Thread: L405 reliability

Originally Posted by Lukeis

What’s your fuel consumption like in the v8? I tow a 3.4t van and would hate to burn through tons of petrol for costs and environment reasons

You won’t use up much petrol in a V8 diesel!!

The TDV6 is over 200kg lighter and has a higher payload than the TDV8, which is a big plus. It is especially economical with the 8 speed transmission but The TDV6 still uses between 16 and 20 l/100km towing my 3t Zone RV Off Road caravan.

Originally Posted by Lukeis

What’s your fuel consumption like in the v8? I tow a 3.4t van and would hate to burn through tons of petrol for costs and environment reasons

From a Facebook site: member who tows. Kedron and averaging 15.9/100 towing

That 15.9 would probably be in a no wind situation. Any sort of head wind quickly increases the fuel consumption with large caravans and a tail wind greatly reduces it.

I think the TDV6 would be working a lot harder than the TDV8 so I think it may use more fuel when towing. It may use slightly less when not towing though, although there is probably nothing in it. Both are in the high 7 to low 8 region measured fuel consumption when not towing I think.

One thing I have found with my TDV6 is that the reported fuel consumption is actually slightly lower than the measured value when towing but when not towing it is slightly higher. This is good because it means I can rely on the very important range value on the display when towing and the next fuel stop is important to know with the small fuel tank. If the range reduces faster than the actual distance to go I have found that I can slow down a bit until the range matches the distance. I had a lot of practice at this on my pre lockdown trip across Australia trying to minimise fuel stops. The only issue is that the car still has about 8l of fuel left when the range is zero, which is a bit if a welcome safety margin.

Originally Posted by CSBrisie

From a Facebook site: member who tows. Kedron and averaging 15.9/100 towing

I also get around the 15-16 ltr/100 towing 3.2t.
This is a recent weight check.

Now there is a thought - how much did the car weigh?

i was stunned to see 2840kg on the weigh bridge at the dump/tip/refuse Centre last weekend on my 17 V8 and I had about 50kg of stuff and me at 80; fuel and then I guess I’ve added a few options like extra battery, ARB compressor etc. but I thought at most I’d see 2500kg.

Interesting... Full fuel , a few bits an pieces in the boot and passenger (light ) GVM was 2833 so when Towball weight added we only had about 40kg to play with.... albeit 722kg under GCM.

I did a fair bit of research on these a while back and nearly bought one. From memory, there weren't many owners experiencing major issues.

It seemed that 2014 or 15 onwards ones were good. Sweet spot was the 2015-16 prior to AdBlue.

Known issues - secondary turbo drain added from 2014 onwards (earlier ones could blow smoke) but this is retrofittable.

Prior to 2014 or 2014.5 the head unit had poor performance and newer ones were much better. SDV8 seemed the pick with no real downside - fuel economy as good or better than the V6. Having said that, I've got a 3.0 V6 in my D4 which carries more weight than an L405 with the accessories I have and it's absolutely fine on power.

I test drove a couple L405s and was really impressed. It is miles more car than a discovery. If you're looking at similar $ for both vehicles with a 2015/16 vs a 2017/18 being the only difference - the L405 is a much better value proposition. I went for a D4 in the end because I found one $45k cheaper and fully decked out for touring which suited my lifestyle better. But it was more of an accessory / offroading decision than a price decision.

3rd option of course is a RRS. The SDV6s all have low range. Also brilliant cars to drive but smaller than the L405 or D5.

Thanks Alex, that’s really helpful!

I think a test drive is on the cards when I return to Sydney in September as that will help me decide if it’s the right car for me.

Oddly I’m not really that into the RRS, performance wise they are great but I don’t like the looks, or something I can’t put my finger on, maybe it’s the typical RRS drivers in my area

just to clarify. The L405 has low range right?!

the V8 and V6 decision is a tough one, I would hate to choose the 8 and when I do my big trip to WA next year (currently on a big eastern half trip, albeit stuck in Darwin atm) and find the fuel costs is killing me

there is a great looking hybrid 2015 model for 84k selling online now with only 46,000km, I’m nervous to get such an early release hybrid though