I still can't quite believe that for how old the D2 is now how freaking nice they are to drive.
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Bloody hell, that's nuts!
Talking to our mech, he too said what Paul says, they just keep going. Our fleet has multiple examples with well over 300,000km, loaded to near GVM and flogged, mostly by youngish techs.
I was quite surprised at the speed my little example would happily cruise at on the way back from Emerald ten days ago with 6-700kg in the back.
Fuel economy was a little average though..... [bigwhistle]
My old D2a is still a much better and better appointed truck than many of the new offerings on the market today despite it's 14 year old vintage, NO way am I ever going to part with it.
I have purchased the 76 series ute to tow the 20 foot van simply because there is NO Landrover equivalent to it.
Yes a D2/3/4 will tow the van with ease But I need a ute to carry all the fuel, water and other kit as well as being able to tow the van.
A D3/4 is also a much more expensive vehicle to maintain,than a 70 series would ever be.Unless you get unlucky.
Then if you add depreciation into the equation,the 70 gets further ahead.
Although the 70 will use more fuel...
But a D2/3/4 is really not in the same class as any 70 series,even the 76 as others have said.
The 70 is a range of commercial vehicles.
The D2/3/4 are comfortable touring wagons,with great off road ability.
I recently took my 2002 D2 V8 on a return trip to Mallacoota, an all highway cruising distance of approx. 900 Km and what an absolute pleasure it was to drive with its comfortable leather seats, replacement springs and new OE shocks all on Michelin Latitude Cross rubber. Much more comfortable than our 'old' cloth seat D2a TD5 for highway touring though not as economical. Surprisingly the petrol V8 returned 13.6 l/100 Km for the trip, lightly loaded and gently driven cruising at 100 Kmh. Still a very nice car to drive.
Deano :)
I have a 2014 79 series dual cab. it has been remapped, HD clutch, SS exhaust etc etc. $40k spent on it. It tows effortlessly. never had a single warranty issue. ARB bypass 51 suspension plus air bellows makes the whole thing so much better than standard. But its for sale. why, I hear you ask. it is hopeless in the city and we have just moved to adelaide from the country. We have bought a D4 and the disco is 100 times nicer to drive and live in whilst in Adelaide. might live to regret the decision when we go bush again but a $40k D4 opposed to a $110k 79 gives us a lot of spare cash to sort out any issues.
if you are after a reliable workhorse and dont live in a capital city then the 79 is the best thing out there. 35inch tyres make them nicer on the road.
and they do look cool when dressed up.
One great thing about the 79s is that when in 4wd rough territory the fuel usuage hardly goes up at all as the motor just keeps on keeping on. all of the other 4wds who brag about their fuel useage on the highway lose their grin once they start using 1/2 as much again on top of the 4.5l donk. mine is remapped as previously mentioned and it has over 600nm of torque that is available very low in virtually every gear and the exhaust note is a sexual thing. you wont regret your purchase -until you need to try a u-turn in traffic.
Oh, forgot, the air cond is crap from new but apart from that they are rock solid vehicles