I'm considering getting the 97 Discovery SE7 seen here: 1997 Land Rover Discovery - Schroeder Auto Wholesale Grants Pass, OR

It appears to be in very good condition but everything I hear says they're unreliable and low quality. It seems strange that a large vehicle designed for serious off-road prowess could be so fragile. I enjoy working on vehicles and am hoping there are just a few common issues that are easy to avoid that account for the bad reputation.

Anyone care to shed some light?

Thanks

 

Ahhhhh, where to begin. The land rover is no more or less tempermental than any 15 year old car. I think that the underlying issue with all of these cars is that whaen the majority of them were bought in the mid to late nineties, they were bought by stuffy rich white people as mall cruisers and status symbols. They didnt care about the Center Diff, they didnt care about changing all there different gear oils, so what you have is a pattern of neglect from (the majority) of original/previous owners. This tends to cause headaches down the road. The land rover discovery is a billy goat. It does more off the show room floor than most souped up SUV's could ever hope to do. But it takes TLC. you're biggest issue is going to be finding out what level of care was take for the truck in the past, and undoing all the wrong and catching it up with disco mikes 60 or 120k service. From there they're easy.
No brand of car is without it's own little quirks. But the good news is that the majority of land rover issues are common occurances as in, someone has already been there and done that. If you have the technical know how to get a baseline on your truck, there's no reason it can't run forever. Look at uncle spike. The VIN number on his discovery is SALJY0000003. his truck has like a TRILLION miles on it.
DOnt be scared of these things. Theres not that much to them and there are some realy brilliant people on this board. But in all fairness these trucks can on occasion frustrate the **** out of you. But they love you back, tons.

 

It looks like a nice truck but the price is on the high side considering the mileage. For that kind of money I would hope you'd be getting a pretty complete service history so you can see what you're getting yourself into.

Turf63 is absolutely right about the neglect many of these trucks have experienced at the hands of their owners. Most hadn't a clue what a center locking differential was for. Or that a truck needs more than just an oil change every once in awhile.

If you're set on this one try to get as much of the history as you can. A carfax report really only tells you a fraction of what's gone on with the truck. If you're familiar with the underside of a truck, get on your back and check out rust along with any other odd stuff. Leaks, especially with a truck this age and mileage, are not uncommon but if it's really bad, you may want to look for another truck. Whatever you do, don't let your emotions run away with you. There are plenty of these trucks out there and if you're patient, you'll find a good one.

Good luck

 

1. Everything they told you is right, these things are high performance / high maintenance. Many were leased by people who soon found that extra kids in the home made it hard to keep up with scheduled service, so they skipped a lot.

2, Things can be fixed, repaired, or replaced if you are fairly handy with a wrench. Full shop manuals available here for free (see link below).

3. Look in our Discovery 1 section, technical listing, and you will find lists of things to check for on buying a Discovery.

4. Paid $1750 for mine, seats were not quite as good, paint needed more buffing than this one. You can use www.statewidelist.com to search for all "Rovers" in your state, it will sort the output by city, searches all of craigslist. You want a good price for you, not the dealer's college fund.

5. Look for any oil leaks and use that as negotiating point. Rovers are really good leakers. Open oil fill cap and shine a light inside valve cover - bet you will see sludge, baked on. Let truck sit at idle with AC on in dealer lot while you look it over. Let it run 20 -30 minutes. Check temp gauge to see if it is above the 9:00 position (needle horizontal). Open power steering cap and notice how it is low (should be red, it is actually ATF in there). Look inside coolant jug to see if there are bubbles coming up while running the truck, and if looks like green or yellow antifreeze. If it is orange Dexcool, watch out. Normal fill level is the seam in the plastic tank. Tell dealer you think it is low and might need a head gasket. Look at exhaust - any white smoke, even when revved up slightly? Hear anything that sounds like water gurgling or rushing under the dash (air or exhaust gas in coolant)?

6. Borrow a scanner and bring it to plug in and look for codes, plug is under dash above gas pedal.

7. Crawl under and look at the drive shafts. Zerk fitting on universal joints is good, means they have been replaced. While under there look for more oil leaks. If no leaks, there is none inside iit. Should have a front and rear drive shaft.

8. MAke sure all warning lights come on for dash at self test, then go out (bulbs could be reomved from check engine light, etc. Code scanner will catch this). Ones like ABS can be $$$ to fix. Open the fuse box under the hood. All fuses should be present, and certainly the ABS fuse. Low oil light should go out within 2 seconds of cranking, and not blink. Tachometer should work normally (or alternator is dead).

9. Test drive, in both high and low speed positions of the transfer case. Test sharp cornering and braking at a low speed (35 mph) to chek for any wobble. Keep radio off so you can hear whine from transfer case, differentials, and clicks from CV joints.

10. Run while you still can. If not running away, arrange for independent inspection. A mechanical oil PSI test cold and warm would be good, could point to oil pump issues. scanner can show you heat changing too quickly, iginition advance not stable (timing chain slop), other issues.

We're all hooked, save yourself while you can, or jump in, the grease and mud are just fine!

 

Def too pricey though. 3500-4k

 

I agree with all the above. I bought my Disco from the original owner. He had a small family and bought the Disco as a family vehicle. He took it to the dealer for everything. They wanted to sell it to get a Japanese truck because "it rides rough and rattles" and it had had a few minor issues that the dealer scalped them on. If you want a truck that will be comfortable, dependable and economical get a Nissan or a Toyota, a NEW one. If you're gonna buy a 15 year old Disco, you should get used to the idea of performing some maintenance on it. I've had mine for 10 years now and it's been darn good to me. I guess we're just a "special" breed, us Disco owners. ;^)

 

Too much, if it was totally clean and had complete service history I would consider it but it still has high mileage.

 

They are built to be a work horse, not a show pony. After a bit if use there will be things that need to be fixed, but you won't have the time due to the things that must be fixed. Would not buy an older used Disco as daily driver for the wife with a 90 mile commute. They are a truck, so expect a truck ride and high center of gravity handling. Jaguars are down the street next to the Mini Coopers. CAn you get 200K out of them? Yes, with good care. Can you get 300K miles? There may be a a few, most likley not on original engine. If you want to know what kind of miles, PM Paul Grant in link below, he has purchased hundreds of used ones to dismantle, and can tell you the miles that are normal for delivery to the final oil change.

 

Way too much. I might pay $3-3.5k if it comes with a complete service history and no known problems only because of the mileage. I paid $1000 for mine with no service history...but it isn't as nice as the one you are looking at.

 

Well it's done. I worked him down to 3100 after checking it out for problems. Seems to be in good shape mechanically as far I can tell including most of the points you guys raised. Everything works except the driver side seat adjustment switch. Driver side window seems a tad clunky but not bad. Driving it around I didn't notice any strange noises and the steering felt tight. Air filter was dirty though and one of the battery terminals was bad which they replaced on the spot.

I live for these kinds of projects and am looking forward to learning everything about LCs and restoring it to pristine condition. Now where to start...

Thanks for the advice guys. Seems like a great forum.