Thread: D3 operating costs for different engines

Still undecided Willem? Did you pull the plug on the HSE?

RRS 08MY TDV6
THE GOOD
Fuel - at 9.6L/100km (real consumption, dash shows 9,1) around the Adelaide Hills and 40% city driving. I usually fuel up at my local indy who charges only 131.9 at the moment for diesel. That puts fuel at $126.50 per 1000km. Add $3.00 for 350ml 2 stroke oil which I run in the diesel. Towing a 1000kg camper around Victoria including the Grampians national park the car achieved 10.5l/100km (showed 9.9) which I thought was pretty damn good considering some of the hilly terrain. On the actual drive to Melbourne to pickup the camper, the car achieved 1010km from 80L travelling at average 110kmh. The engine has plenty of power (I owned a 366kw Audi before this so I'm qualified to say that!) and is very smooth.
THE NOT SO GOOD
Maintenance - I picked up my car with an already high 150K. I picked it because it was in fantastic condition and actually ran better than the lower mileage cars I had tested. I service it myself every 10,000km using Penrite Enviro+ 5/30 and OEM filters. That costs about $90.
Since then I've also done the following:
-alternator + battery - $650 + $200. ($850)
-oil pump, timing belt, all rollers, aux belt, aux belt tensioner - $400 + $80 + $25 + $130 + $95 + $50 misc costs ($780)
-replaced trans fluid (megaflush) + new pan and filter. That was expensive since I had already done a double flush. $460 (6L from local ford dealer) + another $450 (15L from UK) + Pan/filter $330. ($1240) If I had known it wouldn't really fix my shudder I would've just put the money towards a new torque converter!

So $2740 over 33K km and I don't know what had been done under warranty before I bought the car. The oil pump issue and timings belts etc doesn't affect the petrol varients, but the other issues would. Based on my experiences I will be budgeting around $250 per 10,000km for maintenance over and above the actual service, which is under $100.

I'm hoping that all in all they're not that expensive to run and genuine parts from the UK are available at a price that often surprises me (ie, the oil pump at only $80).

THE UGLY
Bottom end parts are not available for the TDV6. That means if something goes wrong, you're forking out for a short or long motor (depending on what actually does go wrong). Some people here in Oz have said there isn't much change from $20K for this operation. The good news is that most TDV6's go very far if looked after correctly. The common failures are:
-timing belt tensioner mount fails (reason for replacing the oil pump with updated design)
-main bearings fail (this appears to be more common in countries with suspect oil quality ie - South Africa) - often take the crankshaft them.

While the 6HP26 is generally a reliable box, the fact that it has no service schedule can end its life early on - the torque converter being the first to go. Coolant contamination from the radiator heat exchanger can also kill the whole box. That said, the box should be serviced with at least a flush every 75-100K km. A drive in drive out replacement of the box will cost about $6500.

Hope that helps - I'm sure someone will be along soon for the petrol models.

Originally Posted by sheerluck

Still undecided Willem? Did you pull the plug on the HSE?

Yeah, still undecided. I did pull the plug on the HSE It just started to add up to too much.

Personally I'd prefer the V8, but I am open to the diesel. I am wondering if the diesel extra maintenance costs offset the lower fuel costs. I am also wondering about LPG on the V8.

I also think that it may be worthwhile buying the V6 petrol if the price is right. Parts may be cheaper - I think it shares some parts with the Ford Exploder so that may be a source of parts.

So I am pretty open ... which is why some info on the actual operating costs would be useful.

Willem

Willem

I had LPG fitted to my D3 V8 and it runs just fine. It also gives you more range. I filled up on LPG last weekend and the price was 64.9 per litre for LPG. With my Woolies 8c discount I ended up paying 56.9 a litre!! Cost for LPG install was just under $5000 and I got $1500 back of the govt so cost $3500.
HTH

Ivan

Originally Posted by Ivan

Willem

I had LPG fitted to my D3 V8 and it runs just fine. It also gives you more range. I filled up on LPG last weekend and the price was 64.9 per litre for LPG. With my Woolies 8c discount I ended up paying 56.9 a litre!! Cost for LPG install was just under $5000 and I got $1500 back of the govt so cost $3500.
HTH

Ivan

What sort of tank did they fit and where?
I was toying with the idea of getting the V8 and getting it converted to LPG before I bought the diesel.

They fitted an 80ltr tank in place of the spare wheel. I get about 350k's from the gas tank running around town.

Regards

Ivan

The only problem with fitting LPG is the top end will need redoing after roughly 100th k"s.

I had this problem with a 92 falcon ute that I put LPG on when I first got it.
They had to replace with heavy duty components designed for LPG vehicles.

Something to think about..

cheers

Calcs for LPG make me wonder if it will ever pay itself off. considering potential damage to engine top end (should be factored into any saving on running costs).

So 350 Km from 80 litres is ballpark 4.5 km / per lit. @ $0.65 avg
= 22.2 lit per /100km x .65c = 14.30 per 100km

compare against petrol avg of 13lits / 100km - 7.6 km per litre @ $1.60 per lit approx $20.00 / 100km

Approx saving of $6.70 per 100Km = $67 /100km = $670.00 /10,000kms = $6,700.00 /100,000kms

if installation ($3,500) and the 100,000km approx 'head job' (assuming you get 100k before you need one and if second hand with many kms already clocked , its my guess you won't get that before you need one) are less than $6,700.00 you may be ahead. (marginally) but I doubt thats the case..

It seemed, for my cals when I considered LPG , to be an outlay of false economy.

I may be wrong?