Hi everyone i am new to this forum my name is Renny am from Utah and we are looking into buy a 1997 Discovery SE7 with 168k miles on it for 1800 dollars which is ok, now i have heard that this trucks can really add up on repairs now i would like to know what are the must ask things before you buy one of this trucks? i have always liked this things but never owned one before, the guy says it has new brakes and tires which is good but one of the sunroofs don't work. So before i go see it what should i write down and take with us when we go see it, we are looking into getting one of this because it has the two extra seats in the back which we'll need soon.

 

Buy a mini van.

The Disco will rack up repair bills. Even the expense of parts can take it's toll if you can do the work yourself. You have to WANT to drive a Disco to justify the cost of ownership. The rear most seats are NOT suitable for children, don't even think it.

 

This is not a drive the family around town everyday truck, real world city MPG you are looking at 12mpg, and they require premium fuel.
Unless you can fix it yourself you will go broke and put it up for sale inside of 6 months.
The rear jump seats are for just that, jumping out of the moving truck to commit suicide because the seats are so small, in fact they used to use those seats as a torture method for suspected terrorists.

If you can fix it yourself, parts are cheap.
If you use it as a second car or weekend toy it will be great.
They sit high and lifting a carseat with a 20lb baby is going to be a chore you will get sick of quick, not to mention the back seat is small, 2 car seats and it is full.

That being said they are the best SUV in the world, they go anywhere, take tons of abuse and a guy on the forum was t-boned by a semi in the drives side and walked away with only a few scratches.
Another guy barrel rolled 50 yards down a hill while he was offroading...he and his kids walked away.
I drive mine everyday, but my commute it all highway and I set the cruise at 60mph, she sits on the weekends unless I need to put her to work or go offroading.

 

Oh, little ones on the way?

I bought my 97 for $1750, 175K. It has dominated my life since then, gobbled up more available resources and time than you ever imagined. And it is not perfected yet. And it brought me to this forum. As far as what to look for, see our tech area under the D1 section of the forum for a brief list of things to look for.

Do not purchase this vehicle if you are not prepared to do most repairs yourself. An old "runner" (running condition) will need most everything slowly or all at once. I have owned all sorts of vehicles since the late 60's, including SUVs and 4WD, and this one is certainly in the class of "high maintenace". It is not a tires and oil changes kind of truck, but it may have been treated that way.

An older D1 can easily take $1000 in repairs fairly quickly. Not talking about new tires. Think battery, alternator, electric seat motors, water pump, radiator repair, several engine sensors, your own data reading code scanner, some U-joints, brake pads, some ramps to support the truck, wheel bearings, and plenty of oil, grease, ATF, and time to become enslaved to the RAVE, a fiendishly designed set of tech manuals that was written by Klingons.

If you have access to salvage yards the prices can be moderated a little with some bits of trim and such, there are also a number of dismantlers on this forum who sell posh pre-owned parts at vey reasonable parted out prices. On line sites, like Atlantic British and a number of others can sell you lots of new goodies.

If I was going with you, and looking for some of the worst problems, I'd pay attention to these and use them as negotiation points

1. Crawl under truck and look for grease and oil leaks. Check oil level, and look at dip stick for oil to be clean, and no burnt on varnish deposits on the stick. Look at tranny fluid dipstick and smell it. Should be red and clear. If dark, that's particles of the clutches. If smells like a burnt coffee pot, that would be a sign tranny is soon to need repair. Look at power steering fluid (driver side by radiator), should also be red and clear, it is also ATF. Should be half full. Look below it at steering box, should not be covered in grease or wet with fluid.

2. Turn on key but don't crank truck. Several lights should come on at the instrument cluster. Battery, check engine, ABS, airbag, oil, etc. When cranked they should go out. If they don't light, bulb could be blown, removed, or painted over. Oil light should go out in less than 5 seconds.

3. Take a code reader scanner with you. Plug in and check for MIL (check engine light status) and any codes. Watch coolant temp. Should start out as ambient and build up to say 180 - 195 F. If only goes to 130 - 150, there is no thermostat in the truck. If it goes beyound 210F at 20 minutes of idle, this time of year, maybe a problem. Drive truck and watch temps, again, should stay in the 195 - 205 range. A head gasket can make temps spike much higher, and all sorts of other issues. Listen for a gurgling sound of rushing wate under the dash. This is bubbles in the coolant circulating thru the heater core. Could be air, could be exhaust gas from bad head gasket.

4. If you want to check for head gaskets and are willing to spend $50, there is a chemical test you can buy from auto parts store that measures a sample of hot coolant and changes color if exhaust gas is in the coolant. Coolant can also go in the oil and look like a milk shake. You can look under the oil fill cap and if you see stuff that looks like light colored goo, could be oil has been contaminated at some point. Before truck heats up, open coolant container and look inside. Should be a clear green liquid antifreeze, and there should not be lots of tiny stuff floating in there. The particles swirling around indicate that "stop leak" has been applied to seal up a head gasket problem. A head gasket project is a $500 DIY cost, $1500 - $2000 at a shop, or up to $3500 at a dealer.

5. You'ld want to drive it, and cycle thru all the gears and thru the various positions of the locking CDL shifter on the console. Watch for a loud whine that goes away at speed when you let off the gas, can indicate a worn transfer case.

6. Sun roof leak will require roof liner be removed to make repairs, PITA. And it will continue to leak.

7. Ask what he uses for swivel grease. Any hesitation means he has no idea what you are talking about, and he has not greased the front CV swivel joints either.

8. While test driving and no one is near you on the road turn to the right or left while braking sharply, like an expressway exit ramp. You are hoping that the whole truck does not shake violently, which is called the Death Wobble, from worn suspension parts.

9. See that air conditioning works and makes cold air and truck does not overheat with it on.

10. Be prepared to fall in love with the vehicle and dedicate your life to its care and maintenance. They are easy to work on, fun to drive, get maybe 12 - 16 mpg, and are best not used as a daily driver if you have long commutes.

11. The whole owners and tech manuals, called the RAVE, are in links below.

12. Normally I would suggest a mechanical inspecton by a pro, which is worth the hour of time you'll pay for.

13. You can use www.statewidelist.com to search for all rovers in your state, grouped by metro area. Some say it is best to drive several before taking the plunge.

14. Listen to the engine for noises. Knocking when first started, ticking when running, etc. Ask what kind of oil he used ( bonus points for Shell Rotella 15W40), take off points for 10W30. May be an oil change sticker on windshield if he had a shop do it.

15. It is a 15 year old truck. Won't be new again. Seats are probably ripped and coved with a seat cover. Paint on the roof could be quite faded. Would be nice if all windows roll up and down smoothly. Would be nice if all doors locked and unlocked from the turn of the front driver door key and key fob remote you will want. Would be nice if electric seats move in all directions. Any service history on paper or atleast in a log book would be good. Look around the engine for joints with a thin blue line. That would be RTV sealant on a replaced gasket, sometimes sloppy repair, etc.

16. You'll have a great deal of fun with one of these. It won't be cheap to keep. But most on the forum think it is well worth the work. Rovers were put on the Earth to challenge you. How far you'll go, and what you'll do is up to you. Negotiate the best deal you can. Do not trust the temp gauge, it is way too slow to respond. Above 9:00 is trouble. See pix.

17. Be prepared for surprise and costs. Many new owners have head gaskets go in the first few days of ownership. As great as these trucks are, why would anyone want to sell one that is in good condition? But it does happen. One gal bought a D2 with 117 original miles for $2000, from an eccentric owner, garage kept.

18. Vehicles are pretty sturdy, around 4500 pounds. Tall in the saddle, this is no sports car. Tiny engine. Not a rocket ship. Loves mud and dirt and rocks and gravel and sand and wading in da water.

 

^ Ditto. If you can't commit, buy a minivan. Mine has been less of a lemon than the old farm truck I had before, but that ain't sayin' much. I love it to death, have owned it a year an a half and put probably $1500 in parts into it, not counting mods. It has never broken down on me, but I've kept up on maintenance. Had to play catch-up because the PO was a slob.

 

I would not have bought mine if I read this post.
There was burnt oil on dipstick, I am glad the headgasket wss done. The oil sticker on the window was saying 5-30, there was oil every where under the car, powersteering was whining and leaking, when I asked him a out transmission oil, he didn't know what it was and I can go on. I spent more time on this car than any car before. It rides rougher than any of my other cars, it gets worse gas mileage than any of our other cars.. but, I find myself driving it most of the time. Will I sell it NOOOO.
Now back to your question. I did buy 97 disco once but it was very very rusty. I spent quite abit of time on that car because every bolt we touched broke. So make sure this one is not very rusty.

 

Oh, I'm not suggesting someone not buy a Disco. Just be aware that ownership will require a level of dedication not needed in say a Kia minivan. Many older Discos have a trail of previous owners who each ignored this in their own way. So the last guy in line inherits the sum of all fears of the previous owner group. Rovers are not made to fall apart, they are made to be maintained, by brute force and grease. You will need the disposable funds, a safe place to work (does not have to be a garage, a shade tree will do), and some tools, clothes to get grease on, etc. And use every problem to get the price down, you'll need the money.

As for baked varnish on the dip stick, note in the pix the dip stick tube at 45 degree angle on right side. Yep, there will be more varnish where that came from....

 

I use mine as a family rig because I detest mini-vans. The kids love riding in the very back, but they understand the importance of holding onto something to keep from bashing their heads against windows and other heads. Maintenance is doable if you do it yourself and are willing to set aside $100-200 each month for repairs, whether it needs it or not. Otherwise, get a minivan for a family rig if you need the seats. They are much easier to get kids in and out of. And you can put aside a lot less money monthly for repairs.

 

A fun truck yes, a family car for every day use NNNNOOOOOO

 

So what's the word? Did you take the plunge? I love my 98 Disco, but man has it been a bear with age-related needed repairs. But then I got it with low miles, on Ebay, from a dealer who had lots his lot and worked online only. So I knew it would be sketchy. But, overall, for the $3500 I paid for mine, with only 55k miles at the time (original engine), and now 3 years of ownership, it has not been bad. I do love driving it, although the horrible gas mileage kills me. It also gets put to work everyday now, with my wife taking it offroad for her job. Now if only I could get the bloody fuel pump retaining ring off...