Going around in circles.....new to LR HELP!!

[Perazzi Adam]

Hi everyone,

First time here and looking for advise on first time Disco purchase...

I am in the market for a GOOD 4wd wagon in the next month or so and have been a long time admirer of Land Rover.

I tossing up between a Disco 3 , Pajero, Land Cruiser...particularly a 2005 v6 se petrol disco with 121000 on it and a 2004 100 series Cruiser diesel standard(poverty pack) with 113000 on the clock both are the same price, there is also a pajero vr-x petrol with 68000 on the clock in the mix aswell.there all within $900 of each other.

The Paj ive heard are HORRENDOUS on fuel, so thats 3rd on my list.

The trouble is that my heart says Disco and my head says Cruiser....Ive done heaps of research into the problems common with the Disco and it scares the crap out of me, being a 2005 with 121ks on it it has no more warranty.

At the moment im going around in circles saying to myself..."ahhh the cruiser is more reliable but the Disco is far more "nicer" and more comfortable...but there are guys that appear to have absoulty no probs with there Disco...but what if we get half way across the nullabour (which we are doing about 3-4 weeks after the purchase) and the thing Chats itself.

Ive called the dealer who sold it originally and also serviced it..he said it had a good complete history but wouldnt go into details as to if its had the gear box oil replaced or how many if any of the EAS compressors its had done.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.[biggrin]

[ozscott]

I dont understand the comparison - you are comparing diesel Toyo to petrol everything else. I cant imagine the V6 Pajero petrol being thirstier than the 4.0 V6 petrol Disco - and the V6 Mitsu pajero is very nice to drive, especially in manual form - it flies and is very smooth. Why dont you compare diesels across the board? Then it will be a hard choice, especially if you are looking at the (very good) value of the VRX Pajero versus a base model Disco 2.7 V6 v the Toyota.

If the love the quirks of vehicles, the character, then get the Disco. I love LR but if you want to have less problems, partly due to less complexity and partly due to build/design, go the Pajero - which BTW still has some character, but just not what the LR has. If you want reliable, but dead set (yawn) boring, go for the Toyo cruiser.

Cheers

[oldsalt]

I dont understand the comparison - you are comparing diesel Toyo to petrol everything else. I cant imagine the V6 Pajero petrol being thirstier than the 4.0 V6 petrol Disco - and the V6 Mitsu pajero is very nice to drive, especially in manual form - it flies and is very smooth. Why dont you compare diesels across the board? Then it will be a hard choice, especially if you are looking at the (very good) value of the VRX Pajero versus a base model Disco 2.7 V6 v the Toyota.

If the love the quirks of vehicles, the character, then get the Disco. I love LR but if you want to have less problems, partly due to less complexity and partly due to build/design, go the Pajero - which BTW still has some character, but just not what the LR has. If you want reliable, but dead set (yawn) boring, go for the Toyo cruiser.

Cheers

Reliable ??? ... not all of 'em ... I've got a mate who paid close on $120k for a Toyota "sahara" and has had nothing but problems with it - lots of visits to the dealers - he's NOT a happy camper !!!! and when he gets into my D3 he wonders why he stuck with Toyota, in the end they are all "just cars" and some will be great and some will be duds ... do your research and check and then check again ... and hopefully whatever brand you settle on will give you miles of faithful motoring, good luck with whaterever you get.
cheers :)

[discotwinturbo]

My niece and a friend are Toyota technicians. The stories they both told me, pushed me away from the 200 when I was choosing between the D4 and 200. And I had my heart set on the 200 because of perceived reliability.

They both say the last of the good Toyotas was the 80 series.

Toyota seems to have lost their way according to them.

The cruiser must be boring to drive if it has only done 113k's in 8 years.

Pajero petrol chews fuel like there is no tomorrow when towing....but thats probably the same for most 6 or 8 cylinder petrol motors lugging around heavy weight.

Brett.....

[Rockylizard]

Gday...

Firstly, I don't know anything about Pajero - to be truthful, they have never appealed to me - no reason - just an emotional decision I guess.

I owned a non-turbo 100 Series Toyota - (poverty pack - barn doors etc). It was OK when used on the highway by itself. Would cruise all day on the highway in 5th gear at 110kph and give me 10ltr/100km. But attached anything to the rear and it was a sluggard - at the time I had a Cub off-road Supermatic Drover camper - about 1700kg loaded. In the bush, whilst it went anywhere I took it, it often had to work and it just seemed so damned big on a winding, rough mountain track.

Regarding reliability - the Toyota never stopped me on the road, but it had an intermittent clutch shudder which the dealer could never find and often the motor would 'hesitate' (little coughs) around 1400-1500rpm - usually when I just wanted it to crawl over the rough stuff. Annoyed the hell outta me.

Now have a Disco 3 TDV6 Auto 2006 model. It has 127,000km on it now (59,000km done by me). I travel full-time towing my home, a 23ft 2600kg (over the weighbridge) tandem van. I have been travelling for almost 4 years.

The Disco has never stopped me on the road - only things I have replaced are alternator about 18 months ago, an air compressor about two years ago - and the brake switch about a month ago.

The Disco 3 is the best car I have ever owned, the best 4X4 I have owned and it tows the 2600kg effortlessly - cruising on 90kph (1900rpm in 5th) it returns between 14ltr/100km to 16.5lr/100km depending on terrain, wind etc.

I would have no hesitation in recommending the Disco 3, especially over the 100 series non-turbo. Chalk and cheese.

cheers - John

[Perazzi Adam]

Thanks guys

The comparison mainly comes about because this is Tasmania and there is, to my knowledge, only one Disco for sale in my price range and one cruiser in my price range without half a million ks, there is 3 pajeros in the price range and the one I mention is the one with the least amount of Ks.
The cruiser is from the university of Tasmania, so im guessing thats why its only got the 113,000 on it

I guess the thing that is doing my head in is there is so much conficting info for the Disco,

Being as its at 120000ks what would be the things to look out for and also what would be the next major service needed

[weeds]

is it worth looking at cars in melbourne? might have more options

[oldsalt]

I don't want to seem rude - but why are you ONLY looking at Tassie ? - throw in the cost of an airfare (cheap nowadays) a boat ride and change over of rego when you get home and you open up a whole world of D3s to look at.
I did a lot of research and got mine from a guy in Sydney and drove home with a smile a mile wide !!!! "Think outside the square" or in your case "outside the small island" and the "big island" becomes your oyster....:)
just my two cents worth,
cheers

[oldsalt]

O.K. - I'll go out on a limb here ... if you want anybody to have a look at a D3 in Melbourne for you I'll gladly volunteer - and I'm sure you could find people in all the other states that would be only to glad to help you by giving any prospective vehicle the "once over", I'm no expert but I could at least give you an honest appraisal of any local D3s .... and help you whittle down your list of "definite/maybes" to add to your list.
cheers

[DoctorJ]

There are only a few things that go wrong with the D3 and they aren't overly expensive to fix, get the auto transmission serviced and you won't look back. If I were you I would get on the spirit of Tasmania and check out Victoria as well to ensure you a/ get the best deal ( I always found Tassie expensive) and b/ bigger variety. It is also worthwhile to note you probably have a better chance to negotiate a better price on the D3 over the Cruiser purely due to demand

Cheers
Julian

[Perazzi Adam]

I was thinking about Vic ones aswell, but I have to trade in my Falcon so though that it might get all too confusing....

[chuck]

My D3 was bought by a Tasmanian - Doug on here.

Cheers

Chuck

[Banjo_pluker]

I hope you are not confusing D3 issues with D2 issues. The D2 had a lot of little reliability issues but the D3 is much more reliable

[Perazzi Adam]

Ive been reading about gearbox oil, various suspension issues, brake switches, brake lights globes, front control arm bushes and ball joints and timimg belts..

[Rockylizard]

Ive been reading about gearbox oil, various suspension issues, brake switches, brake lights globes, front control arm bushes and ball joints and timimg belts..

Gday...

The best place to learn about a marque is a forum. The worst place to learn about a marque is a forum.

Go to the Toyota Owners Forum and you will find an equal amount of "problems" and as many who have nothing but praise.

It's the same with all marques - all have problems ... some show few.

Thankfully - my ownership has revealed very little unreliability. I have also met at least 20 D3 and/or D4 owners in my travels. None have had a problem. But this forum is great for finding out how to identify and/or remedy 'stuff'.

Cheers - John

[oldsalt]

Sell your car privately - you'll get a much better deal than "trade in " price - (I just sold my wifes Honda privately to a guy from Sydney - sight unseen - he transferred the money into our account and sent a truck around to pick up the Honda) - then stick your cash in your wallet and "come on over" to the big island and buy D3 ... you'll love it ... :D Like I said .. do your research and check the service record etc and you'll be O.K.
Go on ... buy a Landrover ... you know you want to :twisted:

[Ashes]

Forums are great for finding out what goes wrong with cars but rarely do people post about what is going right.. The D3 is a complicated vehicle and needs to be maintained. Similar story with the others as well. Realistically you will need to budget more for maintenance than the Falcon to keep all the tricky bits going. Couple this with taking it off road and towing and the extra strains that involves, maintenance once again is higher.
A much better vehicle than a Falcon. Like the others have mentioned, perhaps look a bit wider than Tas for the vehicles you are considering.

[Disco4SE]

Forums are great for finding out what goes wrong with cars but rarely do people post about what is going right
I agree with Ashes comment above.
Another thing to remember is that Forum members are only a minority of D3 / D4 owners.
I know a non forum member that has travelled over 250,000Klm's in his 3.0Lt D4 and only ever had to do routine maintenance. He was going to trade it at 200,000Klms, but thought "what the hell am I doing".
I am sure that the good luck stories far outway the bad luck ones, compared to other 4 x 4's.

Perazzi Adam - As Oldsalt mentioned, sell the falcon privately, get on a boat or plane and grab yourself a good D3 on the mainland.

Happy hunting,
Craig

[Nomad9]

Hi Adam,
Like yourself and some others I've never owned a Landcruiser apart from and old FJ40 and I've never owned a Pajero, but I know people who have and do. Any vehicle you buy will ultimately have a few niggles, either something you do don't like or an inherent reliability issue. Go to a sale yard and they will all be great even the coulour for some reason which you personally might dislike.
Forums generally have people on them who have had a problem or in some cases expecting one. Me I've now owned a few Land Rovers, what I like about the brand is the camaraderie amongst the people, I was travelling interstate, I called into a local LR agent to meet someone I had read some of the posts on the forum couldn't wish to meet a nicer guy, friendly family man................. I can't imagine doing that at a yota or a Mitsubishi yard.
The information and friendliness that comes out of this forum you can't go wrong, even if something does go wrong, then if you add the capability of the LR marque into the occasion, if you want to be on the leading edge of technology for all aspects of what a four wheel drive is about join the group, if you want to be in the pack following buy something else, one thing you have is choice.
I wish you the very best with your selection and I hope you enjoy your D3 or D4 which ever you choose.