Thread: D3 for sale

Ooh am very interested subject to the condition of the rest of the D3. He reckons it's all good except for the motor so I've asked about the gearbox, electronics etc and will do a quick check on ballpark prices to get it installed and up and running so will get back to you asap once I know whether its worth the bother. Thanks for thinking of it for me. Would you believe my older brother wanted a d3 or d4 but reckoned he couldn't afford either in diesel so he went out and paid $33k for a volvo xc 90; boggles the mind

Personally if I was anyone looking for an affordable D3 I would buy a V8 petrol, they go forever, service costs are very low compared to the diesel and they go like stink. Seriously older diesels are a worry even if you know their service history.

Pay the extra and buy the V8.

MMhh, I posted a reply to your comment last night Terry and it disappeared. Anyway, was along the lines of the fact the D4 that was on our recent trip was a petrol job and went like the clappers and was very quiet. I guess you could put one on gas to lower costs (after the gas conversion payback period) and total annual costs are something to consider, especially as I don't do that many miles in my old defender and a d3 would be similar for me.
cheers Gerald

It's more the point that older diesels in D3's and sometimes even low k ones can be a bit of a worry reliability wise.

Given the D3 you were looking at had a blown up engine belies the point I was trying to make.

The later D4 2.7's so far have been proven to be very good, same with the 3 litre.

Bung a defender 2.4 in it Land Rover Defender 2008 Puma 2.4 TDCI Engine | Engine, Engine Parts & Transmission | Gumtree Australia Gold Coast North - Upper Coomera | 1027498707

Ooh, Eddy that sounds interesting. I typed out a big reply to Terry just a minute ago and its disappeared again. That suggestion sounds rather good. thankyou - must consider it seriously.
cheers Gerald
all this talk and the damn thing will likely go before I get to look at it.

Found my earlier message but given the 2.4tdci motor I might reassess my sentiments below.
Given your advice I think it might be wiser to put if off for a few years, then get hold of a decent D4 to do the big lap with the missus (she's got bad bones so needs some comfort rather than contending with the quirks of a defender). Thanks very much Terry, I was starting to wonder if I was going to be buying myself into a financial hole.
The guy in Gladstone wanted around $6k, then I need to get up there and get it (say $1k), buy an unknown motor ($3-5K - say average $4k), get it put in and commissioned/ calibrated (guessing at $2k) = total of $13K and it also had a problem with the suspension playing up which the LR guys couldn't figure out and I'm guessing that could be up to $2K to sort, so the dollars are starting to get up there for a car that may have other problems likely to manifest themselves as a black hole in my wallet.

Good luck with putting in a different engine, might be fun trying but I bet it would be a waste of time as chances are you would find it hard to get the D3's electronics to recognise and work with such a different engine and power delivery.

Plus a D3 weighs on average 2.5 ton.

Yeah I was wondering about whether it would even fit and then whether the parts in the electronic gadgetry would talk to each other. Was planning on giving Peter Davis of Roving mechanical a call in the morning to see if it was even feasible. I thought it might be too tall for starters and I also thought D3's were 2.7 tonne and as you said the D3 motor is 2.7 litres so I guessed the 2.4 wouldn't be that underpowered (but I don't know anything about the power output of the D3). I think the 2.4 output is relatively low.
cheers gerald