Thread: Needing some suggestions

Td300 D1: Simple, reliable minimum electrickery.
Td5 D2: Slightly more sparky bits, but not overly complex, a Nanocom can do much of the thinking for you.
D3 and 4 scare me to death. A not uncommon, random engine failure can quickly ruin you day and financial situation.
Just my thoughts.

I have a 2.7 D3, know/known people with cross section D2s, and have had a D1 Tdi.

For comfort and towing, the D3 is perfect. For very good towing and comfort, the D2. For adequate towing and comfort, the D1, although the D1 seats are hard to beat, in my opinion.

From your list of usages and if I was in your position, a well maintained D1 Tdi would be my choice.

Whack on some Bilstein shocks and King springs and away you go!

Originally Posted by d1disco

I was after a biased view on Land Rovers

You've come to the right place. Do you need it to be diesel? V8 D3s are pretty good. I personally would stick with the D3, petrol or diesel, if I was going to move up, but that's just me. If you drive one of the 3s or 4s you won't want anything else, so be warned.

But, as Steve says, a good D1 is hard to beat. Even my not so good one was great. TDis are a little slow towing, but you can play with the tuning yourself, as long as you have an EGT gauge.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Td300 D1: Simple, reliable minimum electrickery.
Td5 D2: Slightly more sparky bits, but not overly complex, a Nanocom can do much of the thinking for you.
D3 and 4 scare me to death. A not uncommon, random engine failure can quickly ruin you day and financial situation.
Just my thoughts.

What Ian said,for D3/4,it is not just engines that cause issues.
If you can't do the work yourself,maybe give the brand a miss,if you can,and can afford to have the vehicle off the road every so often,then give one a go.
Not much around rides and handles like a D3/4.
We had one for 9 1/2 yrs,so have some experience with them,and D2s for 15 yrs.
The D2 is still a great vehicle,but they are getting pretty old,and don't have the ride and handling of a D3/4.But simpler and generally easier to repair.
The D3/4 are also getting on a bit,so repairs will be needed.

Thanks for the words of advice.
I'm not incapable of working on the car, don't mind a bit of youtube, and actually with my neighbours, and mates up the road, I'm sure between us, we could really get what ever needed doing done.

It used to be a time thing, but i'm more willing to make time these days.

In regards to the V8s, what would be the advantage of the V8 be over the diesel?

is the 3.0L TDV6 preferred over the 2.7TDV6?

I've looked at the option of an engine swap also. Which would make the D3/D4 better options?
For those in NSW i'm looking at being able to cruise around places like Bendethra, Putty Adventure Park, Wee Jasper and places like these. Nothing extreme, but not smooth sailing either.
I would like to do longer trips, at some point, like the Cape, and victorian Highlands.

I need to do some more viewing on the forum in regards to the different series.

Loved my 300tdi, which I only recently sold.
Electronics of the later models worried me back when I wanted to buy it, why I passed on a D2 or D3 back then.

Brother bought his D2TD5(now mine). Took about a year to get it reliable to the point I now trust it to not let me down.
He got himself a newer vehicle about 2020ish and kind'a gave up on the D2, so I took it off him. Because it cost so much(mainly misdiagnosis) but even then parts that did fail did cost a bit.
Suspension was totally shot, and it rode like it compared to the D1. I changed to Les Richmond springs and bilsteins and a few other rubber bits down there(still have to change all the major bushes) and completely changed the way it now rides.
I think the major issue down there is the watts link bushes.

So I've had it 5 years, not far off 100K klms I've done and the only problem it gave me was my misdiagnosis of a rear noisy wheel bearing, where in fact it was a front drivers. I could hear the noise, couldn't feel it through the wheel nor get it to wobble via jimmy bar at the wheel. But it totally collapsed and had to get it towed!
Once the electronics have been sorted D2 can be just as reliable.

I used the tdi to tow the D2 home and back then the turbo was on the way out. It's all flat out here and the D1 struggled to get to 80k/h. Anyhow turbo cartridge changed and it did drive better, but compared to a Td5, a tdi will struggle a lot more when towing for sure.

Like Saitch said tho, D1 seats a heaps more comfy, but D2 seats are still Ok. I say that from the perspective of having a buggered right knee, and I need underthigh support from the seat, or my knee gets sharp pains. In the D1 I can sit with leg resting on cushion for hours on end no worries. In the D2 the seat base is shorter so I usually end up with cruise on and sitting with my right leg pulled back(ie. off the seat base). FWIW, I have two peugeots too, and have to drive them the same way as the D2. D1 has the more comfy seat there.
In the end I had to let the D1 go. I drive it 1000klms in over a year, mainly because the D2 drives a bit better, despite the seat.

If you do go for a D2, something to watch for is that about 2002-ish, LR did remove the locking mechanism on the transfer box and relied only on traction control. So not only do you not have easy central diff locking, where some earlier models have the mechanism, just no lever to do it ... the last of the pre update models had no mechanism at all(mine is like that). I have to change out the nose cone on the transfer case to get these mechanisms if I want diff lock there.

The better D2 are the D2a, but then they come with the issue that front and rear lights are hard to come by and more expensive, but if you want locking centre diff, its all there! But because of the lights 'issue' can be harder to get a roadworthy if there are cracks that the mechanic complains about.

Also, Td5 can be made to be more than adequately powerful/torquey enough to pull a trailer with a remap. Tdi can also be made a bit more powerful, but takes some time to tweak, unless you have access to a dyno.

I don't think durability is about being made on a friday or monday issue, it's about how have the previous owners looked after it?

I have one 'made on friday/monday' trouble maker(V8 D2 with dead engine) but all other D2s I have, or have experience with to date, have been more about previous owner care. Did they care about reliability or pose factor?

Originally Posted by d1disco

Thanks for the words of advice.
I'm not incapable of working on the car, don't mind a bit of youtube, and actually with my neighbours, and mates up the road, I'm sure between us, we could really get what ever needed doing done.

It used to be a time thing, but i'm more willing to make time these days.

In regards to the V8s, what would be the advantage of the V8 be over the diesel?

is the 3.0L TDV6 preferred over the 2.7TDV6?

I've looked at the option of an engine swap also. Which would make the D3/D4 better options?
For those in NSW i'm looking at being able to cruise around places like Bendethra, Putty Adventure Park, Wee Jasper and places like these. Nothing extreme, but not smooth sailing either.
I would like to do longer trips, at some point, like the Cape, and victorian Highlands.

I need to do some more viewing on the forum in regards to the different series.

I did the VHC in2007. In 2005, Sandover H'way, Gibb, Gunbarrel, Simmo and a lot of tracks in between, all in the D1. Nary an issue. (One slow release puncture)

I'd be ****tin' bricks the whole way, if I did it again in the D3.

I love to drive it and it has never let me down, but......

EDIT: I threw a tranny cooler on the D1, for towing.

Never doubted my 2.7 D4...

Always serviced properly (by me), always maintained - not repaired....

I'll take it anywhere, anytime, with utmost confidence.