Thread: Price vs Age - D3 or D4?

Originally Posted by Disco-tastic

they all have leather, and the only other thing I'd really like is Bluetooth hands free phone

Not all, mine has cloth seats, only one other had cloth when I was looking for a D3 last year.
And if you get the base stereo you could always replace it with a decent double din with bluetooth to sort out the phone issue.
Me personally I couldnt afford the D4 (actually I probably could - more like I didnt want to spend that much on something Im only going to use offroad like a 4wd was intended to be)

For me I would be going for the youngest vehicle from an age perspective. In reality none of the vehicles you have mentioned really have what I consider to be a lot of km's on them. In my view a better measure is reflected in how they have been used / driven on / off road and where, city vs country. Most will have spent their time punting around town or on the highway. In any case a good expert's inspection will assisting your understanding. The newer vehicle would / should have better technology and potentially more fruit.

Some times the 'saving' at the time of purchase turns into the 'spending' after the purchase if you know what I mean!

My wives D2 has around 260,000kms on it is is going strong! I guess I better clutch a lot of wood having said that!

Originally Posted by shanegtr

Not all, mine has cloth seats, only one other had cloth when I was looking for a D3 last year.

hi shane. Thanks for the feedback! Yeah I'd heard some had cloth but I havent seen any yet.

And if you get the base stereo you could always replace it with a decent double din with bluetooth to sort out the phone issue.

Thats good to know. Are the higher spec stereos swappable? I was concerned that everythinf was so integrated changin the stereo might cause more trouble than its worth...

Me personally I couldnt afford the D4 (actually I probably could - more like I didnt want to spend that much on something Im only going to use offroad like a 4wd was intended to be)

Yeah I'm similar. My initial budget was $30k so a D3 fits quite nicely there. But I keep hearing better things about the D4 and if I can wait a year they might be a better buy. I do want to get off road as much as possible, but in reality it will be a couple of camping trips a year, plus the odd family picnic.

Thanks again!

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D3 with the low end stereo is easy to swap the stereo out. D4 looks more modern (painted guards and bumpers, LED lights. so I guess gives more of the illusion of grandeur.

the D3 though is much cheaper, I got my 2008 D3s for under 30K over 6 months ago. seen HSE's with similar kms that have done no more than run the kids to soccer practice for sub 30K and most are newer than 2006. . . .

If you can afford the D4 3.0 its probably worth it though, the 3.0 is meant to be leagues ahead of the 2.7. a 2.7 D4 over a 2.7 D3 though? nah. . . id save my pennies and get the D3.

my 2C

Leroy.

Originally Posted by LGM

Some times the 'saving' at the time of purchase turns into the 'spending' after the purchase if you know what I mean!

My wives D2 has around 260,000kms on it is is going strong! I guess I better clutch a lot of wood having said that!

Thanks LGM! This is what im not sure about. If im paying $25k for a car that I expect to last 10 years then thats 2.5k a year. So a car four years younger should be an extra 10k plus the value of a better motor/spec/etc (all things such as services and repairs considered equal). Thats my logic at the moment - I guess im posting on here to see if that thinking is reasonable!


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Hi Disco-tastic,


I like your logic, except the part where "All things/repairs considered equal".


I don't think that's a very good assumption, because given age and wear of vehicle increases repair costs, I am not sure how you could consider repairs/maintenance of a 4yo car to be the same as a 15yo.


That's not even adding the extra cost of a breakdown in the middle of your outback trip.


I prefer to think of the potential cost of the worst case repair scenario/cost and then add probabilities to all of them. Not exactly sure how you would do that accurately for Discos unless you read a lot of articles on here, but based on my short experience, it appears that the D4s are much more reliable so certainly would give me more peace of mind in our trip around this great land.


Just my 2c worth and no offence to other D3 owners.

I had the same deliberation.

Drove both and upsold myself to the D4... then drove both engines and had to have the 3ltr... then the 8 speed... then I bought brand new!! And couldn't be happier.

Originally Posted by Leroy_Riding

D3 with the low end stereo is easy to swap the stereo out. D4 looks more modern (painted guards and bumpers, LED lights. so I guess gives more of the illusion of grandeur.

Haha "Illusion of Grandeur". Nice. I could always get a D3 and swap the lights and guards to make it look like a D4!

the D3 though is much cheaper, I got my 2008 D3s for under 30K over 6 months ago. seen HSE's with similar kms that have done no more than run the kids to soccer practice for sub 30K and most are newer than 2006. . . .

I will have to keep my eye out...

If you can afford the D4 3.0 its probably worth it though, the 3.0 is meant to be leagues ahead of the 2.7. a 2.7 D4 over a 2.7 D3 though? nah. . . id save my pennies and get the D3.

my 2C

Leroy.[/QUOTE]

Thanks Leroy!