I test drov a a buck blue/black LR3 SE today, 30K miles, super clean in and out, lease return and rental fleet vehicle for about 10K miles, in any case, are the biggest drawbacks of the SE interior the stereo and the heated seats? My pros for the SE are A) not as many gadgets to break in the longterm (planning on keeping for many years).. seems to make sense. Dont like Bling stuff like the fridge anyway, BUT

test drove an 06 Black/black HSE to find heated seats, nav, third row, bluetooth,

my thoughts, I am thinking the 3rd row would be nice, but not essential, only thing going back there most of the time is the dog,

stereo in the se seemed sufficient, I mostly listen to talk radio and less drain on the battery from a 550 watt system in the HSE seems good.

Rear climate controls seem silly in a vehicle that heats up quickly and easily from the front. My Eurovan needs duel climate but it is way longer.

heated seats, wont use em much living in Southern california

the aftermarket Kenwood Navigation mod produces a better nav/dvd touch screen player anyways, there are good aftermarket bluetooth kits also. does suck to lose the 4x4 diagram screen on the stock nav.

So have I justified getting the SE? or is the HSE worth holding out for..

 

I have the se but it has the rear climate and winter pkg. so I have heated seats front and back and a heated winshield. I love those options. I live in Northern mich so it gets cold up here and we get alot of snow. I think the winter pkg is awsome so I wouldnt care if it was an se as long as it has that. the rear ac is nice in the summer. all the big windows allows the vehicle to heat up quickly when the sun is beating down on you so rear ac is nice as well. there is alot of air space to warm up or cool down in the LR3 It gets hot down where you are so I would think you would almost have to have rear ac. That beeing said I would mabie have tried to find an HSE with the HD pkg. but the price was right on mine at the time. 3rd row I use some times but I have 3 kids.

 

I just went through the same proposition. Ended up with a very nice 06 SE 4.0L. My version also has the winter package with heated front and 2nd row seats, heated windshield and mirrors. It also has the 3rd row seat and Harman Kardon audio system. 34K miles with a year and 16K left on the factory bumper to bumper warranty plus a 100K / 48Month power train warranty ($300 ded), paid $21,900. Like you, not really interested in all the extras, just more to go wrong and I also plan on keeping many years. All the HSE's I looked at were consideraly more. I think the SE is the best value out there. The truck was $46,500 new 3 years ago.

 

well the SE i am looking with no options at all is now being superceeded by a CPO HSE I found nearby for the same price, it has 15K more miles at 45K, but is less money than the SE??. the CPO warranty goes until 75K so it has 30k more factory warranty. I dont really want half the things in the HSE but i cant rufuse the deal to have a better warranty, and the features i want, it even has xenons! It also had the steering wheel replaced this year, will report on the adventure .

Well im spending a grand less for a blue HSE with everything, going to seal the deal and take it right up to Tahoe next day with the wife and rug rats.

 

I had HSE for 3 yrs and loved/eventually used pretty much all options it had, such as central cooler, 3rd row seats (they do fit adults nicelly, I sat there quite a few times myself ), rear seat warmers, rear climate, etc etc. Premium sound with DSP is quite good, swivelling xenons are the must. So I'd say get HSE if possible.

P.S. My HSE was the first car I ever leased, and I have to say, it's good that LR provides free maintenance, since no sense of ownership kinda put into perspective the whole "lease return = good car" argument. Not that I abused it or anything, but I didn't really put any extra effort in taking care of it either. Just a thought.

 

Picked up my new to me 06 Buckingham Blue /Alpaca, HSE, all options except the cooler. Happy to report, Interior is immaculate and all options work, ran flawlessly on a 5 day trip to tahoe with over 7 feet of snow storm total. truck kept up with my buddy's Audi all-road. All though not as nimble, it tracks exceptionally well in the snow both powder and packed snow/ice and is the smoothest ride equal to a Lexus LS I cant believe how nice the air suspension technology.

As for the options, so far my review for each item,

Navigation, is well laid out and has a good interface, was accurate and clear, and it speaks 7 languages!.
Seat Heaters, used them everyday especially my wife who is always cold.
stereo sounds awesome, worth the upgrade
Adaptive xenons a must have if your going to spend this kind of money and they are awesome a must have package.
heated windshield, came in handy after the overnight freeze and snow combo
havent used the third row yet

about the lease returns, I know what you mean, I have thrashed the little subaru I leased last year, you tend not to care about a leased vehicle. In this cars case aside from some paint swirl marks, it is flawless. I am very happy with my purchase and have already had great fun with it.

By the way I averaged 16.8 mpg on the drive back to SD, I calculated more like 17-18 in reality matching miles to gallons.

here it is in its element

 

We bought a 2007 HSE fully loaded back in August. Features that we have used for far:

Heated Windshield - Simply Awesome in the snow
Heated Seats - Totally Worth It
Bluetooth - Worth It
Stereo System - Totally Worth It
Adaptive Xenon Headlights - Amazing and totally worth it

Cooler Box - Have not used

 

I bought my 06 SE almost two years ago for 16k with 16k miles. I figured I got it for so cheep I would go trade it in on a new HSE (08 at the time). It had a few better options, a little more power, and it was an HSE. After the 26K they were going to give me for my trade, I would still have to pay over 30K. It did not take a second to decide to keep my SE. Mine has Rear climate control and third row. I am putting heated seats in for my wife's little booty to the tune of $300. Headlights I can do for $1000. (not going to). Change wheels and badges and I could have an HSE. I already put in the Kenwood Excelon DNX-9140 It has built in Garmin GPS, Parrot blue tooth (can text on screen, phone book, play music), Full speed Ipod audio/video control. Push to talk voice control of GPS, DVD, IPOD, SAT, TV, ETC. Back up camera with split screen and all time viewing. This unit is so much more than factory. I also added all new speakers and a 1200w amp all in factory location and can all be reversed. All the equipment cost me about $1700. I am money ahead and my SE will do anything the HSE will do maybe two seconds slower. I can live with that.