Terrano v Discovery

[Stephen_5122599]

We take delivery of our new Elddis Superstorm next week and can't decide on a tow car. My wife want's a seven seat car so the kids can bring friends with them. I don't want an MPV but want a 4X4 with leather trim and all the toys.

I've whittled down my list to the following two vehicles:

1. Discovery seies 2 V8 ES petrol (with LPG conversion).

2. Nissan Terrano 3.0 sve.

I have some concerns about reliabilty for the Discovery and for suitability of the Nissan.

Your views and comments will be appreciated.

 

[RichardS1]

Hi Stephen, probably won,t help you to much but the decision probably comes down to your personal choice. You will find people on this forum who speak highly of both these vehicles and they are both more than capable of towing the Elddis.

 

[Stephen_5122599]

Hi Stephen, probably won,t help you to much but the decision probably comes down to your personal choice. You will find people on this forum who speak highly of both these vehicles and they are both more than capable of towing the Elddis.

Thanks Richard. Six minutes to reply. Is this a record?

 

[DavidW1]

Stephen,

Don't like your choice much - had a Terrano SE Auto for 60k miles when I was working. Did not like it - not durable suspension and enginewise - uneconomical - cramped inside and third row seat small, uncomfortable, heavey to stow and vey awkward to get in and out of.

I share your worries about Land Rovers - got cured of them a long time ago, good design but take your own personal breakdown truck for any serious journies - LPG converted will be cheap to run though and I speak from experience.

My personal choice would be a Grey import Izusu Bighorn or Pajero - they can be had at great prices with all the kit you specify. I discovered what good towtugs these vehicles are firstly with an LPG SWB Shogun and then "graduated" to a SWB 3.1 Trooper - now have a Bighorn Lotus LWB as I, like you, need the extra room - the LWB format is also a bonus when towing as there is less pitching.

A low mileage import will usually be in far better condition than it's uk contempory, will be super reliable and contrary to the myths abounding will not cost you more in insurance or spare parts - Tesco and Direct Line both have no loading or predudice for insurance and I could give you at least half a dozen places where you can get spare parts as cheap if not cheaper than Land Rover Parts and of course you don't need so many of them!

 

[Andrew_5124618]

Hi Stephen

I tow with a 2000 series 2 discovery V8 auto with no problems where do these people get it from that they need loads of money spending on them to keep them on the road mine has never let me down yet and is the fift i have owned in the last 2 years the list being

Series 3 LWB (plaything)

Classic Range rover V8 (play thing)

Freelander V6 (wife's car)

Discovery 300 tdi (used for towing for past 2 years)

Disvovery V8 (replaced 300Tdi)

The only one that has ever let me down is the 300 Tdi that needs a new head but it has got over 200,000 on the clock

So don't beleave the hipe i hope this is of some use helping you to choose and i have never found anyone selling japanese car parts cheeper then landrover anywhere

Cheer's

Andy

 

[Guest]

I have a BMW at present and had the pleasure of driving a new Disco 3 briefly last week. A really nice car with fine power and ride but the owner had it in and out of the dealers with silly minor faults.

Re other earlier Disco's and hype. Having owned numerous Disco's and Range Rovers during my business life, if the trouble we had with them was hype well maybe somebody could tell me why the accountant never spotted that and why were were always payning out for them hand over fist.

All the bad press about Land Rover reliability was not Hype, it was down to mine and others rapidly emptying pockets.

Getting an older reliable model is like buying the winning Lotto ticket chance wise.

 

[Stephen_5122599]

Thanks for the above,

Any comments on the Terrano 3.0 SVE (not the thirsty 2.7 se) ?

 

[Andrew_5124618]

I have a BMW at present and had the pleasure of driving a new Disco 3 briefly last week. A really nice car with fine power and ride but the owner had it in and out of the dealers with silly minor faults.

Re other earlier Disco's and hype. Having owned numerous Disco's and Range Rovers during my business life, if the trouble we had with them was hype well maybe somebody could tell me why the accountant never spotted that and why were were always payning out for them hand over fist.

All the bad press about Land Rover reliability was not Hype, it was down to mine and others rapidly emptying pockets.

Getting an older reliable model is like buying the winning Lotto ticket chance wise.

The same could be said about bmw every one i know who has had one has had nothing but trouble with it im not saying landrovers are compleatly trouble free im just saying all my landys have been ok and on the subject of bm they owned landrover for a time so if so as far as reiability and quaity goes you can put some of the blaim at there door ford seem to be sorting them out

 

[jacky3]

hi steve,

have a 3.0 sve teranno on 53 plate,and had it since june 2004.its very comfortable(obviously not as comfortable as some family saloon cars) but it is comfortable.drives well, tows magnificently its an awsome tow car.have a no major problems with it,no steering problems that a lot suggest its the best towing vehicle ive had.the only downside is that it is expensive to run.

mpg 25 local

35 motorway

30 combined

then its all down to the way you drive figures can vary

servicing is very expensive,it has to be done by a nissan approved dealer,and no they will not allow any back street garage to service it.

it goes on a p1,p2 p3 servicing rota

p1 around

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

Having owned all three later models of the Discovery and now the Series 3, we have never had any problems with them at all, apart from our 200 tdi which notoriously, the auto gear box failed. Fortunately, that problem was ironed out in later models. Apart from the normal day to day running and regular servicing costs, our Land Rovers have certainly kept our accountant very happy thank-you!

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

Having owned all three later models of the Discovery and now the Series 3, we have never had any problems with them at all, apart from our 200 tdi which notoriously, the auto gear box failed. Fortunately, that problem was ironed out in later models. Apart from the normal day to day running and regular servicing costs, our Land Rovers have certainly kept our accountant very happy thank-you!

Meant to say...earlier models!!

 

[Guest]

Andrew. I don't want to turn this into and anti 4x4 or slag of other brand thread. Over the years I've found Land Rovers virtualy unbeatable on the rough, but sadly totaly unrelaible and very expensive to maintain. Within my business we must have owned over 24 or 25 Disco's and about 5 Range Rovers.

The biggest drain on finances we ever had. In the end we said Toyota 4x4 or forget it and buy your own and we'll pay the mileage.

We've owned variouus BMW's from humble 316 to M5 and Alpina's and now my wife and I have X5's, all we've ever done is put fuel in and service them. That is generally the experience of my business and personal contacts all though like most brands we know of some sad cases.

Friends in Business and in private life all have catalogues of disasters with Disco's and Rangies. I know of know one personally who has just put fuel in one and serviced it for a year or two.

I even took a new Vogue for a test drive with the salesman alongside me when it started to make banging noises and expired in the middle lane of a motorway with 130 something miles on the clock two days after the dealer received it.

 

[Stephen_5122599]

hi steve,

have a 3.0 sve teranno on 53 plate,and had it since june 2004.its very comfortable(obviously not as comfortable as some family saloon cars) but it is comfortable.drives well, tows magnificently its an awsome tow car.have a no major problems with it,no steering problems that a lot suggest its the best towing vehicle ive had.the only downside is that it is expensive to run.

mpg 25 local

35 motorway

30 combined

then its all down to the way you drive figures can vary

servicing is very expensive,it has to be done by a nissan approved dealer,and no they will not allow any back street garage to service it.

it goes on a p1,p2 p3 servicing rota

p1 around

 

[henry_5123973]

I had a Terrano for a year, bought it new (mug) and thought it was the most horrible agricultural thing on wheels. Clanking suspension, bad ride, thirsty engine and it depreciated like falling girders. Mind, at least it was reliable which the Disco probably isn't. If you go for it buy it cheap: they are very hard to sell so you should get a bargain.

 

[DavidW1]

Sadly the reliability issue with Land Rover products is not "hype" look at any respected motoring by make survey and you will find them at the bottom for cost of ownership and reliability. It is accepeted fact, even by devotees on this forum, they are just not reliable, some poeple are lucky and have no trouble or "forget" the time when the ABS played up or the ECU for the suspension had to be replaced or the gearbox siezed or stayed in 2nd gear and was a warranty replacement.

It does grieve me to say this because I am a patriotic guy and would much prefer to buy British (even if they are owned by Ford) but I'm blowed if I will subsidise a company who can't get it's quality right after all these years.

As an illustration from personal knowledge, my sister's partner owned a series 2 Disco, the turbo went just before warranty expiry - he then bought a Disco 3, very nice too, at around 10 k miles he had to be rescued; turbo again, this time a hose detached at high speed. A glutton for punishment he then bought a late model diesel Freelander, this has developed a fault with the imobiliser that leaves him stranded ocasionally when the engine won't re-start; his solution, keeps the engine running on a trip in case it doesn't start again. This folks is unreliability, if you can live with stuff like this then good luck to you, I could not!

My next door neigbour has a Disco 3 on lease - saw him driving a Volvo V70 last week - "wheres yer Disco John?" given it back till they sort it he says "whats wrong?" where do you want to start he said and it doesn't do that either!

In contrast I have a 12 year old Jap "truck" the only fault on which is a drivers door lock which does not energise the central locking with the key - a 6 year old korean city car, owned from new, which is thrashed and abused by all the family drivers and has never missed a beat and has only cost for two front tyres in it's life. Not a very good tow car though although Steve in Leo would probably give it a try.

 

[washy]

hi Stephen i own a terrano 3.0 diesel sve. fuel wise around 25 to the gallon round town. 2003 model never had a bit of trouble. will pull upto 3 tonne,s and got all the toys you want and 7 seats hope this helps

 

[chelsea1]

we tow our senator with a 2.0 td freelander (bmw engine)..we have had it from 8 months old and it has never broken down on us, we live in Devon and a lot of the roads down here have grass growing up the middle! (its not a chelsea tractor!)

It tows like a dream, we have it serviced by a top notch local dealer and even though our car is out of warranty now - if there is a small problem (eg windscreen wiper etc) they have seen us pronto.

We have friends with Discoverys and 110 crewcab and they too have not had a problem with their landrover.

The current discovery 3 is cheaper to service than our Freelander.

I commute to work every day on the M5 and have rarely seen a landrover on the roadside.

Bad press - maybe -, but some of us landrover owners love our cars and have never had a bad experience (thank god).

We would never buy a japanese/korean car, they are dearer to insure, and the parts are more expensive....plus the trade in/resale value on something like a Kia sorrento would be far less than on a LR.

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

Sadly the reliability issue with Land Rover products is not "hype" look at any respected motoring by make survey and you will find them at the bottom for cost of ownership and reliability. It is accepeted fact, even by devotees on this forum, they are just not reliable, some poeple are lucky and have no trouble or "forget" the time when the ABS played up or the ECU for the suspension had to be replaced or the gearbox siezed or stayed in 2nd gear and was a warranty replacement.

It does grieve me to say this because I am a patriotic guy and would much prefer to buy British (even if they are owned by Ford) but I'm blowed if I will subsidise a company who can't get it's quality right after all these years.

As an illustration from personal knowledge, my sister's partner owned a series 2 Disco, the turbo went just before warranty expiry - he then bought a Disco 3, very nice too, at around 10 k miles he had to be rescued; turbo again, this time a hose detached at high speed. A glutton for punishment he then bought a late model diesel Freelander, this has developed a fault with the imobiliser that leaves him stranded ocasionally when the engine won't re-start; his solution, keeps the engine running on a trip in case it doesn't start again. This folks is unreliability, if you can live with stuff like this then good luck to you, I could not!

My next door neigbour has a Disco 3 on lease - saw him driving a Volvo V70 last week - "wheres yer Disco John?" given it back till they sort it he says "whats wrong?" where do you want to start he said and it doesn't do that either!

In contrast I have a 12 year old Jap "truck" the only fault on which is a drivers door lock which does not energise the central locking with the key - a 6 year old korean city car, owned from new, which is thrashed and abused by all the family drivers and has never missed a beat and has only cost for two front tyres in it's life. Not a very good tow car though although Steve in Leo would probably give it a try.

David, have you ever personally owned a LandRover, or is your knowledge gained from others experience and that which written - hype!!!

 

[joeby]

If you write to Carl Rodgerson at practical caravan ,he wrote an article about the 2 cars concerned ,i have got it right infront of me ,but its a bit late for me to type it out ,but it speaks very favourable for the Terrano ,actually i may write it word for word tommorow

 

[PC_5119929]

Back to work this evening and our new favourite Disco 3 has broken down! :-(

My farming cousins gave up Disco's Chelsea, traded in for defenders and jap jobs that had lower running costs and better reliability.

 

[DavidW1]

David, have you ever personally owned a LandRover, or is your knowledge gained from others experience and that which written - hype!!!

Unfortunately yes Wendy and that's what put me off along with seeing my son in laws maladies with his - my Range Rover had an ECU failure which filled the sump with petrol and the engine almost litterally blew up, the temp sensor went, the air con never did, a pipe blew of the plenum chamber and the backfire nearly gave my wife a heart attack, two wheels were porus and caused permanent slow punctures, the engine leaked oil badly, the transfer box leaked, the front swivels leaked, the back shock bushes went & I could go on.

 

[Stephen_5122599]

I think I've opened a can of worms here.

 

[jacky3]

My head says Nissan My heart says Disco. To maintain a manufacturers warranty you can have your vehicle maintained at any garage provided you use genuine parts.

you try telling nissan that,been there done that, nissan approved only,if they don't approve thats it

 

[parker1158]

I shouldn't worry Stephen its one of the things I love about this forum, the 4 x 4 debates, almost as entertaining as the Top Gear caravan expedition.

I to am in the process of deciding what to change my current tow car to in the near future, I have avoided asking on here (other than trying to get feedback on one specific vehicle owing to lack of reports on it) because at the end of the day its personal choice and the one thing endearing about the human race is we are all different in so many ways and without doubt one mans meat is always another mans poison.

Now when I started trying to whittle away my list of tow cars the disco was an early casualty. My perception was, and I may well be wrong, that although other Landrovers on the whole were as reliable and indestructible as they ever were the disco was struggling to keep up with the reputation. The nail in the coffin for me coming some weeks ago when on a visit to B&Q I parked next to an 04 reg disco that had a poster in the widow listing the problems this particular owner had had with his and it made quite disturbing reading. That said clearly from reading this forum there are disco owners who have no problems at all. I personally do not like the disco enough to take that gamble. I guess if you are a fanatic (as some are) then lavishing money on your car is almost an honour.

My advice, for what its worth, try them both, and others, and make a personal decision on what you feel comfortable with.

PS Its just struck me that when folk ask questions on here about tow 'cars' there seems very little or no conflict but mention the dreaded 4 x 4 and folk come out with guns blazing, we are odd aren't we.

 

[clivea]

Hi,

I hada Series 2 TD5 and it was not at all reliable over the 70k miles. These were not petty things either. Cylinder head, radiator, gearbox. It wasa delight to drive and returned about 30-32 mpg. Its carrying capacity too was good. I now have Sorento which over 2.5 yaers has not given any problem whatsoever.

Have alook at the Warranty direct Reliabilty index which will allow a more objective comparison based on warrnty claims.