Thread: Buying advice for 2005 D3 S

I disagree with those that say the coiler doesn't handle well on and offroad, I've been out with a few coil D3s on a number of occasions, actually the last time I was out with a D3 manual, was at the D3/D4/RRS weekend at Lithgow, he went everywhere we did, not a drama, they preform as well as the air suspension cars and certainly better than it's Jap counterparts.

As for the clutch, clutches are like children, look after them and they will be good, also there has been 2 updates on the D3 clutch since the initial problems, maybe even more, in the UK manuals are more common, and the problems were heat and too tall in 1st and reverse, I would imagin people used to slip the clutch too much causing too much heat, which help lead to the failures.

That is a very nice looking D3, it's in great nick, pretty good price too, I look at it this way, you could buy an auto and have all sorts of dramas with it also, not saying you will, but it could happen, buying any car second hand is a risk, actually buying new can be too.

Looking at carsales, $19,000 is a good price for the Ks and condition, soon as you go under 180,000ks the price goes up $5000 to $15,000.

Good luck with your decision and have a look under the car for any damage, that will give you an idea if it's been abused and whether it's done a lot of offroad..

Baz.

"have a look under the car for any damage, that will give you an idea if it's been abused and whether it's done a lot of offroad.."

Like ours eh Baz.

I have received some more detailed service history and it doesnt sound too good. It has been serviced by about 8 places all up, including some non Land Rover dealers in WA and NT. They may have been minor services whilst on a trip but this information along with lifted springs and a CB suggests it may have done some off roading.
It has not been consistently serviced by one place in sydney, and even the last place (Alto) could not recover the vehicle in their system (by VIN or rego)

Doesn't sound too good...

All else aside, if you're having doubts, and it sounds like you are, wait for something else to come along. Your gut feeling is often right

Martin

Thank you everyone for your help. I have cooled down on the car since researching the service history. I am still not completely discounting it however. Will possibly wait to see if it drops in price at all. I have spoken to the dealer and they have been told by another prospective buyer that it would nearly be due for the timing belts to be done as well as associated pully's and oil pump. They have since dropped the price to $17,200. Not bat for a 182,000k car.... This would all be so much easier if the car was in Victoria!

Originally Posted by PaulG

Thank you everyone for your help. I have cooled down on the car since researching the service history. I am still not completely discounting it however. Will possibly wait to see if it drops in price at all. I have spoken to the dealer and they have been told by another prospective buyer that it would nearly be due for the timing belts to be done as well as associated pully's and oil pump. They have since dropped the price to $17,200. Not bat for a 182,000k car.... This would all be so much easier if the car was in Victoria!

No not nearly due, are due now, timing belts were due at 160,000ks, so I would be asking for them to be done before purchase, if not, walk away!!!

Baz.

Originally Posted by Redback

No not nearly due, are due now, timing belts were due at 160,000ks, so I would be asking for them to be done before purchase, if not, walk away!!!

Baz.

I was going to mention that in my earlier post but thought with the "full service history" that it would have been done.
With the possibility that it hasn't, you should also check that a new oil pump with improved re-enforced webbing has been installed. The old part is likely to fail after the timing belt change which is catastrophic for the engine.

The 160ooo km service with diffs was nearly $2k from memory.