Didn't say set fire to your money did I?
That is essentially what you're implying by saying "make a stupid decision that'll cost you thousands of pounds and justify it with youth"
It sounds like you want a cheap D3 as a laning toy rather than something you need, a hobby car essentially.
Not quite, if it was just a laning toy, a second car, Id get a 300tdi, or a Fourtrak, or a Jimny. It would be my daily driver, my main car, but instead of being really quick like my current car, it could be used for a weekend of greenlaning. I definately can't justify buying, taxing, testing, and insuring a second car just to go greenlaning a handful, maybe a dozen weekends a year. And before anyone suggests, I have thought about an old tax exempt series, but it would have to live outside, and I don't trust that it wouldn't be stolen.
It's luck of the draw if you get a good one, realistically you won't and it will cost money. Almost every 2nd hand car has a problem, usually why it's for sale.
Yeah - I'm trying to assess what the chances are, and how much it'll likely cost me to put it right. I think the answer is "the odds are against you and it'll cost a fortune"
 
That is essentially what you're implying by saying "make a stupid decision that'll cost you thousands of pounds and justify it with youth"
No, he’s not.
You seem to be going round in circles as to whether to get one or not, and how much it ‘might’ need spending on it. That needs a LR crystal ball - but you know that.

Go and see a couple and post on here for feedback.
 
Plus 1 with regard to having a crystal ball , might have been regularly serviced every year yet may snap a crank or spin the shells in the next breath

Forgot to add from my previous thread that u also lose the cross articulation when they are converted to coils

Also wondering if the DSC system is also disabled
 
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That is essentially what you're implying by saying "make a stupid decision that'll cost you thousands of pounds and justify it with youth"

Not quite, if it was just a laning toy, a second car, Id get a 300tdi, or a Fourtrak, or a Jimny. It would be my daily driver, my main car, but instead of being really quick like my current car, it could be used for a weekend of greenlaning. I definately can't justify buying, taxing, testing, and insuring a second car just to go greenlaning a handful, maybe a dozen weekends a year. And before anyone suggests, I have thought about an old tax exempt series, but it would have to live outside, and I don't trust that it wouldn't be stolen.

Yeah - I'm trying to assess what the chances are, and how much it'll likely cost me to put it right. I think the answer is "the odds are against you and it'll cost a fortune"
No, I might have had some silly cars but they didn't cost thousands as they all sold for the same or more, so price neutral.
.Fuel economy wasn't great though on some of them.
Apart from the Morris Minor and 300e van they were daily drivers.
I am guessing you don't actually need a D3 as a daily car?
 
Go and see a couple and post on here for feedback.
What will I learn from that? Given that my parents owned one, that I drove quite a bit, and lived with it. I know if I asked them they would implore me to avoid one at all costs.
Forgot to add from my previous thread that u also lose the cross articulation when they are converted to coils
How come? Does the air system have some clever anti-rollbar system like the D2s ACE?
Also wondering if the DSC system is also disabled
Definately not.
No, I might have had some silly cars but they didn't cost thousands as they all sold for the same or more, so price neutral.
That has been the case for some of the cars I have owned, others, not so much.
I am guessing you don't actually need a D3 as a daily car?
No of couse not. All I need as a daily car is a Golf (or other similar ordinary car), sometimes I tow, but only because I have a towbar. If I didn't have a towbar, Id just borrow a car that does.
However, I like cars. I currently have a car that I use everyday, that also happens to make a nice noise and go very very quickly (Subaru). Also being AWD and powerful, it did a great job of pulling a rented microdigger out of my field - again though, if I didn't have it, we could have just driven the digger out, it would be slower, but not difficult.
So what do I NEED a D3 for? I don't, I just NEED a car that can be used as a normal car, which a D3 can. A D1 can't, really.
Why do I WANT a D3? To take greenlaning on weekends.
I think I need to test drive a Prado.
 
What will I learn from that? Given that my parents owned one, that I drove quite a bit, and lived with it. I know if I asked them they would implore me to avoid one at all costs.

How come? Does the air system have some clever anti-rollbar system like the D2s ACE?

Definately not.

That has been the case for some of the cars I have owned, others, not so much.

No of couse not. All I need as a daily car is a Golf (or other similar ordinary car), sometimes I tow, but only because I have a towbar. If I didn't have a towbar, Id just borrow a car that does.
However, I like cars. I currently have a car that I use everyday, that also happens to make a nice noise and go very very quickly (Subaru). Also being AWD and powerful, it did a great job of pulling a rented microdigger out of my field - again though, if I didn't have it, we could have just driven the digger out, it would be slower, but not difficult.
So what do I NEED a D3 for? I don't, I just NEED a car that can be used as a normal car, which a D3 can. A D1 can't, really.
Why do I WANT a D3? To take greenlaning on weekends.
I think I need to test drive a Prado.
So it is a hobby car then as you have a Subaru for normal duties.
Suitable D2 on Def2.net for you at £2k.
As for going to see some D3, how can you judge what a £3k vehicle looks like if you don't compare some?
You either have the money or you don't and if you don't then save up or compromise.
I wanted a Shelby Mustang but couldn't afford it (possible maintenance bills) saved, compromised and bought a GT instead. I like to save as it teaches you the value of things and the enjoyment of reaching your goal.
As the Rolling Stones once said "You can't always get what you want but if you try sometimes you get what you need"
You can take the meaning of "need" as being a compromise if you like.
 
What will I learn from that? Given that my parents owned one, that I drove quite a bit, and lived with it. I know if I asked them they would implore me to avoid one at all costs.
I thought you were asking questions about the potential cost of owning a D3?
Find some for sale, see if you like them, check them over and post the pics/reports on here and you’ll get some valuable feedback on the actual vehicles.

If you don’t want/need the feedback, why all the questions?
 
A friend of mine had a disco 3 and her experience put me off getting one. Aside from the ridiculous excise duty, it had two failed TDV6 engines. After the second failure, unsurprisingly it was sold. This is probably quite an extreme case but both cost a lot of money to put right with what were advertised as good used engines, one being a jag unit. General maintenance was very expensive in comparison to just about any other 4x4 in terms of brakes and suspension components, and this wasn’t a vehicle that was used hard, just day to day driving with a second car to keep mileage down and occasional towing. A failed handbrake module was also a constant issue. Another friend had one as his daily car for two years and we regularly took it to Hogmoor with the disco 3 owners club. He wasn’t mechanically minded though and paid others to reset fault codes, which nearly bankrupted him before he sold it.

For occasional use, I’d really consider the disco 2. It is much more user friendly for repairs and performs well in terms of performance and comfort with scope for improvement at quite reasonable cost. There are nice examples about. I ran a disco 1 as my main car for ten years and only failed twice, once being a seized EGR which the RAC fixed at the roadside. The other time was a plastic radiator plug which gave out, needing a big yellow taxi at 10pm when the parts suppliers were closed. They are still very good vehicles, if you can get one without rust issues.

Ultimately, it’s your money and your choice. The disco 3 is a very expensive vehicle to run, and as a second car it is a very high cost for little use. But if it’s excellent off road ability and the smiles per mile make it worth the cost, go for it. Let us know how you get on.
 
So it is a hobby car then as you have a Subaru for normal duties.
I can't afford to keep both, nor do I really have the space.
I use my D1 as a daily most of the week…
So did I, but 14mpg was just completely unsustainable, and a diesel is just so slow, at least the handful of them that I drove were.
If you don’t want/need the feedback, why all the questions?
Our old one was a high spec version with air suspension, and I havn't got al the recipts from the garage bills all those years ago to tell if the bills came from the air suspension and other optional extras that weren't needed, or if they were from stuff like the ABS, etc.
General maintenance was very expensive in comparison to just about any other 4x4 in terms of brakes and suspension components
Thanks - out of interest, which 4x4(s) would you advise instead?
nearly bankrupted him before he sold it
A common experience, I gather?
For occasional use, I’d really consider the disco 2. It is much more user friendly for repairs and performs well in terms of performance and comfort with scope for improvement at quite reasonable cost. There are nice examples about. I ran a disco 1 as my main car for ten years and only failed twice.
Yeah, for occasional use I'd get an old Fourtrak, probably. Really I want something I can use everyday, drive long distances in, in the outside lane of a motorway. Obviously not performance car fast, just not so slow it really struggles to keep up with traffic.

Two vehicles isn't an option. The offroad requirements are purely recreational, any 4x4 I would consider as being capable offroad, I'd say it has to do a weekend of the toughest greenlanes (Strata, Horseshoe, etc) without breaking anything, without massive MTs, a big lift, hacked bodywork, etc. So it has to have low range, it has to have good groundclerance, it has to have decent wheel travel, etc. As for its ability on the road, if you can't keep up with an old lady driving some miserable hatchback, it's too slow. And as for practicality, a Jimny is too small, so really anything as big as a Golf is fine.
 
I dont have personal experience but Freelanders seem to have a pretty good reputation.The early models seem to be more resistant to serious rust. Need to watch for 4wd problems.
 
A disco 2 will fit the bill for your requirements. A V8 will easily keep up with traffic on lane 3 on the motorway. So too will a Td5, although I suspect you want speed over economy. They don’t eat brakes or suspension like a disco 3. I’ve had a disco 2 and was happy with the performance. I only sold it as I wanted a defender again. The disco 2 has low range and doesn’t need a suspension lift or lots of modifications to be able to do strata Florida. A decent set of tyres, recovery points, recovery kit and some other vehicles to go with should be fine.
 
I dont have personal experience but Freelanders seem to have a pretty good reputation.The early models seem to be more resistant to serious rust. Need to watch for 4wd problems.
A freelander won't hack it offroad. Sure, it'll do the greenlane, but because it hasn't got low range, the momentum that you'd carry to get over stuff means eventually you'll bash it into something, and so sooner or later you'll break it.
A disco 2 will fit the bill for your requirements.
A D2 is too wallowy, the steering is really really vague, and its really an offroad machine that works okay on tarmac. I don't need solid axles for the 1% of the driving I do offroad.
A V8 will easily keep up with traffic on lane 3 on the motorway.
A V8 tops out at a high enough speed, but is shakes and vibrates and wobbles all over the place getting there. Sitting at 85ish is like standing on those wierd wobble plates some gyms have. At 65 its quite okay. A V8 will also cost about 50p/mile in fuel at current prices.
although I suspect you want speed over economy
I want speed and 25-30mpg over economy and 45-50mpg. I want economy and 25mpg over speed and 14mpg.
The disco 2 has low range and doesn’t need a suspension lift or lots of modifications to be able to do strata Florida
As is the case with a Disco 3, infact, with the exception of Subarus, I can't think of a single 4x4 that has low range that couldn't do Strata in standard form, provided the water was low enough.
A decent set of tyres, recovery points, recovery kit and some other vehicles to go with should be fine.
Yes, I'd only go for some mild AT tyres, on the smallest wheels I could get, and would only ever go with mates.
That does raise a good point though - if you break down in almost any other car, you can tow it back to the main road and call the AA. However, if the airbags fail on a D3, you can't even tow it, can you?
 
A freelander won't hack it offroad. Sure, it'll do the greenlane, but because it hasn't got low range, the momentum that you'd carry to get over stuff means eventually you'll bash it into something, and so sooner or later you'll break it.
Cobblers - they have less ground clearance, but I’ve seen them tackle the tough stuff.
 
So you want a fast off-road vehicle that handles well doesn’t wallow is good on fuel and low on maintenance….
Not a ‘proper 4x4’ as I don’t think that exists with the above must haves but a would a forester not cover most of it?
Suzuki vitara? I reckon the Prado would be closest as you say but not sure it handles any better than a d2 with ace.
Every single 4x4 I’ve had (bar scooby and Audi) won’t have that direct contact feel that you’ll be used to now. Infact, my disco feels far more in contact than my new pick-up which I could drive with one finger 😂
 
I have the feeling you want something that doesn't exist, also no one sits at 85mph on the motorway anymore if you want to keep their licence.
200tdi will sit on the motorway at 70mph no problem.
Now you don't want diesel as its too slow, you don't want petrol as its too expensive, how about coal?
You can drive Strata in a stock Ninety and besides Strata is a bit long and no big deal if you ask me, presuming you follow the track.
You need to compromise and decide what part is the most important to you, green laning or driving at 85mph
 

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