02/03 TD6 - What to look for on test drive?

[jsp]

I have had Rangies for about 10 years, having had 7 or 8 classics and a P38.

I have a 95 P38 as my daily drive and a 94 softdash classic as an "always wanted" currently in storage.

My P38 is starting to fall apart quite literally, it went in today looking for an exhaust leak, and I got the phone call saying it needs new oil cooler lines, PS pump leaks, ABS accumulators stuffed, rocker/valley/transfer output shaft/transmission pan/rear axle gaskets are badly leaking, not to mention a heap of other issues around low oil pressure and worn rings.

I bought it at about 80,000k's, it had just had the engine rebuilt after being cooked. Its now done 235,000k's and the engine hasn't been apart in that time. Body wise its not great, since its been parked outside during the day the last 4 years the sun has taken its toll and the paints gone on the roof, the dash has warped badly, and all the plastics on the car are brittle and snapping and lots of trip pieces are simply breaking up. The only big ticket items I have replaced in the car are transmission at 165,000k's and the BECM at 215,000k's. But there's always been a constant stream of radiators, heater cores, fuse boxes etc.

Can I expect this same type of maintenance level with an early td6 L322?

Going by the second hand market, and the condition of my car, its not worth spending $10-$15k on it bringing it upto being reasonably reliable for another 5 years. And allthough it doesn't look like it, I have actually pampered my car ALLOT, but I have also used it often for what it was designed for, towing and heading bush, I am not a hardcore offroader at all.

I do basic servicing myself and put the car in for a proper look over every 30-40k. I am happy to take on most jobs. I am after a comfy car to drive, with two long trips a year (3,000 k's plus in a week) with room for all my stuff like fridge etc, but with reasonable fuel running cost. Looks like the td6 should cost as much to drive as my LPG P38. I am happy with a base model, but might check out the luxury pack seats people talk about. I do on average about 400k's a week.

What to look for when test driving a td6? I haven't ever been behind the wheel in one, and apart from the typical diff recall etc, what to look for? Noises? Vibrations? Hesitations? Service history?

Looking at the forums it appears in general the transmission is the weak point, is there anything specific to check? shift times? Shift rev ranges? smoothness?

Given the budget, I am looking at either a very nice late P38, do a few reliability mods and add a decent LPG setup, or a mid to high kilometer early low spec td6 L322.

Or is it just the old idea of get the best you can afford and roll the dice?

[neil 90]

Hi, I went from my soft dash (still own) to a my03 TD6 se, I do over 1000klm per week and have done since I bought it 12mths ago. its by far the best land rover ive ever had by a long way, have a drive in one and you will see what i mean. its been 100% reliable in this time, I do the services and repairs myself and find that parts ex uk are good value, its not a dear car to run. fuel consumption is great at around 10ltr/100klm. your right about the gearbox, just make sure there is no delay going into drive when its cold, reverse will be ok but its got to be cold for it to show up, change the fluid as soon as you can as well.
I would change the crankcase filter at the very least as this is not on any service schedules that I know of.
I change oil and filter every 10k
fuel and air filters 20k
diffs and transfer 40k
gearbox 50k
I tend to buy my service stuff in bulk to save on the freight and you use them up anyway.
I cant convey how well it drives, it just does everything so well, during the bad weather up here in january it never once made me nibble the seat so to speak!!
all I could say is get the lowest klm one you could regardless of spec and it will serve you well.
also if you get any weird electrical things like HDC inactive when you fire it up its probs just the battery on its way out as these are very voltage sensative. hope this helps and if i can help any more just ask.

cheers

neil

[jsp]

Thanks Neil sounds very positive!

[RR46]

I have just bought a MY06 TD6 Vogue.

I thing I did notice when looking at an 05 dark blue supercharged Vogue in Melbourne was the car had no reg or plates on it. When I asked were the RR came from the replied was, we buy and sell cars all over Aus so its come from interstate some were but couldnt tell me were.

As Im a mechanic by trade I checked all the obvious things and after having a good look around the car, apart from having a heap of chips/scratches in the paint I notices tide markes inside the tail and head lights along with stains from water/crud in the lights.

After checking the carpets which were damp the salesmans response was we have just had the carpets steam cleaned (which I thought is plausible). On further inspection the leather seats have all been sprayed (which I found odd on a car of this age as the leather in my 94 classic bush basher is still like new) and after a test drive I noticed there were a few electrical issues.

When I got back to the car yard I had a look at the service history and found the car had come from QLD. The service history was close to complete and all the stamps were from a dealer in Towoomba. All the dates that were presented coincided with the recent QLD floods hence the tide marks in the lights, damp carpets and electrical gremlins.

When I started asking a few questions on which auction yard they bought the car from and pointed out a few of my concerns the salesman was not interested in talking about the history of the car anymore.

My advice would not only be to check all the usual mech items but to really check the history of the car and were it has come from (if at a yard or private). It may to have been victim to the recent floods in QLD and sold on at auction. ECUs & BCMs dont like water.

Cheers and good luck in your hunt for a RR.

[PAT303]

Mine is excellent,you'll look hard to find anyone who doesn't like them. Pat

[spudboy]

Check the air suspension up/down function. Mine would go down normally but took ages to go back up again (2 or 3 minutes). The air pump needed replacing (thankfully under warranty) but would have been a couple of grand.

They are pretty bullet-proof. TD6 is the best engine.

Gearboxes are supposed to be sealed for life, but don't believe that. Change the oil & filter when you get it. Ours came out quite black after 130,000Kms. LR's definition of "life" probably means it'll get to the end of their warranty OK.....

HTH
David

[ddkemp]

I bought my L322 V8 a few months back, and after having Disco's and Rangie Classics,This by far the best Ive ever had.I would not go back to a deisel, just to sluggish and although using more fule, Im getting good mileage, approx 14 litres per 100.For a heavy vehicle, and the powerplant being big, I reckon its a good match.

I took twelve months to buy a car like I have now, was a dealer principles wifes car and it was the traditional 4wd shopping trolley in Bris.In absolute exquiste condition and over serviced, butI dont mind.

Keep looking and look at the V8, well worth it.Its a lot of money to spend and you need to get it right.Many I saw, I got bad gut feelings, this one was right, just like the lady of the house.Youve got to look at it every day.

So be carefull and patient

DDK