Hello, Land Rover enthusiats I need help! My wife has always dreamed of driving a 1999 White Land Rover Discover 1 and I finally came across one for $1750 and has 140k on the odometer. Here are the problems it has: pinhole leak in radiator, leaky power stearing, the right cat is going bad (i dont know what this means), and the driver side seat switch is broken. However, there might be more wrong with it that he just isn't telling me though, so i keep that in mind. Therefore, my question is this: should I purchase this car or pass? Specific questions I should ask when looking at the car? or things I should specifically look at under the hood? any help would be greatly appreciated! I don't want to be taken for a fool. I was gonna go check out the car today so thanks in advance for the advice.

-Mason J.

 

The radiator and power steering unit would be easily replaced with basic tools and about 400 dollars. Seat switches would have to be found on the Internet but they pop out and have plugs so if that is all that is wrong with the seat then that would be fine.

I would want to be sure that any coolant leak was indeed the pinhole leak and not a head gasket, and I would check the color of the coolant (to be sure it doesn't have oil in it or smell of exhaust gas) and of the oil on the dipstick (to the sure it doesn't have any milky white or foamy appearance). Beyond that I would drive it city and highway, turn tight circles, engage the 4 low and center diff lock, check the windows and door locks, and look in the engine compartment for any signs of monkey mechanic work (like drywall screws and odd zip ties). I wouldn't buy a rover that leaks oil from the back of the engine because that is probably the rear main seal, unless I was planning to redo the engine anyway.

1750 I not a steal unless it is in decent shape.

Good luck!

My wife wants a White Disco I too. Ugh.

 

The seat switches are the same in the 300 series Mercs. $1750 is cheap if it's in Denver and lots of shops specializing in Rovers......

 

It's $1750 now, plus the things you know you need to repair. But that only sorts it out for the moment. How long do you expect you will keep the D1? Be realistic. If you want to keep the car for more than a year, it will probably cost you more than $3000. If you want to keep it for more than 2 years, it will cost you more than $5000. If you want to use it offroad, it will cost you more than $10000. I'm not kidding.

The way your message was written, it sounds like you're expecting to have a Land Rover for the initial purchase price, and you had questions about that price. It doesn't work that way. If you're serious about Land Rover ownership, you start with a lot more thousands of dollars than that and then look for something that can be the basis of your project that won't force you to work on something you don't care to, like rust for example. Another example would be if you're not willing to do a head gasket job in the first few months, find one that just had it done.