What would you replace your LR3/4 with ?
- Thread starter cornfarmer
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Victory_Overland
Explorer
My D3 will never get replaced completely; or at least I hope not as I plan to keep her for a trail/adventure wagon for a long long time. I'd like to say a Defender but that will only be if the NAS gets a diesel; if not, most likely a D5 diesel if they don't discontinue it. If D5 goes away and no Defender diesel option; well then, I'll most likely divest from the LR brand for new vehicles and buy a Forerunner.
Colin Hughes
Explorer
I still have my D1 but I made the shift to a used 2014 4Runner this past spring for daily driving/travel trips. I had to drop almost $6K into the LR3 over the previous year (instrument cluster, rad, etc) and I still needed to do all the control arms and a couple other preventive maintenance items. The repairs were more than the value of the truck. It did have 360,000 kms on it. I miss it but the 4Runner grows on me daily and pulls my teardrop trailer just fine. Regular gas instead of premium and very good gas mileage is an added bonus.
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JackW
Explorer
Two years ago I did replace my 2007 LR3 with... Wait for it... A TDV6 Discovery 5. I've got over 32,000 miles on it now averaging around 20 mpg in town, 29 on the road. It's been comfortable, reliable and handles a whole bunch better than the LR3.
Just go drive one - here's mine on the Tail of the Dragon - Hwy 129 in Tennessee this past June. It was a lot more fun on this road than my Defender 90 was......
Just go drive one - here's mine on the Tail of the Dragon - Hwy 129 in Tennessee this past June. It was a lot more fun on this road than my Defender 90 was......
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High Country Nomad
Mountain Explorer
I was in the same boat about 6 years ago. I owned 3 LR's back to back and did spend quality time and money at a few local shops I could rely on in Chicago. Then I moved to middle of nowhere Northern Rockies and after a year of having to drive/limp 2 hours away for repairs, get a rental cars, etc, my wife decided I should get a 4Runner. Which I did and then sold and moved into a 100 Series as a daily/trail rig. I miss every bit of my Land Rover's, but I'm content with the Land Cruiser now & in 3 years I've never had a single mechanical issue.
harbinger808
Adventurer
most likely going back to toyota once our lr4 has lived its life. its just been too damn expensive to maintain and always has some "new" problem every 6-8months 
soflorovers
Well-known member
I've seen it stated by many sources that the Defender will come with a diesel. It may not come with one at launch, but I have a feeling that LR will add it in year 2 or so as an attempt to bolster sales once the initial hype inevitably dies down. Furthermore, JLR offers a diesel in 3 of their 6 current model offerings (I would've said 4, but it appears that the 2020 Velar no longer offers it). I doubt they wouldn't offer it on the Defender.
JackW
Explorer
I've been told by someone from LRNA that there are no plans for a diesel version of the Defender for the US market. I'm hoping they will change their minds if enough of us let them know that it is what the buyers of this vehicle want.
I'm guessing that sales of the diesel versions of the Discovery 5, RRS and Velar (as well as the diesel F-Pace) did not live up to their expectations. My local dealer sold a bunch of diesel F-paces as corporate cars and says they will really miss the sales revenue from that vehicle. Diesel is less expensive than premium fuel in my part of the southeast and the extended range you get from diesel power along with the torque characteristics of a diesel should make it the premium choice of power plant in a new Defender.
I guess I can see that the typical buyer of a Range Rover really doesn't care about the cost of fuel but I'm surprised that the diesel Discovery wasn't more in demand. If the look of the Discovery 5 hadn't been so polarizing I would bet it would have sold much better.
If Land Rover had brought the diesel LR4 into this country it would have sold like hotcakes.
I can get from Atlanta to upstate New York (just east of Binghamton) in our diesel Discovery 5 on $80 worth of fuel carrying the two of us, a large dog, an Engel fridge and more luggage than any two people really need and do it in comfort in two days of driving.
We stop for fuel in Northern Virginia before crossing into Taxsylvania (50 cent a gallon higher fuel prices - highest in the United States). I was hoping to order a new Defender immediately with a diesel engine as it meets my requirements for what I want out of my next Land Rover. As it is now I'm just going to continue driving the Discovery and see if LRNA gets its head out of its ass.
soflorovers
Well-known member
Well, if you have a source inside JLR NA then I unfortunately have to admit that he's more reliable than the publications I've been reading; no offense to your source, but I hope he's wrong or just lying to you because they can't comment on future products. I have no idea why JLR would make the decision to not bring a diesel here.
A search on Autotrader of used 2016-2019 SE & HSE trim rovers (only trims where you could get a diesel) reveals there are 532 total RRs for sale in the USA. 155 of those are Diesel. So as far as I can tell, the take rate on the models that actually allowed you to spec that motor is very high! The delta for Range Rover sports is a little larger at approximately 886 SE and HSE models with only 164 of them being diesels. My point being this: I can't imagine JLR looking at the sales rates for these diesels and thinking it's not worthwhile to build them. I know Velar and D5 diesel take rates were lower than expected, but at the same time you can't take those as direct proof of how a Defender will sell because they cater to completely different target demographics now (The new D5 followed in the LR4's tracks and didn't offer a 2 speed t-case because they knew the majority of buyers would be using this thing for the school run) There has to be another factor at play here. These take rates are spectacularly high, especially when we consider the prices of these vehicles.
Furthermore, the price difference between the 4cyl and 6cyl Defender is so high right now that I frankly don't want a new Defender at all. If I got the 4 cylinder gas motor, I'd feel as if I bought the modern day equivalent of a V6 LR3. On the other hand, the new Defender isn't a sports car, so why would I want to pay over $12,000 to upgrade to the 400hp engine upgrade which still won't accomplish what I want it to do? A diesel Defender would get great mileage and have sufficient low end torque to drive around in traffic whilst also being a competent overland powertrain. The new Defender NEEDS a diesel for proper use. It's almost as if JLR is George Costanza....perhaps it's time they start doing the opposite of what they've been doing these last 5 years or so.
EDITED: For typos and clarity.
EricTyrrell
Expo God
I tried a TJ for a while, but was very disappointed with the transfer case and fuel tank ground clearance, over-hood visibility, weak axles on non-rubicon, no tall/skinny C load range tires, overly-low ratio rubicon transfer case, and short stamped steel control arms.