Why did I buy a D3? [Archive] - Australian Land Rover Owners

jtonline

24th February 2011, 07:10 PM

Sorry Guys and Girls,

Need to get this off my chest and some reminders of why I did buy my D3 SE V6 Petrol. After the warranty has run out I have replaced the Compressor for the suspension, the front ball joints as they were shacking in their sockets, replaced the sump of the transmission (warning the oil costs $50+ :o per litre and the transmission needs seven litres if I remember correctly) due to a leaking bung. Yup couldn't just replace the bung as the thread was not holding the bung in place! The boot release cable came off it's hooks, the bonnet alarm sensor failed, multiple tail lights needing replacement, one middle seat map light just doesn't exist (no clip for the bulb to go into (might be in the roof cavity but it is no good to me there) Now the Fan belt has been changed and the Power steering pump (bearing I think) is being completely replaced, when the part finally gets into the country! been waiting 9 days so far. :censored:

And the most annoying one is the Front drivers door just doesn't lock sometimes and can't find out why!! But the alarm and every other door does lock/activate and then I pull on the drivers door to check it is locked and it opens and sets the alarm off!!!!!! Has anyone else heard of or experienced this?

Sure I had a few good times with it; Mates weekend trips away to Double Island, Camping with the family on Teewah Beach. Taking my son Camping and just sleeping in the boot. Getting bogged to the axles and being winched out by a Land Cruiser (obviously not a highlight, but a good learning experience). Most of my driving is cruising up and down the M1 between Brisbane and the Gold Coast so it has a good easy life and is the best car I have owned for driving long trips.

But I just feel like I have bought bit of a Lemon, at only 4.5 years old and with 85,000k's on it, something keeps going wrong with it. So please any tips because my permagrin just isn't there anymore. Anyone else having continuous non relating issues?

The car is beautiful just the relationship is getting a bit rocky. I should say that I luckily do have an extended Warranty but they have only covered the Compressor and now the Power steering pump, but better than nothing.

ADMIRAL

25th February 2011, 12:37 AM

Hard to comment jtonline. I am a relatively new owner as well. However, reading through the posts for the past year or so, a lot of the issues you have experienced were more common on the earlier models ( ie. balljoints ) and the later models now have 'improved' versions. Or we bloody well hope so.

It is also difficult to comment on a particular owners experience, without ' being' there. Certainly the LR experience seems to be better if the owner embraces the brand so to speak, and in this regard, having the ability to get involved with the online fixes etc is a definite advantage. ( saves the wallet too )

You have the facility to learn a lot from knowledge of others on this site, even to the best service or repair facilities. Don't give up on it yet.

Neil P

25th February 2011, 07:01 PM

Anyone else having continuous non relating issues?

Have you really never read any posts on Disco3UK in half a decade ? :eek:

PAT303

25th February 2011, 07:34 PM

It's the way new cars are mate,more performance means more money. Pat

ade

25th February 2011, 07:40 PM

just more reasons i wont part with my 95 300tdi

CraigE

25th February 2011, 07:46 PM

Not right but sounds on around par with most vehicles, you should see the list of faults with new Toyotas and Nissans.
Personally I would do away with the air suspension.

big guy

25th February 2011, 08:35 PM

That does not sound like any new car at all.
It actually sounds more like you had a round of very bad luck.
There is no way that is acceptable and Land Rover should have a lot to answer there.
What about statiatory warranty which is deemed a reasonable time for a part or system failure.
I have bought plenty new cars and currently have a few years old Golf tdi. Touch wood but no trouble, many friends have new cars and if any had as many problems as you describe they be very ****ed.

I totally feel for you, if some of the issues have been mentioned on some forums or not, they should never have been there in a car that cost $70k plus when new.
That is same price as 6 brand new Hyundai thingy's and if any of them showed those faults you be peeved. Not that they would as they are more basic but you get the drift.

I hear you and hope you get it sorted, perhaps if you ever get another its one with no problems which they can be and rightly should be.

Graeme

25th February 2011, 09:36 PM

And the most annoying one is the Front drivers door just doesn't lock sometimes and can't find out why!! But the alarm and every other door does lock/activate and then I pull on the drivers door to check it is locked and it opens and sets the alarm off!!!!!! Has anyone else heard of or experienced this?

There is a relay for the driver's door lock motor in the passenger compartment fuse box (central junction box) that hopefully is failing. Otherwise the fault is likely to be with the locking motor in the door, but perhaps with the connector for the door. Superlocking the vehicle uses a different lock motor so would provide security until the normal locking motor is working again.

jonesy63

26th February 2011, 11:05 AM

In my experience, the dealer servicing your D3 makes a HUGE difference to how you perceive your vehicle.

I would be changing service dealerships. In addition, as it is just out of warranty, a lot of those problems should be dealt with by LR as "good will".

I once had a bad run with my D3 - probably off the road more than any other in Australia. Once I changed dealerships - the few problems I later had were dealt the first time and never reoccurred.

This is where LR Australia are shooting themselves in the foot, in my opinion... they shut down a lot of dealers in a lot of cities - limiting options for getting service/repairs completed by a competent operator. That really kills enthusiasm for the marque. I recall comments of problems in Adelaide, Darwin, Canberra and Brisbane.

Anyhow, don't write it off as a lemon - get LR to fix it properly. I'm sure others will chime in here about the difference between statutory warranty and express warranty. Goods and services bought before 1 January 2011 (http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/815360)

jtonline

2nd March 2011, 08:01 AM

Not right but sounds on around par with most vehicles, you should see the list of faults with new Toyotas and Nissans.
Personally I would do away with the air suspension.

The air suspension has been and is the best part of the car. Thanks guys for all the responses. I do really like the car, just after having seven different cars (most from new) I have never had this many problems with all of those combined. Will be talking to the Dealer/servicer when I pick the car up finally on Friday about getting a full service report then writing a letter to Land Rover.

Thanks for the posts love the site!

land864

2nd March 2011, 09:42 AM

And so begins my dilemma of ' Do I stick with a vehicle brand and vehicles I love and behold as things of beauty to be admired and buy a 2 year old 2008 TD D3 with 40000kms on it or :eek: buy a new car of another brand with minimal faults and low running costs which would in the end just be a tool doing what it needs to do ?' :confused:

disco2hse

2nd March 2011, 10:26 AM

Well you could get one of these instead.

YouTube - Top Gear Skoda YETI

Neil P

2nd March 2011, 10:42 AM

And so begins my dilemma ......
If you don't depend on one vehicle and you buy an extended warranty
too , then you'll survive until it's 6 years old and becomes all your
liability ......

land864

2nd March 2011, 11:50 AM

disco 2- Love the Yeti ;)

Neil- Eggsaccery :eek:

DiscoWeb

2nd March 2011, 02:07 PM

jtonline,

Bugger, it is disappointing to hear that you have had such a poor run of it and if it was me I am sure I would feel totally pi@@ed about the car, the dealer and the brand, particularly the way you appear to have been treated.

It would appear that every now and then you get a vehicle that is poorly made, add in to the mix a dealer who's service department is below par and a marque that is selling vehicles faster than they can get them in the country you end up with a tale of woe. Just a bitch that it happens to be you.

However what ever brand you look at there are stories exactly the same as yours. There is a well know anti Toyota site logging complaints one owner has had with his new LC200, the Nissan 3.0 turbo diesel engine is well know to fail in a massive way and yet they continue to sell.

The real issue is that LR should step up to the plate and sort out these problems, or they run the risk of having irate customers complaining about reliability. As a brand, reliability is LR's Achilles heel, you only have to follow any popular 4wd media (magazines) to see many so called experts continuing to say LR products are too unreliable to be considered for real 4wders lookin for real outback tourers.

I for one have had a great run (touch wood) with my 2009 D3. Being my first LR purchase I had no brand alliance but have absolutely no concerns in recommending them to anyone that will listen. I simply love driving it, my wife loves it, the kids love it and I am constantly amazed at how easily it transitions between a luxury family wagon and then tackles the 4wding I do.

I hope you get the issues sorted, find a dealer or service department who knows the product and can sort out the issues and if you remain an LR owner hopefully this is a one off.

Not sure I have made any particular point in this ramble only that unfortunately your problems are not unique to LR as a brand or vehicle but that is no excuse for crap service to your issues.

Regards,

George

PAT303

2nd March 2011, 07:50 PM

LR are deemed more unreliable because people who own them are honest.Look around the forums and see how much trouble toyota owners,and I was one are having yet none will ever admit they are having issue's. Pat

dominicbeirne

3rd March 2011, 01:59 PM

Hi jtonline,

I had a similar problem to your locking with my petrol 09 SE D3' fuel flap. Had to break into the flap twice within 8 months of purchase. Went to the dealer on Oriordan St Alexandria I bought it from 3 times to get it fixed but kept being a problem. Took it to the service guys in Fortitude Valley shortly after getting up to Brisbane and no more problem. They had some part ordered from the UK that they said had to be configured for the vehicle before leaving the factory. Give them a call or drop in, it worked for me. The other problems you face well can't help there but good luck.

Dom

09 D3 SE petrol 42000k in 16 months...damn the fuel bill hurts

Mully

10th March 2011, 10:17 AM

Hey JT that all bites... hard.

I've had my 2005 D3 HSE TDV6 for 'about' a year now and have to say for all it's expensive faults I still can't shake the fact that it's now 6 years old and the current list of faults are just going to happen... well 'some' of them anyway. Some IMO are ridiculous for a vehicle of this price etc... :wacko: Eg: $1300 to replace the electric handbrake after 150,000 k's... huh?

Your list is varied and annoying though and sounds like a Friday build or a suspect yard was looking after it but who can tell. As said already, there are some excellent people in this forum and loads of help available to you. Just sucks that these sort of annoyances bob up to ruin your enjoyment of a fine truck.

I (right now) totally understand the mood of your thread... problem is, there isn't much better as an option out there I believe and then you start all over again. My belief is to get the vehicle you first loved fixed right and then know it should be ok... for a while at least. Also if it's bought second hand, you just don't really know for sure just how it was looked after... but you can at least control how it gets looked after going forward.

Best to you mate...

WhiteD3

10th March 2011, 10:42 AM

I've had my V6 SE for 4 years and 96k now (1 year into the Allianz extended warranty) and while I've had some small issues they were all fixed under warranty (with the exception of the fuel gauge reading low).

The car has never let me down and I've enjoyed it so much I have a D4 on order for delivery in May.

Mully

11th March 2011, 11:50 AM

Mully

11th March 2011, 11:51 AM

Jamo

11th March 2011, 12:20 PM

WhiteD3

11th March 2011, 12:40 PM

Hey White I'm curious about the D4.... what made your decision to go to it over your now well set up D3?? I'm 'kinda' in the same boat... but still LOVE the beast even with it's annoyances... last night it started an occassional grinding noise when leaning into a right hand turn on a roundabout... doh!

Thanksw.

Three reasons.

First is that I was hit with the stupid stick as far as anything mechanical goes and the idea of driving an ageing "not under warranty" Disco frightens me.

Second is tax; in that I use the car for work so I can depreciate it over time, but this fades away after year 4 of ownership.

Third, if the payments are the same each month (and they are) then I'd rather drive a new D4 than a 4yo D3.

Mully

11th March 2011, 01:28 PM

Hey Jamo... I was actually wondering if the ball joints may do this noise under lateral load as I can't 'make' it happen... ball joints are definitely stuffed too and quite clunky after 150k kms... may do the job at home BTW after the $1100 quote to do them and the bushes... there's a 'fluid' bush in the front end somewhere I'm told?

White that all makes perfect sense.... especially the bit about no warranty!:eek:

Cheers.

MickS

11th March 2011, 02:07 PM

Sorry to hear that mate..I'd say the same thing that built your car built my D2...must be "Friday" cars...they can't wait to get out of the place...

Bushwanderer

11th March 2011, 04:18 PM

SNIP
last night it started an occassional grinding noise when leaning into a right hand turn on a roundabout... doh!

Thanksw.

Hi Mully,
I suspect a wheel bearing. Normally I would say the "Near side", but after reading other's posts, I wouldn't swear to it.

Best Wishes,
Peter

Mully

12th March 2011, 02:10 PM

Hiya Peter... yeah I too thought wheel bearing as soon as I heard it... I'm thinking now about pulling it all down to do the ball joints etc and having a good check out... the wheel play 'seems' fine however and I'd expect to hear this noise a lot more if definitely the bearing. Should have mentioned to that a little yellow triangular light came on trying to cryptically warn me about something as soon as the noise started... forgot about this.

Either way, it's surgery time.

Cheers!

Bushwanderer

12th March 2011, 03:08 PM

Hi Mully,
I've been thinking about this and have an alternative.

Check your tyre pressures. If one, or more, tyres are low, this can trick the Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) (and operate the ABS to correct it). This makes a horrible grinding noise. When the DSC operates, the yellow triangle is lit.

Hopefully adjusting the pressures will solve your problem.

HTH,
Peter

Mully

13th March 2011, 08:29 PM

Hi Peter... Thanks for that.
I actually found the rear passenger side tyre to be down quite a bit although it didn't appear as low as it was. Have to admit that since getting the tyres all back up and even, the noise has not reappeared and I do believe you are on the money. All makes sense.
....ball joints are still clunky though.:o

Thanks again for taking the time, much appreciated!

Bushwanderer

14th March 2011, 05:18 PM

:BigThumb:

jtonline

19th March 2011, 07:48 AM

Well Thanks for everyones feedback and encouragement. the problems certainly have been a pain. The reason the problems also cause me so much frustration is that I use the car everyday for work and need it to work. I have have had the car back and fixed and running nicely for almost two weeks. And it is true when the car is running it is a great car an excellent vehicle between luxury comfort and a 4WD.

Yup Toyota owners have problems too, And nissan well I just can't go down that path.

So I went to get in the car early this morning and the park brake warning light Fault came on saying seek help immediately! :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: DAMN!!!!!!!!!! I need to be on the Gold Coast for work!!!!

So yesterday when driving back from the Gold Coast I was having a happy moment cruising along thinking this car is a great nice comfortable car, can't wait to take my son camping at Teewah beach in two weeks!!!! That feeling has been replaced with get rid of the car at any cost cause it is gonna cost!

The worst bit is the Park brake is stuck on and I can not get it off! Yup the manual pull cord thing under the cover next to the park brake....... Will let you know what I do with it...... But if you read in the paper "D3 commits suicide" anytime soon you will know which one it is. haha

Neil P

19th March 2011, 08:00 AM

It is sad that so much money produces such grief . If Target sold D4 ,
you could get a full refund under their 100% happy policy , as I've
just got on a coffee machine that doesn't froth the milk as advertised.
I know you're ****ed about this , and we would be too .

Graeme

19th March 2011, 09:38 AM

The worst bit is the Park brake is stuck on and I can not get it off! Yup the manual pull cord thing under the cover next to the park brake...
Just in case you weren't aware, a very hard pull is required when there's full tension on the cables.

RR P38

19th March 2011, 10:07 AM

Ooh no, you are putting me off buying a D3.:(

TerryO

19th March 2011, 02:26 PM

Maybe its more a case of not buying Jtonlines D3, sounds like his one is jinxed.

Touch wood the one I just brought isn't... So far so good!

cheers,
Terry

jtonline

19th March 2011, 08:01 PM

Well said Terry, I don't think I could live with myself selling it to someone. But the car is an awesome car, But I do think I have a dude that not only was build on a Friday but on a Friday that was just before a long weekend, and the reason for the long weekend is normally celebrated with many alcoholic beverages.

The manual hand brake pull cord Takes a huge amount of pulling and up is better than out. When I say pull hard I mean I put the drivers seat back and had to stand up (half bent over) and pull like I am trying to brake (pun intended) something.

TerryO

19th March 2011, 10:44 PM

jtonline

20th March 2011, 11:37 AM

JT,

I'll ask a daft question, if the hand brake is playing up why not just leave it off and not use it?

I must admit I have not once put the hand brake on since buying the D3. Can't remeber the last time I used a hand brake on any vehicle I have owned that is an auto. Different on the manual D1 I use the hand brake all the time.

cheers,
Terry

I get what your are saying TerryO, and trust me I am not in a hurry to get it fixed, but it is always one of those things that when you need it you want it to be working. So will get a quote from my Mechanic who only charges me the trade price for the replacement items not the List price as the Dealers do.
The annoying thing is the flashing red (P) light on the dash, so I am going to pull the fuse to see if that stops the flashing light.

Neil P

20th March 2011, 11:42 AM

I'd have seriously considered trading by now , and wearing the loss
just to end it all ................

norto

20th March 2011, 01:41 PM

To release the handbrake you hold the button down and at the same time
turn the ignition on and off continually about ten times This should release it but get it adjusted as soon as you can or it will happen again.
There are instructions on disco3.co.uk on how to do the adjustment. It takes about an hour and you will need a torque wrench.

Quote"LR are deemed more unreliable because people who own them are honest.Look around the forums and see how much trouble toyota owners,and I was one are having yet none will ever admit they are having issue's." end Quote

Pat my last 4 vehicles were LR's or RR's. My previous six 4x4s were Japanese. My current one is Japanese, I will concede that the Japs can't make a car that drives as well as a Landrover, but i don't remember ever breaking a part on any Jap vehicle i have owned.
There is not enough room to list the faults i had with my D3 and most of them were high cost items ie: front and rear diffs, turbo, transmission, lower control arms etc etc.
Sell the thing now....save yourself the pain. You will soon get used to your new drive

big guy

20th March 2011, 06:00 PM

Ever had a girl friend you just couldn't trust?

Time to move on I say.:(:(:(

Neil P

20th March 2011, 06:42 PM

Ever had a girl friend you just couldn't trust?

That depends how hot ..............:cool:

big guy

20th March 2011, 07:18 PM

That depends how hot ..............:cool:

Nope!!!

jtonline

22nd March 2011, 10:25 PM

I rang the Mechanic to book in the 90k service and the next time I stopped, out of habit I pulled on the hand brake button, and it worked [bigsmile] and has been working all day, on and off no problems. What a bad girl! Maybe Big Guy she got a bit scared that the Mechanic might give her a servicing and she pulled herself together!

Thanks Norto. But Norto the thing is it is so much nicer to drive when all things are working than the Jap cars. The Prado is smaller and I have three young kids all needing larger child seats still and then LC200 is a waste of money, the Patrol is a truck. So what else is there?????