trip. This is the most mysterious of all issues. I think it is because my compressor was on its way out and my calibration was suspect anyway. The bracket that held the EAS height sensor was bent. The bending likely occurred when item 1 happened, but I managed to calibrate it...and it held up for 2 years, until the weakening compressor could not maintain it anymore; that's my theory anyway. Even that night, I slapped a new sensor in (in my garage; 20 minutes!) and it held up for that trip; 800 miles of on-road and off-road. I ended up getting a new compressor after that trip.

3. The DAY OF a trip over the mountains, about 6 weeks after item 2 occurred, Rover all loaded with wife, kids and gear....I got cross-articulation faults and the trip was in jeopardy. I pulled fuses and drove to the LR dealer. They put me in an LR2 and we made our trip while the LR3 stayed with them...talk about service! This is when the bent bracket was discovered. My most trusted LR tech straightened it out and it took a calibration on the first try (which it hadn't done prior). That was several thousand miles of on-road, off-road, over-the-mountains driving for me. It's been solid since.

Other than those incidents the things I've had have been the usual....bushings, alternator, thermostat, rear hatch, EPB actuator, differentials.

Now, I'll say this: My LR3 is 11.3 years old and it looks, feels, drives and performs like it did the day I bought it. I have been staying ahead of it in terms of maintenance (easier to do now since I only put about 3500 Miles/year on it) doing things like changing diff fluid a LOT more often, changing PCV valve just because, changing out the rear prop shaft while the rear diff was getting worked on; changed the front shock because of age, changed out small items like that stupid bleeder-T and the RF Capacitors for the tranny and ignition. That's what I mean about proper maintenance. It may have taken me a while to really figure it out, but I'm on top of it now!

Best of luck to you.

 

I have a LR3 05.. when I'm driving 30mins the air suspension fail light will be on.
Car still can go ride high and lower..
can someone help.. even mechanic doesn't know what happen.