D2 buying advice

[F4Phantom]

I have been looking at 7 seaters for the wife lately and am running in circles. I want economy so I have looked at

Delica - not good economy, big nice, luxury etc, handles like a boat, annoyingly gutless
Rexton - excellent economy, loads of power, smaller 7 seats, handling half way there good reliability.
L322 Rangie - about double the price, needs a 7 seat conversion dont like the interior trim rubbing off, love the bmw oiler despite being very noisy.

SO I have got to a car I had not actually considered which is the D2, because I have a RR I didnt really want two cars the same, but all that aside it is ticking some boxes of pure logic such as good economy, better handling, 7 seats no bigger but certainly not smaller than other 4x4's, very cheap to buy. Also its a real 4x4 I can go camping with the kids in comfort in which all these have to do.

The big issue for me is maintenance, I work on all my own cars and HATE spending some of the sorts of sums thrown around on this forum.

I have read so many threads here but I dont see the problem in making a new one on the D2 as a wifes run around vehicle.

Any advice would be appreciated I am actually getting sick of looking at cars!!

[Taz]

My wifes daily drive is a 7seater D2a. DIY fixes for pretty much all D2 issues are well documented on this and other sites. No doubt your already aware of this, being a RR owner. Question is; how comfortable will you be with having to do unexpected maintanence or repairs when required. If your not pressed for time, or have a spare car to take the pressure off having to remmedy a fault when it arises, then go for it. If not, and you find yourself dropping the vehicle of at the stealers, then ownership can become frustrating. Not so much from an expense point of view, since I dont think the stealers charge comparitively more for similar 4x4 makes, its just living with the feeling that you could have fixed the fault for a tenth of the price if you had time and the wife could wait. On the plus side - you get a lot of car for your money these days with D2 and the total cost of ownership is great value if the D2 fits your needs, and exceptional value if you can maintain it yourself.

[Tombie]

Interesting comment on the Delica
Emma has the 2.8td and it's got plenty of grunt. Easily out accelerates a stock TD5 (I tested)
Handling is shocks, old shocks and it feels like a boat.
Real world economy - 12l/100km

[Tombie]

Plus it seats 7-8 adults! Or in our case 2 adults, 2 kids and 2 dogs ;)

[F4Phantom]

I must have driven the wrong delica, I drove the 2.8L tdi, and it was all noise and no go. I am very surprised the delica out accelerates a td5, my impression of a td5 was that it was fairly powerful.

I run my own business and if I take a day off to work on my RR and it saves me $500, then I say I have paid myself $500. More to the point I usually only work on it when I am not working anyway so in terms of fixing the vehicle myself, I certainly will and am not time poor.

I also like to think that with fluid and filter changes I will never be rebuilding a diesel car, I plan on the td5 already doing around 200,000km and will probably add only 50,000 to this so I cant see a rebuild in the picture.

In this case I did not automatically go to a LR make, but logic has gotten me here. At the moment its between a rexton and d2 (I ruled out the elgrand because I cant go camping with it as its awd not 4x4). The Rexton has a 5 speed auto merc trans with matching 2.7L CRD, its another DIY vehicle with 1,000,000km between rebuilds they say.

[strangy]

I reckon Taz is spot on. We have 2 D2's in our houshold and between the two, have experienced all of the issues with D2's mentioned on the forum.
All work is done at home, but a little priveledged to have a well equipped tool kit and workshop area. I havnt done any more or less work to either of these than Toyos and Mitsu, that have lived and still live with us.

Dealer working on Toyo / Nissan/ Mitsu is no different to dealer work on a LR and parts are similar $. Most Dealer parts are dear because they do need to make money.
If you go the D2 or D2a 7 seater expect and budget, to do the SLS air bags/ springs. Also the injector harness and hoses.
DO change the U/Joints in the front shaft if they are not geasable immediately.
The 3 amigos are generally speaking a very easy sort if the problem arises.

IMO if you have a verifiable maintenace history (this is such a can of worms) with the D2a most of the issues with the earlier D2 are less likely to occur and you will have no more or less issues with any other make.

If I were looking at vehicles of the same vintage, I wouldnt have any hesitation about putting another D2 in the stable. But thats just me.
But having a 4 x4 in the driveway already, I may well lean towards a newer people mover, especially if the planned ownership was only for a couple of years.

cheers

[Nankas]

With wife and 4 kids i have been through the same process. The Delica ticked all the boxes and the gas injected diesel went really well i just couldn't convince the wife. The D2 was the next practical vehicle and they are a lot of car for the money. We camp a lot and tow a campervan and i have learn't how to maintain mine. We have a 2000ES Td5 which i love driving. Make sure the vehicle has been serviced however if they don't have records of what work has been done then pay a lot less you really need to find out what items have been replaced as you will be buying a 6 to 10 year old vehicle.

Regards

Paul

[F4Phantom]

OK now for a big question. Can a D2 have child seats installed in the rear (of the 7 seat model), or even better does the car come with them?

[crossy999]

Child seats can only be fitted to the second (centre) row, all three seating positions have anchor points; alas not in the 3rd (rear) row.

anthony

[F4Phantom]

Child seats can only be fitted to the second (centre) row, all three seating positions have anchor points; alas not in the 3rd (rear) row.

anthony

nuts nuts nuts. This is where a delica, elgeand, viano dont have these issues.

I found out today fitting two single seats in a 5 sear car (RR) cost $1850 ea or a bench of two seats $2700. Not a cheap option.

[TerryO]

Apart from having a D2a (v8) we also have a Rexton (2007 Sport model) and have had from new, in fact we have had three Rextons all seven seaters and all diesel.

How did we end up with so mnay SsangYongs? for two years they sponsored me with my race series and these and two Musso's were our chase and pick up vehicles.

How were they? One word, excellent. We liked the last Rexton that much we kept it and have owned it for over three years now (105K now on the clock.)

Would I recommend them? Dependng on what you want to do with it but in genral ...Yes

They blow the doors of of my D2 in straight line and handle well and Gloria loves it because its is like a car to drive and not that high off of the ground for her to climb in or out.

Are they any good for serious off road? ...nope!

Are they economical and cheap to run? ...Yes!

Reliable? ...yes!

And they have lots of room for carrying stuff and can tow easilly way over their 2.2 ton limit. The seats are now after 100k starting to feel a bit hard and the shocks have gone off but bang for your buck secondhand they are hard to beat.

The Limited model is the go though and has a level of luxury and gizmo's a D2 owner could only dream about.

And they are about the only car that depreciates quicker then a Landy so there are good deals out there.

As I said it depends on what you want from your second car.

cheers and good luck,
Terry

[F4Phantom]

Apart from having a D2a (v8) we also have a Rexton (2007 Sport model) and have had from new, in fact we have had three Rextons all seven seaters and all diesel.

How did we end up with so mnay SsangYongs? for two years they sponsored me with my race series and these and two Musso's were our chase and pick up vehicles.

How were they? One word, excellent. We liked the last Rexton that much we kept it and have owned it for over three years now (105K now on the clock.)

Would I recommend them? Dependng on what you want to do with it but in genral ...Yes

They blow the doors of of my D2 in straight line and handle well and Gloria loves it because its is like a car to drive and not that high off of the ground for her to climb in or out.

Are they any good for serious off road? ...nope!

Are they economical and cheap to run? ...Yes!

Reliable? ...yes!

And they have lots of room for carrying stuff and can tow easilly way over their 2.2 ton limit. The seats are now after 100k starting to feel a bit hard and the shocks have gone off but bang for your buck secondhand they are hard to beat.

The Limited model is the go though and has a level of luxury and gizmo's a D2 owner could only dream about.

And they are about the only car that depreciates quicker then a Landy so there are good deals out there.

As I said it depends on what you want from your second car.

cheers and good luck,
Terry


Thanks Terry, yes I found the rexton to be very powerful, and they are genuinely efficient. 6.6L on the freeway and 9 to 10 around town. A family member has a musso and they are bloody simple cars to work on, really they are the car land rover would be today if they continued to upgrade their cars but didnt add new technology.

[TerryO]

One thing I forgot to mention F4Phantom, new OEM parts like filters etc can be expensive on SsangYongs. But still all in all a cheap good option for a second car.

cheers,
Terry