A local dealership has an 04 Discovery for sale. It has 129,568 miles on it. I've read here to ask about head gaskets, the oil pump, and the drive shaft. I'll also check for frame/underbody rust. Is there anything else I'm missing? I'll ask for any and all service records also. Thanks.

 

make sure the hi-lo and cdl shifter works. sometimes they get frozen from non-use

 

If you are buying from a dealer, you are paying a premium.

With that, the truck should be perfect.

All tires new and matching, interior spottless(headliner), no blown speakers, sunroofs, windows, headlights are polished, no cracks in the bumpers, EVRYTHING!!!

Demand that everything is perfect. They are trying to flip a trade in to you at maximum profit, your job is to make them work for it.

Go see it three separate times, just to make sure you missed nothing. Make them put it on a lift so you can inspect the bottom and complain about every leak. Make them fix every leak, power wash the bottom and drive it for 20 miles and re inspect.

 

have it inspected by an independent LR mechanic, the dealer should be happy to let you take it.

 

If you can take a diagnostic reader and download the codes then afterwards take it for a run and download the codes once again. When you turn on the ignition switch to position 2 ensure ALL the correct lights illuminate and then extinguish as this in many is a self analysis test process. If any lights don't illuminate get them, the dealer, to change them as they may have been blanked out for dubious reasons . Also have the owners manual in front of you to see which lights are for what and which should illuminate. Of course it's not that I don't trust stealers, whoops, I mean dealers, silly me but daddy always told me "trust nobody until they prove otherwise particularly if you are parting with money" I jest not.

 

I bought an 04 SE from a dealer for pretty near top dollar ($7500). The bodywork looked fine, it had dealer fitted wood dash and trim, the engine idled nicely and the dashboard lights did not show anything amiss. Because of where the car was located it could not be moved but, with my relative lack of knowledge, nothing major seemed wrong.
I later learned that the spare wheel was a 16" while the other four were 18". It had wrong nuts on one of the wheels, no tool kit (it had a bottle jack but no jack handle or wheel brace) and just had non original keys and no remote controls.
Since then, via the help of Abran in Huntingdon beach, it has correct spare wheel and cover, the luggage area roller cover, two programmed remotes, an original tool kit, a led illuminated digital clock, and recently, running boards.
Almost the day after I purchased it a steering hose ruptured and I took it to a family concern that serviced British cars and charged me $500 parts and labour (that I thought a little steep). As i was driving to collect the car they phoned to say the radiator leaked and it would need a new radiator! This was very odd as I had driven it around 100 miles the night before and the car did not lose fluid until the following morning driving to work when I detected the steering leak.
Having explained this to them they admitted they may have whacked the radiator as they were fixing the power steering and accepted the responsibility and fitted a new radiator for free. That took away some of the impact of the costly steering repair and was a good and honest deed by the service guy.

 

nice story but it dosnt sound like your guy is really that honest, if he were he would have replaced the radiator right away. jmho

 

IMO a non-Land Rover Dealer is one of the scariest places to buy a Discovery, possibly only trumped by a corner "buy here, pay here." Unless you get really lucky and are presented with a complete service history you might do well to stay away. Or, like was mentioned, tell the Dealer you must bring the vehicle to LR for an a-z check so you can use their diagnosis as a basis for making the purchase.

You didn't mention price but I'll assume you are dealing with an approx. $5K price tag. If you buy the wrong truck it could be a complete bust for you and a big win for the Dealer since they only give Trade Value for these which is around $2K. If the PO was aware of impending major mechanical trouble and was looking for an escape hatch it may have exchanged hands even cheaper. If they bought it at auction the Dealer may have paid even less.

Good luck.