V8 or TDV6 Which one is lasting best?

[TerryO]

A question for D3 owners past and present.

As some D3's are now over 5 years old and quite a few have well over 200 k's on the clock I thought I would ask the question of how these older vehicles are ageing and whether the V8 or the TDV6 is proving to be more problematic and which one is costing more to keep on the road?

I am now starting to look around for a D3 and no matter what I buy if it is a early one and has average k's on the clock within a year or two it will be a 200 k car.

Are there any other major issues that are popping up on a regular basis with a 200 k D3 that are scary?


cheers,
Terry

[Bushwanderer]

Hi Terry,
Unfortunately, petrol variants (V6 & V8) are relatively uncommon, and so statistical impressions (if there is such a thing) is limited.

On the other hand, I don't think that 200k km is a problem for any of them, provided that they have been properly maintained.

Best Wishes,
Peter

[Disco4SE]

Hi Terry,
I met a bloke a few months ago that had covered 350K in his D3 TDV6 prior to trading up to a D4.
Claims that he had no problems at all, just normal wear & tear bits.
He did make sure that he never missed a scheduled service.
Cheers, Craig

[RR P38]

It seems that the D3 is a seriously abused vehicle going on my recent inspections of TDV6 vehicles.
One i looked at had no coolant in the expansion bottle at all, and had no service records for 75000k all discs where completely shot tires gone.
On an 07 model with 144k on it i walked out of the car yard real fast $39k was the asking price.
Another i looked at was pretty much a write of on the interior side of things and the owner admitted to having cooked the engine.
Others where in generally poor condition all round.
Have heard from more than one private owner that the gear boxes are only good for 150k. $7k for a new one, ouch.
Why are people so hard on these things?
I will keep looking in the new year.

[ozscott]

Aren't these boxes sealed for 'life' (where life means 3 years...). I would be making sure, like with the Rangie current shape, that such boxes are opened and serviced as any auto should especially if towing. Because there are a lot of shiny pants buying LR3/4 and Rover is no longer such a mix of enthusiast and shiny pants most that you will see might lack drivers with...vehicle empathy....

Cheers

PS. I am a shiny pants, but a rare one who looks after their trucks obsessively. Now the vast maj of people of this site are here as enthusiasts, but Disco has become a real torak tractor with the new shape, whereas the RR was the only choice for that with D2 and even more so with D1.

[Neil P]

........early one and has average k's on the clock within a year or two it will be a 200 k car. ....

I think k200km is high for 5 years. I wouldn't touch a
4x4 vehicle at k125 miles in the old money.That's well worn out.
You can get examples with half of that . Mine has 36k at 37months .

[Neil P]

Why are people so hard on these things?

Alot of these are leased and users don't give a stuff , plus they drive
'em like V6 cars . A leased car is often treated like a rented house or a
cheap whore ..............

[Disco4SE]

Here is my theory for what its worth.
A leased car can be driven harder than if it were owned, however it is usually serviced regularly as per the book.
A high Klm vehicle engine can be in better condition than a low Klm one.
The high Klm one is usally driven daily for longer distances, whereas the low Klm one is often not driven every day and for shorter distances, normally around town etc. Just think about how many Klm's a Taxi's engine lasts compared to the average vehicle.
I usually travel around 40K per year and have sold my vehicles privately with high Klm's for their age......and always fetched good money for them.
I have learned that although a lower Klm vehicle appears more attractive to most, a well maintained high Klm vehicle will always fetch good money.
Cheers, Craig

[SuperMono]

I haven't owned my approx 200K TDV6 long enough to comment in detail as to significant issues (as I haven't had any).

When looking around I found a number of D3s with no service history and higher than average kms. Some appeared to have been looked after well, others didn't.
I stopped looking at the V8s when I decided to find a lower spec S/SE as most were HSEs. Never looked at a V8 over about 100K but they were bone dry (of oil) underneath and couldn't see 200K+ being a problem generally.
My TDV6 has been a high km rural highway use vehicle with a traceable service history. Checking with a few LR service staff (dealer and independant) the story appears to be 300-400K on the TDV6 shouldn't give you much grief subject to decent service and care. Highest KM I have heard of is above 450K with nothing other than regular servicing and still on the original transmission.

[TerryO]

I think k200km is high for 5 years. I wouldn't touch a
4x4 vehicle at k125 miles in the old money.That's well worn out.
You can get examples with half of that . Mine has 36k at 37months .

Some confusion here, I didn't say I was going to buy a 200 k car. I said if I buy an average kilometre one now within a couple of years it would have 200k on the clock.

As there are plenty of D3's around now with 200 k's I was wondering what issues I might be facing when they get to these kind of K's.

I'm guessing that a high Kilometre V8 would have less issues then the diesel as they get older and if and when needed a V8 would be cheaper to rebuild.

Anyone have any experience with a TDV6 needing to be rebuilt? Or a 4.4?

cheers,
Terry