Thread: General running costs?

Originally Posted by Ramikan

Hi all,

Im still new here, and new to the world of off roading. Iv been searching around for 4x4's for a while and I keep coming back to Land Rovers.

Now, bare with me as my mechanical knowledge is limited. Im looking at a 97 Disco 1 2.5TD in auto and I was wondering if anyone could give me a rough idea of what the running costs would be?

ie Servicing, rego, insurance (only basic) dosnt have to be too in depth.

And is all the talk of them being unreliable and a money hole true?
I know this is a very broad question, but any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,
Andrew.

Like any car if you get a bad one then it can be a money pit, BUT get a good d1 300 tdi and you have a car for life and they are very capable off rd and as far as turbo diesels go cheap to run around 11 lt per 100k . I have one and so does my son his had problems mine hasnt (so far) As for rego and insurence in queensland a local will help you better there.

PS repairs by mechanics can be expensive, but the engine is easy to work on even with limited know how if you can read a manual do what you can yourself

Rego will cost you less than a Commodore, as the 300TDi is a 4 cylinder, at $650 for a year.

Insurance, well my V8 costs me $300 per year with Youi fully comp.

Servicing, depends if you can hold a spanner. An oil change is going to be much the same cost for a Disco as for any other 4wd

Originally Posted by sheerluck

Insurance, well my V8 costs me $300 per year with Youi fully comp.

Servicing, depends if you can hold a spanner. An oil change is going to be much the same cost for a Disco as for any other 4wd

I probably should have added that im 21 and still on my P plates (only for another 10 or so months though) So even my 4cyl Camry costs me $600 a year for basic 3rd party. But that gives me a little bit of an idea, thanks mate.

I have a mate whos a diesel mechanic, so Im going to be learning as much as I can from him so I could start to do a lot of work myself, save some pennies.

Originally Posted by THE BOOGER

Like any car if you get a bad one then it can be a money pit, BUT get a good d1 300 tdi and you have a car for life and they are very capable off rd and as far as turbo diesels go cheap to run around 11 lt per 100k . I have one and so does my son his had problems mine hasnt (so far) As for rego and insurence in queensland a local will help you better there.

PS repairs by mechanics can be expensive, but the engine is easy to work on even with limited know how if you can read a manual do what you can yourself

True, but iv herd more people getting bad ones then good ones. Another thought I was having was would it be better to get newer TD5 with (possibly) less problems, saving money and the headaches in the long run? But then again, increased running costs.

Originally Posted by Ramikan

.......True, but iv herd more people getting bad ones then good ones. Another thought I was having was would it be better to get newer TD5 with (possibly) less problems, saving money and the headaches in the long run? But then again, increased running costs.

You've probably also heard that Toyota are the ultimate in reliability, 4wds should only be taken off road with a 12 inch lift and tractor tyres and that fairies live at the bottom of the garden. Doesn't make it true.

If you're looking at a D1, then it will be a minimum of 15 years old. Set your expectations of required repairs accordingly.

Iv herd a lot about Toyota being the true off roader with the best reliability, but my mate has a 70 series Cruiser and theres always something wrong with it. The age of the D1's is what has got me thinking that maybe forking out a little more for a newer D2 would be better in the long run?

Again, it'd be the same making sure you got a good one and not a lemon.

a TDI D1 Auto all told including rego, depending on KM/s year will run you about $5k/year average assuming that the thing is in reasonable-ish condition to start with and based on all basic service Items are done DIY.

thats a overall average and covers things like Tyres, timing belts, rego compulsory third party, oils filters wheel bearings and brakes with just enough fat on the budget over 3 years to also do other major maintenance items.

TO run it as a drive it into the ground vehicle you can drop that down to $2k/yr assuming you only do the oils and filters and pay full rego+ctp.

Whether you choose to go with a D1 or D2 (and there are plenty of threads on here discussing the pros and cons of that argument), you are going to be buying a very capable vehicle in bog standard guise.

However, you would need to get it checked over by an expert. Ricks 4wd would be a good place to start.

i personally really like the 300tdi.
You are in a good location for getting spares so that should not be as much of a problem.
If you want to do work yourself or are confident to do it yourself then the 300tdi would be good, if you are going to get someone else to do it maybe go for a td5.
maybe go to a few dealerships and take some for a drive and see if you like one over the other