Thoughts on a 2015 D4

Hello everyone,

Long time reader, not yet an owner.
Ive always been keen on the D3/D4. Think they are superb looking rigs but never took the plunge until recently finding myself wanting something big to go travelling with the two dogs and potential growing family in the future.
I’m finding the prices on these recently highly variable so thought I’d put it to the forum on one I’ve seen recently to see what the thoughts are on pricing.
D4, 2015 (64 plate). SE Tech in Santorini Black with a beige leather interior. To date has only covered 46,000 miles (first owner used it primarily around town). Main dealer + independent service history but no sign that the belts have been done to date. Condition is immaculate with no evidence of corrosion.
Test drive: apart from alignment pulling to the left, car ran very smoothly.
Currently listed for 22,900. After part ex would be 8K to change.
I’m aware of the risk of snapping cranks etc. and know these do require plenty of preventative maintenance but debating the value of it given its age. Would be using it as a daily and would want them to change the cam belt prior to driving away.
Any thoughts and opinions would be most appreciated: are low milers viewed with suspicion?
Thank you in advance if any advice given!

For that money, you could get a RR Vogue 4.4 SDV8, still fit the dogs in, no snapped cranks (or timing belts) and no corroding sills behind the plastic trim. Only 5 seats though.

Graculus said:

For that money, you could get a RR Vogue 4.4 SDV8, still fit the dogs in, no snapped cranks (or timing belts) and no corroding sills behind the plastic trim. Only 5 seats though.

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Quite true, although I’m not finding too many at the moment, much higher mileage and way more of the 3.0 SDV6. Prices have come down….. but insurance has sky rocketed in these where a D4 hasn’t really been affected.

Insurance very much depends where you live, anywhere near the M25 'republic' and you're going to be spanked.

There you go - first one I came across, a bit older and higher mileage (which personally I don't see as a negative) https://www.motors.co.uk/car-67567232/?i=16&m=ds
A bit too 'black on black on black' for me but the price is a 'why the hell wouldn't you?' whatever you pay for them now, they were built to a £100k+ quality (mostly!) and still reflect that in the ride handling and comfort.

Graculus said:

There you go - first one I came across, a bit older and higher mileage (which personally I don't see as a negative) https://www.motors.co.uk/car-67567232/?i=16&m=ds
A bit too 'black on black on black' for me but the price is a 'why the hell wouldn't you?' whatever you pay for them now, they were built to a £100k+ quality (mostly!) and still reflect that in the ride handling and comfort.

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Thank you for this! That V8 would be sweet. Do agree on the spec though: all black everything is a bit…. Drab.
Imagine the engine if maintained would be good for many more miles.

It's a good time to be buying - insurance dependent... First thing to do is disable keyless entry and fit / have fitted a standalone immobiliser such as Meta BLE42 (I'm ambivalent about 'Ghost' type stuff, we have lots of problems caused by them at work and they're reasonably easy to bypass given access and a moderate timeframe) The SDV8 benefits from longer runs - it's not a 'school run / shopping' engine and the DPF requires decent temperatures in the exhaust to passively regen, so if you're only a town driver, then look at a 5.0 petrol, other than timing chain rattle at cold start, they're pretty solid.

Graculus said:

It's a good time to be buying - insurance dependent... First thing to do is disable keyless entry and fit / have fitted a standalone immobiliser such as Meta BLE42 (I'm ambivalent about 'Ghost' type stuff, we have lots of problems caused by them at work and they're reasonably easy to bypass given access and a moderate timeframe) The SDV8 benefits from longer runs - it's not a 'school run / shopping' engine and the DPF requires decent temperatures in the exhaust to passively regen, so if you're only a town driver, then look at a 5.0 petrol, other than timing chain rattle at cold start, they're pretty solid.

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Really appreciate the advice. I do see “ghost” stuff advertised a lot and did wonder how much more effective they are.
For me I commute 70-90 miles a day so would want something to withstand that as well as them enjoying trips with the dogs at weekends etc. so still think diesel is still the way in that regard.

Other thought that floated my mind previously was an L322… but given their age at this point I think I’d go cheaper/much higher mileage and use it on weekends rather than relying on ferrying me around day to day.

L322's suffer badly with corrosion on the tailgate, rear wheelarches (both inner & outer) and mid to rear sills. Those sort of journeys are L405 friendly! We use ours for camping trips and two large dogs are quite happy in the boot space. For reference, I had a Disco3 for twelve years, loved it and took it all over Europe, Scandinavia and North Africa, I wouldn't go back to one (or a Disco4) after eight months of owning a L405 - it took ten years for me to get used to the look of them compared to the L322's though! Things to look out for:- liftgate alignment, oil cooler leak / coolant contamination, rear diff whine on hard acceleration / deceleration, oil level sensor leaking oil into the engine harness (should have an overlay harness fitted), ARC pipes (if equipped) will be corroded, just a question of how badly. Things to do:- change all fluids, especially transmission, wheel alignment (only front & rear toe is actually adjustable) Drive it. Enjoy it.