Discovery 4 ?

J

Jayro

New Member
I've had a couple of Land Rover's before and must admit a love hate after a rather poor experience with a 2003 l322 which was scrapped after the gear box died a second time. I am currently selling my Citroen C5 (which has been a great car in every way) to buy a 4wd so my family can do the big lap next year. We'll be towing a 2T trailer camper and doing a little off road, however nothing extreme as we have two very young kids. Maybe Gibbs River Road would be the most extreme with a few side trips off it. I've not owned a Disco before so had some questions for the forum.
1. Am I mad to buy another Landrover for a long trip with off road in outback Australia... i.e sensors, airbags, limp mode... I just can't see myself enjoying a Toyota or Nissan for the same price as I don't like the look and feel of them.
2. Essentially my budget is flexible enough, say 50k or so, thanks to a home loan, however not endless, so I want to get something reliable. Is there any year model for Disco 4's that I should look to or avoid? I see some changes at 2013 with turbos?
3. From my understanding the 2015 / 16 have slightly different engines and some had rear diff lock as an option. Is this a must have for off road, but not sand dunes? I'm seeing 2nd hand 2016's for not much more than 2013 models on similar km's?
4. Are the 19" tyres an issue with finding a good off road tyre? I saw one 2nd hand one where the owner had converted to 18".

thanks

Jayro ( wollongong )
 
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Chatty

Chatty

Well-Known Member
I reckon @discomatt is the bloke you need to hear from - what he doesn't know about Discos isn't worth knowing.

Any reason you're set on the Disco and not something like a Pajero?
 
J

Jayro

New Member
I did a few google searches on best 4wd for offroad and the Pajero didn't seem to come up... that said the price and looks are a plus. likely reliable too?
 
discomatt

discomatt

Well-Known Member
In short awesome car, 19 inch wheels are the biggest down but plenty say its not a issue, I have 18 inch tuff ant wheels for touring and 4wding 265/65/BFG AT2
8 speed is better than the 6 speed along with some upgrades, turbo upgrade is only a drain pipe to stop the second turbo filling with oil and heaps of white smoke next time its used, an easy upgrade for the early model. They are just as if not more reliable than a lot of cars but do cost a bit more for servicing.
We bought ours 2nd hand 30thou on it,have done a few trips, SA beaches, some black top touring around Vic and Kimberly, Kakadu, Lytchfield, Lorella Springs, West Mac Donald Ranges and over 30,000 km without a fault, some of it was pretty rough tracks and it handles everything I have thrown at it beautifully .
Check out AULRO for all the info any Landy owner could possibly need and ask questions there as there are some that know heaps more than me. ( They are very biased though...)
If price and ongoing cost is your biggest decider maybe a D4 isn't for you but IMO they offer the most in terms of car, before buying ours I looked at y62 Patrols, 200 cruisers and 79 cruisers, they all were contenders and all have there good and bad, drive them all and see what suits.
Any questions feel free to ask.
* diff lock is not needed because the TC is so good !!
 
J

Jayro

New Member
Thanks Discomatt... It seems the d4 is probably one of the most reliable land rovers they made? It's funny - the reviewers all rate it as the best on+off road car there is, and how it outperforms in nearly all areas... and then you read the forums and worry about being stuck broken down. One thought I had was to buy from a dealer to get the 5'000km MTA warranty and maybe even buy an extended warranty with Landrover assist package? An expense, but maybe for peace of mind?
 
M

mikehzz

Well-Known Member
The 2003 Range Rovers were pretty bad for reliability. Land Rover reliability shot up through the roof when Ford bought them around 2006. They're owned by Tata now but still using a lot of the Ford group mechanicals. For instance, my little Land Rover has a motor from a diesel Ford Mondeo, a gearbox from a Mazda CX5, and a rear Haldex from a Volvo Cross Country also used in VW 4Motions and some Audi Quattros. The benefit of using common parts are the ironing out of issues that doesn't happen on small production runs. The engine in the D4 is essentially the same as the Citroen C5 and C6, as well as the Peugeot 407, Jag XF, Range Rover Sport, Velar. It's the Ford Lion series. You can't beat Land Rover traction control or ride quality in my opinion.
 
discomatt

discomatt

Well-Known Member
The LR assist is a great package and you don't need to look to far for people who it has saved big $$$ but at the end of the day its like all insurance...
Personally I have not bothered with it but what I do is more maintenance and constant checks, LR service is way to long at over 20,000km for basic servicing and over 200,000 for major like trans service etc.
I open the bonnet every week and have a look, look under the car every week, oil and service every 10-15,000 diff and transfer case at 60,000 and will do trans at 70,000. At 100-150,000 it will get new alternator, all new cooling system , new air bags , struts and compressor and control arms, all from the UK for half the cost as here and the car will be like brand new and still just as reliable for 5k.
Some would say that a lot but then they chip, catch can, exhaust and aftermarket suspension and think nothing of it, my LR doesn't need any of that...
I was out with a guy a few weeks ago who had spent over 130k on his 79 to make it a good car that still wouldn't be as comfortable as a D4 at less than half the cost.
It was a trick cruiser though with insane grunt and 900nm:cool:
I certainly think the D4 is the best LR made and it ticks all the boxes. Show me any other 4wd that will fit in a 1.8m car park in the city then go bush and have a 5inch lift ;)
 
Chatty

Chatty

Well-Known Member
Jayro said:
I did a few google searches on best 4wd for offroad and the Pajero didn't seem to come up... that said the price and looks are a plus. likely reliable too?
Click to expand...
The Pajero is the most underrated 4WD in Australia. Never does come up on searches because the motoring press are too busy wanking themselves over the next Toyota or Nissan.
Very, very reliable - selling ours with 250,000km on the clock only because we need a bigger tow vehicle. And she's been into all sorts of places that only serious 4WDs get into...
 
smitty_r51

smitty_r51

Well-Known Member
Chatty said:
The Pajero is the most underrated 4WD in Australia.
Click to expand...
I would stick the R51 pathfinder in the same boat... Ignored by the press, scrapped by Nissan just as every other manufacturer bought out their own version... But a brilliant comfy economical 4x4 that will do 90%of what is out there to do
 
discomatt

discomatt

Well-Known Member
smitty_r51 said:
I would stick the R51 pathfinder in the same boat... Ignored by the press, scrapped by Nissan just as every other manufacturer bought out their own version... But a brilliant comfy economical 4x4 that will do 90%of what is out there to do
Click to expand...
Yes but a pathfinder won't do it fully loaded with the wife and tin lids with 2 ton hanging off the back without raising a sweat, lots of 4wds are capable and comfortable but most miss the all important boxes
 
M

mikehzz

Well-Known Member
Chatty said:
The Pajero is the most underrated 4WD in Australia. Never does come up on searches because the motoring press are too busy wanking themselves over the next Toyota or Nissan.
Very, very reliable - selling ours with 250,000km on the clock only because we need a bigger tow vehicle. And she's been into all sorts of places that only serious 4WDs get into...
Click to expand...
Mate, I was looking at Pajeros, but your motor blowing at the mid 200's really put me off I had to say. I was expecting a lot better than that.
 
Chatty

Chatty

Well-Known Member
mikehzz said:
Mate, I was looking at Pajeros, but your motor blowing at the mid 200's really put me off I had to say. I was expecting a lot better than that.
Click to expand...
It was a timing chain, and very, very, very rare. If you wanted to be sure, you could replace the timing chain at the 200k mark. The dealer here in Brisbane said it was the first one they had seen.

With any vehicle you always run the risk of being the one-in-a-thousand (or whatever) that has something like this happening.
 
cam04

cam04

Well-Known Member
I dragged a d4 off the beach at straddy at high tide yesterday. Tyres were 18lb but couldn’t cope and once it sunk it had zero chance of self recovery. The owner wasn’t even a knob which was refreshing. I like the car but that rubber is a no go for me. I don’t like digging that much and I tow on the beach a lot.
 
discomatt

discomatt

Well-Known Member
Yep the 19 inch wheels are a bugger but you can get 18 which make a big difference, I had mine stuck to the chassis 2 times at the SA meet :eek:
It was my first time with it off road and to be blunt I hated it, was ready to sell it when I got home, that was the first day, by day 3 when I had learnt how to drive it and use its electronics to help me not hinder me it was unstoppable in all the really soft stuff, I was actually looking for the soft stuff on day 3 to try and learn even more and perfect the driving technique which is very different to the old D1.
Turning the ESC off is the biggest thing to remember on sand because it turns back on every time you change the TC setting or turn the engine off
EDIT : I will take the unmatched braking capability any day over smaller wheels, all those who bag the wheel and tire choice have obviously never been in a D4 doing 100 and stood on the brakes, it makes a 200 look bus like;)
 
cam04

cam04

Well-Known Member
It’s just physics. It was suck like a turtle in mud. I was at 18lb with 75 series tyres and could only just get enough traction to pop him out and he continued to get bogged even as I dragged him with the snatch. Bandaid tyres will go most places most of the time with electronics and a decent driver but when it gets a little more extreme like yesterday they will be found wanting every time. Nice car, needs more volume in rubber for deep sand. Ron moon found the same thing on that trip they did on the SA beaches to WA. Embarrassingly lacking in that department unfortunately which is a real shame for an otherwise nice car and capable 4wd.
 
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