Used Car Deep Dive
In-depth buying guides for used cars, written one generation of one model at a time. Each guide covers the faults that actually recur on that generation, what to check before you hand over money, a test-drive checklist, and price bands only where we can name a dated source.
Written for English-speaking buyers in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, with short market notes where names, engines or rules differ (and a South Africa note where it's useful).
Buying guides
- Land Rover Discovery 3 / LR3 (2004–2009): TDV6 crankshaft and timing belts, air suspension, electrics and water ingress.
- Toyota Land Cruiser 100 Series and Lexus LX 470 (1998–2007): timing belt, AHC suspension, 1HD-FTE vs 2UZ-FE, rust and best years.
- Lexus RX 330 / RX 350 / RX 400h (XU30, 2003–2009): the RX 350 VVT-i oil line, hybrid battery and inverter recall, and water leaks.
How we write these guides
- Every fault has a source. Owner-forum reports are labelled as owner reports.
- No invented prices. A price band appears only with a named, dated source. Otherwise we say "check local listings".
- History beats model year. On cars this age, a documented service history matters more than any single year.
- Get it inspected. No guide replaces an independent pre-purchase inspection by a specialist who knows the model.