I am going to buy one of the two on Saturday. There about 10 local examples ranging from 2006 to 2008. Most are priced at below 10000CDN, and most have between 140000 and 200000 KM. I had not really considered these but when I started reading long term reviews I saw that owners give them very high marks in both reliability and driving experience. 200000 miles (320000 km) trouble free is not uncommon. Obviously the problems with the Disco (which I considered two years ago but was put off by the terrible reviews) are no longer an issue.
So I am not sure what the difference is between the two, except the Sport appears longer and lower, and the LR3 may have some off road gimmicks not offered on the Sport. Both are optioned to the hilt. Back in the day the Range Rover was the upscale version of the Land Rover, but now the line seems pretty blurry. Is there more difference than the styling?
The Sport is a Range Rover, thus it has all the bells and whistles of Luxury. The LR3 is really a Discovery3, thus is more capable off road with less luxury.
The LR3 is pretty reliable. It's got the Jag 4.4L V8 mated to a ZF 6HP transmission. It'll go anywhere and is the evolution of the Discovery, only called something else because the Discovery was so unreliable they had to rename it once they made it good again. Very much a "real Land Rover" that will get you anywhere if you are careful. Same for the full-size Range Rover, which is nicer inside than the LR3 but doesn't have as much useful room.
A Range Rover Sport is not a full-size Range Rover, it's on a smaller chassis (modified version of the LR3 chassis). They are pretty tight inside. Great cars if your name is Karen and you like to go to Starbucks a lot. 2005-2009 trucks will have the Jag 4.4L or supercharged Jag 4.2, 2010-2013 will have the Jag 5.0L which is great in N/A or SC form, but can have timing chain guide issues. See the recent Range Rover thread for more details there.
Jokes aside, they both have the air ride which is serviced by the aftermarket now (Arnott and Suncore) and real low range. They are both from the Ford era of JLR and run Bosch electronics. Either should be fine to own and be more than capable.
