D2 Advice Please

I'd highly recommend having any D2 you are looking at buying checked out by a LR specialist. I had three D2's checked at different workshops and while Ritters were the most expensive they were far and way the most comprehensive in their report, which can make for extremely scary reading.

I ended up paying $13.5K including on-road costs for D2 that was inspected by another workshop and got a clean bill of health, but turned out to have a couple of issues which were picked up in the D2 Ritters inspected.

In the 6 months I've had the D2 I've:

- Fixed warped exhaust manifold
- replaced exhaust downpipe
- fixed leaking rocker cover gasket
- fixed leaking camshaft seal ( www.discovery2.co.uk / Front Camshaft Oil Seal l)
- replaced brake master cylinder (picked up the day after I collected the D2 and fixed by vendor)
- replaced rubbed ACE hose in engine bay
- replaced Turbo hoses and fitted EGR kit ( www.discovery2.co.uk /workshop - EGR removal )
- replaced lower radiator hoses (upper hoses had been replaced)
which lead to
- fixed leaking fuel cooler ( www.discovery2.co.uk - Leaking Fuel Cooler Fix )
- replaced injector harness ( www.discovery2.co.uk / Workshop /Injector Harness )
- replaced rear diff breather with D2a breather kit to prevent water ingress.
- full fluids and filters service.

These are all fairly common faults, but nothing really major or show stopping, and there was an large element of preventative maintenance.

I've now done 8K+ Km including a 3.5K km trip to the Northern Flinders Ranges and the D2 hasn't missed a beat or left me stranded yet.

cheers
Paul

Quote:

---

I have spoken with a few guys and the general consensus was that the D2 is the bastard child of the Disco range. More prone to leave you in the bush than the others and electrics that just never seem to get right.

---

Hmm, you are clearly talking to 'a few guys" whom fit into any or all combinations of the following:
1/ havnt owned one.
2/ are full of it.
3/ think an oil change every so often is maintanance.
4/ believe that whatever you pay for a car, it should be just like a new one.
5/ are experts in all things with an opinion to match and experience of nil.

The info is all here.....hundreds of posts....there are even specific sections in an area called the http://www.aulro.com/afvb/good-oil/, an area containing a wealth of info on known problems and fixes currently known to the fraternity for all models of LR.

Do a search, spend an hour or 2 reading up on the D2 (v8 or Td5 preference) and if you cant make an informed choice then , you never will.

Then, if you still like the D2 drive and inspect a couple, then buy the one you want.

Again IMO (no disrespect) yourself and an increasing number of new members are asking others to help make up their mind for them with someone elses opinions.
The above will allow you to read actual issues, mods,ugrades and the solutions, sucesses and failures. You will regret any decision on any vehicle, that has not been predominantly made on your own research.

Dollars required, modifications and accessories are often tailored to the owner and their driving preferences.
Someones "reliable tourer" or "go anywhere truck" is anothers "pig"

Most importantly whichever vehicle you buy regardless of the manufacturer, if you buy cheap you get cheap, if you inspect and research well, plan to pay according to condition, maintenance and market value,
*NB good maintenance is very different to "regular servicing"
I have rule to budget for $1000 (4wd) and $500 (2wd) above the purchase price (inc rego, stamp duty etc.) for miscellaneous repairs.

cheers

I'll add my two cents worth, find the cheapest one that has little to no problems and has all the fruit inside to make it a comfy tourer, that way if you spend 8-10 k and have to do an engine rebuild down the track. then you'll have the 4k to pay for it that you saved spending 12k. That's what ive done with mine. purchased a 99 D2 V8 CDL, ACE. for 7k, Engine rebuild, New radiator, New Fuel pumop and the usual go fast bits and so far so good.

[FONT=""][COLOR=""][SIZE=""]Again thanks for all the replies.

I am not entirely new here as I have lurked a bit trying to absorb all the info I can, and up until now had my heart set on a Defender. That all changed when I sat in one.

I understand that the regular guys can get a little ****ed responding to the same dumb questions but you all must admit that the Landrover marque does not have the best name for reliability in this country and serious research has to be untaken prior to purchase.

All the responses I have received so far have progressed my thinking in leaps and bounds and what better knowledge can you get than what has been gleaned from personal experience of the sincere and honest members on here.

George, I would like to say that your truck is a beauty and at a very reasonable price. That said I would prefer a diesel, but may be swayed if the experience of the V8 (of which I have none) is positive from other members. This truck is definitely on my radar!!

Again I apologise for my dumb questions and if there are specific threads that have covered this ground I will gladly accept a direction of where to go. The one problem is that with so many pages and hundreds of threads it takes a bit of searching to find that needle in the haystack.[/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT]

The v8 is good (though I myself am an oil burner fan) it can make some excellent power and has a torque curve about as wide as an Americans tail. Setup with good sequential LPG and driven well its even capable of approaching a normally driven diesels $/km costs (on the fuel side only)

but that costs you in cargo ability and range if you cant get LPG (couple of legs of the cape and some of the longer inland tracks could get interesting)

the td5 is in my opinion the way to go as it can make better power more economically than the v8 but consider this

If you buy a second hand V8 at a good price as a try out vehicle and decide you dont like it, if you clean it up right and fix the minor niggles its possable to sell it on in short order without much loss (on a good one you might even make a profit) its a cheap way of working out if you like a vehicle or not... Of course the down side is that if its a well dressed lemon......

I would suggest you take some D2's for a spin to get a general feel for whether you would prefer V8 or TD5, then workout whether to get earlier or later model. I own a 2000 V8 and love it but it does drink a lot, I would have bought a TD5 but did not have the funds when I was looking, my plan was to convert to gas but I still haven't done it. If i was buying again I would probably chase down a V8 with sequential gas already fitted. If you plan to do long distance touring then diesel would be the sensible option. You will find that it is cheaper in the long run to buy a vehicle with most accessories already fitted, I have noticed that there is a few good examples on the internet at the moment.
Cheers matt

Hey guys, I bought my 01 TD5 (135k on odometer) 2 years ago for $14.5, since then ive spent approx $5.5k on it as follows
Sort manifold, was warped and begining to whistle modified by Coopers
Safari snorkel
Chipped - well worth the money
Fuel cooler replaced
CDL - massive 4wd improvement
New tail shaft couplings
Rebuilt starter myself when the solenoid wore out
Its never let me down and is a real pleasure to drive to work and 4wd in the blue mountains.
I recomend Greame Coopers out at St Peters for my servicing, who have been very helpful where my knowledge runs out.
Unless i inherit enough to buy a new RR i cant see me replacing it in a hurry
TD5's are holding there value well so buy a good one.

I agree with the other comments of try to drive a few d2's both V8 and Diesel. Then just go for the one you like the most. It's often hard to know exactly what you want to build the car for. We all would like to think that the epic touring trips are what drives our choices but alot of the time we are all too busy with families and work that the most we can really expect is a weekend trip away or day trip somewhere close to home. So sometimes then fuel choice is less relevant and seat of you pants feel is a better choice as you will most likely have it as a daily drive and want it to double up on the weekends as a handy getaway vehicle that will take you and your people to where you want to go.

Either way Michael, I believe that any d2 in good condition be it bog stock or modified will make you happy. Best of luck with your decision.

Cheers

George.

WIthout trying to rubbish other people's ideas, I went for the 'spend extra on a good one' tactic. I didn't leave much extra and almost immediately it started costing me a lot of money, despite what seemed a good service history. After six months it destroyed a big end 400 km from home and I had to get a $10000 loan to get it on the road again. Six months later it spat a front prop shaft on the way from Sydney to Adelaide. Hopefully it will be good now, fingers crossed.

V8s when I was looking were nearly half the cost of a TD5, had around a quarter the kms and had generally done less off road. The reason I went for the TD5 was the range on a tank full was considerably more and I travel at night a lot.

Go for the best maintained, not just stamps in the book, but sight the receipts.

Jeff

:rocket: