I'd budget for £1000 of unexpected repairs on anything I bought...

Discos are for owners with more money than sense: horrible unreliable junk.

Unfortunately, any of these, if bought for £5k could be an absolute money pit. You are buying a big, complicated (read originally expensive) vehicle, with a big, complicated (read expensive to fix) drivetrain, that is a decade or so old (read tired, parts worn out), and will have done a moderate to high mileage (again, tired, parts worn out). As such, any of them COULD need expensive parts, repairs, etc. at any time.

Now we've taken off the rose-tinted glasses ... you might equally get one that has just done the school run, and the closest it has seen to 'off-road' is a small kerb when parking half-on the pavement.

Service history is absolutely key. All the maintenance being done and up-to-date is critical (shoguns need regular cambelt changes, Discoverys have MAJOR expensive services about 100k), learn exactly what they all need to have had done, and if the invoices aren't there, walk away. Stamps in a book, and ticks next to 'items to be done' mean nothing without receipts.

An informed buyer is someone who is a lot harder to con.

Lastly, if I was going to go for one of those you've listed ... I'd go for the Shogun. A slightly biased viewpoint, as we've got one.

I know of plenty of horror stories about Jeeps and Discoverys (especially the D3 which came out about 2004), but I don't know of any really horrific ones for Shoguns. And I live out in the sticks, and know lots of farmers, horsey types, shooters, vets, etc.

Thanks for your reply, that's very helpful. The Shogun do just seem generally more robust. I think I might up budget a bit for a decent one.

Many farmers drive Subarus. A manual Forester with decent tyres would be a good, reliable and smaller alternative.

I second the Forester (petrol,2.5 for me) vote and might add a Hyundai Santa Fe or Kia Sorrento to the list.

Whilst the Santa Fe and Sorento are capable enough with the right tyres, the Santa Fe has too many vulnerable underfloor components - this also applies to the 2010-on Sorento as it's a Santa Fe underneath but that's outside the OP's budget.

An advantage of the Subaru's, particularly the Outback, is that all their components are protected by the flat floorpan which slides over obstructions very nicely - and despite being more estate-like than SUV it's actually got more ground clearance than a Santa Fe / Sorento.

Shogun