P38 vs Disco 3?

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Which will be most reliable and cheapest in the long run?

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    4
L

LetsHopeItFits

Active Member
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411
Location
North Wales
So, after owning a 3.9 V8 manual D1, and loosing quite a substantial chunk of change on it, I've decided I'm going to sell it and get something else.
The TDI land rovers are just too slow and agricultural, and they handle rather poorly on the road, so I've decided to look at something a tad newer. I dont want a D2, and I do want a manual gearbox. Bonus if the back is big enough to sleep in (A D3 is JUST ABOUT big enough, with the seats moved forwards all the way). Obviously neither are rockets on the road, my 3.9 was more than quick enough.

All I care about is not pouring money into the void. My disco cost me a tad over 2k, I spent over £800 on tyres, £300 on its last MoT, hundereds on bits and towtrucks and its still not moved since december. (I'm spending yet more on another tow truck to get it to a so-called expert/specialist, just to get it running so I can sell it). I think I'll have lost about £2000 when its all said and done, so I would actually have been better off financially if I burnt it immediatelly after buying it.

Is that just LR ownership, regardless of what you buy, or are some better than others? Or do I switch to the dark side and buy a landcruiser/shogun/etc? (Not keen)

Other relevant things - I do like a bit of DIY, its mostly sucessful, apart from whatever is wrong with mine now. I have hand tools, no power tools, no engine hoists, no lift or inspection pits etc. How much I drive it depends how thirsty it is. Both are good enough offroad, Im leaning towards the D3 but I fear that its going to end in tears again.
 
I can’t speak about the P38 but a friend had a disco 3 Tdv6 and had two engines fail, both with the crankshaft issue. Very unlucky perhaps, but it cost them a lot of money. They sold it in the end. Personally, I’d avoid the disco 3.
 
I have ran my d3 for 8.5 years now
Always diy, and I reckon 1k a year on parts/tyres etc
Tbh they are expensive cars to run like all the larger land rover models, road tax 06 onwards is 630 a year, and 25mpg.
All in all it has been a bloody good car, though as it is an 06 model it is starting to show its age.

Tyres are 200 a corner, but all the new defender base models come with steels and 255 65 19 tyres which the owners remove and fit alloys, so the tyres which are taller (65 versus 55) than the std d3 ones are cheap, I paid 200 for four with about 1k miles on them, so cheap I bought four more as spares.

Main thing is make sure it has the uprated oil pump fitted, the oil pump is not the issue rather the oil pump casing which the cam belt tensioner bolts to, the casing fails chucking the cambelt off wrecking the motor.
Cambelt is easy to change, oil pump more involved.

Would I recommend one to anyone? no but tbh I think that applies to all the larger models.
 
Last edited:
If you can’t sort your D1 3.9. Then you will struggle with any modern 1.

Harsh I know but sorry.

D1 is basic as far as most of it goes. The P38 won’t rust out but will screw with your electrical abilities.
I would just stay away from a D3 as they have as many electrical problems (probably more) with the extra if it will drop its engine.

With any LR you will need to be invested in tools/money/time then you may have a goodun.

Just my opinion of course.

J
 
Avoid the lion engine. The crank design is somewhat compromised, and the centre main bearing is marginally too narrow for the load and oil delivery. As well as the oil pump issues mentioned above. Plus it's a high maintenance vehicle to keep right, lots of brilliant engineering, not designed for simple maintenance or longevity.
 
+1^^^^ depending on your budget you'll end up with another project car someone has given up on P38's electrics are a nightmare we have had a few in dont know about the disco 3...
 
Okay thanks all, so basically theyre all just vectors of bankrupcy and are best avoided. Stick to 200/300tdi D1s (I presume that extends to the 200tdi RRC?)
The electronics on the P38, how many of them can be thrown away? Ive heard about mechanical pump conversions using E34 525tds bits?
Or am I barking up the wrong tree hoping for a reliable land rover, and I should just buy a Fourtrak/Colorado/Shogun?
 
LetsHopeItFits said:
The electronics on the P38, how many of them can be thrown away? Ive heard about mechanical pump conversions using E34 525tds bits?
Click to expand...

None...fuse boxes/air suspention/door locks/ecu/bcu all give up but finding the fault takes hours...we spent around 3 days sorting a P38 blowing a fuse every time the battery was connected the owner spent over 1000€ with other garages before we sorted it...
 
LetsHopeItFits said:
Okay thanks all, so basically theyre all just vectors of bankrupcy and are best avoided. Stick to 200/300tdi D1s (I presume that extends to the 200tdi RRC?)
The electronics on the P38, how many of them can be thrown away? Ive heard about mechanical pump conversions using E34 525tds bits?
Or am I barking up the wrong tree hoping for a reliable land rover, and I should just buy a Fourtrak/Colorado/Shogun?
Click to expand...
Sadly I think you'll find any old four-wheel-drive will be a money pit Regardless of make or model
 
LetsHopeItFits said:
Okay thanks all, so basically theyre all just vectors of bankrupcy and are best avoided. Stick to 200/300tdi D1s (I presume that extends to the 200tdi RRC?)
The electronics on the P38, how many of them can be thrown away? Ive heard about mechanical pump conversions using E34 525tds bits?
Or am I barking up the wrong tree hoping for a reliable land rover, and I should just buy a Fourtrak/Colorado/Shogun?
Click to expand...

The thing is, the mods and POs who have butchered or bodged stuff. If it is/has been well looked after they can be a reliable car.
With that said the age of them now most will have suffered some form of neglect which will need sorting, the level of neglect will determine how close to bankruptcy you get.
If you don't do the work yourself it will get expensive quickly, then you have the problem finding somebody who can do the work.

You seem to be fliting back and forward as to what you want, you seem to want to stay with a LR of some sort. But yet you are giving up on your disco. There aren't any that will give great MPG but I can understand wanting to move away from a V8 petrol. But if its solid I would persevere with it, TBH
At the end of the day the older it is the less electrics/electronics there are to deal with. But they will off course come with their own age related issues that could need fixing.

They can be reliable cars as can be seen by many members on here. But it takes work to get to that stage. We have 3 that although admittedly are not all driven everyday or needed to go to work. But they all work (mostly). But where we live we need something. We are happy with the 1s we have.

J
 
LetsHopeItFits said:
Okay thanks all, so basically theyre all just vectors of bankrupcy and are best avoided. Stick to 200/300tdi D1s (I presume that extends to the 200tdi RRC?)
The electronics on the P38, how many of them can be thrown away? Ive heard about mechanical pump conversions using E34 525tds bits?
Or am I barking up the wrong tree hoping for a reliable land rover, and I should just buy a Fourtrak/Colorado/Shogun?
Click to expand...
You won't find a fourtrak that's not rotten , landcruisers and shotguns at that age aren't much better than a landrover but the parts will cost far more

What problems have you had with the V8 ?
 
I'm surprised you couldn't get to grips with a V8 Disco 1 as it's essentially a RRC in a different suit. IMO there's a lot of luck involved in the purchase of old LR products & it's all down to the car's past history. The greater the number of owners the greater the risk of poor maintenance & poorly executed modifications. Many people will happily spend a small fortune on 'mods' & dubious wheel/tyre alternatives whilst shying away from spending the same sum on up-keeping the base vehicle.

When I bought my current '87 RRC fourteen years ago it had just 2 owners & 40k on the clock. I've kept the car original, had it serviced every year & spent a considerable sum on rust-proofing over time. This attention to detail rewards me with a RR without a major problem, one that always starts despite living in the open & I would confidently drive anywhere.
 
I'm running both a 2.5 p38 and a d3 .
In my opinion the p38 is better .
As in , I'm more confident I can fix most things on the range rover on my drive .
And it's just nicer to be in but it is an auto .
 
I'd be inclined towards a Discovery 2 a good compromise between the P38 and D1 and to be fair they're a good motor IMO.
lovely thing but as said can be handful at times, nowt can't be fixed and with the right diag equipment it isn't really that bad.

I loved both of mine, the D2 oddly being my favourite of the two... :)
 
Sorry for my absence, lets answer some questions.
Issues Ive had with the V8? Only one. No idea what it is, hopefully will find out soon as a "specialist" will be having a look. Made me very angry because it broke only a few hundered miles after I bought a set of BFGoodrich KO2 ATs for it (which are currently worth more than the best serious offer Ive had for the whole car)
Inclined to agree on the cost of japanese parts, having owned a subaru...
I wont touch a D2. I dont see any way at all in which its better than a D1 (other than body rust, and mines solid) and I see many ways in which its worse.
I am tempted by a 3.6L VM RRC, which is in need of a bit of a tidy up. On the other hand Im completelly fed up of land rovers (and tbh cars in general) I made the mistake of working out how much Ive spent on my disco in the relatively short time Ive owned it (less than 2 years)
 
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