Thread: Long term cost of ownership :Discover 4 vs Prado

This thread is mainly about buying a new vehicle but resale has been mentioned and many people on here own late model secondhand Disco's and I reckon buying secondhand can be even more tricky than buying new because often there is little or no warranty and a new owner faces potential expensive repair bills over time.

As some of you would know about five months ago I brought a second hand MY10 V8 D4, one owner 59k on the clock and absolutely 100% like new apart from bald tyres.
As everyone wants diesels and mistakenly believe the petrol V8 costs to much to run I ended up buying it for less than 40% of its new price and about 10k to 15k less than a similar year diesel HSE. Any HSE is a good thing but most have few or no options fitted on the other hand the D4 V8 comes with every single option Land Rover offer standard.
My preference was always to get a V8 petrol D4 anyway given I know how much it costs to maintain a diesel D3, but my point is just because everyone wants the popular model doesn't always mean they are the best buy secondhand or they are anymore suitable than another less popular model.
I worked out given what I paid for it I will have to do over 200,000 kilometres before the diesel even starts to get close to making sense financially and that doesn't take into account possible major parts replacements in that time that many diesels end up needing and what concerned me about the twin turbo 3 litre.

Apart from that the most important thing is the V8 is easily the best vehicle I have ever owned and we drive it everyday because its fun to drive and to me that's more important than buying a vehicle because of better resale value.

I paid $55,000 for a Prado in 1997. That included the Toyota bull bar, 3rd party window tint, dealer add on Toyota Air con, Toyota tow bar (made by Hayman Reece I think), front bonnet guard, door edge protectors, carpet mats.

20 months ago its starter motor played up. It cost $320 for reco one. Instead of having it cleaned (the copper tarnishes on them).

The interior light switches are giving up now - the map light ones don't work.

When I drove the vehicle after the starter motor replacement, I realised they stopped the 2nd fuel tank from working. They then claimed its pump had failed. But offered me a bargain $400 replacement. I took it to Midas who found the pulled wire, and charged me $20 for that.

Anyhow, that Prado took us from Melbourne to Byron Bay for the Blues fest, with the roof rack full of stuff, fridge in the back, etc etc, and its Petrol (diesel came a few years later) and it got in the 12 litres per 100km region, genuine fuel use too.

The biggest problem I've had with that vehicle is windscreens braking.

I did the suspension too in around 2004. Instead of trading up to a diesel 120. I didn't like the old diesel in the much heavier 120 series.

Now, the Prado is worth maybe $4k at best. Yet its mechanically excellent. And the seats are excellent too. 150 GLX Prado seats are as hard as iron. They need a foam overlay and then sheep skin seat covers. But the D4's base model seats are only comfortable IMO when they are in their lowest position.

So - while a Prado can be reliable - and the 90 series was - that doesn't mean it holds its value. My GLX has a reputation for high fuel use. But that's because it takes 4,000km for the higher octane to be accepted by the strange Prado computer.

IMO there's a magic line where when vehicles cross, they loose their appeal. The LC 100 series Turbo diesel had a line way off in the distance.

I bought a good value Kakadu Prado, which was a perfect vehicle. It was the 2012 revised model, which had the upgraded 150 suspension which was the same as the revised in appearance 2013 Prados. I then bought an over 2 tonne trailer, which a ball weight of close to 300kg. The Prado could not tow that. Plus - Kakadus are not meant for the bush. IMO. To raise them is a nightmare. Only one guy in Australia (in Geelong) does it properly. The KDSS plays tricks. The Geelong guy imports an American suspension for raising the Kakadu. You loose your adjustable ride suspension, but it handles better.

Anyhow, I sold the Kakadu for much the same as I paid for it. After 9 months of ownership. Moral there is to buy well, and sell it properly.

I'm now getting a D4.

As to its depreciation, it sure will, but I did buy it well. And I got a discount on the warranty extension (its only two years though, but can be cashed in).

Its quite possible that the magic line for when a D4 falls in value, may move forwards. It might happen if D4s don't have major issues. I think all D4 owners can live with air pump failures after 4 years or so. I think the cost of a D4 in 5 years time will be on average - after a big repair - $1,000 a year more than an LC200. But that the fuel savings of the D4 will likely make up for that.

If the new Discovery coming, looses its monocoque - as the Range Rover Sport did - then I think the heavier, more fuel burning, but full hybrid chassis monocoque crazy expensive to build Disco D3/D4 build may be very highly valued for towing. And if Tata do a good job and the vehicles have longevity built into them and better reliability, then depreciation may not be much greater than some Toyotas.

I think that if Land Rover changed the oil more, then Land Rovers would last longer and would gain a better reputation. i suspect that if someone bought a used Land Rover such as a Range Rover sport or discovery, and followed Land Rover's service intervals, they might be OK. But if they towed heavily with it and went outback with a decent trailer, I reckon if they followed Land Rover's scheduled maintenance, they end up having lots of costly issues. I think if you work a vehicle hard, then you have to change to vitals much more often, or the price will have to be payed via failures down the track when the mileage starts to get significant.


As to long term life in a D4, i've yet to find that out. A close relative of mine though had to sell his D3, a 4.4 V8, and it was only worth $15k. I guess it crossed a magic line - the D3 is not loved. Who knows though right now, about D4s? They are not very easy to find cheap and with low kms IMO.