How Long Should a Turbo Last ?
 

A friend of mine has a Turbo Diesel Land Rover Discovery with 57000 miles on the clock.

On sunday he found out that the shaft in the turbo was buggered, rendering the turbo useless, and him needing a new one (about £300)

The car is 7 months out of warranty, but I'm sure the turbo should last longer than this :confused: Surely this is a consumer rights issue in that the component hasn't lasted as long as it should have ?

He has rung Land Rover who have basically said it is tough titty as it is out of warranty...

And advice much appreciated :)

Matt

Nothing suprises me - my mum had a new engine in her 51 plate DHSE with 12k on the clock. Write to land rover including the words 'which legal services' and prepare to get a cheque for £150 ;)

Andy

I suppose it varies according to the type of oil you use, how often it's serviced, whether you let it warm up/cool down, type of journey & how you drive. Hard to say I think if you consider all those variables.

The problem is we are talking land rover. I know people with 300+ bhp Volvo T5's with 200k on the clock on the original turbo - some turbo's are better than others, but most land rovers are underpowered and need turbo power from cold to actually move. So if he/she lives on a hill and floors it through first with no other option then yes it will kill it sooner. The only other angle to go in at is the car has sub 60k which is max millage under the warrenty so they may be leanient ?!?!

Andy

Even IHI VF turbos last longer than that LOL. I've driven an old Legacy with 227000 miles on its original turbo, engine etc. Still fine :)

Andy M3 makes a good and valid point:

>>but most land rovers are underpowered and need turbo power from cold to actually move. So if he/she lives on a hill and floors it through first with no other option then yes it will kill it sooner. <<

I've a couple of Turbocharged ARG petrol cars both with starship mileages still with original turbos.. both have had a hard life but well maintained. Friends have diesel versions again with high mileages still running original bits.

With ANY car, much depends on care during usage, maintenance and which lubricants are used. It also helps the longevity of any vehicle if the driver has some idea of what is going on under that bonnet.


Afterthought:

How does the friend know the "Turbo shaft is buggered"...? It would not be the first time a turbocharger has been needlesly changed on a car ... far from it.

That's a point...what actually is wrong with the turbo?

Leaking oil (smoking). Seized (poor performance), or broken blade (sounds like a jet engine)?

Previous two, should never occur on something of that age and mileage unless it's suffered some form of abuse (hard driving/hills/towing then turning engine off straight away). If its a blade that gone, well thats a freak thing. Piece of carbon is all it takes to break one (and diesels do produce lots of it!), or maybe a fault in the casting (but try and poove that :( )

My Landrover Discovery Turbo went...shaft seized..pretty similar to your mates. Luckily min ewas only 5 months into the warranty....and only had 17000 miles on it.

My Legacy turbo had at least 120,000 miles on it without need for replacement!!!

I drove a TD5 Landrover when in the RAF a couple of years ago, and the turbo on that went on just over 8k miles.

We did give it abuse, though. Surprised the thing lasted a week with the sh1t we gave it.....

.... and you a 'Rev' too..... shame on you abusing the taxpayers property! ;)

The one on my Fiat Coupe is knackered, when left idling for a while it starts belching smoke, 55,000 miles, might as well have bought a high miler, sold it so it oesnt matter, new owner is fitting a hybrid, cant be arsed with turbo's anymore.