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Future 120 owner with a few questions!


 
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shaymarriott
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Joined: 16 Jan 2018
Posts: 3
Location: Bristol, UK

PostPosted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 17:03    Post subject: Future 120 owner with a few questions! Reply with quote

Hi everyone, first post so please be gentle...! Sorry if it turns out to be a long one.

I've owned a few cars over the last few years (fast, slow, reliable, unreliable etc.) and the one I have always missed most is my Defender 110 (I know, I know).  I considered buying a Defender 90 last summer, but in the end decided to go for a 4 year old 330d as the history on the Defender didn't check out and an HPI check showed it to be a write off.  I get enough off-roading done at work in a fleet Hilux to have my share of fun, but I'm spending more and more time in the office and can't really justify taking the 4x4s out just for the fun of it.

I live in the city, but frequently go and visit family in the countryside where the roads are pretty terrible.  The BMW - whilst great on sweeping A roads and motorways - doesn't remotely appreciate potholes or uneven roads and so I've decided to combine my enjoyment of off-roading, the relative comfort of a 4x4 on uneven roads and go for a 120.  I also like driving through deep puddles.  I'll be looking to buy one a little later in the year when people have forgotten about the 2 days of snow we get a year and the prices drop somewhat, which also happens to be a good time to sell a RWD sports saloon...

So... I have a few questions about what I should get. Main use will be commuting (about 18 miles a day) and then weekly trips to the Brecons, Black Mountains, or to my parents near Cheltenham, or similar. I'm not a major off-roader (I don't push it any where near as hard as some of you on here do) but I like the odd green lane and getting off the beaten track.  Here are some thoughts and questions.  Any thoughts or answers would be much appreciated.  I've done some research but it can get a little overwhelming.  I appreciate that some of these may have been answered in other posts, but a little consolidation is always nice.

1. Budget will be up to about £12-13k. Ideally around the £10k mark for a balance of age, mileage and condition. £12k is roughly what I should get for the BMW although I've got a little flexibility if the dream example should come along. Looking at the D-4D rather than the petrol V6.  Definitely 8 seater as I'd like to be able to get bouldering mats in as well as groups of friends.

2. LC3 or LC4? I'm basically unsure of whether a rear diff lock or ATRAC would be a better option.  I'm looking at long-term reliability rather than which is better at the extreme limits of grip - there seem to be some varying opinions! Heated seats would be nice, but I don't want to get an LC5 as I don't need the fancy and unreliable rear suspension system.  Not worried about a fancy touch screen but a sound system that doesn't completely ruin good music would be nice.

3. Auto or manual?  I've hears stories of auto's overheating (although this seems to mostly be in Aus/SA?) or the shifter becoming wobbly, but also of manuals failing or clutches giving up after 60k of unsympathetic towing around muddy fields and up steep hills.  Is there a general consensus as to which is a safer bet?  I've noticed that autos seem a little more common on e bay and AutoTrader.  Again, the priority is reliability - I've mostly driven manuals and get on pretty well with the manual Hilux I drive at work.  One perk of a manual is the ability to bump start if the battery goes flat.  

(I also read on another forum that you can go into low range in auto without locking the centre diff, but on a manual you can only have low range activated with CD locked? This may only be on Aussie spec  trucks?)

FYI - I'm comparing the 6MT to the 5AT given that I'm looking at newer 120s.

4. Age - I'm not too worried about paying a higher VED for a 2007/2008 model - is there anything other than the fuel pump washers (see below) that changed between 2006ish and 2008ish? Were any issues ironed out or any more introduced?

5. Fuel pump - am I right in thinking that cars built in 2008 have the aluminium washers and are therefore less prone than previous D4Ds to fuel pump failure?  Has the 'recall' work carried out on many affected cars generally done the job? I'll only buy one with the recall work done and hopefully this car will be a keeper so I don't want a £5k bill for work already carried out!

6. Any other common issues? The LCs I'm looking at are generally coming up to around 10 years old now and I wondered whether there are any issues arising that might not have been discussed to death already.  My work Hilux has a 2.5 D-4D and it has dont nearly 80,000 trouble free miles.  Is this (albeit a 2014 Hilux) a relatively similar engine to the older D-4D 3.0s?

7. Dual batteries - is this in all the 120s? I.e. the first LCs to have single batteries were the 150s?  If this something worth looking out for, and will it actually help with cold starts and make a flat less likely? I've never had a flat battery that wasn't entirely avoidable, but I like the sound of having two.

8. (Lastly) Fuel consumption! I've read conflicting views here, and don't seem to be able to find anything concrete.  Are manuals or auto's better on fuel? I understand the principle of the human picking the wrong gear whilst the auto 'box picks the right one (I have the ZF8 sportshifter in the BMW currently and that's a great gearbox) but I'm a relaxed driver and feel I can make a good gear choice.  I also don't mind a manual in traffic, even with a rush hour as bad as Bristol's...!  Some people seem to get approx 30mpg on a run which would be fine, but some seem to get low 20s on a run (even without towing) which wouldn't be ideal...  My calcs based on a good 30mpg run over 85 litres work out to about 540 mile range, assume 450 including a bit of commuting... is this realistic?

Sorry I've gone on so long.  Any thoughts you have on the above ramblings would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers - Shay.
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