Member Since: 04 Apr 2006
Location: Solihull
Posts: 745
.... err... no ... definitely no worrying tendancies here 8)
unless you count wanting to drive around in a 4x4 in a field and through a river for the sheer hell of it . 2004 TDV6 HSE Auto Zambezi Silver
11th Oct 2006 5:55 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72797
Nah, that is just normal. It's usually our bank balance or better half that stops us!
11th Oct 2006 6:20 pm
Craig S
Member Since: 24 Sep 2006
Location: Sydney
Posts: 12
Bad Report for D3
I read the report and as a proud owner of Discovery 3 TDV6 HSE it is a cause for concern and I was wondering if others have experienced similar issues?
I've taken my Disco 3 off-road on several occasions and have not experienced any faults. In fact it surpassed my expectations. I must however state that I have not attempted the kinds of trails and conditions 4WD Monthly crew subjected their test vehicles to.
On bitumen the ride is brilliant but I do have an issue with cruise control, it disengages without warning and will not engage until a reboot.
12th Oct 2006 10:06 am
SN
Member Since: 03 Jan 2006
Location: Romiley
Posts: 13710
Re: Bad Report for D3
Craig S wrote:
I do have an issue with cruise control, it disengages without warning and will not engage until a reboot.
Thats a fault - I've had it once or twice on mineSteve N | 21MY Defender | 08MY Discovery 3 (history) | 06MY Discovery 3 (ancient history)
12th Oct 2006 10:48 am
RichardK
Member Since: 18 Jan 2006
Location: Western Australia
Posts: 295
Member Since: 31 Jan 2006
Location: Brisbane, AUS
Posts: 918
Jeez, you fellas have been busy...
I posted and had to go the Gold Coast for one day and just look at the responses.
Anyway, kpmclaren, regarding your posts, the article appeared in issue 99 of the said magazine. A link can't be posted until the mag 'hits the newsstands' as the Americans are fond of saying.
I had not read the article mentioned (and linked) by you but it further emphasises the reliability issue. An issue that whilst I am very happy with the car in general, I am concerned that these issues still appear.
I purchased my D3 to enjoy the Australian countryside. I wanted a stylish , comfortable , capable 4WD , with an expectation of a high degree of reliability
Whilst I have not had any problems since the enhancement, I am concerned when articles such as the one you referenced and the upcoming article I referred to persist. We are not the only readers of them and bad news travels faster and further than good news anytime.
For Land Rover, the reliability issue needs to be addressed pronto for the marque to survive. The parent company (Ford) can not afford to have an Albatross hanging about it's corporate neck when it is already finding it difficult to maintain profits in it's blue oval guise.LeighW
The old girl is on her third engine...
* first ran a bearing (design failure in original engine)
* second had a failure of the water outlet on top of the engine (pls check yours)
12th Oct 2006 11:10 pm
tempestv8
Member Since: 11 Oct 2006
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 57
I still maintain that this is a big problem for Land Rover Australia because not all customers are as well informed or cluey like us lot, who would have the time or inclination to browse through webforums like this.
When a stereotypical luxury SUV customer wants to buy a new vehicle, they would gather their information from 4x4 magazines, and just accept what the authors write to be factual and true.
So the fact that the D3 had "unreliable" written against it in one of the quick summary panels on that article, that would really sway the decision making process of the reader against Land Rover.
I know a lot of luxury 4WD owners and none of them read 4WD mags.
The demographic if nearly all 4WD mags in OZ is the over 55 Nissan Patrol owner.Have a nice day!
2010 Cayenne Diesel with PASM & Off Road Pkg
2005 HSE D3 (Sold)
13th Oct 2006 6:20 am
catweasel
Member Since: 05 May 2006
Location: Bundaleer
Posts: 4805
tempestv8 wrote:
I still maintain that this is a big problem for Land Rover Australia because not all customers are as well informed or cluey like us lot, who would have the time or inclination to browse through webforums like this.
When a stereotypical luxury SUV customer wants to buy a new vehicle, they would gather their information from 4x4 magazines, and just accept what the authors write to be factual and true.
So the fact that the D3 had "unreliable" written against it in one of the quick summary panels on that article, that would really sway the decision making process of the reader against Land Rover.
well, why not write a letter to the editor if you are so concerned and ask them why it is unreliable. one out of thousands doesn't make it unreliable but makes their article unbalanced and biased. there is a saying that if your vehicle gets bogged then it's driver error and not the vehicles fault. maybe the muppet driving also had L plates on the car.
16th Oct 2006 2:39 am
tempestv8
Member Since: 11 Oct 2006
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 57
Good suggestion, and now that I'm back from my work travels, I will endeavour to do that, i.e. write a letter.
Turns out they damaged the rear diff and got water in the fuse box that's inside the batterybox!!
Seems they were using the D3 to recover all the other vehicles. it was the main workhorse. A few reoprts of blokes who were up the at the time have said that 4WD Monthly were deliberately trying to wreck the D3!
Give me a Cruiser or Patrol and let's see how quickly I can destroy that if I want to!Have a nice day!
2010 Cayenne Diesel with PASM & Off Road Pkg
2005 HSE D3 (Sold)
19th Oct 2006 1:22 am
sijui
Member Since: 03 Mar 2006
Location: Rosebank
Posts: 81
Jamo,
I spoke with the land rover technician here in cairns and he confirms what you said about the water in the fuse box. When you look at the pictures of one of the test cars with water a foot up the windcreen while crossing a river you realise you are in cowboy country It stated in the article that the whole suspension failed, it didn't but went into limp mode and they could have, and indeed did drive it around for a day in limp, reached a service point. I am told they didn't get such a prompt service as they misquoted their sat phone number to the agent here in cairns
they obviously don't care about the environment either as no one should be using those tracks just after a cyclone unless they have to
19th Oct 2006 12:20 pm
kpmclaren
Member Since: 14 Mar 2006
Location: Kingston/Leeds
Posts: 98
I think in any case we need to call a spade a spade, if the older discos were known to give trouble and even now, with the new generation of discos, teething pain or not, reports from JD powers et al are enough to suggest that an unusually high number of these vehicles give problems (think statistics folks, they must have it worked out, over a certain number of problems per vehicle must mean, and in the words of a scientist, it is significant and not random, i.e. it does not occur in one or two cars or a few...but too many to go unnoticed and the chances or a random bloke or soccer mom getting one with problems is very high). While I will agree that some magazines are biased, some for the most part are there to inform (and remember the dico have been racking up award after award…so are those awards biased?). If you want to know if something gives problems don't read about how great the reviewer thought the car was, read the USERS reviews. I did that and the same problems and gripes were consistent no matter where I went. But I would like to say the problem isn't unique to the discos as I’ve read else where about the problems with other European 4 x 4 marks (VW et al). If these vehicles are over reliant on electronic gadgetry from using a park brake to warming ure ass to whatever else, these things will happen, and unfortunately the very things that make a disco luxurious and appealing also imperils it (for now) and makes it a potential headache. Saying that I raised an important question in this forum and infuriated the lot of you (Is the new disco a big yellow lemon?) and all I meant to do was to invite opinions (too much in fact), but still I went out and ordered one (albeit one with very few electronic gizmos for fear it would die out in the bush). At least thanks to this forum (and the many users reviews) I know what to expect and don't really care.
My only other option is a Prado, a mate has a new one and they are bland as hell...but it happens to every vehicle with a dependence on electronics (no matter how good or reliable they say they are), I went into the bushes and presto no 4 wd on my 4 runner...why? Water got into the housing that runs from the dash to the transfer case corroding the wires, and since it was an electronic 4 wd system..off to the dealer it went for 2 weeks to sort out the problem...
Dude, what you have to understand about the Australian4WDMonthly report is this:
When the D3 and RRS took out the 4WD of the year awards in successive years in most of the mags here in OZ, there was a huge outcry from the readers of the mags, being (as I said above) mostly Missin Pootrol drivers.
Reports from those at/near the scene reveal that the D3 was again trumping all the other cars so the journos did their level best to destroy it.
They claim that they were testing the cars from the point-of-view of a everyday driver, but they weren't. They were doing things to the car that an owner who's shelled out the money wouldn't do!
One of the testers was reportedly very pleased that they had managed to break the D3!Have a nice day!
2010 Cayenne Diesel with PASM & Off Road Pkg
2005 HSE D3 (Sold)
20th Oct 2006 11:37 am
ian mac
Member Since: 15 Aug 2006
Location: QUEENSLAND
Posts: 32
Bad Report for D3
i read all the 4wd mags at times and 4wd monthly present themselves as "hard core"and the other mags not the real deal. the hard core comp stuff is not for me(they cover the travel /camping stuff i love as well)but each to his/her own.i have read everything they have done on the d3 and could imagine them not being to sad to see the car fail on their test.the shots of the water levels they put the cars through seem beyond the described "medium -depth crossing".why didn,t we get pics of the crossing that killed the disco?.i would however be lying if i claimed the story didn,t worry me a bit.my car will be here in 3 weeks and i can,t wait to take it off road.if the car had issues with water ingress into vital bits i would think the uk guys would know by now(it was a bit damp when i visited last year). jamo did you have some inside infomation on this story?what made you think things where a "little" biased?
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
.... err... no ... definitely no worrying tendancies here 8)
| 08MY Discovery 3 (history) 
, comfortable 
as no one should be using those tracks just after a cyclone unless they have to
