Member Since: 08 Jul 2021
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 85
Buying a D4 - crankshaft worry?
Hi,
I've had my old car for 8 years and am looking at an early 2009 D4 with 90k tomorrow. My budget is up to £15k and I only want to buy from a LR specialist with cambelt/oil pump done and ideally a warranty as to hedge my bets on sourcing a nice model.
I've been doing the research and the only thing that has popped up that worries me is the crankshaft engine failure issue. I know these things are often worse on the internet but what are the general thoughts on from those with D4s on the forum?
- can a warranty be obtained on an older vehicle to mitigate this if so any pointers? I shall ask the dealer tomorrow too.
- do LR do anything for vehicles that have strong service histroy (LR or independent specialists)
- anything i can do with mainteance to prevent?
- what's the replacement cost - 5-7K? That's the concern. I don't mind the odd £2k bill but something approach 5 figures would write the car off.
One side of me thinks the car has got this far in life without a problem so will probably be fine if I keep it maintained and drive it with mechanical sympathy. I'd like to keep it 8-10 years.
Any other things to watch for that i might have missed tomorrow would be appreciated.
Cheers
Matt
Last edited by MJA on 8th Jul 2021 3:09 pm. Edited 1 time in total
8th Jul 2021 2:28 pm
MJA
Member Since: 08 Jul 2021
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 85
Oh if it is an issue is it worth looking at a late Disco 3 instead ?
8th Jul 2021 2:33 pm
lynalldiscovery
Member Since: 22 Dec 2009
Location: Maidstone
Posts: 7274
They have their issues as well!
8th Jul 2021 3:29 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73092
Tell me about it.
8th Jul 2021 3:46 pm
MJA
Member Since: 08 Jul 2021
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 85
HA I see cheers.
I had in my head these cars were solid and dependable - I know issues can be expensive to fix but thought like anything "look after your machine and it will look after you". I'll probably still get one as you only live once right and will just put some money aside should the worst happen.
I've seen some Disco 3s that are quite low mileage (60-70k) but normally don't care that much about mileage as my other cars have 152k, 182k, 195k and 82k all VWs and the higher mileage ones are 21-33 years old. Bodywork is the expense on those sadly.
8th Jul 2021 4:04 pm
robpenrose
Member Since: 12 Jan 2016
Location: Surrey / SW London
Posts: 2138
Re: Buying a D4 - crankshaft worry?
MJA wrote:
Hi,
I've had my old car for 8 years and am looking at an early 2009 D4 with 90k tomorrow. My budget is up to £15k and I only want to buy from a LR specialist with cambelt/oil pump done and ideally a warranty as to hedge my bets on sourcing a nice model.
I've been doing the research and the only thing that has popped up that worries me is the crankshaft engine failure issue. I know these things are often worse on the internet but what are the general thoughts on from those with D4s on the forum?
- can a warranty be obtained on an older vehicle to mitigate this if so any pointers? I shall ask the dealer tomorrow too.
- do LR do anything for vehicles that have strong service histroy (LR or independent specialists)
- anything i can do with mainteance to prevent?
- what's the replacement cost - 5-7K? That's the concern. I don't mind the odd £2k bill but something approach 5 figures would write the car off.
One side of me thinks the car has got this far in life without a problem so will probably be fine if I keep it maintained and drive it with mechanical sympathy. I'd like to keep it 8-10 years.
Any other things to watch for that i might have missed tomorrow would be appreciated.
Cheers
Matt
You will probably struggle to get a decent warranty at that age / mileage unless it’s had one from earlier in its life that’s been extended.
For example. My 2010 has a warranty up to market value. The car currently has 125,000 miles on it. However it expires at March 2022 or 130k miles, and I’m not sure I can extend.
So my point is, you will probably need to buy one with a decent warranty on it, possibly private, then get it transferred.
A new warranty from a seller might have a lot of caveats in it for not paying, but you would need to read the small print.
Current: D4 HSE
Previous: BMW Z4M Coupe
Previous: Land Rover Defender 90 CSW Td5
Previous: Land Rover Discovery Td5 ES
Service History means little unless you know the seller.
JLR serviced cars have broken cranks or spun shells.
A D4 is more modern all round than a D3
You shouldn't need to spend £15K to get an early D4 ( tell me about it )
If you spend £12K of your budget and put the other £3K away, and add to it if you can, then if you are one of the unlucky ones you'll have a sizeable pot to put towards the costs. (especially if you go the route of finding a donor Jag to get an engine from)
And forum member DG will (probably) be along shortly to tell you how few cranks AS A PERCENTAGE OF CARS SOLD actually fail. Similar to many other makes..
Dean
====================================
2011 D4 XS - OBD port protection, RLD spare wheel protector, All LED interiors lights, Timed Climate enabled, iiD tool paired.
2011 D4 Landmark - Stolen from same dealer before I paid for it
2011 D4 GS - Stolen whilst at dealer ... All LED interiors lights, DRLs, Spare Wheel protector.
1996 300Tdi - Eaten by tin worms
8th Jul 2021 4:15 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73092
Don’t assume that a well looked after car will last forever, mine wanted for absolutely nothing and died at 166k, around that mileage seems to be a not so sweet spot. Other cars are abused to a criminal degree and they go on forever. There’s no maintenance that will stop those bearing shells rotating. It’s a lottery, role the dice, get a warranty and don’t worry about it.
And above all, when she’s running make sure she’s putting a smile on yer face. And treat her gently!
Click image to enlarge
8th Jul 2021 4:15 pm
MJA
Member Since: 08 Jul 2021
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 85
Thanks! I'll probably only put around 8k on it a year so will take a while to get up to 170k. I am pretty handy mechanically, fairly good with electical testing and can weld but hope to not need to do that any time soon on a D4. I would not be confident doing an engine tear down on one of these - 8v Golf GTI mk2 engine yes but not this.
I hadn't thought about sourcing a jag engine should the worst happen so that is good to hear there are potentially other options. What is a rebuild cost on one of these then? I've paid out for the 2.9 VR6 engine in my Corrado to have works done and that was £3.8k for a full rebuild at a specialist however I delivered it on a crate and reinstalled it myself.
8th Jul 2021 4:32 pm
galwaygreen
Member Since: 30 Oct 2011
Location: plymouth
Posts: 6525
solid and dependable ??????????????
8th Jul 2021 11:02 pm
DG Site Moderator
Member Since: 12 Dec 2005
Location: The Gaff
Posts: 50978
DSL wrote:
Don’t assume that a well looked after car will last forever, mine wanted for absolutely nothing
Del, you posted pictures of your mouldy seat covers and belts 21 year LR veteran > D2 GS 2003 > D3 S 2006 > D3 HSE 2009 > D4 HSE 2013 > D4 HSE 2015 > D5 HSE 2018 > DS HSE R-Dynamic P300e 2021
8th Jul 2021 11:06 pm
DG Site Moderator
Member Since: 12 Dec 2005
Location: The Gaff
Posts: 50978
Hardware wrote:
And forum member DG will (probably) be along shortly to tell you how few cranks AS A PERCENTAGE OF CARS SOLD actually fail. Similar to many other makes.
Go through all the crank dead posts on this, the leading D3\4 site, ...count 100, 200 ....1000 ? then vs it to vehicle sales.
Yes it's there to consider but also consider that your 12-year-old motor has survived thus far 21 year LR veteran > D2 GS 2003 > D3 S 2006 > D3 HSE 2009 > D4 HSE 2013 > D4 HSE 2015 > D5 HSE 2018 > DS HSE R-Dynamic P300e 2021
One for sale on this forum with a transferable warranty2013 RR Vogue SE SDV8
2013 Freelander 2 HSE Luxury SD4
9th Jul 2021 7:00 am
Iguana
Member Since: 14 Oct 2013
Location: 'Sunny' Zomerset
Posts: 9424
lynalldiscovery wrote:
They have their issues as well!
I had a MY15, but I ad to sell to help finance a house move, but I did have a constant worry over it going pop and loosing so much money on it.
I replaced it with a £3250 MY05 D3, it has been faultless, and it it does go pop, then so be it, not worrying about it and will replace with another MY04 or 05 - much cheaper than replacing engineIggy/Ieuan
Current LR =
2015 RR Sport Autobiography
&
1992 Land Rover Defender Camper
- Gone but not forgotten:
MY10 D4 GS
MY05 Disco 3 'S'
MY14 FL2 HSE manual in Blue
MY15 Disco 4 HSE Lux in Santorini Black
MY08 Disco 3 SE manual in Buck Blue
1960 Series 2 88" (No idea why I sold it!)
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
... All LED interiors lights, DRLs, Spare Wheel protector.
