Thread: How to buy a 2nd hand D4 in another state

Well curiously, I just got a voice mail from a friendly-sounding woman saying that she'd be getting the service history info for me together this evening and asking for an email address to send it to. I'm still "beware" but it'll be interesting to see what they have to show.

Originally Posted by TB

He did tell me that it’d been serviced in Darwin and Wollongong. So I rang them anyway with the VIN from the carsales report. The car had regular services up to 2015 and about 60K in Darwin, then a 70K and 90K a year apart in Wollongong... and now it has 138K on it with no further service history.

Buyer beware.

Topix have a 104,000Km/48 month service listed as being done at 105,162Km on 26-Jul-2016 (Doesn't say where), and the next service is Type: 130,000 km / 60 months - By 131,162 km or: By Date: 26-Jul-2017 (normal mileage) or 02-May-2017 (high mileage)

Originally Posted by TB

So I contacted the seller, asking politely if he had some documentation about its service history he could share with me. All I got was short comments about “full LR service history” and he wouldn’t directly answer me when I asked if he was OK with me calling the dealer to get some details about what was done and when. Eventually said, “Details are in the log book. If that's not good enough I'm not interested in selling. Thanks for your enquiry.”

He did tell me that it’d been serviced in Darwin and Wollongong. So I rang them anyway with the VIN from the carsales report. The car had regular services up to 2015 and about 60K in Darwin, then a 70K and 90K a year apart in Wollongong... and now it has 138K on it with no further service history.

Buyer beware.

If I received a response like that, I'd immediately lose interest in the vehicle, and I'd be looking elsewhere.
Pickles.

I know what you mean, Pickles. That’s pretty much what I did. Then I got a perfectly friendly and reasonable voicemail, and Kelvo shows that dealer service has been kept almost up to date (it looks like it’s due for another now).

There’s a 2010 D4 (TDV6 3.0, 6-speed, no e-diff, 7 seats, no frills) which is being fully serviced by British Off Road (LCAs replaced, gearbox flush and new pan, engine belt done or something) and sold with 12 months warranty for just under $40K drive away. That’s my first pick right now.

But the better spec of the Carsales one is really appealing. Given that it’s ~4 years old now I wonder if getting them to do the current service and then taking out some extra warranty makes it a safe enough buy. Reckon I’m up for more like $50K once all that adds up though.

The Darwin Disco with questionable service history is out of the picture. I test drove the other car at British Off Road today – my first time in a D4 and I loved it.

Got a bit excited when the 4x4 info screen showed me icons for both the centre and rear diffs. In rock crawl mode the centre one went locked and the rear one stayed unlocked. I thought to myself that this meant a locking rear diff was fitted and it would lock automatically as required. However BOR says there's just an open diff at the back and as I look in TOPIX it says the same there. Is it normal for a D4 to show both diff icons even when the rear diff is permanently open?

VIN is SALLAAAF3AA533801 if anybody is interested.

Regardless of diffs, I think I'm hooked. What an amazing machine to drive. I think it should be a brilliant platform for getting out of the city as often as possible in the next 5 years.

Originally Posted by TB

Is it normal for a D4 to show both diff icons even when the rear diff is permanently open?

Yes for the older info screen. MY14+ shows the correct setup.

Scott

FYI i have bought 2 car`s for my self and one for a friend (3) interstate over the years and had them checked out by our friendly knowledgeable forum members with nill effects
Hell i still own one now i bought in 2013 and still going strong with out any drama`s much to a fews disappointment

VIN decoder shows it as an open rear diff.

SALLAAAF3AA533801 Land Rover Discovery III 2010 - VinDecoderz.com is a free VIN number lookup and vehicle history report provider

Rear Axle Differential - Rear Axle Open Diff [027CB];