Hi all I am new on here, I have joined as I am about to buy a D3 but have a few issues I hope you can help me with. First of all should I get auto or Manual and secondly I would like a HSE but if I got an SE what would I miss out on. I am going over to bacup in a couple of hours to look at my first one. It's a SE manual in silver with 135000 miles and its up for £7,995. My limit would be about £8500 what should I be able to buy for that ? I have also seen a Metropolis for sale but when i spoke to him about it he said it had 159,000 miles, service history to 50,000 and there was a suspension light on the dash but it all seemed to work ok. Should I leave well alone ? Sorry for all the questions but it's taken a long time to save my £8500 and I would like to spend it wisely (don't say " don't buy one then" !) Thankyou. Sorry if I have posted in wrong section.
21st Jun 2015 8:12 am
CEZ1869
Member Since: 11 Apr 2015
Location: Nottingham
Posts: 322
What year is it? You'd expect to pay a bit more obviously for HSE models, ensure fsh, all belts have been changed, spend time ensuring everything works, preferably without the sales guy overhanging your shoulder, note down anything that isn't working or needs sorting upon purchase, also consider road tax, as after 56 plate it goes to £500 a year,
Current: D3 2005 HSE
Previous: D2 2001 TD5
D2 4.0 V8
1998 P38 Rangie
21st Jun 2015 8:21 am
tayaste
Member Since: 15 May 2013
Location: Chester
Posts: 7633
Take some for a test drive, you will quickly decide your preference with manual or auto after a few drives.
Suspension could be anything from a drier to a new compressor. My advice would be to shop around until you find the right one for you
21st Jun 2015 8:22 am
Red Merle
Member Since: 30 Aug 2014
Location: Liskeard
Posts: 7441
Don't buy the first one you see and certainly don't buy the one with over 100,000 miles of missing service history, not without knowing these vehicles inside out first! If you get this one wrong you might spend almost the same again putting it all right.2011 - 2015: 3 x FL2
2015 - 2017: 2 x D4
2017 to date: FFRR SDV8
2023 to date: 2 x FL2 as “second” cars 🙄
2021 to date: Hinckley built ‘14 Triumph Trophy 1200
2022 to date: Hinckley built ‘14 Triumph Trophy 1200 & sidecar!
(One of only two known to exist in the world!)
21st Jun 2015 8:23 am
Claud Bennion
Member Since: 22 Feb 2015
Location: Kings Lynn
Posts: 14
Welcome and good luck.
I bought an 07 reg SE with most of the gizmos I.e leather interior, electric adjust seats etc etc (no sunroofs or Xenon headlights) and am thrilled with it. Most of the little bits such as headlights, rear lights etc etc can all be retro fitted at a reasonable cost, check out sellers on here particularly.
What year is it? You'd expect to pay a bit more obviously for HSE models, ensure fsh, all belts have been changed, spend time ensuring everything works, preferably without the sales guy overhanging your shoulder, note down anything that isn't working or needs sorting upon purchase, also consider road tax, as after 56 plate it goes to £500 a year,
Thankyou all. I am just about to set off and on your advise leave my money at home ! I am being taken out by my son for breakfast and then over to see the car. We have decided again on your advise to leave the Metropolise alone and have rang him this morning to say we are not coming to view. He has had the car advertised for some time at 8750 and has dropped it to 7500 but like you say it could cost thousands to put right. I will keep you informed. Thankyou again one and all.
Just a quick one how do I test the air suspension ?
21st Jun 2015 8:46 am
Cellerdweller
Member Since: 05 Oct 2012
Location: Macclesfield
Posts: 1315
Mine is 2006 and falls into the higher tax bracket .take your time and look at a few . Take a look round the forum especially the wiki section ,there's loads of info and always people willing to help, it's a great forum . You're not afraid of the dark are you ?
21st Jun 2015 8:49 am
tayaste
Member Since: 15 May 2013
Location: Chester
Posts: 7633
Cycle the air suspension up and down a couple of times, listening to any noises. It should raise to its next height within about 15 secs. The second time you cycle it may take some time longer, but look out for a suspension fault on the info.
21st Jun 2015 8:54 am
Cellerdweller
Member Since: 05 Oct 2012
Location: Macclesfield
Posts: 1315
Sit in the drivers seat all doors shut engine running otherwise it will not work .take a look at the switches in front of the centre console .one closest to pass seat pull it backwards once display in the clocks should say access height lowering once completed push it forward and it will raise to normal height ,once complete push it forward again and it will go into extended height .there should be no bongs or warnings .there are other bits to it but that's the basics You're not afraid of the dark are you ?
21st Jun 2015 8:54 am
Sydney
Member Since: 11 Aug 2013
Location: St Neots
Posts: 903
I have always preferred manuals however I now wish I had bought an Auto Disco, just find the manual box a little awkward on these and the auto would make for a much smoother ride.De-Tango
V8 Brakes
EGRs blanked
Running boards
3 flash indicators and clock on dash
Blingy grille...
21st Jun 2015 9:00 am
Disgoeshere
Member Since: 06 Dec 2014
Location: North East
Posts: 278
We just picked up our D3 MY07 Manual SE with 105K on the clock 2 days ago and it drove very nice indeed during the test drive.
It had a good service history both belts done at 91K and a lot of work done prior to our ownership checked everything I could and did not get any pressure to buy so went ahead and bought it.
I am a total Noob on this forum, but spent several months of intense reading and getting a feel, or should I say trying to get a feel for the car and its running costs really helped so that’s my main advice don’t rush, eyes wide open and take your time mate lots of them about to look at.
Good advice about not getting the first one you see, what amazed us was the prices garages had the cheek to ask for some 10K+ for a scratched and dinged car which looked a total mess, out of all the cars we seen only 2 fitted the bill within our area search.
HSE, SE, Sunroof, Manual /Auto who can say down to you own choice we don’t like sunroofs, I don’t care about driving a manual car been doing it pulling caravans about for 30 years, car tax who cares it’s minimal to us the difference, so these things didn’t matter to us, everybody has a different choice to make the above comments are just my view.
The only regret we have, I wish we had got one years ago because we LUV IT.
Just returned from looking and in two words ABSOLUTE SHED ! The salesman took us past all the Landrover Defenders in the showroom out of the garage round the corner and down a ramp and there at the bottom of the yard was this poor excuse for a D3, unwashed covered in scratches with fading paintwork. It had a 2inch long deep scratch in the bonnet and the interior wasn't much better either. The sales chap said I will just go and get the keys looking pretty embarrased at the state of the car. I took just 3 seconds to make up my mind and said dont bother my Rangie which i use for serious off roading has less scratches than this. With that I bid him good day and run ! We then went to Blackburn to view another SE manual in blue and when we got there was told it had been sent to the garage yesterday for new rear discs and pads as on every D3 he buys from LR dealers he changes these so to avoid parking brake problems. So that was a wasted journey. Back home now looking through ebay and autotrader and telling you chaps what a fun fathers day I am having. At least the breakfast was ok..... :
21st Jun 2015 1:31 pm
RBP
Member Since: 29 Aug 2012
Location: N Yorks
Posts: 1936
That's disappointing I had a look on Autotrader at the one in Bacup. Thought it was strange that they only had 1 picture - now we know why!
If you can wait, one will eventually come up for sale on the forum. More likely to be a cared for example.
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I had a look on Autotrader at the one in Bacup. Thought it was strange that they only had 1 picture - now we know why!
