Rainy Day parts? Buy a spare compressor if the price is right?

[Tuglife]

Hey all. So I have ridiculous amounts of free time at work that I use wisely perusing Craigslist and eBay etc. and was wondering about picking up spare parts that I don't necessarily need yet, but might. My LR3 is an 06 SE w/ 65k miles and was dealer maintained till I got it with 59k. There was some compressors either serviced or replaced under warranty as well as most of the usual Bugs that come up. My question is from time to time I see compressors show up for sale for what I'd assume are a good deal $150-200 in good condition (supposedly), should I buy one just to save for the rainy day when mine goes bad? Are they widely compatible(any year works on my 06)? Are there better/worse years, models, batch #'s etc? What's a good price for a used compressor(being shipped from out of state) with no guarantee other than someone's word that it works? Anything else I should keep my eye out for that'll cost an arm and a leg if I have to buy it from the dealer in an emergency?

Thanks. Btw I use searchtempest dot com to search all of Craigslist for rare or easily shipped specific stuff that would rarely show up nearby. Most folks are happy to ship if you have PayPal and pay shipping. I know our LR3 parts aren't cheap or easy to come by but the one guy trying to sell LR3 stuff in Bimidji or Salunga doesn't get a lot of competing offers so usually you can get a deal. Thanks

 

[Tuglife]

Just got 4 285/60/18 Nitto Terra Grapplers w/ 1-2k miles(still had rubber *******) mounted and balanced for $300 in Lancaster, PA. Just for example. Thought that was a pretty good deal.

 

[Houm_WA]

Uhhhh yeah. That's an awesome deal.

 

[Tuglife]

Yeah I thought so. Really helped move out of the soccer mom city drivers I usually see in my area.

 

[Tuglife]

Ugh Mobile site only lets me upload one photo at a time. I also got another set of 4, same exact tire just two uneven worn and two nice ones, with 50% tread for $200. Gonna keep as spares. Just gotta source another wheel to replace the donut.

 

[uoflcardfan77]

Like the look of the LR4 grille. Think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get one for mine. Nice deal on the tires.

 

[Tuglife]

Yeah I hate to be that eBay knockoff Chinese grill guy but it does look awesome. Technically that would be the Range Rover sport knockoff i believe. The LR4 copy for ours is nice too but much more expensive. I wanted to do the RR or LR4 retrofit using the actual grills a la "beanie" or "narpy" on Disco3.uk. Unfortunately I can't seem to find a RR or LR4 grill for less than $100 which I couldn't justify paying if I'm just cutting up to make it. This one was $120 or so and not super impressed with the quality. The LR3 plastic mounting clips are already a weak and poor design and the lower clips on this one didn't really hold it in place. Had to file it a little and fill the clip with foam to keep it clicked in place. The color though is a lucky surprise because the description only said dark grey color. It's not perfect but I'd say it's about a 80-90% match on my Bonatti Grey paint. Looks good from 5+ ft away.

 

[cmb6s]

Tuglife, I don't know where you're located and I really don't know much about retrofitting the different grilles onto the LR3, but there is currently a RRS Supercharged grille (in Bonatti Grey I believe) in my craigslist ads right now for $100 (Washington DC area). I know you've already got your "chinese knockoff", but thought I'd pass it along just in case...

 

[Tuglife]

Thanks! Is this the one you were talking about? Don't see a price anywhere. $100 is probably the highest I'd pay and not in a rush now that I've got this one. Have to go pick it up so 1.5hrs driving as well. I'm hoping to get a cheapie in case I botch the job and it ends up trash. You can google beanie or narpy grill and there's tons of info from UK guys making them. Essentially you cut the mesh horizontals out from the RR and replace the middle of the LR3 so even color doesn't matter as only the mesh center is used. Pretty cool mod but in my opinion the eBay one looks more "finished" if that makes sense. I'd like to do the same using a LR4 mesh but those seem harder to come by than RR sport. The gun barrel look of the supercharged RR grill always appealed to me but I don't think that's an option as it's quite a different design and wouldn't match the outer part of our stock LR3 grills.

 

[uoflcardfan77]

Tuglife, I noticed you still have the amber side lights. I got a pair of the smoked ones off Ebay and it looks 100 time better. My LR3 is Java Black so the amber stuck out like a sore thumb. They were $28.99 FREE SHIPPING and it was a 1 minute change out.

I think mine looks a lot better with them.

Not a rainy day part but I've really got to get some running boards. I'm not the tallest person in the world, and my wife is even shorter so they would help entering and exiting the vehicle. They were on the Tahoe I had before this and they really spoiled me.