D2 owner here starting to consider upgrade options. Would you guys recommend a later year model Lr3 or getting an older one and sorting out any problems it might have myself with the money i save over a newer one?

 

It really depends on what you are looking at if you could find a 05 lr3 that was taken care of and has had the big money items changed I would say go for the 05.

 

By now 05 should have been sorted if driven, look for service records ESP fluid changes, if diffs were replaced also a plus since they die early

 

If you want re-sale value then I'd say '09. If you are going to drive it until it dies, I'd save the $15k and invest half of it into refreshing the '05. There are really no mechanical differences in the units.

On the '05 (and really both) I'd make sure that both diffs are in good shape and the tranny too. Other issues are EAS Compressor and suspension components (mostly wear issues there...bushings, bearings, tie rod ends).

I put $ into my 2005....to keep it fresh....and honestly, every single thing works. Every push-button switch is intact, every **** works. It looks, feels and drives like the day I bought it (nearly ten years ago) so there is no reason to doubt the longevity of these vehicles. They just need TLC.

 

What houm_wa said... Except that I disagree about resale value. The 2009 might be worth more money if/when you sell it, but you will have lost more money overall (bigger difference in buy vs sell price for the 2009). Either way, they're identical mechanically, but have some minor cosmetic differences (wood trim on the '09)

 

Yes, you are right. I didn't phrase it right. The '09 would have a higher salvage value (particularly if sold in the next few years) but yes the expenditure would likely be higher, especially if sold much later....the curve flattens out and the '09 and '05 end up at almost the same place if owned long enough.

Good input.

 

i'm partial...so, 2008 with history and all the major stuff checked and/or repaired (suspension, tie rods, regular maintenance, etc). but even with that, what houm_wa and cmb6s said. are you going to keep for a long time or sell in a few years?

 

I agree with rovernoob, all things considered, a 2008 can be had for $7-10k less than the 09's. I think 05 versus 08 is the comparison if value is the goal.

If you are going to keep it long term, go for older for less money and invest the difference in the maintenance upfront.

If it is a mid-range vehicle, like 3-6 years, then I would go for newer, simply becasue there is always a ton of annoying things that break, rattle, squeak, fade, etc in the 10-15 year old range. Fixing those kings of issues will do nothing for resale value and not fixing them will make it harder to sell.

 

I don't think 2008 (or anything other than 2005 or 2009) is on the table, folks. It was a multiple choice question with only an A or B available. ...not an essay question!

 

Thanks everyone for your replies.


just trying to get the most LR3 for my money

Not very worried about resale value because i'll probably keep it until its worth nothing.