Hoping to buy my first D3

**bbyer** · 25th May 2011, 11:57 AM

Originally Posted by Deal Madrid

Thanks Neil. But you still love the car?

I would say that you have to as there is not a lot of logic to justify the cost of maintaining one properly.

I think with lesser vehicles one can kind of accept letting them run down and maybe even get away with it for quite awhile. If seems with cheap vehicles, one expects them to be cheap and if they are not, well no one will listen to your crying about repairs, hence no one cries about them.

The 3 is to me like owning a Bentley or Rolls etc - they have to be maintained or they just plain stop. Sometimes they even stop in spite of that and when that happens, it is a big deal. Consider the news reports if one of the RR security vehicles following the newly married Royals or the Queen had to be pushed to the side. Now consider the fuss, or the lack of it, if the broken down vehicle had been a Vauxhall - nothing would have been noted. The good news, well it was really no news, was that there were no sick Rovers that fine day.

I was grumbling to the owner of a shiny new F-250 who was admiring my 3 a few months ago that the LR dealer charges about $500 a corner for brakes. His response was what do you think the F-250 costs? It is also heavy, has disc's on all four corners, and his Ford dealer uses the same flat rate book as my LR dealer and his shop rates are the same as my LR dealer - well, about $500 a corner. As to the Bentley, well it is more, as they try to one up the Mercedes dealers.

Be happy, you will have the ride of choice for Kings and Queens - and it costs like it. That is just the way it is.

**Neil P** · 25th May 2011, 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by Deal Madrid

Thanks Neil. But you still love the car?

I like the handling and the ZF , but the seats suck and the CANbus
is way over the top. Everything else is just a 4x4. I wouldn't buy
another one because I've had 20years of Jap stuff and I was never
concerned about reliability/Dealer choice as I am with this. Audi A6
next , says Mrs P .........

**Mully** · 25th May 2011, 02:41 PM

Hey you can buy mine if you like.

I'm going tonight to look at trade in value but must say it is very reluctant as the D3 is an absolute beast and nothing is going to honestly measure up feature or capability wise without going to the improved 2009 or D4 versions. IMO the 2005 D3 is a dud waiting to happen over 100 thousand kms.

If trade value doesn't cover the outstanding dosh (a business financed vehicle), then I'll keep it and get on with the repairs that come along... be warned though that there do seem to be regular 'new' faults appearing the longer in the tooth these trucks get... the diff one is the last straw for me personally... the 2005 D3 should be all painted yellow or have a recall

for faults like that IMO.

Sadly the D3 has given me serious doubt about the Land Rover brand from 2005 onwards.. if they can't get basics like ball joint size right for example... then what exactly has happened to our beloved brand?

Hope this doesn't sound like a sook festival because I am merely venting some serious disappointment as I do love the D3...when it is not emptying your bank account... you can just get tired of the constant expensive faults that it simply should not be having.

Happy hunting and let me know if you want a test drive!

**CaverD3** · 25th May 2011, 02:55 PM

Ball joint was in 2005- too small- was replaced with a larger heavier duty one.
Early build of any vehicle can have issues most have been fixed in later models.
Check wth ALTO to see if the ball joints and bushes have been repalced.
Any vehicle of that age will start to need bits replaced. Allow for it in your cost to run. Having said that there are plenty of MY2005s with high milage and few problems.

**Drover** · 25th May 2011, 02:56 PM

Don't buy an '05 or '06 - They are dud's !

I had a late '05 (Dec) from new, it was nothing less than painful !

Sold it 2 1/2 years into the warrantee at 47,000k's. It spent more time at the dealers than with me.

You won’t dare own one out of warrantee.

I won't go on about specific problems but they are a "problematic" vehicle - Hey they have just been voted Europe’s most unreliable car.

I Think by '08 to '09 they were sorted, so if your dead set on a D3 get one of lthe ast one's.

Cheers
Grant.

**LSD_AUTOMOTIVE** · 25th May 2011, 02:59 PM

Welcome to the forum!

**gghaggis** · 25th May 2011, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by Drover

Don't buy an '05 or '06 - They are dud's !

I had a late '05 (Dec) from new, it was nothing less than painful !

I had an April '06 - 110,000 km - took far more abuse than it was ever designed for. Only ever let me down when I did something stupid (like mud in the diesel

)

My '09 never missed a beat, other than a plug in the electric fan harness breaking.

Mind you, I always chased up any TSB's, upgrades or recalls, and always insisted on software updates. Those are things you _should_ be proactive about in any modern vehicle. And something all used-car buyers should check.

Cheers,

Gordon

**Deal Madrid** · 26th May 2011, 09:55 AM

Many thanks for everyone's comments. It has given me real food for thought. In the end I have decided to pass on this particular D3, as the owner/dealer seems unable to answer any of my questions. It seems I am finally growing up and have put aside my impetuousness, for the time being at least. So my intended foray into LR World will have to wiat for a little longer. Not too long I hope.

Mike

**Mully** · 27th May 2011, 12:01 PM

Hiya Mike.... just a quick update since I decided to offload my D3. There is actually a lot to like about them... still. After looking at a few options since originally posting and while some of the D3 faults are due to poor/dumb engineering, their rectification and maintenance may actually outweigh other vehicle options due to the intense benefits of a well running D3... whatever the year.

I'm a bit hot or cold on my own D3 at the moment but I'm 'possibly' finding more reasons why it is worth keeping one than getting rid of one. Having said that, if someone offered me $40k right now, I'd probably say yes and grab another set of wheels just to have closure... but it would be sorely missed.

Cheers and definitely take your time and do your research.

**TerryO** · 28th May 2011, 08:55 AM

So Mully I'm getting a bit confused here, are early D3's the real dud as you have said or not?

Sounds like your changing your mind again.

As for having doubt about the Land Rover brand from 2005 onwards, have you owned pre 2005 Landies because they are not perfect or better than a early D3 either at any stretch of the imagination.

If someone wants a extremely reliable commuter vehicle that has bugger all problems then buy a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic they will go for nearly ever without fuss and with very low maintance bills and running costs.
But if you want a complicated 4x4 that is designed to try and do multiple tasks other than just commuting then be prepared for potential issues. I do not believe any true 4x4 is fault free or cheap to run and maintain and from memory just about every NRMA report on running costs for various groups of vehicles has backed that up.

The thing is the very design that makes late model Discoverys the great vehicles they are to drive and go successfully off road unlike just about any other vehicle can standard also makes them technically complicated which adds to the chances that things will go wrong and be expensive to fix.

Personally I'm prepared to put up with the issues my various Land Rovers have and or will have into the future as for me right now the benefits far outway the issues and when and or if I get sick of putting up with them then I'll just say enough is enough and move on.

Chances are though that I will remain a Land Rover owner for quite sometime into the future.

cheers,
Terry

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