I am in the market for a 2007 or so LR3. I have a discovery 2 but want something a little newer. Any options I should look for? Any issues or problems I should look for? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

 

tons and tons of info on this board and others. Start by making sure that the differentials are in good shape; and the transmission sleeve. Lower Control Arm bushings up front too. Thermostats, MAF Sensors, Throttle Bodies....things like that.

 

If you have a local Land Rover dealer, you might want to take the serial number to them of the one you get interested in and see if they have any history of it.

It is near impossible for any 3 not to be in a LR dealer computer system. If they can find no trace of it, I would ask why as all the newer vehicles need dealer service at some time or other because of the obscure stuff.

If the vehicle has a history, regardless of what it says, that is good news, and worthy of looking at more closely.

Finding a problem, not so much fixing it, is a lot harder than with the DII.

You can pretty much figure the front suspension will be shot, the engine OK and the tranny, well figure a thousand dollars for an oil change as it will most likely never have had one.

The differentials, that is tricky - they can be a problem - before you purchase, you might want to pay yourself for the dealer to do a front and rear oil change just so you can look at the oil and the plugs. If good, you did not waste the money, and if something is odd, well you can do more dealing on the price.

The transfer case will probably be OK.

The air suspension works until it does not so there is nothing to check there.

Since you already have a Land Rover, you already know the game.

 

Assuming you off road, then a locker is worth looking for. I wouldn't say bad diffs would be a deal killer, but you can certainly beat them down on any issues along the way you discover. I don't trust dealers, particularly if they have their sales hat on, and my on lackluster experiences with them.