I am looking at buying a '95 Discovery with 147,00 miles. It appears to be in good exterior and interior condition. My question is how good are the engines in these SUV's. I apologize for the newbie question, but any help would be greatly appreciated. I haven't had a oppurtunity to drive it yet and when I do is there anything I can check for specifically with Land Rovers. I've been a Mopar guy for ever but the SRT-4 can't get through 2 inches of snow....ehhh TURBO FWD....
Hank, I'm not much of a mechanic and can testify mainly for Range Rovers. But, I routinely watch for sales on every style of Land Rover and can say that if your paying between $2800 and $3200 (or under) for the year and condition you described then you got an excellent deal. $3200-$3500- very good deal. Just my 2 cents. Good Luck!!
What is a mopar?? Hmm, something else we do not see over here in the UK maybe...
You didn't say which engine the disco has, if it is a diesel, then it is only just run in at 147,000 miles...
If it is the petrol, then you should still have life left in it, depends on the servicing and such like, if regular serviced it will have loads of life, if not serviced, could be on it's last legs, just like any other engine. You can only tell have starting and listening for knocks and bangs and any smoke from the exhaust pipe.
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Land Rover Series One 1952
Land Rover Defender 200TDi 1991
I have a 300Tdi model Discovery which I bought with near 150,000 miles on the clock and it still runs sweet as a nut. A V8 model is a different story and you need to be checking the basics with those. Rev the engine slightly and see if you can hear any knocking sounds. If you do, walk away. Also note the colour of any smoke which comes from the rear - if it's blue, walk away. I believe you can also check the spark plugs as a good guide to the condition of a petrol engine but I'm not sure what to look for on that one.
I'd definately recommend taking someone with you who knows engines.
Also open the passenger doors and check for any rust there, apparently rust is quite common on the arches inside the actual doors (I have a little starting to appear on mine) and you also get a lot of rust on the front and rear bumpers, although that is easily sorted and isn't structural anyway.
If you have the Diesel unit like mine, ask the previous owner when the cam belt was last fitted because there was a problem with the earlier 300Tdi Discos where the cam belt was liable to snap with the obvious consequences that follow. You can buy a mod kit to solve the problem and it's definately advisable to change the cam belt on schedule to avoid problems.
Rover first started in 1884, making motorised bikes, this then changed to cars in 1903. In 1947, after the second world war, and seeing a gap in the market, and looking for something to increase exports, the first Land Rover came into being. The engines were standard items from Rover cars.
Rover and Land Rover were the same company until BMW took over and almost bankrupted the company and ended up selling Land Rover to Ford to pay debts and the Rover car company bought itself back from BMW, (the BMW mini was designed by Rover, but BMW kepted it.) (grrr!!!)
Rover is now again an independant British car manufacturer, maybe one day they may get Land Rover back.. who knows..
Location: Santa Maria, CA - hopefuly not for long.
Posts: 345
RE: '95 Discovery w/ 147,00m Good Buy or Not?
groovy, the only rovers here in the states are meant for 4wheeling. unfortunatly most of their owners dont see it that way.
anywho, now its my turn. Mopar is a term used for Dodge, Chrysler, and Plymouth cars. Mopar being the in-house tuner, which im sure originated in the late 60s or 70s for the American muscle cars of the era.
i could probably say a little more, but im tired. and have to go to work early tomorrow.
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1994 Disco I
Owning a Land Rover is like dating a super model. Sure she has expenive tastes, complains a lot, and requires constant attention...
'95 Discovery w/ 147,00m Good Buy or Not?
