Member Since: 10 Nov 2017
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 4
New Discovery or 10 year old Disco 3?
Hello everyone.
I would be very interested in your thoughts about a 10 year old Discovery compared to a new one. Recently I have been in the habit of buying new or at least running new cars via PCP or PCL.
Why PCP or PCL?
I like driving new cars. There is something very satisfying about going to the dealer and picking up a brand new car.
I am always looking to change my car after 3 to 4 years.
Servicing costs kept to a minimum and peace of mind from the manufacturer warranty etc.
I always go for the minimum of deposit or a month down payment and I am then looking at £500 to £600 per month. After 3 or 4 years hand the car back and go again. Note 3 month down payment = £1800 so equates to £50 per month.
However it is a lot of money over term of the contract and more importantly for me is that you never actually own the car so you are not able to modify the car in anyway. Hence I am considering my next purchase to be a 10 year old Disco with approx 100K miles at approx the £10K mark.
I am not looking to compare the merits of a disco 3 over a Disco 4 or 5 what I am looking to do is compare new against 10 year old.
Why go for the 10 year old car?
I would own it outright and could therfor modify the car.
Less concerned about possible minor bumps.
Save money?????
At first glance it would seem obvious that I would save money but would I?
Buy the car for £10K. Three years later worth £6K so £4K lost in depreciation over three years approx £110 per month.
Looking good a saving of £490 per month. but wait what about servicing and repairs. This being the big unknown. When buying new you can buy the Land Rover service package, for the moment lets forget how good a service it will get at a main dealer, for £500 and what with the warranty that's pretty much it.
What about the 10 year old Disco? Do you buy a warranty, if yes quote recieved today from warranty direct = £477 per year so £48 per month? How much do you need to budget for maintaining the car? Reliability is important so I would not be looking to skimp and save on servicing.
Is £2500K per year more than enough to ensure good reliability? If yes that = £208 per month.
so £650(600+50+20(servicing)) per month for new Discovery or £366 per month(£208+£48+£110) for the 10 year old car.
Still a significant saving to be had over the three years but not necessarily as big as you might have originally thought. If I was to keep the Disco 3 longer then the savings would obviously be greater. However despite best intentions in the past about being sensible and keeping cars for longer I always end up swapping my car after three years.
My biggest concern is around about the reliability of an older Land Rover and any potential catastrophic failures. Would the warranty and a budget of £2500 per year provide adequate provision?
A bit of a rambling post, sorry, I am happy for my logic and thinking to be challenged and very keen to hear from owners of 10 to 15 year old Discovery's about the running costs?
Thanks in advance
PS I love my existing Disco4
10th Nov 2017 8:16 pm
Red Merle
Member Since: 30 Aug 2014
Location: Liskeard
Posts: 7438
It depends. How many miles do you do in a year?2011 - 2015: 3 x FL2
2015 - 2017: 2 x D4
2017 to date: FFRR SDV8
2023 to date: FL2 as a second car
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!)
10th Nov 2017 8:51 pm
WillieJ
Member Since: 10 Nov 2017
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 4
Approximately 10K per year.
10th Nov 2017 9:08 pm
nhollandsmith
Member Since: 26 Nov 2011
Location: Gdansk
Posts: 327
I have a Disco 03 2005 SE and I bought this in 2011 with 79,000 miles on at a cost of £17,500.00 and after 6 years of ownership it has 161,000 miles on the clock.
Serviced once a year at approx £200.00.
MOT £25.00 every year.
replaced tyres and brake discs and pads once in 6 years, replaced rear prop shaft, steering rack and some small items of wear and tear inside and out.
Generally, for me the car has been brilliant and would not change or trade it.
Still has a value of £4500.00 at least.
So a total depreciation of £13,000.00 / £ 2166.00 per annum over the 6 years.
A very versatile and practical vehicle and there is no other on the market like the Disco 3/4.
10th Nov 2017 11:58 pm
galwaygreen
Member Since: 30 Oct 2011
Location: plymouth
Posts: 6525
we bought a new graphite sept 2016..its worth £14k less 12 months on with just 10k miles on it...
11th Nov 2017 12:39 am
RBP
Member Since: 29 Aug 2012
Location: N Yorks
Posts: 1936
If you can afford it buy new.
I’ve had an 07 for the last 5+ years
Cost : £16495. 25/02/12
04/05/12 91213 miles. Front Discs & Pads. £249.08
Aircon regas
19/06/12 Air suspension pump. £407.49
31/08/12. Remap. £400
08/11/12. 94901 miles. Alternator. £240
14/12/12. 95614 miles. Timing belt oil pump etc. £618.63
23/03/15 RRS wishbones. Front upper arm kit x 2. HD stabiliser link. Set of wheel nuts
£320
Fitting for all above. £625. (Flack)
01/04/15. 4 wheel alignment. £70.71
13/04/15. IID BT. £315.52
25/06/15. 118917 miles. Aircon pipe. Regas O rings. Stop leak.
Diffs & transfer box oil plus Lucas oil additive. NSF wheel bearing. Repair front parking aid mended (broken wire). Test fridge (not repairable). £889.40
10/07/15. 119222 miles. AC compressor. £295.33
Fit compressor. Regas. Tensioner pulley. Polyvee belt. £427.59
14/01/16 Service. Fit V8 brakes to rear & park brake shoes.
EGR blank software & new remap (BAS remap box sent back). £575
Since Jan 16 just routine maintenance.
I am happy with the costs - never thought it would be cheap motoring. The car runs/feels better now than when I collected back in 2012.
11th Nov 2017 12:47 am
Red Merle
Member Since: 30 Aug 2014
Location: Liskeard
Posts: 7438
WillieJ wrote:
Approximately 10K per year.
At 10 years old, the mileage is likely to be such that your warranty cover available will be very, very limited.
You say that you love your current car. If it’s on a 3 year PCP Plan, it will only have 30,000 miles on it and will have a known history and no hidden problems. You will be able to put a worthwhile warranty on it for many years. Calculate the costs and depreciation of that over 10 years and compare that to the figures that you’re looking at for a car that’s already 10 years old.
I’d look to buy that one at the end of the contract and then look to run that for the rest of its viable life - at only 10,000 mile a year you could easily see another 10-12 years out of it and still have some value in it at the end. The alternative is taking a complete gamble on a 10 year old car (and probably have to do the same in another 3 years), or PCP’ing a new D5. Neither looks very palatable if you’ve got the alternative of keeping a decent D4 from new 2011 - 2015: 3 x FL2
2015 - 2017: 2 x D4
2017 to date: FFRR SDV8
2023 to date: FL2 as a second car
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!)
11th Nov 2017 5:14 am
SafariDave
Member Since: 19 Nov 2011
Location: NYC & LA
Posts: 775
If you get a D3 get a V8
DaveD3 2005 V8 SE Bonatti Grey "The Rhino" (our NYC D3)
De-tangoed Headlights, D4 2016 Style Black Pack Grille, D4 19" Wheels/ Bridgestone Alenza
D3 2005 V8 SE Bonatti Grey, D4 2016 Style Black Pack Grille (our LA D3)
D2 1999 V8 SD7 Chawton White (our Caribbean Beach truck)
11th Nov 2017 5:47 am
lynalldiscovery
Member Since: 22 Dec 2009
Location: Maidstone
Posts: 7274
I should imagine up your end of the world corrosion might be a real issue?
My D3 has cost me exactly 3470 gbp over the last 36 months, some didnt need doing ie v8 brake mod, but does include 6 tyres, and umpteen other bits and bobs, as I do all the work myself you can double that figure to account for labour costs, if not more as a service is dirt cheap if you diy.
Will need front arms in the next year and a t/c.
Does not include ins/road tax/depreciation.
11th Nov 2017 6:27 am
Gareth Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26699
My current D4 HSE Lux I bought new in March 2013, cost me 57k and I bought it outright. Now after almost 5 years, it's done 83k miles and last time I checked it was worth 26k.
I reckon it's cost me about 750 per year in running service costs when in warranty, and an additional 750 per year for WD warranty since.
516 pm in depreciation.
62.50 pm in running costs (1st 3 years)
125 pm last 2 years.
So that equates to an average monthly cost over 5 years of 603.5 pm.
Personally I think I will lease my next car, but in reality, there's not a lot of difference. Cars cost money and that's a fact you can't escape. At least a lease is predictable, and you have to get out of it at the end. Plus you get a new car. You could still modify it so long as you can return it to condition at the end.
11th Nov 2017 7:29 am
WillieJ
Member Since: 10 Nov 2017
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 4
Thanks to everyone for your various comments. Does not look like there is an obvious way to go. Buying my own D4 at the end of the PCP is an option but the reason I am using PCP, PCL is that I do not have £50k or £25K sitting in the bank so if I were to borrow money via HP for the outstanding amount over 3 years I would be looking at approx £500 a month then have to buy warranty on top of that. So getting close to the cost of a new Disco via PCP, PCL.
So again thank you to everyone who responded. Very helfpul particularly the detailed info about service and maintenance costs. It does look like £2500 a year would be sufficient for keeping the car maintained but you have to accept numerous visits to the garage.
Buying new unless I wan to mod the car and take it offroad or on expeditions does seem to be the most attractive. But do I want a Disco 5. However that is a different question.
Cheers and happy motoring.
11th Nov 2017 2:55 pm
Red Merle
Member Since: 30 Aug 2014
Location: Liskeard
Posts: 7438
Duplicated post deleted.2011 - 2015: 3 x FL2
2015 - 2017: 2 x D4
2017 to date: FFRR SDV8
2023 to date: FL2 as a second car
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!)
Last edited by Red Merle on 11th Nov 2017 5:52 pm. Edited 1 time in total
11th Nov 2017 5:46 pm
Red Merle
Member Since: 30 Aug 2014
Location: Liskeard
Posts: 7438
If you were to borrow the amount to buy your current car over 4 years, it could be more affordable and by the time that you’ve finished paying, you’ll have a car that’s still 3 years younger than the one that you are thinking of buying used, it will have a known history, will be owned outright and you’ll be able to mod from the off.
To help in the maths, when comparing to PCP’ing new, factor in the used value of the 6 or 7 year old D4 that you wouldn’t see if you PCP from new.
It would be a more difficult decision if they still made new D4’s to PCP, unfortunately that’s not the case 2011 - 2015: 3 x FL2
2015 - 2017: 2 x D4
2017 to date: FFRR SDV8
2023 to date: FL2 as a second car
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!)
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