Once bitten...

The 05 six cylinder SE D3 I drove was a petrol model and felt truly horrible, apart from being noisy and harsh it didn't ride as well as the V8's I've driven, it bumped all over the place, might have something to do with spring rates and dampening being set up for the heavier V8 possibly?

I know the D3 is a much better thing then the last of the D2's but what I'm asking is it really double the car and thus worth double the money?

Looking at it using my limited knowledge of both models I'd have to say both cars look very good, both cars drive well, both V8's have roughly similar fuel economy under similar driving conditions. The D3 has higher equipment levels, I'm guessing for the same model equivalent. The D3 has a superior cabin in size and dynamics and the D3 V8 is more powerful, but is it really worth double the money?

I was trying to compare the early 2005 D3's as I'm not in the market for a late model D3 no matter how much better they might be. That is if they are actually more refined or better then the first model?

The other consideration is a LR specialist told me recently that it is definately cheaper to keep a D2 on the road then a similar model D3 obviously the vehicles I'm looking at are out of warrenty.


Regards,
Terry O'Neill

You may find a D3 with an extended warranty still on it.
Remember that you re-sale will be higher on the D3.
Given what you are using it for you would be better witha V8 D3. Try looking for one of the V8s that came without the rear seats as you may not need them.

Thanks Caver I've decided to go down the D2 path partly given that what ever I buy will live outside on a farm. I can justify to myself a cheaper and older D2 getting scratched and always being mucky but not a relatively more expensive D3 copping the same abuse. If I still lived in town then I'd buy the D3.

Anyway thank you for the input.

Regards,
Terry O'Neill

Have owned D2's for the last 10yrs,and had the use of a D3 for a week recently,TDV6.The D3 is way nicer than the D2,bigger,more comfortable,quieter,smoother,quicker,etc.

Money wise the D2 is way ahead,cheaper to keep on the road.

The D2 is still a damn good vehicle,particularly the MY03 ones.

I havent upgraded as mine only has 70k on it,& why pay 75k+ for a vehicle if the one i have has nothing wrong with it & ticks all the boxes at the moment.
I would also rather take the D2 on the OTT up the cape than a new D4,which is the one i would get.

The more you spend on a vehicle,the more you will loose when you get rid of it.

Good luck with your decision....

It might be just me but bigjon's post above is enough to stop be "upgrading" from my D2 to a D3 - cant replace differential seals! My god I thought front universals instead of the D1's swivel hubs were bad enough on the D2...!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ozscott

It might be just me but bigjon's post above is enough to stop be "upgrading" from my D2 to a D3 - cant replace differential seals! My god I thought front universals instead of the D1's swivel hubs were bad enough on the D2...!

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It shouldn't be. You'll find examples of lemons with every make and model. What you need to look for a consistent pattern of faults. You'll find that with FL1, and dare I say D2. Not with D3. BigJon's post should be just one you add into the mix of many.

Another pro-D3 factor is far improved safety.

But the D2 may be a better bet as it'll be less expensive to buy and probably to run.

no - the point is not about lemons but serviceability after warranty...diff seals not being available is absurd...as is having to replace the D2 half shaft with CV instead of servicable joints but the point is that every later model of LR becomes more absurd and insanely expensive to run out of warranty...

The diff seals went for particular reason (oil contamination due to the coating on the diff housing) and the seals can be replaced as LRSA are supplying re-conditioned diffs instead. LR ar just good with their warranty as the contamination of the diff oil could cause more problems so it is easier to replace the whole diff unit. With Toyota you would be fighting to get the seals replaced for only a small leak of oil.
The diffs are now coated with a different product (black instaed of clear)
A lot of the D3 parts are actually cheaper than th D2's eg brake disks.
If something major goes wrong it can be expensive but the same for any vehicle especially 4WDs. Ever checked out Toybota prices?

It's what is called built in obsolesence. Having looked at many new vehicles lately especially european makes they are becoming more and more throw away cars once they hit a certain age and k's.

The reason I believe this is it will be very hard and expensive to service them especially with all the electronic gear they are stuffing in them now.

If you want an example of ridiculous parts prices look at a VW Tourag. The first ones side mirrors are reportedly about $2500 each! This was enough to scare me off of buying one second hand. The vehicle itself is one of if not the nicest things I've ever driven. It makes the D3 feel like a old tractor in comparision. The driving and level of luxury inside one of the up spec v8's is brilliant, the petrol comsumption would scare an Arab oil shiek out of owning one though.
But you can just tell that it would be a nightmare cost wise to service and buy parts for out of warranty with all the gizmo's fitted to it, so I gave the VW a wide birth.

I keep hearing the D3 will end up being much more expensive to service then a D2. So for a number of reasons I'm buying a D2 and I won't mind to much if the cows decide to chew bits off of it or give themselves a good scratch on it.

Regards,
Terry O'Neill

Like Caver's, I don't think the D3 is particularly expensive to repair. The point about the diff seals isn't that they _cannot_ be replaced, but that LR were replacing the entire assembly (at their cost) to ensure no further claims. In part this was probably a reaction to loss of consumer confidence in the Defender diffs that were failing.

I replaced an entire rear suspension strut - air-bag, shockie etc - for around $700. I thought that was pretty good. A complete new fuel tank, with lift pumps, filters etc was around $1500. I replaced the front wheel flares (black ones) for around $250 for the pair!

Maybe people should phone their local LR dealer and enquire on the spare parts prices. Sure, there may be one or two outrageously priced items (and every manufacturer has those), but in general they're not as expensive as some of you believe. And for the out-of-warranty, extreme-penny-counters, you can alway order parts from the UK, which are generally at a lower cost.

Cheers,

Gordon