Hello everyone. I'm in the market for a used suv and have been giving a 1997 discovery some serious thought. Only problem is I've never known anyone that has owned one and all my friends don't seem to know anything about them either. I need a reliable mode of transportation so is the land rover gonna crap out on me all the time? Plus I heard that they are super expensive to repair if anything happens. I really like the discovery and think Its perfect for what I'm looking for but I need some insight. Please help.

 

As long as you can read, and turn your own wrench, then owning a Disco no big deal... UNLESS you have electrical issues... whereas your a slave to the dealer or someone else that owns a testbook.

Most issues with the rover can be found simply enough and worked on simply enough. The parts, yes, they can be expensive compared to other cars. There are even work around because of this (like using a chevy 2 10 power steering pump instead of a rover pump if yours fails)

You have to be religious about upkeep. Oil changed and ALWAYS... let me say that again... ALWAYS run high octane gas.

While drive by the gas station, look over... notice that premiums around 4 bucks right now and climbing fast, keep in mind a rover gets 14 MPG and then you will understand if you can afford to actually drive one or not.

Me, the rovers a backup. Only driven when I have to use it. I use my 30mpg, retardedly cheap to fix, diesels for the everyday stuff.

 

Some people say use prem, some say regular is okay. i personally use regular and plus with no issues what so ever. Bottom line on the argument though is the manufacturer says premium, it's up to the user to comply. And rovers take some work in the garage a lot at first, but not so much. Costs about $300 for the 60k tune up (if you do it yourself), and from there you just do things that you personally feel need to be done (headliner, stereo, etc).

 

If you do not use premium fuel you will not only lose mpg you will be doing damage to your truck.
Read all of the sticky's on top of the DI page.

 

Yeah for how long? There you go being an expert on the subject.

No a Discovery is not an affordable, easy to maintain , reliable as a Daily Driver Vehicle until you go completely through it and fix all the issues you will certainly run into on a 97 Discovery.

They are fun to drive and even more fun to work on because you will do plenty of the latter if you do much of the former.

Buy it at your own Risk.

You really don't want it if it is your only vehicle and you really expect to use it every day for anything important. If you have additional vehicles, plenty of spare time and money and nowhere else to be, they are a great diversion from the ordinary.

If you need to jump in, turn the key and go somewhere important every day, on a tight budget and restricted time, I would buy some other vehicle.

 

I have to agree with Danny Lee here. I know some on here have had great luck with reliability but remember they weren't the most reliable to start with. Factor in that it is a 14 year old vehicle and it's gonna need work. Can it be reliable? Sure but your gonna have to put in time and money first. Good luck.

 

You guys are kinda making it sound like if the only vehicle you have is a disco then your ****ed. I dont agree fully. Yes they need maintenance.....what vehicle doesnt?. Yes you need time to tweek on them.....what vehicle doesnt?. I see/hear about just as many chevys, dodges,fords, VW's, lincolns, in the shop as I do LR's. Do you guys think that the only vehicle in the shops are LR's?. No they are not, the world is full of vehicles of every make and model that bad **** happens to whether it be due to lack of maintenance or **** poor vehicle design. For every Rover thats meticulously maintained and stays good for 200k miles you have 2 rovers that had almost no maintenance and still got 200K miles. Also head gaskets go on trucks that have had religious coolant flushes JUST as much as those people who dont even know what a coolant flush is after 150k miles. I'm no expert BUT I have owned MANY makes and models of vehicles whether it be for everyday DD use or strictly off-road use. OK, go buy a jeep........not many known head gasket issues but watch out for the tranny going to hell on you. Go buy a bullet proof 24V Cummins diesel Ram.......but watch out for a $3000 VP44 Injector pump failure. Go buy a chevy Duramax and have an awesome truck......but watch out for losing injectors like crazy.. Go buy a new powerstroke.........Have an awesoem truck but have fun buying Turbo's for it. Just saying EVERY vehicle has soem kind of achilles heal to be weary of. No matter what kinda rig you get into, if you cant do SOME vehicle work yourself you'll take it in the **** when you take it to a shop.

 

My main problem is the lack of a Hot Cocoa dispenser in the cabin...

 

Yeah im kinda pissed theres no toilet paper dispenser behind the seat myself. LOL

 

I passed on the hot cocoa and went with the cappuccino dispenser, quiet an expensive option