New member. on the fence about buying a discovery
#21
02-25-2011, 07:33 PM
Baja
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Pittsburgh PA suburbs.
Posts: 5,584
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It would be cool to know how many were manufactured each year, and out of those numbers, how many of each year models are still in serviceable condition.
I know there are at least two current members who bought one within the last year and have driven it very little because they are still trying to fix various things on it (UpChuck and NGAROVER come to mind).
I do see a few on the road every once in a while. It generally takes a lot of effort to keep them on the road steadily. Of course most older cars are costly to keep them running, but at least if you got a GM V8, there are a multitude of replacement engines and such available much cheaper than any LR product.
Did you guys happen to see what the Prince of England and his future bride were riding in this morning on the Today Show. The Prince and Kate were in the back seat of what looked like an older Range Rover Classic and their escorts were in a newer Range Rover Sport. They were at a ceremony in Wales to christen a new Rescue Lifeboat at his military post. And later they were going to an event at St. Andrews where they met as college freshmen.
I know there are at least two current members who bought one within the last year and have driven it very little because they are still trying to fix various things on it (UpChuck and NGAROVER come to mind).
I do see a few on the road every once in a while. It generally takes a lot of effort to keep them on the road steadily. Of course most older cars are costly to keep them running, but at least if you got a GM V8, there are a multitude of replacement engines and such available much cheaper than any LR product.
Did you guys happen to see what the Prince of England and his future bride were riding in this morning on the Today Show. The Prince and Kate were in the back seat of what looked like an older Range Rover Classic and their escorts were in a newer Range Rover Sport. They were at a ceremony in Wales to christen a new Rescue Lifeboat at his military post. And later they were going to an event at St. Andrews where they met as college freshmen.
#22
02-25-2011, 08:35 PM
Winching
I've been around for awhile too but got busy with moving and work etc so I kinda dropped off the map so some of you newer guys probably don't know me. In the year and a half I have owned my Disco it has been driveable for only 6 months due to an overheat problem I fought for a long time. I didn't give up (currently working on it now) but I did buy a Jeep to drive as well. I know it will pee some guys on here off but as much as I love the Disco and think it's awesome my Jeep is far more reliable. A Disco can be a blast to own but just not practical as a single vehicle situation. Especially if you have a family.
#23
02-25-2011, 10:24 PM
Danny, you'll be happy to hear that I drove my Disco to the liquor store today. Finally got it back on the road last weekend. We'll see how long THAT lasts. 
Like DiscoMedic above, I've had my Disco almost a year (picked it up last July), and it's been driveable for maybe half that time. I also had a Wrangler for several years, and it had less total garage time than my Rover so far. Fought an overheat problem for a while, then recently did the CV joints. But I feel like I'm slowly nursing it back to health from PO misuse/abuse/neglect. Here's a list of what I've done/replaced on mine:
Radiator
Water Pump
Expansion Tank w/Cap (Swapped black tank for white)
Water Temp Sensor
Thermostat x2
Engine Block to Heater Pipe Hose (wasn't the heads leaking after all. this was a very sneaky leaking hose)
Coolant Flush x2
Service Engine with Rotella T
Top off of all driveline fluids (will do new fluids when weather warms)
Bumper trim
Removed idiotic caps from front wheel lugs
L and R CV joints
L and R front wheel bearings
RTV on upper windshield corners
Installed oil pan heater (it can get pretty chilly here, negative double digits after wind chill, and my Rover sounds like hungover Frankenstein starting in the cold, so I figured what the heck?)
If I had to guess, I've sunk about $1000 and some change into it as far as parts and tools goes, which really isn't TOO bad. I hate to think what it would have cost to pay someone to do all that stuff. But all in all, it's really not any harder or more complicated to work on than any other machine. That being said, I would NEVER have bought this as a primary vehicle. I almost got one once as my sole vehicle, just before getting out of the military and driving cross-country. I got the heebie jeebies and took it back. That was one pissed off used car dealer!
Like DiscoMedic above, I've had my Disco almost a year (picked it up last July), and it's been driveable for maybe half that time. I also had a Wrangler for several years, and it had less total garage time than my Rover so far. Fought an overheat problem for a while, then recently did the CV joints. But I feel like I'm slowly nursing it back to health from PO misuse/abuse/neglect. Here's a list of what I've done/replaced on mine:
Radiator
Water Pump
Expansion Tank w/Cap (Swapped black tank for white)
Water Temp Sensor
Thermostat x2
Engine Block to Heater Pipe Hose (wasn't the heads leaking after all. this was a very sneaky leaking hose)
Coolant Flush x2
Service Engine with Rotella T
Top off of all driveline fluids (will do new fluids when weather warms)
Bumper trim
Removed idiotic caps from front wheel lugs
L and R CV joints
L and R front wheel bearings
RTV on upper windshield corners
Installed oil pan heater (it can get pretty chilly here, negative double digits after wind chill, and my Rover sounds like hungover Frankenstein starting in the cold, so I figured what the heck?)
If I had to guess, I've sunk about $1000 and some change into it as far as parts and tools goes, which really isn't TOO bad. I hate to think what it would have cost to pay someone to do all that stuff. But all in all, it's really not any harder or more complicated to work on than any other machine. That being said, I would NEVER have bought this as a primary vehicle. I almost got one once as my sole vehicle, just before getting out of the military and driving cross-country. I got the heebie jeebies and took it back. That was one pissed off used car dealer!
Last edited by UpChuck; 02-25-2011 at 10:31 PM.
#24
02-26-2011, 06:37 AM
Danny, you'll be happy to hear that I drove my Disco to the liquor store today. Finally got it back on the road last weekend. We'll see how long THAT lasts.
Like DiscoMedic above, I've had my Disco almost a year (picked it up last July), and it's been driveable for maybe half that time. I also had a Wrangler for several years, and it had less total garage time than my Rover so far. Fought an overheat problem for a while, then recently did the CV joints. But I feel like I'm slowly nursing it back to health from PO misuse/abuse/neglect. Here's a list of what I've done/replaced on mine:
Radiator
Water Pump
Expansion Tank w/Cap (Swapped black tank for white)
Water Temp Sensor
Thermostat x2
Engine Block to Heater Pipe Hose (wasn't the heads leaking after all. this was a very sneaky leaking hose)
Coolant Flush x2
Service Engine with Rotella T
Top off of all driveline fluids (will do new fluids when weather warms)
Bumper trim
Removed idiotic caps from front wheel lugs
L and R CV joints
L and R front wheel bearings
RTV on upper windshield corners
Installed oil pan heater (it can get pretty chilly here, negative double digits after wind chill, and my Rover sounds like hungover Frankenstein starting in the cold, so I figured what the heck?)
If I had to guess, I've sunk about $1000 and some change into it as far as parts and tools goes, which really isn't TOO bad. I hate to think what it would have cost to pay someone to do all that stuff. But all in all, it's really not any harder or more complicated to work on than any other machine. That being said, I would NEVER have bought this as a primary vehicle. I almost got one once as my sole vehicle, just before getting out of the military and driving cross-country. I got the heebie jeebies and took it back. That was one pissed off used car dealer!
Like DiscoMedic above, I've had my Disco almost a year (picked it up last July), and it's been driveable for maybe half that time. I also had a Wrangler for several years, and it had less total garage time than my Rover so far. Fought an overheat problem for a while, then recently did the CV joints. But I feel like I'm slowly nursing it back to health from PO misuse/abuse/neglect. Here's a list of what I've done/replaced on mine:
Radiator
Water Pump
Expansion Tank w/Cap (Swapped black tank for white)
Water Temp Sensor
Thermostat x2
Engine Block to Heater Pipe Hose (wasn't the heads leaking after all. this was a very sneaky leaking hose)
Coolant Flush x2
Service Engine with Rotella T
Top off of all driveline fluids (will do new fluids when weather warms)
Bumper trim
Removed idiotic caps from front wheel lugs
L and R CV joints
L and R front wheel bearings
RTV on upper windshield corners
Installed oil pan heater (it can get pretty chilly here, negative double digits after wind chill, and my Rover sounds like hungover Frankenstein starting in the cold, so I figured what the heck?)
If I had to guess, I've sunk about $1000 and some change into it as far as parts and tools goes, which really isn't TOO bad. I hate to think what it would have cost to pay someone to do all that stuff. But all in all, it's really not any harder or more complicated to work on than any other machine. That being said, I would NEVER have bought this as a primary vehicle. I almost got one once as my sole vehicle, just before getting out of the military and driving cross-country. I got the heebie jeebies and took it back. That was one pissed off used car dealer!
Having had 3 of these at this point I can honestly say that I won't have a disco again. I might get an 110 series thats older but I doubt another disco. There are just to many issues with the engine seals and the electronics systems to deal with.
#25
02-26-2011, 08:20 AM
#26
02-26-2011, 01:14 PM
My Disco is a daily driver for my wife. I get to drive it on the weekends and evenings. Still has a fluctuating idle issue, but runs and drives like a dream. Unlike others, mine has the 4.0L and 5 speed manual tranny and takes off the line and gets to speed quickly and climbs the hills great. edit: we put about 4000 miles on a year. But that is what happens when you live on an island with 40 miles of highway.
I am planning on getting another next year so I can have one for me as a hunting rig and one for my wife as a mall crawler(even though we have no mall)
Last edited by Chris-bob; 02-26-2011 at 06:15 PM.
#27
02-26-2011, 03:41 PM
Pro Wrench
I've had mine for 3 years now, and has been a daily driver since I got it; about 6,000 miles a year. (college town of just under 100k people, and work is only 5 miles away) We take the wife's Accord on vacations due to fuel costs, but take mine on weekend visits to family elsewhere in the state due to comfort.
#29
02-26-2011, 04:26 PM
Baja
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Pittsburgh PA suburbs.
Posts: 5,584
Likes: 0
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I've had mine for 3 years now, and has been a daily driver since I got it; about 6,000 miles a year. (college town of just under 100k people, and work is only 5 miles away) We take the wife's Accord on vacations due to fuel costs, but take mine on weekend visits to family elsewhere in the state due to comfort.
That is great to hear, but extremely low annual miles also. Mine did sit for a while due to needing more at one time than I could afford. I did drive it daily for about a year, then started replacing various items and ran low on funds. I finally got it all taken care of, scrapped a Ford Explorer, and I am down to just the Discovery for now. I would like to get one or two more just to keep it down to maintaining one type of vehicle. But I would also like to find another older Benz or Volvo just to have a car that gets good gas mileage.
#30
02-27-2011, 11:19 AM
I appreciate all the help guys. I really didn't think that I would get the responses that I'm getting here. I definitely thought it would be more biased seeing as this is a discovery forum. Unfortunately the disco I had found got sold the day after my original post. I have found a 99 disco 2 that I'm looking at. I'm not sure why all of a sudden I fell in love with the discovery but I think I may just jump in feet first. Worst case my girlfriend and I carpool to work so I could afford some downtime. Hopefully this one doesn't get away from me.