Hi there, I am new to the forum and think I am about to purchase a 2009 LR3. I just have a few reservations, as it is my first Land Rover, and it's a high-mileage truck. The truck is up for a great price, and I am willing to put a few grand into it after I purchase it to get it to a reliable and nice state. It has 260k km on it and is on the second owner, who didn't seem to take the best care of it. The engine and transmission seem strong, and he recently had the control arms done. The truck drove pretty well until I got up to highway speeds, and then it felt very unsteady, swaying back and forth. The steering wheel also had a decent amount of play in it at both low and high speeds. Everything else seemed good, no leaks from the sunroof, the truck shifted and drove in low, and the air suspension was smooth and quiet apart from a few squeaks when lowering to access height. I'm just wondering if anyone has an idea of what this steering issue could be, and if it should be something I should be concerned about?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Since you mention KM versus miles, need more info since the assumption would be the 4.4 engine if you used miles. Control arms are a bit of a regular thing, especially front lowers. They last about 110km before they may start to show signs of bushing failure. So it is likely that was the second set put on. Steering slop can be caused by a few things. Alignment for one. The lower steering shaft can get rather sloppy OR tight depending on how its tiny u-joint decides to fail. But often they fail in a way that makes the steering stuff and "notch" to the feel. But one big overlooked issues in D3 that can make it wonder at high speed is the rear lateral links. Super easy to replace and not expensive. But when they get slop, even a millimeter or two of play, they really can affect how it tracks down the road and is very noticeable at higher speeds. Of course there can still be other causes such as bad wheel bearings, still bad control arms - if they were not all replaced.

The great thing about these is that by now all the known issues are well understood so you can get a ton of DIY support on the forums.

 

If you have an independent LR mechanic within reasonable reach, take the vehicle for a pre-purchase inspection (will probably cost between $100 and $200. You'll get a good handle on the potential issues and cost.

For comparison, I bought a 2007 with about 130k mil3s a few years ago for $5500. My PPI revealed a number of issues (all pretty much expected) and needed investment of about $8k. I did about half the work myself and ended up putting about $5k into it in the first 6 months. Over the last few years I've put another roughly $5k into it. At this point, air bags, air bag valve blocks, compressor, center differential, brakes, and front lower arms have been replaced. With roughly $15k in it (excluding consumables), it might be worth $10k, probably less, so it could be said I'm upside down. But, I've put another 60k miles on it, driven it halfway across the country a few times (and wouldn't hesitate to do it again), and find it to be one of the best driving/riding vehicles I've ever been in and love it. I consider it to be a deal in terms of total cost per mile vs the quality of vehicle. I warn folks off of them if they have any doubt about their ability to pay for a big, surprise repair or if they can't do some of the work themselves... but if you can handle such surprises, the 4.4l LR3 can be a fantastic vehicle to own.

 

If your vehicle has the 4.4 engine it is the best one they ever made. I have a 2005 LR3 with 245,000 Miles on it, I did rebuild the transmission at 198k miles. You really need to take the vehicle to an Indy shop or even a Land Rover dealership for a full inspection as spending $200 (US$) now could save lots of money down the road. You will definitely need an Indy Land Rover mechanic to handle some of the jobs that can't be done yourself. You need service records if possible, the factory recommended oil change interval on these vehicles is every 7,500 miles. If that was done properly the engine should be good to go.

 

I once bought a vehicle that came with two sets if tires.
Both sets looked good but one set caused the car to wander on the highway. Just another thing to consider.

 

The wife and I once owned identical LR3's, same year same color less than 1K apart in the VIN. Hers had Blizzaks and it was a twichy mess, mine had Hankooks and tracked like a frieght train. Yes, tires can cause wierd issues.

As for the OP's question-right now LR3 prices are probably about as low as they are likely to go. For short money you get one of the most robust, well built and durable 4X4's available. It will likely need some work but once done you'll find the LR3 to be ridiculously good value.
For reference, I bought my most recent LR3 for $500 and drove it home. It needed about $2k worth of parts and fluids, and still needs more, but we've taken it as is on a couple of road trips and some off roading. You might pay the Indy but you won't have to pay the Toyota Tax.
And to reiterate-you need to find a shop that knows Rover. Some of the money and time I spent was done to correct stupid stuff done by the clueless local shops who couldn't be bothered to spend 10 minutes at Youtube Youniversity.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I took everyone's advice and got the car inspected at a local shop and it seemed like there were some big issues. They advised to not get for the following reasons: It had bad rear control arms causing significant play in the rear wheels (probably why the vehicle was swaying so much at speed). it also had a lot of play in the drive shaft, front lower ball joints were shot, bad steering u joint causing the play I noticed, as well as rotted rear brake lines. not to mention the airbag codes and the transmission module code. I'll keep on the hunt as I have gotten pretty fond of these over my weeks of researching. Thanks again for your help!

 

likely a good idea to take a pass on that one. Especially those rear brake lines, a job I have done twice and detested both experiences.
Out of curiousity, what is the owner asking for this particular project-cuz it's defintiely a project-vehicle?