Anyone own a Land Rover LR3?

[Tall Cotton]

Don't do it. I had a 97 Disco and after it stranded my wife for the third time in two years I punted it. I looked for a newer one to replace it and did some research on it. Ten pages of records! Not many were maintenance events. Kind of like a boat I guess. Two happiest days...

[Christian H]

I think you know what to do bmx,it sounds like a pretty resounding don't do it!
In my experience quality is patchy at best on all Rover cars be it "rangies" or "disco's" which is a shame because they do look pretty good.

[nola911]

Yeah like a boat...

Also like an abusive supermodel girlfriend. She's so hot and the ride is so good you keep going back to it even though you know you shouldn't.

[Thumper]

I have been eyeing the LR3's as well. I've done more research than I had planned and am still on the fence. The '05 and '06 LR3's have a much higher problem rate than the '07's and up as it was a new model introduction and they have been sorting out all the problems. The '07 + seem to be pretty reliable vehicles. I test drove a '08 Range Rover Sport Supercharged.......man-o-man what a vehicle. Haven't heard much bad press on these. Same platform as the LR3, but a shorter wheel base. A bit pricey, even in used form. Land Rovers newest offerings have suffered perceptually due to the terrible reliability of the previous models. The LR3 came from the Ford ownership. The largest Range Rover is from the BMW ownership days. The entire line has a very nice Jaguar engine and the 4WD system is a technological marvel. Love the air suspension.

I'm still a year away from pulling the trigger on a four wheel drive SUV, and I have been looking at quite a few possibilities. I keep finding myself back at the Land Rover dealership everytime. If I don't dive off the deep end and get one of either model of Range Rover, a LR3 HSE with all the bells and whistles may end up in the garage.

[bmx672]

Okay guys... don't get mad. Its what the wife wanted so she got the 2006 LR3. We bought an additional bumper to bumper warrantee to take us out another 5 years or 100k. It was well worth it. So we have the piece of mind with that. Everything on it was fresh, tires, brakes etc etc. It was fully certified. I did tons of research and I know that there are problems... but with the warrantee and road side etc I know what I'm getting into. Who knows, this car could be flawless. I read some horrible reviews on every make that we were looking at. My Audi A4 (RIP, sold it for this) worked perfectly for almost ten years and just under 200k! Some people think that the A4 was not reliable... go figure.
Anyway,
We looked all over for "New" third row vehicles that were under $30k. That was a tough thing to find. There were a few like the Commander, Aspen, Envoy etc... but nothing compared to the LR as far as interior OR driveability. After two weeks of ownership our decision is solidified every time we take it out in the snow or look at it in the garage. It's silver with black leather interior. It even has the AUX iPod hook up.
The wife made a good point too... since I bought my 2000 Boxster two summers ago shes been wanting an SUV... she had it coming.
Anyway, my daily is now her Passat.

All three cars are silver! haha. We love black, but the three silver cars look pretty nice in the garage all together.

[achillian]

bmx672-

I think you made a good purchase. It sounds like you did you research and you got a warranty. My girlfriend previously had a Range Rover SS supercharged, I think it was an '06. I drove a it a few times and it felt very nice! Interior was great, styling was great, and it felt very safe. It did have a number of problems but they were all minor in my opinion. As was said above, just little things, like a headlight going out, or a seat motor not working. But considering the great price you got on your car, compared to what they cost new, great value! You really get a lot of car for the buck.

I do have to say that for 400hp, the Range SS was slow! It did feel safe like driving a tank, but never has 400hp felt so weak! On the flip side I took my boxster in for service at Sonnen Porsche in Marin, CA, last week, and to my suprise they gave me an '08 cayenne for the day. It was only the base model, but I was still impressed. The sport mode in the car really made a difference. I took a long lunch that day and must have taken a few thousand miles off the tires go around turns. I wanted to really make sure I got my stealerships worth out of the car.

[nola911]

Awesome move. Congrats. Keep us all updated on maintenance. I may trade in another car for one if I can find a good warranty.