Here's What's Been Spent on the £500 Discovery 3 

My mate is a millionaire. I asked him one day how he got all of his money. He said years ago he bought an old Land Rover and spent every weekend doing it up and then sold it. Then he bought another and repeated that process - every spare evening, rain shine or cold, he was in the garage working on his fleet of land rovers - dedicated to the cause. Until finally, after 10 years of working every hour, and every spare weekend, he won the lottery. 😉 Love the channel. Understand the Land Rover love.

I love how the Discovery looks. It's very purposeful but sophisticated. It's like a Barbour Jacket. Really utilitarian, but still very stylish. I like that about it. The car has a dual personality that fits in any situation you may find yourself in. It looks great sitting in front of a gated stone mansion, or offroading on a forest trail

Great video as usual. This model Discovery is such a timeless design that manages to look purposeful, rugged yet classy all at the same time.

Funny how Eurocarparts discounts always brings price down to the average on internet.

Matt, well done for saving this. It would have been easier to have scrapped or sold it for spares / repairs. You’re becoming the equivalent of the Battersea Dogs Home for Land Rovers, even re-homing them now!

This is a timeless classic in the making. All sorted, especially with the suspension and it's worth that all day long imo.

Well done to your mate and kudos for bringing the disco back to life, 3k - 3.5k for a well sorted motor like that I don't think is too bad and especially if he keeps it himself and gets some motoring out of it. I like that sort of thing and have done it myself when I bought a 99 plate Jeep GC V8 for 2.5k and probs spent best part of 5k on it over 5yrs inc all new refurb wheels & tyres / ST-ST exhaust minus 1 off the three mufflers / new uprated suspension and brakes at each cnr / new struts all over / door mirrors / door rubbers / service / Mot's etc you get the picture. The sound it made and the way it drove just had me smiling from ear to ear every time I started it up. I sold it and moved to the dark side by getting a 2010 GC with 3ltr Merc diesel engine - good motor but not a patch on my old growling V8.

The breakdown of parts for the handbrake alone shows how many parts modern cars have to go wrong!

The way that fuel light (the bip) caught your attention 😂😂...made me realize you've been through a lot with cars anyhow keep up the good work 👏

Very good video Matt well done another good car restoration Thank you for keeping this car on the road Kevin

Cheers pal. Took a while and some stress but got The clean mot eventually 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Best way to experience a LR product - have a mate who owns/maintains one and is happy for you to borrow it (when it’s working).

Classy office for sure 👌🏻😄

Whoever decided that they should make the same chime for low fuel or cold temperatures as catastrophic engine, suspension, park brake failure needs locking up

That look of death whenever something beeps is priceless!

Always loved the Disco 3 the asymmetrical rear.... and wow fabulous transformation may even get a new engine after all the major work underneath and could be driven for ever - superb example!

I’ve done this very thing with a Freelander 2, it was feeling very sorry for itself needing a long list of work but now I have a solid runabout that I know like the back of my hand.

£256.00 for handbrake cables. Crazy price.

Enjoyed that, wondered what had happened to it, I had a set of new handbrake cables in my garage for the last 7 years bought them for my car as the handbrake was broken but traded it before fitting and just kept them. I gave them away a few months ago to a guy around the corner who I saw had just bought a 2006 disco, he was well happy, I know why now!

Well done to your mate for tackling all that work on the Disco - I bet some of those suspension components were rusted solid and he had a fight getting the old ones off! The costs would have probably been double if it had included labour. The amount of parts for the EPB is just crazy. Still he now has a well sorted top of the range Disco for 3-.3.5k which isn't bad👍

Your face made me laugh when the low fuel warning pinged. I totally understand the warning ping twitch!! :)

Top tip for you chaps out there. When she who wears the financial trousers starts adding up what you spend on car bits and pieces, politely suggest that you count how many pairs of shoes she has first. Works every time. Seriously though, this was a great project, and another nice old Land Rover back on the road. Great stuff.

Mate, I completely get it. I have a 2002 Saab 9-5 Aero, and I've spent way more on it (in money and time) than it cost me, but now it's finally sorted, it feels like it's somehow more "mine", after so much time/effort/$. And now with a stage 3 tune and some upgraded hardware, it continues to surprise drivers of much more expensive and more powerful cars.

The glance at the dash when it pinged a warning was priceless 😂😂😂

One of the best cars I’ve ever owned (when it’s working). Every bing sends shivers down your spine though.

Great video this! it demonstrated that these are only money pits if they don't get looked after! ..... 220k miles and a 2005 reg Disco that weighs 2.7 tones empty, will need to have suspension bushes replaced at some point, that's just a simple fact and is to be expected! The only other thing that's been done to it is a full service e.g. oil and filters etc.. tbh it sounds like the old Disco has done pretty well considering its neglect over the years! Mines a 2006 plate with 140k on the clock, still runs sweet as a nut but I look after it. Great cars the old D3s :-)

Good save by your mate. 🙂 Nice to get an update on one of your cheap buys. 👍

Nice video. A beautiful, classic silver Disco for 4,000 - 5,000 pounds? Sounds excellent to me. Good sponsor...nice Pouch, by the way.

2:14 Guessing you meant to cut this part out? 😂

Just missed the edit at 2:18 mate. Great video though.

I remember looking at a car with an e-brake and thinking "That's another largely unnecessary invention that will break down and cost a fortune to replace" I was right on that. My other peeve is electronic oil dip sticks. Dipsticks are ancient and reliable as gravity itself. Even crows and chimpanzees make use of them. Why would engineers think they could improve on them???

I thought Mike Brewers weighting scales has had a harder life than this Discovery, looks smashing now Matt.

People are still asking and getting £5K+ for this spec and mileage.... with what it's had done its worth every penny....

Thanks Matt, aswell as being entertaining the upload was educational, the big take away is stay away fro high milage JLR vehicles. They are money pits even if an owner does the work themselve. I dont for one moment doubt anybodies word but the handbrake cost was out of all proportion

I bet it’s like a new car to drive , still not bad for the amount of car you get

Your friend has got himself a good landy though he put in a lot of work and money it's worth it..👍🏾

Yes another car saved from scrapyard heaven Well done for this restoration job Kevin

Glad you fixed it and kept it..i am a loyal landrover follower

Please a review of a Peugeot 607

Very Impressed with this Video . I always owned 90s & 110s = 36 years , I wanted to go for D3 0r D4 . hairy stories of break downs -Put me right off -Went to Volvo instead ,but looking at your Video makes me wonder AGAIN Cheers

the moment of the low fuel beeping noise is priceless

A lot of car for the money now sorted. Availability of Parts not ridiculously priced does help keep them on the road.

I’d be interested in knowing whether all of that work needed doing due to the previous owner(s) not keeping on top of the maintenance?

If he had bought one for £3.500, he'd have had to carry out 90% of that work on it within a year anyway. I think your mate has done very, very well, not to mention the priceless lesson on how to maintain it for the future. There are plenty of D3s with 300k on the clock, and a few with over 500k. Mine is at 180k with about 100k of those towing 3.5 tonne. This will do him just fine for many years. Congrats.

I agree with Lot 76 Cars, you will need a bigger forecourt at this rate, dedicated to Rovers.

2:14 had be dying your professionalisms. that was proper acting 👏👏

I was just about to go to bed and this popped up. Some things can't wait.

Excellent video and see what you mean regarding the showroom

That’s a well sorted D3 for many years now 👍👍

I drove a 2015 disco at work before I retired, best car I’ve ever driven!

still look good even now..amazing design.

Watching that episode makes me so happy I didn’t buy a Disco for £4,000 that “Needed a bit of work” three months ago

They’ve done a very decent job sorting the disco out it will live a lot longer especially because the guy can do any more work himself so labour costs are £0 which is where a lot of money goes when repairing motors as you know.

Your South Coast (palm trees in Bournemouth) consultant here 😂 I’ll try to have a look when I go past, but I definitely saw a much lower spec one of these, in the worst colour I’ve ever seen one in, up for £4995. If I remember I’ll get the reg number and find out how many miles etc. I am more certain than not, it will still be for sale in this horrid colour 😂

You have to applaud the driveway mechanic. This car has the most expensive handbrake mechanism known to man it seems.

Only thinking about this D3 the other day and bingo you had an update! Thanks As I owned one of these for 7 years I can honestly say well done for keeping her on the road!

It's not normal to get a warning when you're too close to a bush at the front, or is it, my memory fails me. Great video as always Matt!

yOUR facial expression when that beep sounded......I was waiting for an expensive hidden problem...Had a good laugh afterwards.

Lovely Jubbly for your mate, but nearly all new cars have a electric handbrake, will they be so expensive out of warranty I wonder.

Hey i just saw where that plastic piece you found in the glovebox from the 1st video goes. Cover for the rear view mirror assembly. If you alreday didnt know.

Add a good few quid onto that final cost and I'd still buy it. Well done to your friend for all his work...a car rescued for future users. (I'm not joking that I'd buy it)

Well worth saving, a good honest motor

Always fancied a Disco as a daily but the prices for parts is crazy. No way I’ll be going down that route. Glad it’s been saved though and someone was willing to put the time in to sort it.

Worth the sweat and weekend work by your friend it should last him well now and he knows it’s all sorted, great story.

I bet he'll still have to do the air suspension, rear tailgate latch, EGR value etc! It's never ending on theses cars! Still love them lol

Great video, was great seeing what need and then got done to the car,

Who ever invented electronic handbrakes...why over complicate a simple tried and tested good old lever.Your pal has done well sorting this old bus out Matt.

When cars have done over 200K they don’t owe you anything. I say this because when I was a kid in the 70s, folk used to say “when a car has done 100K it owes you nothing” … maybe that was just in Scotland… we were tight up there, still are…

I've done the same, some of it I had to get a garage to do as I haven't got anywhere off road to work on the car, yes it's become quite expensive but that said, I couldn't afford to buy one outright and because I have no credit rating I couldn't afford to buy one any other way, but at least I know it's all been done, it hasn't been cheap, it's a 2007 HSE spec that's done less miles than my everyday car, a 2011 Smart ForTwo diesel which I only use to go back and forth for work, I don't have much in life so a luxury car for traveling when I'm not working or using the motorbike is just an added bonus, when I haven't had a Land Rover vehicle, I've missed it, there's just something about driving a Land Rover, be it a series vehicle, Defender, Discovery or Range Rover, I am kind of addicted to these vehicles and I will probably keep it for at least another 10 years (alike to my Smart ForTwo which I've owned since September 2011)

Well done, a car saved is less waste and its a nice car

Matt. As Mr. Kester said this week in Baja, Mexico with his Stateside Disco1, "you can't get away from using cheap parts on these things" that's admirable ! Ta 2nd Hand Overland YT Channel ? V.

Great Video Matt well worth purchasing and saving in my opinion, yes a decent chunk spent on putting it right but that's still a top Discovery for sub 3k so money well spent for me. Keep the videos coming I look forward to seeing them Cheers

Prop shaft bearing replacement ? Good garage really good 👍🏻

If you shop around you can get a lot of them parts much cheaper your hand brake cost was very expensive for example you can get Hand Brake Cables Left + Right for £60s with a 5 year warranty in the video you said you paid £256 for cables you can also get them to include as well EPB Module repair kit for around £90 - £100 including the cables the car your fixing is 16yrs to 17yrs old and 220k miles + so its done well and scrubbed up well I would recommend to anyone who buys these cars shop around for parts that are best suited to your pocket you can find parts much cheaper and stay away from main dealer for repairs and service unless you have deep pockets also regular oil changes are a must in the discovery with the correct oil so don't neglect the oil changes I have a 16 yr discovery 3 had it six years its been a very good motor but if your looking to buy a 16yr old discovery and non of the jobs in the video have been done then the cars done well so far but expect to replace some of them parts in the future due to its age and use if they have not been repaired before . The car in the video looks tidy looks better than mine lol...mines rough and dirty I don't clean it much not a show car but still going just passed its mot for another year enjoyed owning the car its never cost me much to fix in parts or in a local garage to fix . Good video Out of interest and for the record in six years of ownership on a 16yr old car I have replaced the cambelts , one hub bearing , tyres and brakes , one lower control arm bushes these wear out on older vehicles and every year I change the oils and filters I do that myself. Enjoyed owning the car . I have read some nightmares where people have paid some very expensive labour costs in the UK for simple repairs you can avoid that just use your common sense and shop around or buy a Toyota 😁 ps the car has never let me down

The hand brake!! I've had my Discovery 3 for 13 years, 300,000kms. I use the handbrake every time I park. It's just a habit. Handbrake has never ever had a problem. Maybe they just need to be used regularly?

All those parts for £2k. Bargain. I spent that sort of money on my 2003 Focus which I've had from new. I bought a set of new tyres, new cambelt, new crank sensor, new cam sensors, new regulators and bits and bobs and then the fuel pump started acting up and the ECU let go. It has been parked up on my drive now for the last 7 years, earning its keep as a parcel drop off point for the Close.

Needs some centre caps to finish wheels off.

Testament to enterprise. Kudos to 'your mate'. From personal experience I know that their is a special pleasure in getting good returns from sweat equity.

Matt, I did enjoy this. Thanks.

These rescue videos are fantastic. Is it just me or are we all wondering....Will this be the bad one lol

Love the original discos. Great video!

Great update video Matt. Discovery’s are great. If I wasn’t such a committed Range Rover fan I would drive a later model Discovery daily for sure

Where else could you get a nice well sorted Discovery3 for under 3k? It’s a bargain.

Well done to your mate. Got a great run around and as he’s done the work himself he should feel good in the knowledge he’s done it right 👍👍. Not going in a raffle by any chance lol I’d get a ticket 😜

I would love to own a discovery but they are very expensive to maintain

This goes to show that even those of us doing legwork & wide eyed can catch a cold. If I was purchase inspecting a Disco 3 or RRS L320 I would ideally check brake pipes. I seem to recall they are a 10 year or 100k replacement item in service schedule. I bought a RRS L320 with a green MOT only to later find it needed new brake pipes. On the MOT prior to the clean one it had been advised on brake pipes. I bought from a wide boy trader & on a bit of a whim....I know better & should have been more careful On Disco 3 & L320 the service interval on handbrake is 50 miles IF it has been driven through water of any significant depth - ridiculous.....My park brake needed work (rust crud bits fallen off etc). I sorted the brake pipes & park brake & caused car to have new discs pads & fluid. I bailed out of (& sold) my L320 when the heating was colder on one side of cabin....Lots of labour to sort it if it was the matrix. Car also needed gearbox & underside fluids changing at some point. My RRS L320 was better than most....as site host knows...it had the proper JLR 4.4 petrol lump & being a 2005 lower tax & Euro 4 so ULEZ compliant. Why am I looking at these LR vids ....because I like the Discos RRS & FFRR.... Would I buy another... Maybe but probably only if car had impeccable history or price well adjusted for any work needed. Ideally I would buy from a private punter if they could convince me car had been cared for & I had an idea of what issues might be lurking ahead . Sad truth is people lie when they want to get rid for least loss... I am perhaps too honest when (rarely) selling cars privately with known faults. My advice to anyone considering such meta....be very careful and open minded ! Oh and ideally I would have bought the Disco 3, sold the cherished plate then sold it as spares repair or for someone to sell as salvage. Some would take it apart and send bits around UK but easier & faster ways to make cash. Incidentally if the original owner was SAS they would not put a that sticker in the window....Ridicule & disapproval from colleagues would be unbearable ! I agree it might be an ex BFG privately owned car though. Huge respect to the friend who rescued this vehicle🥃🥃🥃🥃👍 Now...How do I stop myself watching these LR & RR vids ?🤣

OK - so 3000 squids. Even if you never make a cent back, the UTILITY you will get from that vehicle over the next 4 years will easily be worth that. I have the same thing with my 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee, it doesn't make sense to spend 1/4 its value on upkeep every 2 years, but it does as a new replacement is over 10x the cost, and the depreciation on a new one alone will cover any maintenance for 5 years.

Looks a lot newer than 2005, handsome car

Love the cheapy vids, ta

And now the crank snaps! Discovery 2 for me.

Great to see it saved 👍👍

Seems good value for a well sorted disco

for the first time ever, i wish i lived up north (again). i would have offered £400 for the disco (in hope obv) and would have had the work done. i know a few mechanics and they would have done the work for me, and used their trade accounts to get the parts au discount prices.

Cheers Matt a good and honest video as always 😊😊

Great to hear what it took to get it working. It should be a great car for a long time now. Worth the effort.

Hopefully, the Turbo, Air Suspension or Cam tensioner wont fail & send it off to the Scrap heap. Just offloaded mine, same colour & Year but was waiting for “the next big thing” to fail on it so had to get rid, Great Workhorse just be prepared to get the spanner’s out!

Great honest and valuable content as always 👏 👌 👍

Love your work 👍

Awesome and imposing truck in a nice video! Thank you✌ HPA sticker, Official Seal of Approval, on the back window?

If you get another HSE in a darker colour (black or grey) let me know. You know the type of base car plus the people to do the engine & gearbox service & anything major that would be needed. That car is fantastic. Been a Landrover nut for years but never bought one. Now looking but don’t trust any dealers. Everyone charging a fortune for ‘08 & ‘09 cars. If you can help I’ll be one happy fire fighter!!!