Discovery 3 TDV6 Reliability?

[hopperoo]

Hi All,

I'm seriously considering buying a new series 3 TDV6 SE and would like any feedback from current owners on any problems they have encounted, if any.

A rotten, miserable, low-down salesman from the local dealership in Canberra arranged for me to have an extended test drive over a weekend.....and now I want one!! This is the heart talking....but the head says "steady on boy, remember that Saab you almost bought once, and the fortune you spent on those Alfas years ago keeping them going"! Ahh...if only I could turn back the clock! I digress.

This will be my first venture into the breed and I have to say that some remarks I have had, from owners of earlier models on problems they have had, has made me hesitant on taking the plunge.

My main concerns are from a reliability and consequently a resale value perspective. I would be intending to lease for five years then possibly keep it in retirement to travel Australia with a van, or alternatively replace it with another at that time, hence resale concerns. I do approx. 25-30,000kms pa.

Any feedback and experiences would be much appreciated (also practical fuel consumption figures ie. city and country, 115 - 130kph).

Much obliged,
Dennis.

[Steve Jillett]

G'day Dennis,
I bought a TDV6 SE Disco back in Mar this year. So far it has been excellent. This is my first Landrover as well, and I too had the same hesitant feelings but did lots of homework, eg logging onto this site and speaking with as many people as I could who have owned Disco's. In the end I couldn't find a better 4WD for the money. The standard features are top of its class and to get the same features in Japanese 4WD you have to buy the top of the line model which costs slightly more than the disco. As far as reliability goes, there are plenty of threads on here attesting to its reliability, it has now been in the Australian market for over 2 years and there haven't been any major problems affecting them. Of course there have been minor problems but by the sounds of them they have been rectified promptly and to the customers satisfaction.
Fuel figures - I get around 8.5-9.5 L/100km on the highway. About 11.5-12.5 L/100km around town, mind you I live in Sale VIC so the town driving isn't that strenuous. I have a boat which weighs about 1700kg fully loaded and when towing get about 16 L/100kms. I haven't done a lot of towing yet so they are fairly new figures.
So far the family and I have put just under 9000km on it and plan to do about 25000 - 30000km a year.
If you want to speak about it in any more detail give us an email on jillett@optusnet.com.au and I will give you my number and we can have a chat.
Overall I love the Disco, I have driven in a lot of new 4WDs and the ride cannot be compared, they are awesome.
Cheers
Steve

[Ace]

I dont own one, but would in a heart beat if i could afford one. They are a top truck, i to have done some homework purely out of interest and followed every thread on this topic posted in this forum.

The early models has problems with the air suspension but that was tracked to a software fault which was quickly recitfied. Failing that they are no less reliable than the jap trucks. Many people are technophobes and are freaked out by the electrical components, but the out of date 4wd magazines who are still in the dark ages and preaching about simple stuff for outback touring bring alot of this on. The disco has been said (by the 4wd monthly team) to be over engineered, and the chassis makes that of a cruiser and a patrol look like a pile of firewood (also said by 4wd monthly). Their only worry was the electrical components and after they ploughed it through a river crossing numerous times at speed in the cape to get some good photos they eventually got the computers wet and it stopped, but this was done by someone driving in a manner the average owner would never drive like.

Like all other brands there will be problems, but going on what 4wd monthly said after their outback test of the Jeep and the D3 they said the D3 is mechanically over engineered and would happily take a pounding on rough roads, where as the jeep they tested showed signs of stress after a week. If you are keeping it for an extended period of time the software to diagnose faults is filtering onto the market for the average joe to buy so you can install it on a lap top and diagnose and clear faults in the bush yourself, which is what the majority of problems will be, software fault, and if you cant clear these by rebooting the car (which usually does it) you need the software. I for one would rather turn the car on and off in the bush to fix a problem or hook it up to a computer than lie under it fixing a diff or some other mechanical problem. Matt

[DiscoTDI]

The D3 is an exceptional vehicle, mine is a petrol and has 12000km on it so I cant vouch for the reliability yet. I was however talking on the 2 way to a bloke who was towing a bloody big caravan behind his, his was an SE 2 years old and had 90000km on it. He raved about it and reckons it hasnt skipped a beat since he had it.

As for the resale, it depends what you call bad, I dont believe there is a vehicle that has good resale these days. It should be better than the D2 but will not be up there with nissan and toyota, but you will not get as much enjoyment out of those ones either;).

[Ace]

I think best option to keep resale as high as possible is the TDV6 SE with terrain response or any model above. The poorest seems to be the Petrol 6. The V8 i think is simply harder to sell because people think about the fuel prices. Matt

[DiscoTDI]

When you pay around 12-15 thousand less for the petrol to start with, your resale is not that different.

[lrdef110]

Dennis I've had mine since March 2006 and have done about 33,000 km and it has been absolutely flawless except windscreen wipers that 'judder' accross the screen. This is the only complaint I have. This has been fixed with some cheap replacements from Supercheap and all is now well. I get similar economy to Steve, although that has blown out a bit with Cooper STT off road rubber (A bit morerolling resistance).You had better budget on a new set of tyres within 30,000 km because thats all the Goodyears provide. At least there are now some reasonable alternatives becoming available. I agree with DiscoTDI, these are exceptional vehicles and very capable off road. There are also quite a range of accessories available for them now too. Best of luck with the purchase.

[Jamo]

A most excellent vehicle. 93000km and going strong!

[hopperoo]

Thank you one and all for your feedback. It's very appreciated.

Steve, the fuel consumption figures you're getting are similar to a couple of other owners I've spoken to. They are getting around 9-9.5 l/100km at around 115kph on the H/W and about 11-11.5 around Canberra.

Ace, I read between the lines that the comparison you mention with the Jeep was a couple of idiots attempting to wreck two good vehicles and the Disco certainly seemed to stand up to most of the driving they put them through. You mentioned the air suspension. One of the owners I talked to in Canberra has had his SE for two years and done 50,000km+ and he said the only problem was the suspension dropped to low and needed the compressor replacing to fix the problem. Since then no more probs. He did say there was a recall to fix an air suspension problem with the early ones.

DiscoTDI, as you say we would like the resale to be better on any of them and I do believe in most instances that the more expensive a vehicle you buy the more it will depreciate in the first three to four years. I am on my third Pajero and find the GLS holds it's value better than the Exceed and the diesels in the later models are way ahead of the petrol equivalents.

A concern I do have is the cost of parts once out of warranty. The cost of regular servicing of a TDV6 is double that of the equivalent DiD Pajero, if I was to take it to the Landrover dealer in Canberra for services. However to take it to a reputable, approved and licenced mechanical workshop can cut this almost in half!!

lrdef110, it's interesting you mention the wipers. The ONLY thing I could fault the demo one I drove was that it did exactly the same thing! However it was a two year old demo with only 3,500kms so it had obviously been sitting around the dealership for some time and the rubbers had probably hardened.

Have you noticed much difference in road noise with the STT's and what size did you fit? I would possibly consider changing the G/Years while new but at this time I'm not aware of any decent A/T's in 255/60x18.

Jamo, how have you found the servicing costs? I believe the special synthetic oil that's recommended is not cheap.

I have driven quite a lot of 4X4's recently and the Disco is, in my opinion, the "BMW 530i" (I've always wanted one of those) of them all. There is absolutly nothing currently on the market that comes close.
My God, on the little screen this didn't seem much, but on the full screen it's almost a novel! My apologies for the length.
Regards, Dennis.

[hiline]

My God, on the little screen this didn't seem much, but on the full screen it's almost a novel! My apologies for the length.
Regards, Dennis.

No need for that around here mate ;)

i'm sure all the guys dont mind one little bit:D


and i for one love reading how good the D3 is :D:D:D
so far they have had a good rap everywhere you read

[lrdef110]

Dennis, for off road work I have Cooper STT 245/70/17 on 17" Performance rims and they are considerably noiser. I damaged a Goodyear at about 30,000 km (They were at the end of their life anyway) and have been using the Coopers full time until hopefully early next week when the first shipment of General Grabber AT2's in 255/60/18 arrive. These by all accounts are a good all terrain tyre and will be less noisy than the Coopers. I will keep the 17" rims for four wheeling. It only takes about 30 minutes to change over, but the Generals may be good enough for most situations anyway. If I was buying a new Disco3 right now I would get the dealer to swap to the Generals at the time of purchase. That way you get something for the Goodyears.

[lrdef110]

PS. Denis, its not the hardening of the rubbers in the wipers, its the wipers themselves. I originally replaced a set which I got from Landrover and almost had to mortgage the house to pay for them. But after a note from another owner, have since found a set of 560mm Aunger blades from Supercheap for $10.99 each do the trick and dont judder accross the screen.

[Ace]

Ace, I read between the lines that the comparison you mention with the Jeep was a couple of idiots attempting to wreck two good vehicles and the Disco certainly seemed to stand up to most of the driving they put them through.

So you are familiar with how 4wd Monthly operate then. :D

Thats pretty much what they did. I irritates me because there is no way anyone would treat a vehicle the way they do, as a consequence they arent engineered to take such abuse. Matt

[WhiteD3]

A concern I do have is the cost of parts once out of warranty. The cost of regular servicing of a TDV6 is double that of the equivalent DiD Pajero, if I was to take it to the Landrover dealer in Canberra for services. However to take it to a reputable, approved and licenced mechanical workshop can cut this almost in half!!


Hopperoo, do you work for a large company with a vehicle fleet? I recently bought the V6SE and got 3 years free servicing thrown in as the company I work for has 60 odd cars on the road (none of them LRs).

MO

[Jamo]

Servicing costs vary. like all modern cars there's a minor service, an intemediate service and a major service that sort of go: Minor-intermediate-minor-major-etc.

Minor services are around the $200 mark. whereas the major (48,000km, 96,000km and so on) is around the $1000 mark. These are dealer prices.

[hopperoo]

HI All,

lrdef110, I have been in the retail tyre industry for 35years, the latter period selling mostly Yokohama, Michelin & BFG, and I believe Yoky are not far from producing their Geolander GO12 in a range of 18" sizes. Hopefully 255/60R18 will be one of them, I know the 265/60R18 for the Pajero VRX etc are not far away.

These will be an excellent A/T along with the Michelin LTX A/T if it becomes available in these sizes.

Ace, you're right, but I guess it does provide an insight into how well the vehicle is built.

Morcha, no, my wife works for an ACT Govt dept who is able to buy at Govt contract rates exempt of GST and S/D which gets the price down considerably. The salary packaging provider does have a large fleet of vehicles but I was able to negotiate a much better price than they could. I guess it makes a difference if you have a vested interest in who pays at the end of the day!!

Regards, Dennis.

[hopperoo]

Jamo,

I was quoted, by dealer: minor service =$270, Intermediate =$680 and large 120k = $1100.
By comparison Pajero, by dealer: minor service = $177, intermediate = $391 and major = $706.

However, I believe there are at least two servicing agents for L/Rover in Canberra that will do all the services at around the same costs as the Mitsu dealer.

Dennis.

[PCH]

Just my 2 cents worth.

The problem is when it is out of warranty and needs diagnosis time to determine the fault plus the cost of the part(s) to fix the problem is when the big dollars will hurt most. I think everyone expects to pay for regular (6 monthly) servicing on their D3's but don't expect to pay for unplanned expenses that come with a complex truck you can't fix on your own.

Enjoy it during the warranty period. If you can buy extended warranty then go for it IMHO.

I've had my D3 for almost 2.5 years and will be thinking really hard about keeping it after 3 years. It hasn't been trouble free like any other vehicles I've owned (which have been numerous but not so complex) but it hasn't completely broken down either however I've wasted a heck of a lot of time seeing the Dealer for warranty repairs which is quite unacceptable to me. You can be lucky and get a trouble free truck which many have had or unlucky like me and get a bit of a lemon.

Chris

[Rob Bruce]

Dennis,
Welcom, I have had my D3 for nearly 2 years now it is a fantastic truck,
I have had nissan's toyota's and several Landys, The D3 has some problems
but they all do, Mine have been minor, But the D3 is no compromise between
on road and off road it handels like no other, My advice is go for it and enjoy
driving. Like most of us I feel just as good hopping behind the wheel now as I did when I first got it home.

Rob

[D3Jon]

Mines never let me down either! It's had the suspension compressor changed for the upgraded one though (under warranty).

PS, it's for sale: :D

http://www.aulro.com/apc/showproduct.php?product=980&cat=9

Jon

[away]

I got mine in Dec 06 and wouldn't part with it for the world. We recently took it up the "jump up" at Karratha in WA. We then parked up and watched a plethora of Jap forbies wreck tyres, clutches, transmissions and tempers.

The Disco quite literally "walked" up without fuss.

I do about 65,000 km per year and have owned many brands of fourby and the Disco 3 is head and shoulders above them all.

We are permanently touring with an all-up weight of 5050 Kg including the camper trailer, and we are averaging just over 17l/110km fuel usage...which is better than I wanted or expected.

The only issues we've had were the park brake indicator on the dash failed to extinguish one night but was OK the next time we started it and we had the wheels aligned again at 4000 Km because it wasn't right when delivered.

Cheers,

Russ.

[bajabus]

Hi All,
just wondering how your Disco 3 's are going now that they are about 7 yrs old and will have probably covered a few miles now. A new Discovery is out of my price range however the D3 could be an option however I wanted to research what I should watch out for on these models and what the service costs are starting to look like. Any frank and honest advice is greatly appreciated.
thanks
B

[Brenden73]

Hi All,
just wondering how your Disco 3 's are going now that they are about 7 yrs old and will have probably covered a few miles now. A new Discovery is out of my price range however the D3 could be an option however I wanted to research what I should watch out for on these models and what the service costs are starting to look like. Any frank and honest advice is greatly appreciated.
thanks
B

Took the words out of my mouth, I'd love to learn from others experience too as I'm looking to upgrade my D1 within the next 12 months.

Brenden

[LandyAndy]

Plenty of info in the D3/D4 area;);););).
Andrew

[Disco-tastic]

Took the words out of my mouth, I'd love to learn from others experience too as I'm looking to upgrade my D1 within the next 12 months.

Brenden

I just bought a D3 and did a bunch of research on them. My thread is here:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/showthread.php't=220533

Price vs Age - D3 or D4?

Based on the advice of some others and the cheaper purchase price i bought a petrol V6 though, as i don't plan to tow much.

Main things to look out for are the transmission (should be serviced at max 100k km intervals - check the sticky thread in the D3/D4/RRS section), the front lower control arm bushes, and the air suspension. With the diesel the high pressure fuel pump has had seal issues, causing some to catch fire due to leaking fuel. Its a recall IIRC so check it has been done. Timing belt is due at 168000km (no timing belt in petrol). The diesels have also had some serious big end bearing failures, though apparently no more common than other makes.

If you can find a well serviced V8 HSE you'll be laughing. :D

Best of luck!

Cheers

Dan

[LandyAndy]

I think we can shift this old thread to the D3/D4 area into the future.
Us Latte set dont like our dirty washing aired in public;););););)
Andrew

[Charlies 2016]

Hi everyone,
The disco was a dream of mine and I bought one about 1-1/2 years ago and also along with extended warranty. I've experienced the best of it for a year, then I had my first experience of the alternator going and of course replaced it. Everything was great for a more months . I've planned a great trip with my family and off we went to Esperance. All was good for the duration of the trip, however on the way back home the coolant low came on and I thought to myself I've just serviced it before the trip. Thought nothing of it till about 50 ks in then the temp gauge shot up to high. Outside temp that day was 46 Celsius n I had aircon running also . I shut down the aircon and pulled off the road and was at this stage a little bit nervous. I managed to get to the next road house without the aircon on and temperature remained normal. I opened up the bonnet and looked at the coolant bottle , it was frothing and I got alarmed . Went to see if they had any coolant at the roadhouse ... yep they had plenty except it was all the green coolant and none of the pink stuff... OMG!!! Nothing I could do and also no distilled water, so I went and put bottled water into it.... 12 litres of it??? Managed to get the car home after midnight , and with carload of tired angry family. Next day too scared to drive it I got it towed to my machanic and had it checked out. Water had gone into the engine... explained where all that water went 😢 Warranty wouldn't even touch it and I had bought second from the top cover ... 3 k in the bin I say 😡😡😡 . Out of pocket I had my car repaired and had all new cooling systems replaced !!! Not cheap😢 Drove it home and I just said to myself , have a look under the hood ... that's where I noticed a splutter of engine oil on the pipe hmmmm... wiped it off and took it for a drive then checked again ... nothing all good, or so I thought. A week into the drive I checked again and this time there was an amount of engine oil all over the engine bay. Rang the mechanic and got it towed again ... oil sensor gone and blew... replaced 365 dollars . Almost wanting to burn the car down 😡 Got it back and then car heated up again ... towed ... now I'm getting ****ed off 😤 . Car over pressurising... what now!!! Got it seen to all good said the mechanic. Wow driving again and very happy 😢😢😢three weeks in driving to work it made a sound and it was just audible clunky sound ??? ... kept cool and drove on a bit farther clunking got louder and I knew something was going to blow ... bugger it punched it and took off ... as I turned off the next road I gave it some and bang 💥 blew something... Ive had had enough stooped the vehicle and got out cursing. Took a look underneath and oil was poring out like dark coffee . Well that's it I said no more money spending on a cursed engine . Now it's gone I am looking to get an engine replacement for my disco , any thoughts ? But one thing thought sure as hell I don't want to replace it with the original!!! Any one know of an engine that would match as I still am into my disco and would like to get it back on the road. European or Japanese

[101RRS]

Sorry to be a bit of a Nazi but your post is very hard to read - paragraphs etc might help because I gave up.

However what I did read - why would you ignore a low coolant indication - the indications are there for a reason and you ignore at your peril as you have found. Now low coolant indications are usually issues in the sensor in the overflow bottle but may not be as happened to you - always check indications.

Garry

[PerthDisco]

Probably caused by a cheap plastic thermostat part that should be replaced periodically. Sounds like engine got hot and caused a head gasket to fail allowing water in once engine cooled.

First warning is usually your last one also as all modern diesels pack a big punch from a small package and need cooling.

One thing leads to another once an overheat is involved.

This seems to be a trap a buyer of an older 'cheap' diesel Disco will easily fall into.

Long term holders of cars from (near) new have probably done the research to avoid.

Anyone with an older diesel car with uncertain service history should immediately replace this part for peace of mind. The car itself is probably fine from an oil change perspective.