Thread: D3 Advice on buying car

My 5c
Go the SE, you get air suspension as standard and a few other godies not available on the S as well as 7 seats. You can always pull the back row out or leave them folded.Seven seats available on the S but packaged with Air suspension I think.
Air suspension give a far better ride and seems to be reliable after initial bugs were sorted.
If you are doing reasonable kilometres hang out for the TDV6, if only a weekend plaything maybe look at the petrol.
Can't comment about Purnell.
Regards,
Tote

Chilly,

Which version would you buy. E.g the S or SE?
The SE. That way you get the air suspension, 7 seats and all the fruit.

Can the S be converted to SEVEN seats?
Don't know but doubt it. To have 7 seats you have to have the air suspension and TR, which I think are factory-fitted options.

For outback driving would you prefer springs over air suspension and which gives the better ride?
There was a debate about this on the site a few months ago. My opinion is the ride with the air is fantastic. Then you've got the superior off road capability that air and TR bring. Also self-leveling for towing.

I see Purnell of Sydney have a 2005 Diesel S with a bull bar and winch for $50000. A good buy?
How many Ks? For another 14k you can get a brand new V6SE.

What about them as a company? No idea.

Also looking at a Green 2005 S at ULR Melbourne for $43000. What about them? Again the question of Ks.

O and what about fuel economy on the petrol 4.0? Poor/reasonable/good?
My V6SE returns 16 around town and 11.4 on the hwy.

Has anyone converted one to LPG?
Don't think there's an approved kit in Oz yet.

Cheers.

Go the SE, it's got loads more kit, here's the differences between a 2005 S spec (coil sprung) and a 2005 SE spec::

The "SE" has the following that the "S" doesn't:

Electronic Air Suspension
Terrain Response
Automatic Climate Control (dual zone)
Bi-Xenon Headlights (amazing brightness & clarity at night)
18" rims
Rear park distance control
Front Fog Lamps
Automatic Headlights
Headlight power wash
Rain sensor controlled wipers
Electro-chromatic rear view mirror (auto dipping)
Interior Footwell lamps
Door mounted puddle lamps
Row two complex 35:30:35 split & fold down rear seat (as opposed to just a 65:35 split in the 5 seater)
Row three fold down seats (go completely flat into the load space floor)
Row three head airbags
Row three 12v accessory socket
Row three map lamps
Wading depth is higher than the coil sprung version (at 700mm)

The terrain response is now legendary and any car review will tell you what's so great about it.

The air suspension has more advantages than just being able to go up and down in a few seconds - It also cross links the air-bags so when required it has the advantages of a solid axle off-roader (like a Defender but without the diff hanging down low). Another relatively unknown feature is that if the car thinks it stuck, it can raise the suspension even further into "extended mode" which is even higher than the user selectable "off-road" height.

Hope this helps.

Jon

I have done most major outback tracks and roads in vehicles other than my TDV6 SE but after owning the SE for 3 months now I can assure you however that the SE will out perfrm the rest. The extras on the SE far outway the cost. Just make sure you buy the diesel as I was told by that the petrol is extra thirsty.

WOW!

Some fantastic advice and great help.

Thank you all.