LR3 trail "damage" fix it or display proudly?

[MrWesson]

Basically I use my LR3 pretty hard and regularly make contact with branches and yesterday some tree bark.

I could probably polish most of it out but then the fender flares are scratched and regularly get a dent(which I just push out). I keep those stupid pop rivets for when they break though.

I admit its a great looking vehicle but given that they are well under 10,000 on the used market...

I do treat every single aspect of its mechanical like royalty though.

Don't really want to put in the effort when in reality i'll just give it some new scratches the following weekend.

 

[BIGdaddy]

The mechanicals get fixed, maintained or carefully isolated on my rig. Paint, once that new car smell is gone, is simply a rust inhibitor. I'd carefully mask, give a good buffing/sanding and hit it with a closely related color of rustoleum gloss spray paint.

Just me, though.

 

[Ray_G]

All of my trucks get used as intended to some degree or another, while I don't seek damage nor do I go whole on the hog to fix the aesthetic elements afterward-that said I do tend to keep them clean so the occasional polish to mitigate scratches does help.

I tend to view rovers that are clean and well kept but with indication they get used properly the same way I look at someone overseas with a clean but well worn rifle-even if the bluing is wearing off and such the manner with which someone keeps such things is a reflection of the person carrying it (or in the case of our trucks, driving it).
r-
Ray

 

[kcabpilot]

It was about 15 years ago I came out of Safeway and there was a green D2 in the parking lot with an SD rack and I mean literally every square inch of that thing was covered in scratches. I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen and vowed to get one someday, which I did a couple of years later.

 

[ColoDisco]

Much Like Ray I wear my damage with pride. Both of my D1's sported their trail damage. The LR3 is scratched but I keep it waxed anyway. Just keep the scratches subtle. I have been putting serious thought into wrapping it in a different color so it doesn't look dirty 30 seconds after washing it. Makes me miss my white 95 Disco which I could go months without washing and no one noticed.

 

[zelatore]

I wash my LR3 periodically.

Actually, it has a ton of pin-striping but I do try to get a decent polish/wax on it every year or so. I've belen able to avoid any real body damage so far, though all my armor has been well and truly abused and my wheels are rashed to high heavens. I don't sweat it - I bought this truck specifically to be a trail rig and I know the resale isn't remotely worth what I've put into it so I figure I'll just have to keep it until it's dead.

I personally get a kick out of parking it, filthy with dirt and mud and with all the sliders/bumpers/wheels beat up, in some 'normal' place. Out here Land Rover is 99.5% seen as a luxury vehicle. I don't know if the drivers of all the new 'cars' even know it's the same brand as they have.

 

[A.J.M]

Mine sports a few battle scars here and there.

I'm getting the worst ones fixed soon as the car is going in to get the full underside stripped, steam cleaned, rust proofed and lots of Dinitrol applied to bodyshell and chassis as it's starting to get a bit scabby in places. 12 years of British climate, winters and road salt is beginning to catch up with it. So will be getting some dents, large rubbing areas and some small rust spots all fixed up properly. Then a full detail by a friend before i refit all the off road gear.

Like Don, mine is worth more than the resale will give with all the repairs and upgrades, so i'm going to run it till it dies or is written off in an accident.
I keep the mechanicals in top shape as i need it reliable for work.

 

[biskit]

Same as young Aj (known as Mark over in these parts) you got to use then as they want to be, thats as a 4x4. The lanes round here are narrow, some only just wide enough for a 2" gap at the side. Not only bramble rash but old stone wall rash :Wow1:

 

[psykokid]

I wash my LR3 periodically.

Well, if you count spraying the undercarriage and motor of the truck at the quarter car wash to get sand/mud/grease/oil off then I wash mine periodically as well. I think of the paintwork on my truck as in a state of curated neglect. Rock rash, dents, and pinstriping - all present and accounted for. Now mind you, this is a beater D1 so that my play into it as well..

 

[DiscoDavis]

Wash/wax my disco maybe twice a year. Otherwise on worksite it just gets muddy/dusty anyhow. I only keep an eye on the drivetrain or anything that might rust/trap moisture. Pretty pointless to use water on it when the excavators and backhoes are just going to throw dust everywhere anyway...

I'd say keep the scratches, only thing I could think of now is keep an eye so that the paint doesn't flake on a deep scratch. Honestly whoever said rustoleum is spot-on, we used a pretty good match for gloss silver off the shelf to paint the holes in the body for the snorkel.

 

[Kgh]

I think the Defender design required cleaning. The body has mystery spots where dirt finds a home, just add water, and you get corrosion. It is part of my preventive maintenance. Annual-ish steam cleaning and re-waxoyl or dinitrol is a requirement if the frame is to stay in one piece.

The LR4 back in the US is black, so every mark shows. Gouges in the rock sliders, rack scuffed up from loads and branches, front bumper cover semi-repaired...and those expensive 20" wheels just trashed. Inside is like new, and we keep it clean.

 

[spikemd]

The Range Rover has many a ding and scratch that it wears proudly. Waxing once a year helps with cleaning and minimizing pin stripping but I have so much, it doesn't much matter. We bought the LR3 with some bumps and bruises which makes life much easier. We will probably run it into the ground as well as it has been a great truck and capable vehicle. I will need to clean up the P38 a but soon as it may be going up for sale if/when my Satana/Defender makes its way to the states.

 

[Ellis B]

I bought my LR3 8 years ago, with 16,000 miles on her, two months later the wife and I were in North Carolina doing some camping, as we were driving off rode the goat trail tightened and I could hear branches making contact with the body, grinning as I continued on the trail, the wife looked at me and said " you enjoy that, don't you", yes I told her, now She, the LR, belongs to me!! In my area LR's and RR's are luxury vehicles, most never leave the pavement. Mine has character, and I smile when I wipe her down and see the "Battle Scars"

 

[eloist]

I've got some minor redneck pinstriping from my smoky mtns trip a month or so ago.
I do plan to try and have them buffed out. if I get more, I'll have those buffed eventually too.

Not terribly worried about it, but it's a nice truck that i want to look nice.

 

[DVD]

The scrape is from the Maze in Utah. I thought we were brushing against bushy tree limb, but there must have been a big limb hidden.

I've thought about this a bit, but if I were to have body work on the scrapes it would look goofy to have a couple clean panels with no scratches, so I think of it as a mondo desert pinstripe or badge of honor