considering buying a land rover

[akaseman]

Hi all first post. Like the title says im thinking about buying a land rover in the next month or two. I have come from wheeling jeeps but two years ago when my daughter was born i got rid of the jeep payment and got a cheap beater to get the family around in. Now i have about 5 to 6k to get myself a newer car and i want something capable and comfortable for the 3 of us. i would get another jeep but i just have the itch to get something different. I have always liked the looks of the land rovers and want to know how unreliable they are. I am capable of doing most maintinance myself work myself. Im just not made of money if these things always have problems. I want to keep it a discovery no range rovers for me. So im just curious as to what years are the best and what to stay away from.

[Savannah Buzz]

1. All have the potential to become a money pit. Gas MPG is in the 14 range, under good conditions.

2. D1 have simpler design, less bells and whistles, and less capability in some situations.

3. Pre-inspection by mechanic is money well spent.

4. Would advise combustion gas in coolant test - a bottle of it from car parts store is like $50, will test a dozen or so trucks. Head gaskets are a popular problem.

5. www.statewidelist.com will search all of craigslist for your state, you spec price ranges, owner or dealer, etc., it sorts by metro area. If you want to look for several things, it can do that as well, like "rover|jeep|volvo" (use the | separator, which is over the "\" symbol key).

[akaseman]

that is my biggest concern is the money pit problem. i think they are good looking trucks but i just cant afford something that could be broken all the time. i will have a second car as backup i just dont want to spend my money on something that will only give me problems

[Savannah Buzz]

IMHO many of these fine vehicles suffered from owners that got into money problems, and put off routine service. No vehicle does well with just add gas and drive. You'll find the same thing looking at posh pre-owned pampered sheet metal, like BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, etc. If you maintain by junkyard hours, very few Discos in there (people do fix them) as compared to Jeeps and other Detroit items. You can use our search feature to look for posts on "water pump problem" etc. to get a feel for complaints.

[Spike555]

Spend less than your budget and use the last $1,500-$2,000 to bring the truck you buy upto par.
And you need to know that these trucks require premium gas, if you do not use it you will loose MPG as well as shorten engine life.