LR3 Owner's Thoughts so Far...

[Nomad]

I thought I would start this thread since it is really difficult to find a Land Rover site with real LR3 owners. I might as well be among the first.

So far I love the car!! Its been amazing.

Ok here is some quick info on my car:
Dealer purchased from: Land Rover San Antonio in Texas
Price: Just above $51,500.00
Base Line: Silver / Alpaca Land Rover LR3 SE
Packages:
Navigation
Third Row Seating
Lighting Package
Rear Air Control

Stuff I added:
Rubber Mats
Rear Cargo Mat
Off Road Driving Lights
Sill Plates
Door Panel Protectors
Rear DVD System

My Review so far...
I have had two Land Rovers in my life time. I had a 1992 Range Rover and a 1996 Discovery. The Range Rover was a good solid car and the Discovery was not to bad either except for some hard weeks spent in the dealership fixing faulty stuff. But I can attest that the LR3 is a completely different vehicle.
Believe me I was just as skeptical as some of you are about jumping into it. I needed an SUV that could handle some real off-roading thrown at it from the ranches but also be my daily driver in the city. No car could ever really do this like a Land Rover could. The LR3 is incredible...It drives down the highway at 100 mph like a sports sedan and doesn't wander around like the Discovery did. Off Road it crawls rocks with just as good balance as the discovery if not better. But the best part is its ride. Its so soft on passengers over harsh bumps. Its weight is immense but you really don't notice unless you drive through puddles at speed because you just can't get this thing to hydroplane. Anyway...the interior is very tight. No rattles what so ever. Some of you complain because it doesn't have any plush wood. To me the car seems very utilitarian. It has only useful things. Everything is over engineered. One things that just still blown me away is the rear door. The discovery had what I thought was a better design with the barn door. The split design is really nice. You can also really stand on the rear tail gate to gain access to the roof. I don't know what else to say because I have only had the car a week driven 300 miles and gone off roading once. The looks of the LR3 are really sharp in my opinion. So if you are worried about being an innovator purchaser on this car I can safely recommend that this car is worth the money. Ill answer any questions I can about the car that I didn't list here.


Regards,
Nomad

 

[Nomad]

Update...

So far the car has been a delight. I'm not one to care about this but the car turns heads. More importantly though there has been just terrential rains in San Antonio these past few days. The car just as all my land rovers gave an impressive sence of security. Like I said in my previous post it just will not hydroplane. But if you are about to drive throug any good size puddle get your finger ready on the wipers because most of the splash goes forward, up, and all over the windshield. I assume this is becasue there is no much fender in fron of the wheel. Another thing I am considering is mud flaps. The rear tires toss water and anything up on the rear glass. I just figure I could avoid hours cleaning the car if I had them. Oh and another thing...the voice command system really does something and I use it for everything. I mean being able to say "Navigation Petrol Station" or "CD 2 Track 5" is really really sweet!!! Just one big pointer: The more you raise your voice the less its going to understand you. I have a slight Argentinian accent I am trying to get rid of and I have trouble saying petrol the way it wants. I the only thing I am missing is a website forum of LR3 owners. I guess it will build once more people own the car.


Cheers,
Nomad

 

[Slam]

Welcome aboard Nomad! Thanks for the review of your new LR3. I think everyone on the site appreciates first hand experience with the vehicle. Sound like you are going to enjoy your new vehicle. I am sure we will see more LR3 owners when they stop trickling into the dealers and really start moving them off of the lots.

 

[Heem]

Heh, do you have to say petrol or does it understand American-English "gas" heh.

 

[tmiller1]

That is a great review - Thanks Nomad!

It makes me want to take an LR3 to Moab for some "testing"...

 

[racingdc9]

Thanks for the review Nomad. I live in Houston, so we have similar climate situations. I just placed an order for my LR3, unfortunately, the delivery date is around March. Nobody had the color combo My wife and I wanted, so oh well. Can't wait. Please keep us posted on how the car performs through the months and if any trouble arises.


Tommy

 

[Moose]

Pics? Can you take some that:

• show the rear axle flexed?
• show the front suspension compressed?
• show the front suspension extended?
• show you standing on the rear tailgate?
• show it wheeling?

I'm still a pessimist about this -- but as I've stated before, the longer I own my Rover the more I think I should've bought a Series IIa or III 109"

 

[Nomad]

Ok here is some stuff I have come across so far...

Let me warn you...I am a complete gadget freak. I am that guy that will figure out how something works really fast and then still want more features. I keep finding more and more menus in the Navigation that just blow me away. It give you that "it can do that!" feeling. I played around with the off road nav screen today on an uncharted park road. It really works and I can see it becoming useful especially when trying to find a campsite or special area like a waterfall. Someone with a handheld GPS can just give you their LAT and LON and the car will get you there but most importantly get you back. Anyway I just thought that was neat.

Some little issues I found a bit annoying was that when using the Aux sound input I can hear a little engine electrical noise in the speakers. Its really subtle and if you just turn the music up (like from your iPod) you can't here it anymore. Another thing I should add is that there isn't a lot of gain in the Aux input. I am basing this off of having to have my iPod cracked to max and the cars volume at about 15-20 for comfortable or upper volume. I dont blast music so normally I seem to be at 17 (car volume) when using the Aux and my iPod. 17, when playing a CD or radio would be pretty loud. But like I said its a minor thing.
The other thing is that I can't get my rear view mirrors to dip. See I am thinking that this is only of the HSE that has the memory seats but the settings in the driver info screen in the cluster has the option to turn it on or off. But when reading the manual the procedures include the memory seats so I guess it wont work unless you are in an HSE. Oh well another minor thing. Keep in mind I still have power seats mirrors everything. I just thought it was silly for Land Rover to put that menu in the settings when you really can't have it. Now, I may be wrong about this so let me know if you guys figure it out.

As for the pics, I will get to that when I have time but I will.

Take care guys and thanks,
Nomad

 

[manxman4000]

Excellent review. I ordered my LR3 HSE at the end of Novemeber and it's schedule for Feb 16th. This is my first Land Rover. Never really caught my eye in the past but the redesign looks awesome in my opion. Well anyway, this confirms that I've made the right choice, it will be very practical for the weather here in Southern Ontario, Canada.

Cheers,

Phil.

 

[AKlr3]

Great reveiw

We have had our Silver on black LR3 SE for about a month, and just love it. The only thing it's missing is the Nav package. Cold weather option is great up here in Alaska. The on road performance is great, no off road yet, but in a foot of snow we just got, it was super! The ice that followed no problem. We have an Audi A4Q and the LR could hold it own against it. I can wait to get in the dirt.