I am thinking about buying an LR3. I currently have an '04 Discovery 2 (since new) so I'm no stranger to classic Land Rover unreliability. What are the most reliable years (if any)? What are the common problems on LR3s?
Any input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.






2004 D2 SE Black on Black
2011 Toyota Sequoia SR5 4WD Super White

 

I went from a 03 disco to a 06 LR3 HSE and it is night and day with reliability and capabilities. Like any rover you have to keep up on all scheduled maintenance. The only 3's that I have been told not to buy is a 05 due to a lot of electrical issues. The main expensive repairs with the 3's are
-lower control arms
- suspension compressor
- rear diffs that have not been maintained
-you eat through brakes fast (these are heavy)
You just need to find one with a great paper trail, keep up on the maintenance and you should have a great truck.
Look for a rear locking diff if you pain to off road it!

 

Second on the 05 and later. Also be sure the get the 4.4L V8. More power same fuel efficiency.

 

My '05 is just fine, electrically (knock wood). I think it's possible that people didn't learn where the water ingress issues were and how to shore them up in time to keep the 2005's from having issues. Water would come in either through the backed-up sunroof drains or the Heater Box and soak the passenger floorboard. When that happens, the wires/connectors that run along the sills there get corroded.

That's an example of how the electrical can get wonky, and that's not so much an '05 problem as it is a water ingress problem that we (as a community) didn't learn about until ~2008. Now we know how to address the sunroof drains and also how to add baffling to deter water ingress through the heater box via the window cowling.

 

Anything from 05-08 is good, I have heard (not to knock 05 guys) to avoid the first production year.

They're actually really reliable IMO as long as you heap them with preventative maintenance. Never been stranded with mine, and I have a roughed up one.

"Common" issues are:
>eats brakes (heavy truck)
>differentials going bad (usually front) due to breather design in early model years. AFAIK the diffs go bad because the breathers clogged and pressure/moisture ruined them.
>control arms wear out (heavy truck)
>clunking front suspension (usually control arms)
>sunroof leaks into headliner and messes with electronics (easy fix if it hasn't gotten bad yet)
>compressor air dryer clogs (from moisture) and kills compressor after a while. Dryer can be replaced
>leaks in air system, sometimes at valve block (1 per axle) and sometimes at each corner if it is a strut (x4).
>windshield cowl buckles in one spot over HVAC intake so water can enter compartment in really bad deluges. Can be fixed with a cover.

Honestly the best you can do is find one that hasn't had horrible water ingress and do all the fixes posted in the forum to prevent future ingress and you've got a pretty great truck. Look for complete maintenance records as said before. If they were loved then they'll love you back (as a disco II owner knows I'm sure )

Pay for a Land Rover inspection at a dealer you trust before you buy, (~$300)
TOTALLY WORTH IT

 

It's never a good idea to get a first year model, granted. My point is that there aren't a lot of design changes that I'm aware of between 2005 and 2008. So get a late 08 or late '09 otherwise they are all the same.

One caveat: some of the early items fixed via TSB for 05s and 06s were baked into the build of 07s and 08s; that would be one reason to avoid 05s and some 06s....unless you can assure yourself that they were properly maintained, as DavC points out.

 

DIFFERENTIALS!!!

Some 06s were okay, all 07s were okay.

My 2006 has a fairly cooked front and a decent rear BUT service records show the rear was replaced under warranty by previous owner!!! I had a 2006 Range Rover Sport falling under the same TSB and had BOTH differentials replaced under extended warranty!

Most of the other stuff with these things is normal vehicle issues (albeit a little worse with the air suspension, but whatever..) however the differentials are a major issue and the front is very labor intensive. I've swapped all the fluids in mine and hope to get a few more years out of it, but when I did the initial fluid drain it was black syrup. Not really noisy yet, I think my paranoia has kept me ahead of the power curve so far.

Otherwise they're great - some early models may suffer from water ingress issues (cowl, a pillar, sunroof drain clog near pass. engine vent trim) but mostly little stuff. I still have my DII and in many ways it's like they skipped a couple generations when they introduced the LR3 - perhaps that's why it still appears and drives as if it's a current and modern vehicle in spite of it's 11 year-old heritage.

Don't expect much of a mileage increase though.. sure it's a modern aluminum DOHC engine with variable valve timing and a nice 6 speed ZF transmission vs. a pushrod V8 w/ 4 speed... buuuuut it weighs about 1300lbs more which is EXTREME. Completely offsets the technology boost. The 5.0 LR4s and even the 8 speed SCV6 LR4s all get almost exactly the same mileage... lolz.