Disco ?

[Sundayjumper]

I'm having thoughts of switching the T4 for a Discovery 3 or 4.

The main point of buying the T4 was that I could fit mountain bikes in the back without faffing about removing wheels, however I've not properly been cycling for almost two years now, so that ability is slightly moot. It's been useful for other stuff though. Low floor means that when empty, the rear is pretty cavernous.

I really fancy a 4x4 Sprinter but being sensible for a moment, they're huge, and complete overkill for my use.

Is a Disco a vast money pit ? The T4 hasn't been cheap to run tbh, easily more than the Porsche in terms of wear items & actual breakdowns. Lots of little jobs that I've done myself, plus some big jobs I had to pay someone to do - a clutch, slave cylinder & DMF, water pump & cam belts, and then another slave cylinder (a gearbox-out job) because the first one failed after 18 months

An X5 seems a more obvious choice given my history but the boot is not actually very big.

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[mik]

Our D3 was v reliable. Over 4yrs needed an alternator (£300) and new aircon pipes (£1000 as the suspension has to be depressurised to route it - and because i insisted on retaining the separate rear aircon rather than just blank it off and run the whole car off the front).

Our D4 was perfect over 3yrs except for 1 incident : crank sensor failure. Which was a bit scarey - would just stall with no warning and you obviously lost power steering immediately. Not much fun in a 2.5 tonne car. Had to use stealership as there was a recall for this and our car was just outside the vin range : JLR and I (with some inout from VOSA) finally settled on us paying with healthy discount. Cost me about £900.

Other experiences may vary. Aftermarket warranties available of course - which would have cost us more over the period.

You want to check there is a good indie near you as JLR hourly rates are £rondinculous.

Using the suspension (dropping it into access when you park, and occaisionally sticking it in off-road mode) seems to help avoid some of the issues with suspension sensors / compressor etc.

Fab cars though. BDrought has run a D3 for the last few years too.

[NotoriousREV]

Our D3 was a bit of a pain but never let us down. I had to replace the air compressor once, the EGR valves needed replacing (I just blanked them off and removed them) but what led me to get rid was the central locking went tits up which required 2 new keys @ £250 each, plus recoding to the ECU @ £150 each with no one other than the LR dealer being able to do it i.e. no cheap indy alternative.

I still miss it, though, it was a fabulous vehicle. D4 is the one to go for though, the 3.0 TDV6 is infinitely better than the 2.7 which is only just adequate with the auto box and terrible with the manual.

[mik]

Fair point. I remapped (ie had remapped) our D3 to 225bhp / 400 torques as it was somewhat wheezy as std.

D4 was 255bhp / 440 torques as std.

8sp box on post-2012 D4 also nicer than earlier 6-sp.

[Sundayjumper]

We've got a decent specialist not too far away, Challenger 4x4. My neighbour is a LR buff and uses them a lot. Far more than I use Porsche, BMW or VW specialists...

And point noted about the 4 being better than the 3. I hadn't got as far as researching the specs but the price difference suggested it was at least one better, if not more.

Not sure the budget will stretch to an 8sp unless it's intergalactic mileage.

[Rich B]

More importantly, that T4 is not silver.

[Sundayjumper]

Yes - that is one of the factors driving the dilemma.

No - it's not worth respraying the T4.

[IanF]

Yes - that is one of the factors driving the dilemma.

No - it's not worth respraying the T4.

Wrap?

[mik]

Yes - that is one of the factors driving the dilemma.

No - it's not worth respraying the T4.

Rap?

No mutha funker it's not worth sprayin da T to the 4. Word.

[ste]

An X5 seems a more obvious choice given my history but the boot is not actually very big.

Really? E53 I'd agree, but they made the E70 onwards noticeably bigger to take a 3rd row of seats. It's pretty flipping large.

You should buy mine and pretend it's silver. It has a V8.

[integrale_evo]

I can paint it silver with a handful of rattle cans for £50 if that helps the negotiations?

[Sundayjumper]

Really? E53 I'd agree, but they made the E70 onwards noticeably bigger to take a 3rd row of seats. It's pretty flipping large.

Granted I've not looked at either in person yet but according to the data on Autotrader:

E70:
Luggage capacity (seats up) 620 litres
Luggage capacity (seats down) 1750 litres

Disco 4:
Luggage capacity (seats up) 1260 litres
Luggage capacity (seats down) 2558 litres

So the E70 is tiny, relatively

[mik]

Discos be mahoosive

[Mito Man]

So you no longer need a massive boot since you don’t bother taking your bike out much but still want a massive boot?

[Sundayjumper]

Yes.

And not a Defender.

[Mito Man]

Q7 V8 TDi in Silver.

[integrale_evo]

When I was breaking my lancia a chap turned up in a disco ( probably a 3 back then ) opened the boot and just popped the entire interior in, two front seats, the entire split fold rear seat and bolsters and four doorcards as if it were a couple of bags of shopping

[Jimmy Choo]

Discos be mahoosive

This one seems to be a reasonable size.

[Sundayjumper]

...just popped the entire interior in, two front seats, the entire split fold rear seat and bolsters and four doorcards as if it were a couple of bags of shopping

That's what I'm talking about

[ste]

Really? E53 I'd agree, but they made the E70 onwards noticeably bigger to take a 3rd row of seats. It's pretty flipping large.

Granted I've not looked at either in person yet but according to the data on Autotrader:

E70:
Luggage capacity (seats up) 620 litres
Luggage capacity (seats down) 1750 litres

Disco 4:
Luggage capacity (seats up) 1260 litres
Luggage capacity (seats down) 2558 litres

So the E70 is tiny, relatively

That just can't be right though can it? If you open a disco boot and an E70 boot they look very similar in size. There's absolutely no way that a Disco boot is TWICE AS BIG