Advice please

Hi all.

Firstly, I want to apologise for asking a question that will probably have most of you on here rolling your eyes and going "Not another one..."

I'm looking to buy a 4x4, for a pretty mixed range of uses. I have a definite draw towards Land Rover, partly for sentimental reasons. My dad had a Series (3?) Land Rover when we were kids in the early 80s and Land Rover is way more appealing to me than Japanese stuff.

The kid in me would love to get a defender, but the logical part of me knows that I don't have the time or money to constantly maintain and tinker with it. There will also be relatively regular long journeys to the other end of Ireland a couple of times a month, so would like some comfort, a bit of towing and some offroad, a fair proportion of which will be on soft, boggy ground. I would also love to try a bit of weekend offroading around some nearby mountains which would be a mixture of rocky and soft ground. I have pretty much come to the thinking that a Discovery is what best suits my needs.

I would be reasonably ok with some basic mechanical work, and do have a friend that would be even more mechanically minded, who could help me with some more complicated stuff, but big jobs will likely have to be paid for at full garage rates.

My budget can stretch up to an 08 Discovery 3, which at the moment in Ireland is anywhere from €6000 to €9000. A decent TD5 Discovery 2 will go for anywhere from €2000 to €6000 depending on condition.

So to my questions:

There is far more choice in Disco 3s, I'm wondering how much the extra weight of the Disco 3 is going to affect the offroad capabilities compared to the Disco 2, given that it's mostly soft ground I'll be on?

I'm also wondering how much more difficult a Discovery 3 is to work on for someone with only basic mechanical ability?

Is a Disco 3 going to cost a huge amount more than the 2 for any parst, repairs and maintenance that it requires, or is the difference negligible?

Thanks in advance

Colm

Buy a D1 and a welder, D3 is a wonderful motor but you will need to buy scanners and special tools to work on it along with a bottomless wallet, these were expensive cars when new and they are no cheaper today even as repaired by DIY enthusiasts.

You say you're going to be driving soft ground, well a 2.8T kerb weight D3 is hardly the right motor for that type of driving, a lot of car, extremely capable off road but it is a heavy beast.

I would say look more at a D1 and spend the extra you have on getting it sorted with fluids and filters all round and invest in a decent set of tyres that will offer flotation on softer grounds, D2 are a nice motor, not putting you off them but the chassis are prone to rotting through and as we both know, Eire gets a good whack of rain every year so maybe the rot is set in too far on some potential vehicles? What ever way you go, you need to budget for a decent full service and cam belts, yes, regardless of what the last owner says about the cam belt, get it done, works out a heck of a lot cheaper than smashed valves and pistons if it lets go.

Which ever way you go, keep us posted.

dieseldog69 said:

Buy a D1 and a welder, D3 is a wonderful motor but you will need to buy scanners and special tools to work on it along with a bottomless wallet, these were expensive cars when new and they are no cheaper today even as repaired by DIY enthusiasts.

You say you're going to be driving soft ground, well a 2.8T kerb weight D3 is hardly the right motor for that type of driving, a lot of car, extremely capable off road but it is a heavy beast.

I would say look more at a D1 and spend the extra you have on getting it sorted with fluids and filters all round and invest in a decent set of tyres that will offer flotation on softer grounds, D2 are a nice motor, not putting you off them but the chassis are prone to rotting through and as we both know, Eire gets a good whack of rain every year so maybe the rot is set in too far on some potential vehicles? What ever way you go, you need to budget for a decent full service and cam belts, yes, regardless of what the last owner says about the cam belt, get it done, works out a heck of a lot cheaper than smashed valves and pistons if it lets go.

Which ever way you go, keep us posted.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply dieseldog. So, are the D1 less prone to chassis rot then? The only problem I see with that plan is finding a D1 that's anything other than a full on project. From my research so far there is a reasonable selection of D2s that are in decent shape. In an ideal world, I'd love to find a D2 with a galvanised chassis, but I'm not sure how easy a find that's going to be.. Will definitely keep you posted and I'm sure I'll have plenty more questions in the near future!

Colasta said:

Thanks for the reply dieseldog. So, are the D1 less prone to chassis rot then? The only problem I see with that plan is finding a D1 that's anything other than a full on project. From my research so far there is a reasonable selection of D2s that are in decent shape. In an ideal world, I'd love to find a D2 with a galvanised chassis, but I'm not sure how easy a find that's going to be.. Will definitely keep you posted and I'm sure I'll have plenty more questions in the near future!

Click to expand...

you can still find a d2 with workable chassis

.

Colasta said:

Thanks for the reply dieseldog. So, are the D1 less prone to chassis rot then? The only problem I see with that plan is finding a D1 that's anything other than a full on project. From my research so far there is a reasonable selection of D2s that are in decent shape. In an ideal world, I'd love to find a D2 with a galvanised chassis, but I'm not sure how easy a find that's going to be.. Will definitely keep you posted and I'm sure I'll have plenty more questions in the near future!

Click to expand...

If you fancy a challenge, D2 with a rotten chassis cheap and do a swap, you'll get all the luxury that a D2 offers and a sound chassis that will outlast you most likely, great for getting the axles stripped and rebushed while not under the car and you'll be able to make everything 100% and even go so far as to give everything a lick of paint.

TBH if you want something easy to maintain that wont potentially rape your wallet, I hate to say if but the Freelander 2 may be the way to go.

D1 serious rot er everywhere
D2 going the same way as they age, but a real nice car if somewhat old fashioned inside
D3 rot not so much of an issue but theres some scary images around of rusty sills and mine are a bit flaky but sound on a 2006