MartinK
New Member
- Posts
- 433
- Location
- Edinburgh & Aviemore
I thought I would share my experiences of driving 100,000 miles over 5 years in a Discovery 2 TD5. The vehicle was bought new by me in March 2002.
The first 24,000 miles were completely faultless, other than a cracked windscreen, caused by an airborne stone.
However, just after the 24k service (April 03), the vehicle developed a gearshift problem. Just when cold for the first few miles, it was almost impossible to select 2nd gear, but once warmed-up worked fine. I suggest the garage had serviced the car and put in EP90 rather than MTF94. The garages response was to change the whole gearbox! I suggest the garage is to blame, rather than a Land Rover fault.
Since then, another pile of repair-free miles until 70,000, when the tyres were all replaced from Michelin 4x4 to BFG All Terrain (the BFGs still showing no real signs of wear after 30k miles). Also, at its last (60,000 mile) Main-Dealer service, the rubber bushes on the front shock absorbers were replaced under warranty.
At about 70,000 miles, I also had the car fully waxoyled underneath at a local garage. The job was OK, but not as good as a professional would do. I top-up the waxoyl myself at least once a year where required. As a result the chassis is in great shape with no real rust yet.
Then, all hell broke loose at 94,000 miles. A long list of problems, such as the engine harness change (the oil ingress problem), rear nearside ABS sensor and ACE sensor replacement (both giving intermittent errors to the management unit), rear diff oil seal weeping, and re-sealing the cover on the transfer box. All this, then the starter motor failed a week later. Total bills, including the service must have been close to £1000.
However, the trusty companion turned 100,000 miles yesterday, and I have to say this has been a very pleasing experience overall.
There have been a few other things of interest:
The first 24,000 miles were completely faultless, other than a cracked windscreen, caused by an airborne stone.
However, just after the 24k service (April 03), the vehicle developed a gearshift problem. Just when cold for the first few miles, it was almost impossible to select 2nd gear, but once warmed-up worked fine. I suggest the garage had serviced the car and put in EP90 rather than MTF94. The garages response was to change the whole gearbox! I suggest the garage is to blame, rather than a Land Rover fault.
Since then, another pile of repair-free miles until 70,000, when the tyres were all replaced from Michelin 4x4 to BFG All Terrain (the BFGs still showing no real signs of wear after 30k miles). Also, at its last (60,000 mile) Main-Dealer service, the rubber bushes on the front shock absorbers were replaced under warranty.
At about 70,000 miles, I also had the car fully waxoyled underneath at a local garage. The job was OK, but not as good as a professional would do. I top-up the waxoyl myself at least once a year where required. As a result the chassis is in great shape with no real rust yet.
Then, all hell broke loose at 94,000 miles. A long list of problems, such as the engine harness change (the oil ingress problem), rear nearside ABS sensor and ACE sensor replacement (both giving intermittent errors to the management unit), rear diff oil seal weeping, and re-sealing the cover on the transfer box. All this, then the starter motor failed a week later. Total bills, including the service must have been close to £1000.
However, the trusty companion turned 100,000 miles yesterday, and I have to say this has been a very pleasing experience overall.
There have been a few other things of interest:
- The MPG has averaged 30.47 across many tank fills since new (not checked every time, just random).
- It still uses hardly any oil approx. 1 litre between 12,000 mile services - I always use best synthetic stuff (bought from the cash & carry and taken to the garage to save costs), currently Chevron Synthetic longlife.
- Brake pads and disks are still original (although I had to strip and clean them after they were gunged-up last winter) at 100,000 miles!
- Its had some minor off-roading (green lanes only), some towing, loads of load-lugging, and many travels to Northern Scotland in winter months.
- Overall wear and tear is minimal, a few stone chips on paintwork, and the drivers seat is looking tired (thinking of recovering the front seats - next time I'll get leather from new), otherwise still looks and drives as new.
We love land rovers, but all must admit that when it comes to dependability they are not the greatest. I am used to vehicles that will go 200,000 without anything except oilchanges and tires every couple of years. I am shocked that there was this much trouble with a diesel....that thing should go 400,000 without a problem, and even if everything else on the vehicle breaks, it should still run and drive down the road. I do agree that the shifting problem was due to the wrong oil....and sounds like it was intentional....I would guess that they charged your for the new gear box and just changed the oil in the old one....you could check the #s and see if they match.
