Hello, I'm looking at:

2003 Land Rover SE7
Mileage: 155k
Price: $5000

The car looks very clean, in & out. It does have a tiny oil leak (appears to leaking from a seal).

I read that these can have reliability problems, can anyone from here confirm?

I'd like to make the owner an offer. What would a fair price be?

Thank you

 

yep they have problems

 

tick tick tick... boom!
Hey it may be a good one, ya never know.

 

wow! sounds like it'd give me problems!

 

Ton of threads on here about 03's, and the reason to say "NO". But at that milage if it had a oil pump issue it would have maybe only maybe showed up. You may want to check it's VIN for the death range on oil pumps. But, that really is a great price if it's a solid car. Check door locks, do the windows work, and most important that dang front driveshaft. See if's been rebuilt. If not it should be your first stop to have done.

 

What would I be looking for with the drive shaft? How could I determine if it has been rebuilt?

Also how do I check the VIN for the death range?

thank you

 

check for zerk(grease) fittings on the u-joints, the factory ones didn't have them except on one of the three. That's a sure sign of it has been rebuilt. The VIN range is all 2003 Discoverys ending with 3A771801 – 3A808362

 

Thanks I'll check for the u-joints.

So the vin range you posted is the "don't buy" death range?

 

Read this thread: http://www.landroversonly.com/forums...erblown-49034/
Ok, here is my take: at that mileage if there were an oil pump problem it would already have presented itself (in other words failed) and have been repaired.
The 2003/2004 were all plagued by this problem, it's not limited to that VIN range. These engines also have problems with liners that come loose, this is caused by over heating the engine.
So what do you do? Well that engine has 155K on it and it has survived so far, so chances are it is good. But you do have a 155K engine and anything can give at any moment, just like with any other engine at that mileage, there is no way of telling.
My intention is to inform you of potential problems, not to dissuade you from buying. With that in mind go make a lower offer (not so low that you offend the seller) and see if you can get a deal. Look around and see what else you get for $5K... beat up Jeeps and trucks, not a sharp looking 2003 Disco.
See if you can find an indy LR shop and have them take a look at it before you buy, it will be the best $100 or so that you spend.

 

what do you plan on doing with this truck? are you handy with a wrench?