Thread: Contemplating an early D3 - thoughts..

Went down to the yard on Sunday to get the missus on board, but the D3 I was looking at was absent.
Called them today and a walk in bought it after selling his car.
Gutted.

Originally Posted by Cliffy

Went down to the yard on Sunday to get the missus on board, but the D3 I was looking at was absent.
Called them today and a walk in bought it after selling his car.
Gutted.

Don't despair. When we were looking for our D4 I had my heart set on two different demo cars but was waiting for a house sale to go through before I would commit to buying. Missed out on both, one by only a couple of days. Ended up getting a new HSE with digital radio thrown in for less than the price of either of the demos. Your's is out there - be patient

Regards,
Martin

Originally Posted by Cliffy

Went down to the yard on Sunday to get the missus on board, but the D3 I was looking at was absent.
Called them today and a walk in bought it after selling his car.
Gutted.

I had a similar thing happen to me when I was looking. In fact the very first D3 I had a look at sold only a couple of hours before I got there. Was a shame to because out of all ones I looked at it was possibly the neatest

When you consider the price of a new one, spending a few bucks on a good second hand one is not a bad way to go , as the older ones feel just as good on the road as the newies , just don't smell new .

Might be a good thing, gotta sell the 130 first and I want to look at a couple of D4's although they might still be out of my budget.

I feel, despite bad spin, that all the vehicles in the Marque are extremely well designed and expertly engineered to last the miles.


All 'machines' have faults - I have had heaps of Landie's and never been disappointed with reliability, functionality or performance.


D3's were a 'State of the Art' machine in '05 and IMHO are purpose built to do the miles x 100K's - just like the hundreds of earlier LRs , D1 D2 and RRC on the road and in the bush every day.


I bought a High Mileage D3 (HSE V8) a while back and have had minimal 'issues' to date.


Even if I do have mechanical repair expenses in the future, I believe when you look at the $ outlay of a newer vehicle with less mileage - you can cover a lot of repairs with the difference (which may not be needed anyway).


AND ANY vehicle not 'under warranty' has a likelihood of repairs required.


I am expecting to get years of joy out of My Landrover as I have in the past. I look forward to driving this car at every opportunity and always feel confident in its mechanical condition.


I personally chose the V8 after extensive internet trolling (after owning a D1 200 tdi oil 'miser' for 12 years) due to my belief that second hand Diesels (not buying new - mind you) do have significantly higher maintenance costs and potential for repair expenses. Some would argue this point of course .


My consideration was for timing belt changes, (not required on V8 'chain') high pressure Diesel pump, higher failure rate on the injectors -( a perception only) and lets not forget the turbos - they can add up to a bit $ and are spinning away at extreme temps and revolutions constantly.


Admittedly there are not as many V8's out there to break down compared to the posts on TDV6 , as many have stated, but its a pretty smooth Jag engine, so there is no down side IMHO.


If you are not doing heaps of miles then a few extra $ at the pumps is well outweighed in my calculations.


No matter the engine choice, the spec choice, the M year or dollars spent - I doubt anyone regrets their spending in the long term.


Happy hunting


steve

Hi there. Saw your post and thought I might be useful:-)


I have had several land rovers, including an 05 HSE D3 and (now) a 2010 D4. My advice is a late model D3 / early model D4 would be the way to go. I loved my D3 (after a Defender), but it cost lots of $$$ to maintain. In a nutshell: the compressor for the air suspension, bushes and suspension chip went in a year. The next year, my tailgate locked and needed to be 'operated' on. I started to get a lethargic start that nothing could fix (even replacement glow plugs) and I had a small leak from an o-ring in my steering column that required an entire wishbone... All under 140 K too. That said, I reckon the new owner got a rock-solid product!


These issues were not an isolated problem with the earliest of the D3 models. I think mine was actually built in 2004, and was the first model. Apparently many of these things were rectified by mid-2007. To be safe, I'd go for MY07 or greater.


On the other hand, I got my D4 (92K) only three months ago for a great price. Never looked back (just make sure you get 18 versus 19 inch rims!)


Cheers


Nick

Here we go again...
Found another candidate for the stable.
2005 tdv6 D3.
Inspection tomorrow and depending on outcome the hammer may be dropped.
130 up for sale. My back just can't take it any more.