Before buying a D3

This is courtesy of Robbie but will be added to in due course

D3 Reliability

Against most 10 year old vehicles I would say reliability is good. As a very large and very heavy 4x4 the mechanical parts will wear out relatively quickly compared to a regular (lesser) car, but they are easy to work on in the main as the access is so good.

The issues that come up now tend to have well-honed fixes available and the mystery over the numerous computer networks on the vehicle which concerned many of us 10 years ago are now regarded as trivia due to the ease of access with aftermarket diagnostic tools.

Parts are all readily available but the rather random pricing of original parts does cause some angst. Community support for the vehicle is almost unparalleled and the collective knowledge on how to maintain them is amazing.

If you are prepared to turn the odd spanner on DIY jobs the running costs are manageable. If you get stuff done by a dealer the prices will reflect the original premium value of the vehicle. Just because there are D3s out there for less than £10k does not mean it will have the running costs of a modern and cheap£10k vehicle; costs will reflect the original price of the vehicle. Too many people on a budget buy a D3 with a stretched wallet and are not well placed to afford a large 4 figure bill. I see this all too often and for some it leads them to skimp on preventative maintenance and the death spiral begins. The secondary effects of this is that there are a number of D3s dumped on the market that have not been looked after by the 'got £10k so will spend £10k' brigade.

The D3 is also incredibly capable and can be a joy to own. This should carry a health warning too as ownership can be addictive!

Things to look for

Check the Cam belts have done (105,000m) and ask about the Oil pump Casing - the oil pump casing design was changed during the D3 lifetime a number of times. It has been known to fail in certain model years which has fairly catastrophic consequences for the engine

Check suspension and special programmes all work as expected

Sat Nav is not the best, but works and is built in

Find a good local Independent garage