D
Dave Liquorice
Guest
Just though I'd post my views on the above loaner I have whilst my DII
TD5 7 Seat is having it's complimentary oil leaks fixed. (Gear box
input shaft (under warranty), rocker cover and rear hubs thus
requiring new pads both sides of course, though they are worn anyway.)
£488 + VAT (before I start to argue...) for the above plus a 36k
service and MOT, oh well no one said owning a Landie was cheap...
Anyway the D3 drives very much like a car and has go under the go
pedal, I've actually overtaken stuff! Something I rarely do in the
DII. It's rather too quiet for my liking, you can hardly hear the
engine but tyre noise (Goodyear Wrangler HP 235/70R17) on cornering is
intrusive, and I don't mean hard cornering either.
Engine is doing 2000rpm at 70mph in 6th, so is really only a
motorway gear. A small hill at 60 in 6th and it's starts to complain a
little. Twisty A roads are 4th, straighter ones 5th. The trip computer
is telling me 26.1mpg, a tad worse than my DII TD5 average.
The 3rd row of seats and back end I'm not overly happy with. You
access and erect the 3rd row seats from the side doors not the rear
one. First you have to "roll up" 2nd row seat by the door, two
operations and the release for the base is not that easy to find. The
lever to release the back of the 3rd row is quite away back and to
flip the seat back up is a two handed operation, you can't do it from
standing in the door. Release the 3rd row seat and hinge that into
place. However you do have a fair bit of room in the 3rd row,
certainly big enough for adults, I'm 6' and didn't have knees jammed
against seat back or head on ceiling. The DII's 3rd row are really
only for littlies or adults for a short time, lack of feet/knee/leg
room. With the headrests of the 3rd row up, you may as well not have
an interior rear view mirror.
On the back end, the horizontal split rear door provides a nice seat I
guess but with the 3rd row seats folded most of the load space is
inaccessible, especially on the left due to the shape of the flap. You
have to clamber in as there no step provided. On this one the top flap
doesn't close hard enough to fully latch when you pull it down, so you
have to give it a shove, either on the wiper blade assembly or the
number plate light cover. Both will be covered in dirt after it has
been driven for a while... With the 3rd row of seats up you have very
little load space left, just over a foot between the seat backs and
the lower flap. With them down the space is bigger than the DII by a
few inches in both directions, lots of gaps and holes for things to
drop down though.
Other niggles. Window pushes your fingers when closing the the drivers
window, switch too close to glass. The spare wheel has been mentioned
before, now that is going to be really nice to handle after the car
has been on the road for a while. There is no cover on it all, not
even half of one. Just a couple of heat deflecters as the exhaust
passes close by. The key is HUGE but does have a programmable button
for suspension up/down, panic alarm, or courtesy headlights. Big foot
rest for your left foot, maybe too big I find it gets in the way
occasionally.
It pumps itself up and down very quickly but I've not taken it off
road. The semi-automatic transfer box makes for easy changes (no more
double de-clutching). The low box feels to be lower than the DII. The
electronic parking brake is OK but I've not tried a serious hill start
with it...
9000 miles on the clock and the airbag light is permanently on and the
back of the seat cover on one of the third row seats has become
detached. That might be a simple clip in job to sort.
--
Cheers [email protected]
Dave. pam is missing e-mail
TD5 7 Seat is having it's complimentary oil leaks fixed. (Gear box
input shaft (under warranty), rocker cover and rear hubs thus
requiring new pads both sides of course, though they are worn anyway.)
£488 + VAT (before I start to argue...) for the above plus a 36k
service and MOT, oh well no one said owning a Landie was cheap...
Anyway the D3 drives very much like a car and has go under the go
pedal, I've actually overtaken stuff! Something I rarely do in the
DII. It's rather too quiet for my liking, you can hardly hear the
engine but tyre noise (Goodyear Wrangler HP 235/70R17) on cornering is
intrusive, and I don't mean hard cornering either.
Engine is doing 2000rpm at 70mph in 6th, so is really only a
motorway gear. A small hill at 60 in 6th and it's starts to complain a
little. Twisty A roads are 4th, straighter ones 5th. The trip computer
is telling me 26.1mpg, a tad worse than my DII TD5 average.
The 3rd row of seats and back end I'm not overly happy with. You
access and erect the 3rd row seats from the side doors not the rear
one. First you have to "roll up" 2nd row seat by the door, two
operations and the release for the base is not that easy to find. The
lever to release the back of the 3rd row is quite away back and to
flip the seat back up is a two handed operation, you can't do it from
standing in the door. Release the 3rd row seat and hinge that into
place. However you do have a fair bit of room in the 3rd row,
certainly big enough for adults, I'm 6' and didn't have knees jammed
against seat back or head on ceiling. The DII's 3rd row are really
only for littlies or adults for a short time, lack of feet/knee/leg
room. With the headrests of the 3rd row up, you may as well not have
an interior rear view mirror.
On the back end, the horizontal split rear door provides a nice seat I
guess but with the 3rd row seats folded most of the load space is
inaccessible, especially on the left due to the shape of the flap. You
have to clamber in as there no step provided. On this one the top flap
doesn't close hard enough to fully latch when you pull it down, so you
have to give it a shove, either on the wiper blade assembly or the
number plate light cover. Both will be covered in dirt after it has
been driven for a while... With the 3rd row of seats up you have very
little load space left, just over a foot between the seat backs and
the lower flap. With them down the space is bigger than the DII by a
few inches in both directions, lots of gaps and holes for things to
drop down though.
Other niggles. Window pushes your fingers when closing the the drivers
window, switch too close to glass. The spare wheel has been mentioned
before, now that is going to be really nice to handle after the car
has been on the road for a while. There is no cover on it all, not
even half of one. Just a couple of heat deflecters as the exhaust
passes close by. The key is HUGE but does have a programmable button
for suspension up/down, panic alarm, or courtesy headlights. Big foot
rest for your left foot, maybe too big I find it gets in the way
occasionally.
It pumps itself up and down very quickly but I've not taken it off
road. The semi-automatic transfer box makes for easy changes (no more
double de-clutching). The low box feels to be lower than the DII. The
electronic parking brake is OK but I've not tried a serious hill start
with it...
9000 miles on the clock and the airbag light is permanently on and the
back of the seat cover on one of the third row seats has become
detached. That might be a simple clip in job to sort.
--
Cheers [email protected]
Dave. pam is missing e-mail
