Thread: L322 questions.

Brad
Once you really drive one your hooked

The common problem with the Td6 are auto failure in the early models ! plenty of info on this forum regarding this. Radiator issues with V8 same again posts on here, this is usually more maintenance issue with older vehicle. Air suspension problems are usually time related fatigue failures of the airbag, compressors can be rebuilt cheaply. All other off roaders will now have these problems as the follow the RR's air suspension route. If you think RR parts are dear ! check out the prices for the new Jeeps with air suspension.
At the moment you can source parts from the UK/Europe and have them delivered to your house in 7 days or less for 50% or more of the cost from LR Australia.
The one thing I would love to see for the early L322's though is a locking diff. The Active/Electronic diff was only available from 2007 onwards.

The only must have item you need is a fault reader / re-set tool; again many posts here on the different models available. All new vehicles are so electronic fault dependable, I would have one regardless of the make of vehicle.

Don't forget all those 4x4 repair shops you see are fixing Toyos, Nissans etc they are having problems too !! If you follow a good maintenance programme you will lower your chances of a failure. Plenty of info and videos available on here and on FFrr the English L322 Site for repairs and modifications.

You can pickup a good TDv8 for around $60k "my personal preference" though mileage will a bit higher, but still under 100k; than a v6 in the Sport. A little tickle will see a very reliable 200Kw and 700 Nm of torque.

Laurie

As mentioned, the GM trannie in the early TD6's is the biggest concern. I haven't heard of many issues with diffs as you mentioned, apart from the trannie the drivetrain is generally good.

All in all, I have found ours to be very reliable apart from early issues with the trannie. Just be aware that the cheaper end of the market will have higher KM on them - this is not necessarily a bad thing, but as the KM reach around 180 to 200KKM then things will need to be done if they haven't already been - like any car as it gets older.

Front air struts, inline fuel pump, tank fuel pump, brakes, suspension bushes etc. none of them are hard to do, nor that expensive either. The TD6 engine is bulletproof and will last for many years, even with high KM.

Ours has over 200,000KM on it now and it still feels tight, is rattle and speak free despite it being used off road now and then. You will be hard pressed to find a better built car.

Oh, and like a lot of modern vehicles, they chew through batteries. More than 2 years from a battery and you be doing well. They will start to throw all sorts of strange fault codes when the battery is on the way out.

Be aware, once you buy one, you will be hooked.. Buy it and love it!

Hey Brad - buy mine!! It is in the markets section

Issues we've had with ours are just the usual stuff. New front diff replaced under warranty. Front airbag suspension kept going down slowly, so they got replaced last year (simple to do yourself BTW - and not too expensive if you get the parts from UK).

Less serious items are things like the pixels in the centre display console going dead, and every 2 or 3 months the 10-stacker CD player decides it won't play CDs, so you have to disconnect the battery for 10 seconds, and then it is happy again.

It's been very reliable, although ours is not high KMs so maybe they get bigger problems when the Kms get bigger, but have been very happy with it.

A lot of car for the money.

HTH
David

One more question, in terms of DIY, I remember my old Rangies were very easy to work on (needed to be lol!). I developed mechanic skills I never thought I had (rebuilding gearboxes, engines, suspension etc). Are these newer models similar to work on or do you need specialist tools and equipment.

I am going to the Gold Coast to test drive a few tomorrow. If we like the car (we being the missus), I might follow up with you on your vehicle David.

I have found them very easy to work on. Unless you open up the engine, there aren't any special tools you will need. A good set of basic hand tools will do most things on them.

A word of warning - if you test drive one, you WILL want one...

Iam test driving a few up at the Gold Coast. One is an 02 V8 with 125k on the clock for $25000. Be interesting to see what the difference between the diesel and petrol is. I currently drive a V8 petrol 200 series cruiser so am no stranger to high fuel consumption (16l/100km around town). The diesel sounds good but no good versions around here and David's car is over in Adelaide.

25k seems almost too cheap for a car that retailed for $189k 10 years ago!

When I replaced my front airbag springs, I got a little plug in device from a Canadian company called GAP IID. It plugs into the ODB II (??) socket under the dashboard.

This puts up menu items on the RR dashboard to allow you to read (and reset) error codes, and set the height of the suspension and a whole lot of of other things too.

Without a tool like this, you have to take it to a dealer. From memory, it cost me about $350, which was worth the cost just on one job (the front spring replacement).

The V8 is a very nice drive.. I liked it more than the diesel but couldn't justify the extra fuel myself. If you don't mind that, then you should be very pleased with how it goes.

Economy would be about the same as your cruiser.

I can get down into the low 9's on the freeway with the diesel and about 12 around town