What to expect as a D4 ages

[ghoti]

Our 2010 D4 TDV6 3.0 HSE comes out of novated lease soon and will have close to 200,000km on it. Normally I'd just pay out the lease and keep it, but fear expensive repairs may be awaiting us.

Done a bit of poking around in the forum and it would seem that the Auto trans might be the main cause of concern. The car has always been dealer serviced, so I expect the gearbox oil would not have been changed (perhaps get the pan done before the lease ends).

So, other than the gearbox, what might I need to contend with over the next 100,000km? Just trying to consider the ongoing cost of ownership vs cost of upgrading.

Cheers,
Scott

[Geedublya]

Cooling system ie. Water pump, hoses, thermostat, radiator.
Suspension including struts and bushes.

[gotaflat]

Our 2010 D4 TDV6 3.0 HSE comes out of novated lease soon and will have close to 200,000km on it. Normally I'd just pay out the lease and keep it, but fear expensive repairs may be awaiting us.

Done a bit of poking around in the forum and it would seem that the Auto trans might be the main cause of concern. The car has always been dealer serviced, so I expect the gearbox oil would not have been changed (perhaps get the pan done before the lease ends).

So, other than the gearbox, what might I need to contend with over the next 100,000km? Just trying to consider the ongoing cost of ownership vs cost of upgrading.

Cheers,
Scott

Timing belts (if not already done ) - due 180,000kms

I have 163,000 on my 2011 3.0 HSE.

- Done front lower control arms
- Will do Auto in next week or two - Flush and new pan ($1,100)
- next service $2,000 timing belts with service
- (had air con compressor done under warranty - extended warranty :) FYI it was just getting noisy so LR replaced :cool:
-

[BobD]

Mine has done 210,000km, many 10's of thousands of km on tracks and the roughest roads all over Australia from Perth to Cape York and Albany to Darwin.


I just replaced the lower control arms for the second time, the upper control arm and a lot of other suspension bits on the left front after the original shock absorber failed internally and let the suspension hyperextend downwards. I'm on my third set of rear struts and the fronts have just been replaced, which was well overdue as per above. We also did most of the wheel bearings at that time.


My inlet manifold cracked at very big expense, over $7000 to replace both. That is the one really unexpected expense and inconvenience. Straight after that the second turbo actuator valve vacuum pipe split at the top of the engine and I had limp home mode again. we also did the turbo drain mod as it was smoking when first accelerated after sitting for a while.


If you don't clean the rear drums the EPB will fail if you use it in dust and mud. I have replaced one (around $2000) and cleaning it fixed it a second time and it's still going after another 20,000km.


I replaced the water pump and main belts when they did the timing belt.


Since I want mine reliable in the bush we replaced all hoses and belts when they did the manifolds. I wanted to replace the alternator but you can't readily buy them for the 3l and they don't seem to have the same problems as the 2.7 alternator.


I service the auto every 50,000km but I am concerned that it may give up in a remote area. The transmission experts say it is fine and will give plenty of warning if it lets go. That was not my experience on my VW Multivan transmission that failed at 110,000km without any warning, however. They also say it would be stuffed if not for the regular services and steel pan.


At the same as all the other stuff the tailgate release failed. I also had a major oil leak from the engine which turned out to be a leaking O Ring in a pipe running into the sump and a massive power stearing leak straight after returning from a run from Brisbane to Perth via Birdsville, Coober Pedy, Uluru and the Great Central Rd towing a Kimberley Karavan. This was another O Ring failure due to the steering rack pipes being loose and vibrating on the rough roads. These cost nothing much to fix but add to the time cost and worries about reliability in the bush.


I am keeping mine as it is pre scratched and pre dented underneath, has all my mods for touring and off road and drives perfectly. I have done and will just spend the necessary money at my Indie to keep it reliable rather than losing heaps on a newer car.

[ghoti]

Wow Bob...quite a list!

Ors has 186194 on the odo right now. Stock standard except for the caravan brakes and andersen plug for the van we never bought lol.

Dealer serviced exclusively so I doubt tranny oil ever changed. Lower control arms were done recently. Rocker covers and suspension pump replaced under warranty some time back. Next service due at 190000 so I guess toming belts will be done then.

Might follow your lead gotaflat and get the tranny pan done.

Car hasnt been used off road but does tow a 2 ton boat

Cheers,
Scott .

[LandyAndy]

Scott.
Are you in a position to upgrade to a new D4???
The thought being you will be getting the best of a D4 before the new D5 is introduced with possible teething issues.
The downfall would be the possible extra depreciation on a new D4 due to a new model being released.
Andrew

[scarry]

Scott.
Are you in a position to upgrade to a new D4???
The thought being you will be getting the best of a D4 before the new D5 is introduced with possible teething issues.
The downfall would be the possible extra depreciation on a new D4 due to a new model being released.
Andrew

I did that with the D2,bought the very last of the D2a,sold it eight yrs later for ridiculous money,the phone didn't stop ringing.
I recon it had better resale than a similar priced/condition/mileage LC100.

It was one of the best cars i ever owned.:)

Don't know if you would be so lucky with the last of the D4,but they are a very well sorted vehicle.

[rar110]

With the Km you do I would buy another. Simply because of value drop once you hit really high km.

[Ozzy119]

Hi BobD

I think we met in Birdsville last May. We camped next to you, with a KK. I remember you telling me all the things you've had to do with yours. It sounded so expensive. As it happens, no issues so far. It took me about a week to start using the EPB after your story......ha ha.

Your setup must be running heavy ? Maybe partly the reason so many components are going?

Lower control arms are the only things I've replaced (ball joint issue), so far with 95K on it.

cheers

[BobD]

Ozzy,


Mine was fine at 100,000km. Remember I have done over 200,000km on lots of very rough roads. I think I remember having a chat. My son was with us with his white Discovery 1, which has had far more spent on it than mine. Just last week he spent $3000 getting all his door handles and electric windows fixed, plus all new bushes and engine mounts, A/C repairs and a lot of other stuff ready for our trip in May. His TDI 300 auto has done 360,000km.


Most of my expensive stuff happened after that trip, such as the manifolds and new suspension components etc. Not as a result of the trip but just ready to happen at around 200,000km. Apart from my transmission, which I always worry about and seems OK, I think my car is ready for its next 200,000km! Also a bit of a worry seeing the front crank oil seal pop out on the RRS!


We are heading back through Birdsville again this May with the Kimberley Karavan and heading for Lawn Hill and Darwin. This will be our fourth trip up the Great Central Road and 7th trip across to the eastern states from Perth in the D4.


By the way, we always use the EPB. The best thing is to keep the EPB drums clean. Topix says they should be cleaned every day in off road driving but that is certainly not going to happen.

[LandyAndy]

Bob.
Ive never looked at the EPB drums.Are they inside the disc rotors like on other vehicles???
Can you get to them for an inspection with the vehicle in emergency lift height with the proper safety steps taken????
Andrew

[BobD]

Andy,


The drums are inside the disk rotors and as far as I know the rotors must be removed to clean them. When my EPB started squealing for the second time I took it straight to Rovertech and they found the drums full of mud, which would have been dust that got wet during a water crossing in Albany behind Muttonbird Beach. They cleaned it and it has been fine since with multiple uses on a daily basis.

[Chops]

Excuse my ignorance, but how much do all these things cost roughly, and what's covered under warranty etc?

It all sounds rather expensive. :o

[PerthDisco]

I just replaced the lower control arms for the second time, the upper control arm and a lot of other suspension bits on the left front after the original shock absorber failed internally and let the suspension hyperextend downwards. I'm on my third set of rear struts and the fronts have just been replaced, which was well overdue as per above. We also did most of the wheel bearings at that time.

Hi Bob

Are the other three shockies / airbag units all original given this treatment? Have read some discussion about them needing to be replaced after 100,000km especially if given harsh treatment. As always, you don't notice the decline in performance till you change over.

[ghoti]

With the Km you do I would buy another. Simply because of value drop once you hit really high km.

Think we may have already incurred the drop in value - was quoted $28K as a trade in on a new D4 because of the mileage. Good thing is that should now drop as we've moved into the 'burbs and our last kid now has his licence and car.

Perhaps the step up to a newer D4 will be less once the D5 is released.

[BobD]

Hi Bob

Are the other three shockies / airbag units all original given this treatment? Have read some discussion about them needing to be replaced after 100,000km especially if given harsh treatment. As always, you don't notice the decline in performance till you change over.


I replaced the rears at around120,000 but they were D3 Delphi after market shocks (not what I was after) and they were actually worse than the original worn ones. The fronts always seemed OK to me.


I finally decided to replace the fronts and at the same time fit proper D4 rears. That was when they found the issue with the front left. When they lifted the car on the hoist the front left just dropped way down. Then they found all the damage this had caused since I do a lot of 4WDing at full articulation.


The suspension issues and maintenance cost me around $7000 and this was shortly after spending over $7000 on the cracked inlet manifold repair, so not a cheap year last year. The EPB costs around $2000 if cleaning doesn't fix it. Much better to clean it at least once per year.


None of my stuff mentioned was under warranty. The only warranty items I had were the brake switch and the starter motor but the previous owner had half the front end replaced due to the brake shudder issue that seemed to be a common problem on the 2010 model.


These repairs are nothing compared with the cost of swapping my car over to a newer one in my opinion. I would have to spend a lot of money on repairs to get rid of the off road damage and then the mileage will kill any resale value anyway so it will be almost the full cost of the new car that I will have to pay. I usually get another car when it is time to take mine to the wreckers or pass it on to another member of the family that wants it. Not worth taking the massive depreciation hit. At least I only paid $60,000 for it, including all my extras, when the car had done about 55,000km.

[rar110]

Think we may have already incurred the drop in value - was quoted $28K as a trade in on a new D4 because of the mileage. Good thing is that should now drop as we've moved into the 'burbs and our last kid now has his licence and car. Perhaps the step up to a newer D4 will be less once the D5 is released.

$28k is not bad as a trade in IMHO, given the cheapest 2010 D4 SE with similar km on car sales is about $34k.

About $50k depreciation (not incl rego, stamp duty etc) is a big hit. However, $10k per year or 25 cents per km is not too bad. My RRV depreciated at about twice that rate.

[wcody01]

Hi
In addition to bobs comprehensive list, we had to replace the Gaskets between the turbos and the manifolds. The vehicle was making a squealing noise and was traced to these gaskets leaking. Whilst going through the long process they found the same bolt on each turbo had cracked and sheared off requiring them to be drilled and re threaded. anyone else heard of this?

At the same time we had to replace the intake manifolds (cracked) had the 180k major belt service done and replaced our leaking steering rack

Cost just over 15k by the time we go the car back, but, with 210k km on the clock our D4 still craps on standard new vehicles of lower quality.
well worth the investment

PS we also tow a 3 tonne full size 24 foot caravan and the 1.6 tonne boat. have been around Australia twice and through Tasmania all towing the van.

[BobD]

Hi

Cost just over 15k by the time we go the car back, but, with 210k km on the clock our D4 still craps on standard new vehicles of lower quality.
well worth the investment



Well said. My sentiments exactly. Other than the crappy manifolds which should never have been produced in the first place the stuff that goes wrong is related to wear and tear and maintenance issues I reckon.


I just spoke to my service man re the crank seal popping out and gave him the info from Topix in the cracked manifold thread. He didn't know about it but said he put seal retainer goo (forget the exact name) on the new crank seal when they did the timing belt and other stuff on mine. This should be as good as having the modified oil pump I'm hoping.

[Graeme]

I just spoke to my service man re the crank seal popping out and gave him the info from Topix in the cracked manifold thread. He didn't know about it but said he put seal retainer goo (forget the exact name) on the new crank seal when they did the timing belt and other stuff on mine. This should be as good as having the modified oil pump I'm hoping.I wondered about doing the same as seals are often treated with retaining compound - Loctite produce one specifically for this purpose.