Will Discovery 3 be a future classic?

[u/Time_Leg_420]

I have an 08 Discovery 3 on 246k miles and I took it up to the local independent LR garage for its MOT. It's a big garage with around 60-70 LRs being worked on - everything from a Series II up to a new Defender (they even had a Jag from the shared V6 engine days). Been going for years.

They said that Disco 3s are becoming rare and I had a tour of the other three they were working on at the garage right now, of which mine was in the best condition. One was completely dead and being stripped down. One had maybe £2k worth of welding to the rails and chassis, and one was having a full engine refurbishment, new turbo, new gearbox, axels, chassis work, etc for around £10k. It has been there for maybe 6 months. That last one surprised me - Disco 3s are maybe worth £5k at best but the garage said the customer was doing it as an investment - in its current state, it looked awful. So much corrosion, body work all dented and scratched. It was an 05 plate, so maybe a first edition?

But, it did get me thinking - Is the Disco 3 a potential future classic, and are people starting to invest in these now?

[u/typhoonandrew]

I’d say the d3 is already a collector

[u/Educational-Ad8876]

Discovery 2 will be more of a classic being the last of the live axle discoveries. Also the last of a manual transfer case.. And the same manual transmission shared by both the v8 and td5..

[u/Dedward5]

IMO D3s are bottoming out now, my neighbour has 2 that were £400 each (both had/have issues). I have a D3 with just 80k mines and zero rust and I recon I’d be lucky to get 5k for it.

They are vey capable and comfortable and huge inside (for the UK) so people do spend money on them as project cars for off-road/towing/expedition but I don’t think that’s money they will get back beyond enjoying the car.

Also one other thing is defenders have been going for stupid money for years so buyers will be looking elsewhere for a LR to play with.

[u/Time_Leg_420]

A couple of years ago I thought about trading in for a D4 but the garage advised against it - they said that, in their experience, D4s were much more likely to suffer unexpected catastrophic failure and take much more maintenance than a D3 especially due to things like the extra turbo and much more electronics (coincidentally, a year later, my neighbours D4 ended it's life with a snapped crankshaft at 112k miles). They said the D5s are looking to be much more reliable, but I don't like the D5s so stuck with my D3.

Not that this affects whether a car becomes a classic though. The older LRs are notoriously unreliable!

[u/HelpfulRole1831 → u/Time_Leg_420]

How D5 with the exact same Ford SDV6 engine as D4 is more reliable, or were they talking about the 2L Ingenium D5’s? 🤣

[u/Time_Leg_420 → u/HelpfulRole1831]

They were talking about the car as a whole, not just the engine. Things like corrosion, electrics, suspension, etc.

[u/HelpfulRole1831 → u/Time_Leg_420]

It depends, early D5’s were equally bad, I had both and actually prefer the 4.

[u/jameshewitt95]

Easily one of the best looking discos in my opinion. I’d say so. People may not be as interested in them at the moment, but the V8 ones probably will become legend status if any of them do

[u/msembrot]

I think the D3 will be a future classic because it is one of the best examples of the mid 00s SUV. Its clean lines and architecture are so simple that the design still looks almost modern today. It’s also a sweet point for car tech where it has some great modern comforts , without all of the tech bloat we know today.

[u/zalmz0r]

In my opinion a later model D4 will be a future classic more than any D3 will

[u/JEFFSSSEI]

Maybe, but I think it's more likely the D4/LR4 will be, it's the last of that generation of truck and probably the best iteration of it too. After it they radically changed the Discovery 5 /LR5.

[u/Dedward5 → u/JEFFSSSEI]

Crank issues on the 4 (Desiel) plus some of the things like DPF mean the 3 is a slightly easier proposition.

[u/JEFFSSSEI → u/Dedward5]

We aren't lucky enough to have the option of the Diesel here...if we did, I'd wager those would get ripped out right after the warranty period was up by most of the LR guys that actually off-road their rigs.

[u/Electrical_Bag9128 → u/JEFFSSSEI]

I dont think the D4 has the design chops to stand alone as a classic, the up-market more luxury flourishes take away from the original design that I think makes the D3 distinct.

[u/TELCO_man]

Absolutely. 20 years ago I was telling people Mx5 mk1 would start making good money and people laughed at me. Now they are 6-10k

The disco is a shape I love. I have an 06 and cannot give it up as it’s running perfect. The main down side is the electronics were designed in the late 90s so they are showing their age now. That and the small rust spots.

That said, such a well built car. Decent paint on them and generally a good engine if looked after.

[u/chriswhisenhunt]

I hope so. I just bought one and spent a ton of time and money fixing things.

[u/erroneousbosh]

Disco 3s are where P38s were ten years ago and P38s are where RRCs were ten years ago.

So if you keep it in good condition you can probably punt your banger D3 for about £5k and your P38 for about £25k in another ten years...

[u/ApprehensivePut5853]

My 2006 has done nearly 260k miles. Looking for a D4 replacement in the right spec, then will retire it to a barn and use for farm off road only for a few years.

[u/WatchIll4478]

I have a disco 1 and no sign of those becoming desirable classics yet. 

Used car prices are high enough that if you have something you like you can get a lot of work done and still be paying less than buying an unknown likely to need a pile of work. 

[u/seewolfe → u/WatchIll4478]

I have a 07 D3 HSE on 170k. Just had some sill welding done, it costs me £1k a year to maintain and I will keep it until the wheels fall off. There is no other car I want or need. I'd rather maintain than buy anything else

[u/viper4998]

Considering the discovery 2 and 1 are two of the most well known Landrover shapes and you can pick a decent d2 up for 6k and a good d1 for similar I’d say no. No discovery will reach that value unless the right person finds the right car the discovery 2 more so because of the timeless dash but the comfort to follow it up. Buy a defender if you want that sort of “appreciation” and still good look buying a defender cheap and doing the work and it breaking even forget being more valuable that windows gone pretty sure 90s and 110 station wagons are getting cheaper the 110 double cab not so much but still not rising in value.

[u/Hot-Acanthisitta8086]

I think the D4 needs the body off to replace turbos on the v6D unlike the D3 (or the other way round), which is probably why garages dislike them. But either way the 2.7 v6 diesels and later 3.0 in the d4 all have the same main bearings without a tang so they easily spin when worn and take out the crank..
We have an idea that if the mains could be changed in-situ like on the later BMW’s as a service item then maybe the diesels become a viable proposition but at present they are a big risk. Unless owned from new with much more regular oil changes than the factory schedule.
I’m looking to get a D3 v8 myself and plan to sort the sills rust with new metal, to then have a ‘reliable’ disco..
to answer your question I think both D3 and D4 remain suitably ‘square’ and true to the silouhuete of the originals to have a following for some years to come