Gents/Ladies,
A little help please.... I'm about to purchase a "kid's" car for city driving and for general weekend use. I'm thinking about an 05 LR3 with 80K miles on it. Generally, what are the high mileage problems that LR3's have experienced and can someone advise me of issues I should be thinking about prior to purchase. I'd like to have 20K miles left on this car without a significant repair cycle. It is a one owner, CarFax certified car. The care is being offered for about $15K. I previously had an 08 LR3 for my "main" car and found that it was typical Land Rover in that it was a bit of pain in getting various gremlins repaired but nothing ever seriously went wrong with it (until the end when we had to get rid of it). My other alternatives are a 03 BMW X5 and a 05 Nissan Pathfinder - both of which I consider "blah...." thanks for your help!

 

IMHO the service "done to schedule" by even the best dealer is not what you might want for the LR3. The maintenance intervals may have been developed by Rover with a focus on leased vehicles, so maintanance costs can be piled onto future owners and not part of the lease. As an example, the front differential on an LR3 hold less than two soda pop cans of fluid. The truck weighs 1300 pounds more than a D1, and has more horsepower. The D1 uses about 3 times as much fluid in the differential. As you know, it is "splash lubrication" and there is no extra oil cooler, etc. But the LR3 maintenance schedule (attached) lets dealer forget about it until 10 years or 150,000 miles. 75,000 miles on the rear diff with the electronic torque managed unit and unobtainium fluid. A new front diff is about $2200 from the dealer.

You'll also note that the maintenance schedule has "arduous schedule" which is much closer or even a little ahead of what one would be used to doing with a D1 or D2. But is "arduous" equal to "off road" or "soccer mom milk run and idling in hot weather"?

IMHO you want to get fluids changed on everything, and stick to a more "arduous" schedule. Plus a brand new battery, lots of electrical gremlins.

 

Thanks, Savanah Buzz. I'd love to run the kids around in this car for a couple of years and then make it my off roading toy, I'm just concerned that I'm going to be in a cash crunch having to find a dealer to do repairs that I'm simply not able to do and that are costly. I just want a big, tank like truck, to put kids into where I feel they are going to be reasonably safe and not worry about some idiot in an F-150 running into the side of me. I figure the LR3 even at higher mileage would have a decent chance of being engine road worthy - its all the electronics and transmission issues that scare me - as you have pointed out.

 

Certainly a D1 and D2 are simpler to work on. And also stout. One member walked away in Vegas from a T bone by a Camry at 50 mph. Many owners buy them because of "hefty factor".

Certainly current news items; like the eight teens in Ohio that were "joy riding" in a stolen Honda Passport (five passenger) which lost control on a 35 mph curve (at estimated 80 mph) before they flipped into the water, with just two able to escape; give people pause in vehicle selection.