Hello I am looking to buy a LR3. I was surprised when I found I could get an HSE for 15k with less than 100k on them. This would not be a daily driver I was going to use it as a trip car and for bad weather ( I live in the northeast) also I want to off road with it on trails. so my questions are....

Is this truck as reliable as Land Rovers make it seem? I am seeing so many say it a reliable truck then they talk about spending thousands in maintenance and not just oil tired and brakes but like things failing like suspensions components and things.

Also I want one with the locking rear diff options so I was wondering if most of them come with the Heavy Duty package? or if this a rare thing

Also another car I was considering was a hummer h2. I really am just using the truck for getting through bad storms because my job requires me to be on all at all times and for off roading lightly but I do want a nice suv I have out grown the wrong wrangler thing. so how does the LR3 stack up against the hummer h2 off road and reliability if your opinion?

 

I know this may not help much, but reliable is all relative. I'm just coming up on one year of ownership with my LR3 and I may have gone a little gung-ho at the beginning getting things replaced because the truck was still under warranty. However, I did have a couple of big ticket items come up such as the motor for the locking rear diff which had gone out.

That being said, I'd put it on par with my Audi as far as reliability is concerned. You're not in the boat where something is breaking every day or every week, but there are so many electronics and so many "features", that you are bound to have failures over time. The issue with the LR3 is that if you don't do the work yourself (and even sometimes when you do), these repairs can be very expensive. By contrast, my wife's accord w/over 200k miles on the clock has had very few issues and even when things pop up, they are very cheap to fix. Nevermind the fact that her transmission is on it's way out though... :P

The good side to this is that if you do work on the car yourself, you'll find that the LR3 is actually fairly easy to work on, there is great amount of community support through these forums, and you can get a copy of the workshop manual for free. Combine that with the fact that you can purchase a diagnostic tool that lets you into the truck's "brain", and you've got a good setup for making repairs.

As far the HD package, no, this was not common. It took me quite a while of searching and a flight many states away to find an LR3 with low miles, in good shape, with the locking rear diff.

Concerning the Hummer... are you considering an H2 or an H3? I assume you mean an H3 because the H2 was absolutely terrible offroad. It honestly was never meant as that type of truck even though Hummer marketed it as one. The H3 by contrast is a very capable off road vehicle, though I'm not sure I'd buy a car whose company doesn't exist anymore (yes, I know GM still exists, but I can't imagine that parts will be easy to come by as time goes on and aftermarket support will dwindle as well since no new models are coming out).

 

Thanks cmb6s, I do like the fact that I could actually work on the lr3 because I was also considering a porsche cayenne turbo and its not a diy car. I was actually considering the h2 because I thought it would be better off road but I could see how the H3 would be better but my heart was set on the LR3. Is it really that good off road? like through deep snow and deep water? also do se's come with the locking rear?

 

You can find an SE with a locker, but that is even more rare than finding the locker in an HSE. Yes, the LR3 really is THAT good off-road. Even without the locker it's an extremely capable machine. It needs tires...and if you are going to be on trails that are a bit more technical rock sliders are a great addition.

 

Great thank you, and I wanted to put a small lift on it like 3 inches or so and bigger tires but it seems to be hard to find a really aggressive tire in that size.

Also I was looking at the range rover sport. Is that just as capable off road as the LR3?

 

....not THAT hard to find, just little selection. I run 32" Goodyear MT/Rs. A lot of folks run Goodyear Duratracs, BFG ATs, Cooper Zeons....one of my friends runs BFG MTs on 17" rims but the fitment involved swapping brake calipers or rotors I think.

RRS would be pretty darn capable. I think they are more or less "tuned" for being more on-road biased and there are other overhang items I'd be concerned about but other than that they are the same as the LR3. Same Chassis and powertrain until 2013 I think.

 

wow i didn't even see those tires when i was researching thank you. and as far as a lift goes is it a better idea to get lift rods or the lift rods and spacers?

 

The best idea is to not do either of those. Get yourself one of the electronic tools that plug in and can program the EAS. I use GAP's IIDTool and it's awesome. I run my 32s at stock height on the road with no issue whatsoever. When I get to the trail head, I plug in the IIDTool, raise the suspension 2" higher and away I go.

I used to run modified rods and it was a pain. Even as convenient as they've become now, the electronic tool is a better option because you raise the suspension only when it's needed....and you get the benefit of being able to use the tool to diagnose issue, clear faults, etc.

 

doesn't the LR3's terrain response system raise the suspension anyway when you select certain modes?

 

yes but not high enough to clear 32" tires while articulating...