LR3/DII/Tahoe

[Rover De Land]

This is one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make lol. I cannot for
The life of me figure out which to get.

I tried Researching myself but lr3 info and reliablility is hard to find. And if you ask any other group of offroaders, land rovers are only for the rich and super unreliable.

Dii pros-most capable, Price, cheap lifts
Cons, engine issues can suck, electronic issues?

Lr3 pros- engines good? Cheap lifts
Cons, issues with electronics?

07 Tahoe- pros- common....? Reliable
Cons- BIG not so geared towards offroad, lift costs way more!

Any discussion is appreciated

 

[Scott Brady]

LR3 - No question in my mind.

 

[Rovertrader]

What Scott said x2, except avoid '05s.

 

[Wander]

The LR3's are still pretty new (to us anyway) so I think it's too soon to make the call on long term reliability. Generally in LR circles they are found to be pretty reliable with the exception of maybe the air suspension. Not a tough fix to swap it out for coils if needed. As for a DII-the 04 is considered the best of the breed with the center diff lock returned and some improvements in the 4.6. Those that have driven the LR3 say it is great on the trail with the terrain response system. The Tahoe....it's not really built for offroad so it will require more modifications to protect it and I think you would find it very wide and long on the trail.

 

[brushogger]

I have an 04 DII and love it. It's as capable as my old FJ40 or CJ-6, and as comfortable as my Suburban on the road. Just heed the mantra "preventive maintenance". I purchased it with 43k on the clock, and the head gaskets were starting to weep. I changed them and the valley pan gasket, and have had no other issues since in 17k miles. I think anyone of these close to 50k miles is going to be looking at having head gaskets done. But all vehicles have certain weaknesses. It's just a matter of learning and addressing them. I've pretty much been a GM guy most of my life. After they came out with the Vortec engines using Dexcool, it was a given the intake gaskets were going to be replaced at 60-80k. On Jeep 4.0l sixes, the exhaust mainifolds crack, but the engines themselves are great. Some of the Ford engines blow the spark plugs out due to the thin aluminum threaded area. You learn and deal with it before it becomes an issue.
I followed an LR3 at SCARR and was pretty impressed with it's capability, but not so much the durability. The spare is mounted underneath and I saw one torn off. It also got some undercarriage damage on a trail that wasn't that bad. Stock discos went thru it with no issues. Three other times he had to stop and pick up pieces that were torn off. None of them were critical, but all looked expensive.
The Tahoes are fine trucks, but you're looking at a lot of dough to make it very very capable off road. Like the previous poster said, the size will be an issue. I rode with a friend over Black Bear in a full size short bed Chevy pickup. We made it, but there was a lot of pucker factor involved. In a Disco, Jeep, LR3, etc, it is much easier and more enjoyable.
Drive each one and pick the one you like best. Look at the service records, and have your mechanic check it out. If it's a Rover, find a good local indy mechanic to check it.
Then buy it, use it, and enjoy it!

 

[overlander]

I'll say this, now that the DII's and LR3's are at the end or ending their factory warranty period and making their way into the hands of true off-roaders and overlanders for the purpose at which they were designed, the aftermarket is now starting to generate adequate tools to allow them to be maintained in the field. I too was concerned about the electronics initially. But having done most of the maintenance now on my wife's DII, i have come to realize that if you have an OBDII scanner and get a reader for the ABS system like the products that RSW Solutions offers, the mystery of the electronics evaporates and can actually prove usefull in pinpointing problems.

As Scott states, the only real issues that have ever surfaced on the LR3/LR4 off road is the air suspension. OBD reader can help troublshoot and there's only a few spares needed to address it. Coils eliminate the issue, with kits that tame the ECU's when the conversion occurs.

 

[Howski]

I was in a similar boat except I was also looking at 03'-06' Tahoes. Went with a DII and couldn't be happier. Never left me stranded, just keep up on preventative maintainence. Very comfortable. The only thing is gas mileage sucks but it will with any of those choices

 

[brushogger]

I forgot to put this in the previous post. I've been told on the LR3, clutch or trannie work is crazy expensive because the body has to be unbolted and raised to remove the transmission. Don't treat this a gospel until you check on it, but it was mechanics down at SCARR that were saying it.

 

[dcwhybrew]

Having owned 2 D2s and 2 LR3s, go with the LR3. If you can't afford the LR3 then go with as new of a D2 that you can afford (hopefully that will be an 04). With the D2s, go with the most basic trim package you can find - to minimize the electronics that can/will go bad. With the D2, the 4.6s perform slightly better than the 4.0, but the Bosch 4.0s are much better than the GEMS 4.0s in the D1s.

You wont find a whole lot of research information on the LR3s because they are that much better than any LR product produced before them. They just arent having the issues that previous generation LRs are having. I have had an 05 (ex wife still has it) and have an 06. I would buy them again! Though if worse comes to worse, I'd buy a D2 or anyother Rover product before I bought anything else...I love the brand.

 

[Snagger]

I forgot to put this in the previous post. I've been told on the LR3, clutch or trannie work is crazy expensive because the body has to be unbolted and raised to remove the transmission. Don't treat this a gospel until you check on it, but it was mechanics down at SCARR that were saying it.

That is the standard practice and is what any franchised dealership will do. A friend of mine is a mechanic at a non-franchised dealer and had to do ta clutch replacement without the big workshops and lifts - he had to do it over a pit in a converted chicken shed. it took a week because so much of the chassis and running gear had to be removed (literally hundreds of bolts). The job cost the customer about £1500 because the lower labour rate was offset by the longer labour time.

there are other regular faults that appear on LR3s, most common being failed or damaged suspension components - the wish bones and bushes simply aren't up to the job and bush replacements are impractical, requiring complete assembly replacements for worn bushes.

They also get a lot of EGR and various ECU problems.

Ultimately, the LR3 is not a vehicle designed for longevity or maintenance. Expect to see a lot of them changing hands cheaply at about 10 years of age and being carted off to the breakers shortly after that. I'd never have one, and the same applies the the RR Sport, which is essentially a D3/D4 with a body kit and two less seats.

The DII is a dependable vehicle which suffers two issues - rear suspension failure if you have the rear EAS (7-seaters) and warped manifolds which shear the head studs, usually associated with aggressive driving or ECU chipping/remapping. Get a standard engine and drive sensibly and it should last well.

 

[timmy!!!!!!!]

You want a cheby Tahoe. It fits in better for the swamps.

 

[discotdi]

I work at a LR dealer and have never seen or heard anything about lifting the body to work on the tranny. The LR3's are all automatic transmissions so no clutch to replace.
Also the manifold issues and ecu remapping issue referred to in an earlier post is more applicable to the TD5 diesel which we don't have.
If you want to avoid the air suspension LR did sell a very very few coil sprung LR3 models in the states. These do not have the terrain response either.
Good luck

 

[lr3sd]

I have had my 06 lr3 for 2 yrs now and have not had a problem. Bought from dealer so it came with the land rover extended warranty since I too was not sure about longevity and build quality. Besides gas mileage, been a very reliable and capable vehicle.

 

[Dave Legacy]

LR3 - No question in my mind.

Agreed.

Just check out the few LR3 specific forums and you'll find more smiles than tears. It's still early, but there are enough guys with over 100K going strong proving that Land Rover did a lot of things right with the LR3. I get a great deal of enjoyment out of mine, but I will say that parts/maintainence costs are much higher than the D2 and an OBD-II scanner won't get you very far. I also believe that EAS issues are more of a fear than a reality and that EAS-to-Coil conversions are still not a readily available option. EAS faults/failures are a valid concern, but the EAS system is so good and durable that I would consider it more of a strength than a weakness. The vast majority of EAS faults are electronic related, not physical damage.

There seem to be a lot more complaints with reliability from the TDV6 crowd and people who don't understand what it's like to own a rover. Replacing all the drivetrain fluids frequently should help to avoid common diff failures.

I'm sorry to say that I don't think the Tahoe even belongs in the running.

 

[Mack73]

Following up on what Dave said:

Member 'Character' over on disco3.co.uk I believe rolled over 400k miles on his LR3 just a couple months ago.

Atlantic British just launched a EAS to coil conversion for not much coin. You will loose the terrain response, but the stock coilers never had this from the factory, so nothing lost there vs stock.

Just to get some criticism out of the way - hinderance towards offroading:

1) Air bag suspension can drop the car down to bumpstops - solution, don't get a tire larger than a 265/65 so you can still hobble out.

2) Diffs are controlled by an ECU. Since the diff locks are computer controlled, if you have a CV failure it may be very hard to get the car to move. The computer won't see a speed signal from the corner with the failed CV and can prevent the car from moving in corners (the ECU will lock the center diff while driving straight, but unlock when turning = no go) - Solution... well really nothing. The suspension design is fantastic and no one really breaks CV's. So while this is a concern, it doesn't seem to happen often out on the trail.

3) Too many computers. No real solution to this as well, but get a BBS Faultmate and you can preform any necessary ECU resets or trouble code clearing to get the vehicle back up and running.

I have no concerns about running the LR3 off the trail. I think the LR3 marks a shift where you might be bringing more sensors and computer OBDII scanners out on the trail in the spares kit, than you would bring replacement parts/assemblies.