Ask yourself this, how much for a more better MPG car?
$500? $1000? $1500?
Lets say $1000 for the car, divide that by lets say $3.75 per gal for gas, thats 267 gals of gas for the Rover.
Now lets say you get 12mpg in the Rover and divide that by 267 gal.
Thats 22.25 tanks of gas for the Rover.
Now lets say it tanks one full tank to drive from skool to home and back.
If you go home once a month it will take you almost 2 years to go though that many tanks of gas in the Rover.
Now, how reliable is a $1000 car that you know nothing about its history? You are still going to be buying gas.
How much are repairs? How many repairs is it going to need?
Will it need tires? Brakes? How much is insurance?
Will all of the crap you need to bring to skool fit in a Civic?
All things to consider.

 

You could be the poster child for why to keep your Rover I was basing my opinion simply on love for the Land Rover and how bad early 90s Bimmers suck. You have it down to a science though.

 

I have been considering buy a $500 commuter car for the last 2 years.
But I cant make the math work for the same reasons I posted above.
I would still keep the Rover of course but only drive it to work once a week during the summer and then during the winter I would have to drive it almost everyday.
SO spending $500 on a '93 Prism, insurance on that car, maintenance on that car...that car would have to last 3 years with zero repairs for me to break even.
What $500 car have you eve owned that did not ever need a repair for 3 years?
My Rover is in near perfect shape, needs litter repair and is reliable.
I KNOW my Rovers history, I do not know the history of a $500 car.
Bradical needs to consider these same things.
And Calabbeo also needs to consider this and remember that he is going to be getting a paycheck from the Marines.

 

Well I went and looked at the car. The body has 218,000mi. The engine is a new "crate" motor. It currently has 23k on it. The original engine started blowing out oil smoke. The guy was building it for his 17yr old daughter and she couldnt drive stick plus they lived in the sticks with a mile mud rut driveway. It is a convertible but has a brand new top. New tires, new brakes, so many new parts. It was 2nd owner and had a binder of everything that was ever done to the car and bought for it. down to recipets dating back to '93 for wiper blades. The paint had some oxidation spots and there is a dent in the back bumper. The only thing I found bad mechanically is that it has one of those fart can mufflers....

 

So did you trade for it? It looks pretty damn good!

 

How much has the car been LOWERED? A BMW is set up by the factory for the best of all worlds driving etc. People who CHANGE the car tend to sell them since the car is no longer a pleasure to drive.
PS we had a 740IL that was a dream and a 325 that was CHANGED, sold that one QUICK.

 

personally I would go with a 92-93 mercedes 300D you will get good mileage and they are easy to work on and lots of aftermarket parts for them , and when you are done studies pick up another disco , I guess the question is ,how much can I get for my disco and are there any benzes about.

 

i prefer the 94/95 300s, as the motor makes similar power, doesnt have a turbo, and you get the facelifted front end

(i daily drive a 95 300D, so i might be a bit biased :P )

all of those cars are pretty hard to find (the 300s) though, so its probably more a matter of what you can get locally...

 

Yes I did trade. It was hard letting the disco go but the day I get the chance I WILL buy another Disco. I probably would not have traded except the gas mileage and every service record came with the car so I know its history. The only thing I knew about the history of my disco was it came from NJ. I will stay on the forums though. I even made the offer to the guy who I traded with even he ever goes to sell It to call me first. And it has been lowered 2" i belive but it still handles and drives awesome.

 

I figured once I saw the pics that you would be trading, cannot blame you in the least.

Each car has its own good and bad especially dependent upon how that particular one has been treated. Looks like you found a good one.