Thread: L405 reliability

It was simple in principle but took a while to research and achieve. The cost was about double the cost of the factory build option, not helped by the freight cost of the diff from Lithuania.

Originally Posted by Lukeis

after reading this I can confirm I will not be retrofitting one. Well above my head

An aftermarket locker may be easier,but still probably a massive job,for very little return.

That is if there is one available that will fit.More than likely there isn't.

I had a drive of my sister’s 2015 D4 on Fraser in a difficult spot. Both my 2008 L322 and the D4 had open diffs and got through without any trouble. But the D4 with 8 speed and more modern TR did it with less hesitation. I was impressed. So for me a rear factory locker would be a nice to have but not essential.

My son Justin's MY10 D4 now has MY16 TR s/w which he says is very much better than the original, although it has the e-diff too.

I have a 2013 TDV6 and love it. There were several common issues on the 2013 model which should have been fixed under warranty. However, the first owner didn't fix any of them despite having an extended warranty. When I bought it in 2017 at 42,000km I had to do the necessary repairs at my own cost but there hasn't been a single fault since and I am now over 120,000km. I use mine almost exclusively for towing a large off road caravan so it is working hard most of the time, apart from when the caravan is parked during a trip.

In March we did 2400km non stop in 28 hours from a point 600km from the Sunshine Coast to the WA border to beat the WA border lock down, all towing the caravan with me driving and my wife mostly sleep. The whole trip to the border was 3000km and we did the first 600km between 3:00pm and 10:00pm with a short sleep before doing the next 2400km with only fuel stops combined with toilet stops at between 2 and 4 hour intervals depending on where the next fuel was. Whilst it was a dreadful thing to do neither of us had any aches of pains at any time. We then did the rest of the trip to Perth over the next two days.

My car obviously doesn't have the locking rear diff but I have never missed it off road. Compared with my 2010 D4 with a locking rear diff, the RRV is even more capable if anything, not less. I would like it for the stronger diff but it is not needed in off road conditions in my opinion.

Edit: I forgot, I did have to get new primary and secondary (auto stop start) batteries, mainly because the car was sitting around for a long time waiting to be sold initially and then waiting to be sold to me! I also had to replace the suspension compressor last year but I wouldn't be surprised if that was also due to long periods of no driving before I got it. It has made up for that now with three return trips across the Nullarbor since this time last year (all towing) and 80,000km since December 2017.

Ive only had my 17 V8 diesel for about a month, but have done about 5000km already. I don't drive for fuel efficiency as the engine is so damn good, but have averaged 8.9l/100. Looking through the service history, its had nothing other than scheduled servicing and some software updates..such a great car..

Thanks gents!

summit, do you mind if I ask what you paid for it? Can direct message me if you want to keep it private

Just chiming in on this thread. I have a MY16 L405 SDV8 Autobiography which
is just prior to ADD BLUE spec... so it has 105 ltr fuel tank instead of I think 86 Ltr in later models. For me the larger tank is a blessing when doing long trips with a van. Only issue todate is main battery needed replacing due to age and sitting waiting for me to buy it 2nd hand. Love it