Thread: Thinking of trading in the Discovery 3 for a new Defender

It's actually not that complicated and Rick 130 summed it up.
Defender is a work truck with an extreme off road bias.

Discovery is family wagon with a compromise split with a strong comfort on road bias.
A D2 has been my weapon of choice for many years for this reason.

Now the " family wagon" which had to give the best balance for our circumstances is no longer the case.

Now an older 130 dual cab is the perfect vehicle for our circumstances and a new wagon of any ilk wouldn't be considered.

Though not really apples for apples for apples, I know my Defender will be in the rear mirror of most any vehicles... Until the terrain it was built for begins... I don't need to speculate about the condition of electrics or leather seats when crossing water or beach.

No matter how nice the new vehicles are, long term ownership as a serious 4wd they ain't.

It's more than that though. It's a mindset, you become more and more a driver, and less a passenger. You want to know what the parts of your car are doing, and you have half an chance on a defender of finding out. You want the window open and don't mind the exercise in doing so, and couldn't care less about music -turbos sound better than most of the junk around anyway. You like the fact that the vehicle needs you to chose a gear, pick a line, and that your lack of acceleration means you have plenty of time to stop! You no longer put your foot down to slot into traffic, you look at the other drivers in the eye, smile, wave, and join the queue to the next stop light!

You are no longer following the herd, (or are just transporting them), but you are on an adventure, one that you were already on when it occurred to you to consider a 60 year old design in the first place- actually experiencing driving and the world around you and not living in a cocoon.

Do I smell a D3 for sale???

Originally Posted by SBD4

.... tyres and driver ability is the biggest influencing factor. They are all Land Rovers and they are all good in my book.

Agreed! My aim was simply to correct the grossly incorrect statement by AnD3rew.

I think we have established that out of the box they are similarly capable, with tyres and driver skill being the biggest limitations.

If your primary aim is to set up a capable offroad vehicle, a Defender will do the job better for a lot less money. Lockers and better tyres are cheap and plentiful off the shelf, as are suspension options.

Whereas the D3/4/RRS has a front locker coming soon, a (sort of) rear locker, tyre and wheel choices are severely limited, etc...

Originally Posted by TerryO

One thing that is interesting though, there are very few D3/4/RRS owners who post in the Defender section but there are plenty of Defender owners who read and post here.

I think that in its self speaks volumes.

Not sure what it speaks volumes about??? The bias of Disco owners that they won't stoop to post in the Defender section??? (Maybe there aren't enough threads about which parts of your seats are pleather in there )

Personally, I just click the "New Posts" button. I rarely notice which section a thread is in, and the isuzu section is probably the only one I actually scroll through the threads in (rarely).

Originally Posted by TerryO

One thing that is interesting though, there are very few D3/4/RRS owners who post in the Defender section but there are plenty of Defender owners who read and post here.

I think that in its self speaks volumes.

cheers,
Terry

Is that because D3/4/RRS drivers are snobs?

(inserts a smilie, ducks for cover then runs away! Just a light-hearted attempt at a joke in an already badly-hijacked thread)

Originally Posted by TerryO

Having said that Defender owners have a right to be very passionate about their vehicles just as D3/4 owners do so each to their own. One thing that is interesting though, there are very few D3/4/RRS owners who post in the Defender section but there are plenty of Defender owners who read and post here.

I think that in its self speaks volumes.

cheers,
Terry

Ok my comment above has already received lots of feedback which is exactly why I said it in the first place.

Since I made this comment roughly seven Defender owners have responded to this thread, one D2 owner and just one other D3 owner, even though I'm sure plenty have read it and said nothing.

So it's fair to say I was correct and plenty of Fender owners do read and respond to comments in the D3/4/RRS section, which is good thing. But as I said take Tombie out of the equation and few D3/4 owners would read Fender posts.

There is no doubt that many Defender owners see their vehicles as the epitome of what a true 4x4 is and many see most other 4x4 vehicles as not being quite in the same league. The funny thing is there is nearly as many interesting debates () amongst Defender / Puma owners about which year model is the real true 4x4 Defender then there is about how they are superior to everything else.

So come on guys lighten up your LR's serve the purpose you want to use them for in most cases and Disco's serve their purpose as well in most cases.

Neither is perfect but you must admit deep down you all secretly desire owning a late model Disco because they are far superior and you don't get your feet wet when it rains or when you go through big puddles ...

As being snobs, that's simply not correct ...we know we are superior ...

Anyway I'm off, its that time of the week when a bloke needs to go cut and polish the paint on his D3 and clean and moisturise the leather seats and last but not least put some tyre black on his HT tyres. ...

Now that's what being a true Land Rover owner is all about isn't it. ...

cheers,
Terry

If your not wearing a cardigan while you are doing it, you are not a true LR owner Terry.

Cheers

PS. Of course deefer and D2 owners might read the D3/4 post because of the amusing tales about the evils of soft sand and blown turbos (wasnt me!!!).

Or it may be that we want to help because many people who buy a D3/4 have never wheeled before and we might be of some assistance...

nice save Terry, smooth like only a toffy disco owner could!

I think, when you look at the questions being asked, 'should I trade in my D3 and buy a DEFENDER?', you may find the actual reason for the replies; we were asked!

Technically though, and as you brought it up, Countys are the king of the 4x4 pile, especially black hybrid ones that blow equally menacing black smoke...