Thread: Buying a D2, what to look for?

Originally Posted by Andrew D

People have varying experiences with Fuel on this website.

I have D2 (V8-2003) and city travel is generally high 17 to 18 litres per 100 km.

Highway is around 14 - 15/100 (pretty sure). To achieve 30/100 km pretty sure you are doing some hard towing and drinking at the bowser. One for the car, one for me. I would be filling my pants if I was chewing up 30 litres (something wrong with the rig).

Regards
Andrew

X2.
I agree with these numbers, and conclusions, 100%.
I am one of those sad people who have nothing better to do than log fuel consumption figures, and they bear out what Andrew has stated.

I have recently purchased a 2001 D2 V8 after months of searching. I managed to find on with one owner 79k genuine K's and full Land Rover service history (very expensive too).

I had the car checked over by Ayres Auto in Sydney a Land Rover specialist.

$99 for a pre purchase inspection. I do recommend this.

Usual stuff is

1) Head Gaskets? Minor weeping coolant and oil from the rear is normal for this model. However, if it seems excessive and drips the gaskets may need changing.

2) SLS Air suspension. Check for leaks and in the compressor works, the Air Bags are in good shape. You can switch with coils but the jury is out on that.

3) Electrics, press every switch! Also on the ES if it has the twin sunroofs climb up and check for any water in the frame. They are a little leaky. My sister had one and one day the headlining gave in not knowing there was a leak up there. (Rover cars with the same sunroofs did this too, 800 series etc)

4) Recall on the ABS system on 2004. Make sure this was done. Land Rover would have placed a label on the drivers side on the door frame confirming completed.

5) Door locks.

They are so much more comfortable than a Patrol or Prado i agree.

Fuel consumption aint great but it's a 2.5t V8 !! Its worth it.

Mine is a second car for adventures only, so glad i dont commute with the V8.

Ok so the nuts and bolts of this thing are..

I went and had a look at it and it is a pretty clean truck. Its got 238,000km on it which is a bit of a concern, as is the fact that it has everything electronic you could think of.

The leather is a bit work on the drivers seat, the surrounds for the handbrake and transfer shifter are worn, and some of the plastics are a bit faded. The handle for the sunroof is broken, and the stereo seemed to have an odd volume control.

It all looked clean underneath, and presented well enough. There were no signs of anything leaking after a drive, and it seemed to shift fine.

The water temp guage sat at about horizontal which was in the middle of the white zone (normal?)

Tyres are nearly new bridgestones, and it has a service history mainly by Bruce Lynton on the coast. There's a couple of ultra tunes and some private guys in the later history, but it has a history at least.

Its got $7990 on the window, and he's happy to clean swap my VE Omega with big kays so what are opinions on it? Am I buying someone elses lemon, or does it sound reasonable? You guys know these things better than I do.

Obviously depending on how many km you have on your VE, surely you're better trying to sell your VE privately? Every time I've consulted a dealer about "changeover" or "trade-in" price they're WAY OFF what I ended up getting privately. Most recently, I sold a BA2 XR6 falcon for $12k when the best a dealer had offered was $9k. Don't buy ANY dealer B.S either cos they are full of it. When I bought my disco (2004 TD5) I got it for $15k with 170km on it from interstate, a local dealer, big mob, had one the same with 150km on it for $28k. He tried to tell me how good a deal it was until i told him that unless he could beat $15k I wasn't interested. He tried to tell me that was below "wholesale" price, which is also BS really.

On carsales there's VE sedans with about 230km on them for over $10000 so surely you can get more than a $7500 trade in. Remember the dealer is making money if you buy the D2 and will make s$$tloads more if you trade with him on your VE.

One more story.... I traded a GQ patrol for $12k, the next day, he had it in the yard with $18k on the windscreen. He sold it two days later for $17k. I know this cos I ran into the new owner and sold him some bits and peices for it.

My opinion? Car dealers are out to make $$$$$, nothing wrong with that, but just remember it. They probably paid less than $5000 for the one your looking at.

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