If you were buying a Disco II for 'fun', keeping it relatively stock, not off-roading, but general usage non daily driver, and were on a limited budget, what year and options would you get? Would you buy one with a 'bad' motor for cheap and rebuild, or get a reasonable low mileage one ~120k and try to preserve it? I can handle things like the APS modulator fix and pretty much most electronic and mechanical repairs myself.

Reason I ask is because wife and I looked at an 03 that was in great shape except the motor lost oil pressure (still ran though ..but knocks). Wondering if it's worth going for and just rebuild the motor ...even though it could get expensive (do the work myself of course). Or, hold off for an 04 still running and pay more.

What would you get? What options would you avoid?

 

Why do the two of you want a Disco? My first reaction to your question is buy a Toyota.

We bought our Disco 13-1/2 years ago to be my wife's daily driver. After she moved on to another SUV 7-1/2 years ago we kept the DII around to haul Boy Scouts and for our two sons to drive, each in their last two years of high school.

We've kept it because I've grown to love it and I can maintain it myself, but if I knew in 2002 what I know now we would never have bought it. It's one thing for me to hang on to my truck given how long I've had it and what I know about its history and maintenance, but buying a DII now if you don't already know them inside out doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Even with this forum to help. Good luck.

 

That's an interesting question. We love our current 98 Disco and have had a lot of great times and trips in it. It's just a 'fun' vehicle for us. Not going to get rid of it, but looking to add a D2 which should handle better and have a nicer interior. I've done lots on our 98 to keep it up including all the usual mechanical work on the front end and fixing all the boogers that it came with. I'm a pretty experienced mechanic and don't mind repairing and maintaining our vehicles. I don't look at it as a hassle, but giving it (them) care and love. Once I got our 98 sorted out, it's been pretty darn reliable.

I currently own a bunch of other 4x4's and classic cars. I've had some Toyotas in the past, but not planning to add one to our collection. What I like about the Disco's are:

1) Driving experience is high - Tall seating position, dual sun roofs which I use all the time, decent radio, overall interior design.
2) Built like a tank - doors close like bank vaults, things don't tend to squeak
3) Fantastic off-road capabilities
4) Straight axle suspension
5) Overall looks badass cool

We do go to the mountains and Moab now and then, but not on extreme trails where we need heavy modifications. I might add a Montero series 2, to restore in the future and have looked at a couple lately, but that would be in addition to the D2, not instead of.

So, it comes down to an 03 or 04.. keep the suggestions coming..

 

Buy the '03 and rebuild. I mean a total rebuild, including new cylinder sleeves, if you want it to be reliable.

If you don't want to off road it then why do you want CDL? Are these mountains and where you go at Moab very rough? If not, you can most likely get by with just working ABS.

A D2 will be less reliable than a D1 no matter what year you get unless you do a lot of serious work to it.

 

Thanks. If ya rebuilt the motor and the ABS modulator. Then assuming some other sensors needed fixing and ya fix the drive shafts, what other common problems would an 03 SE7 have? Are the heater electronics and blend doors stable?

Places we often go are trails around Engineer Pass (Silverton/Ouray), and in Moab, like, White Rim Trail, Long Trail, Onion Creek, some others that I can't remember right now. We've done more extreme trails in the past with other rigs, but normally we are looking for more scenic family value these days. Also done some wheeling on certain trails and roads in WY around the Big Horn Mountains. Probably don't need CDL, but yeah, want to add it.

 

I can't remember ever hearing anyone having any troubles. I know the factory blower motor is a little weak, but other than that everything is fine. You'll need all new bushings and shocks by this point. Lucky 8 has a full poly bushing set that I'll be putting on my truck. Probably also springs, but you can measure to be sure one way or the other. If I'm remembering correctly, factory spec is 19" +/-0.5" in the rear and 19.5" +/-0.5" in the front, measured from the center of the rim straight up to the fender flare. Most have sagged by now, but a few (like the ones that were on my truck) were still within spec. I'd probably also do ball joints, track bar, and pittman arm while I was fixing it up.

Alright, cool. Makes sense.

 

What 'bushings' fail? Are you talking shock absorber bushings? With a 120k mile rig (or maybe I'll find an 04 with fewer miles), I would expect things like o2 sensors, Cats (maybe), Starter, Alternator, shocks and so on. But the running gear and overall rest of the vehicle is what I'm mainly worried about. I'd almost rather buy one that needed repair (and start good) than buy a Disco for $3k more where the motor was going to crap out in 10k miles.

 

It's not the mileage, it's the age. I'm talking about the watts link and radius arm bushings, but the shock bushings will be too.

O2s would be good to change as well as the MAF at that mileage. Cats are iffy, mine were pretty clogged at that age. Alt is probably fine as well as the starter, but use your own judgement.

 

2004 Base model TD5.

 

I purchased an 03 with a knock, and through my complete and utter ignorance I thought I could fix it cheaply. I ended up paying about $3k to have the sleeves plug-welded, along with a TON of other work. Bought it for $3900 and have put between $6000-$8000 in engine work / reliability / cosmetic.

Although if I were to buy a Keeper Disco, I'd probably drop ~$10-15k on a low-mileage Disco, throw an in-line thermostat faster than you can say slipped piston sleeve, undercoat the bottom and drive it for forever