Hey all ...I've been thinking of pulling the trigger on the purchase of a 2002 Disco SE or SE7 as an eventual 3rd vehicle for the winters here in Chicago. For the time being, it would be one of our 2 vehicles for main transportation until I can chump up the $$ for the truck I really want ..an 06' Range Rover. Anyway, I found a nice 02' Series II SEseveral states away that has been 100% LR dealer serviced, the few recall items have been addressed, the previous single owner bought the truck from this same place that is now selling it, and that person also owned 3 other Rovers. It's got about 55K miles and is about $15,500. Is there anything that I should know about this model year to look out for, i.e. any major issues that would change my decision on this truck altogether? I am staying shy of the 2003s for the whole oil pump ordeal. My other vehicle choice was an older model Lexus LX450 ...not sure which path to take. I really like this 02' Disco and have lined up an independent LR trained mechanic pretty close to my home ...also, here in Chicago, there are about 6 dealers w/n 30 or so miles of where I live so if I had to absolutely bail out on a dealer, I have several to pick from. I will try and do what I canmyself with the tools I have and hopefully some advice on this site but once it starts getting too complex or requires tools I don't have, I'll have to use the independent mechanic. Thanks for any advice.

Pads Fan

 

Nothing really much to look for. Does it have air suspension in the back? That is a problem area. Have the coolant changed ASAP! Rover recommends every 24mo or 30k, whichever is first. There are different opinions on this but mine is that is the reason the head gaskets leak on every Dexcool equipt carbefore 100k.
Make sure that you use premium gas, you havea Lexus so you are used to that already.
I really cant think of anything else right now.

 

Thanks Spike ...I'm not sure about the air suspension in the rear. I actually didn't know the Discoveries had the air suspension. That was the main reason why I dumped my 98' RangeRover (EAS problems). That might be a deal breaker for me if this model has the rear air suspension. I'll call the dealership back to find out. I'll also ask them about when the coolant was done. It's nice that all the work was done there ...they will be able to tell me everything that has been done to it since day 1 since the truck was purchased brand new there. As far as the premium, yeah, I've read on this forum how the premium fuel was a must for these trucks. And we don't have a Lexus at the moment. My wife has an Infiniti M35 and we put premium in that. I was saying that the other vehicle I am looking at right now besides the 02' Disco is a Lexus LX450. Reliable and well built but it just doesn't have that pizzaz and uniqueness that the Rovers have.

 

Oh, I miss understood, I thought you had the Lexus, you know the the Land Cruiser is a Lexus without the pricetag right?
The EAS is a problem with all Rovers. I usually fails around 100k.
I used to have a I30 and I loved it.

 

Yep, I formerly had a Land Cruiser. The LX is a better truck for a few reasons ...WAY better stereo (my LC stereo was probably the worst stock stereo I've ever seen/heard), many of the LXs came with the locking diffs and only a small percentage of LCs had them (mine did). The Lexus fit and finish isbetter, too. Real wood trim as opposed to the fake wood kit my LC had. Better sound dampening on the LX and probably a handful of other upgrades the LX has over the LC.

Do many owners of the Discos on here convert the rear bags to coil spring? Wonder how that ride feels? I had done this in my 98 Range and the ride was not that good.A more rigid ride but that was all 4 wheels, not just the 2 rear. Also, this one I'm looking at has the 18" wheels I think (the bigger wheels that were on the Range Rovers, too). I can't put all terrain tires on those ...I would want to swap those wheels out with some 16" wheels that I can throw some Toyo Open Country tires on or something similar.

Never drove an I30 but this M35 we have is pretty awesome. The Nissan engines are pretty responsive and this car has been flawless so far. I have yet to find an Infiniti independent mechanic in my area so I am forced to do service at the dealer on this one. For our 30K service, they basically changed the oil and air filter, inspected a few things, and swapped out the coolant and charged me $750. I almost crapped my pants. Needless to say, I WILL be finding some independent place to do the 45K and 60K services for sure.

 

Though, I am new to land rover and have yet to purchase one. I have been doing a lot of research and am finding they are great cars but require a little extra attention than most out there, so after further investigation and a test drive... I am very convinced the Discovery II is a great car (though just a hunch). For your question about the air suspension, after browsing around online for land rover discovery IIs I have found that many do not have the air suspension and the ride seemed very smooth during a test drive with one that had coil springs in the rear. The ones that have the rear air suspension will have a button on the center console and a dealership that knows what they are doing should also list whether the discovery II they are selling has it. http://www.yourwebdesigns.com/images/landrover.bmp

 

Pads Fan: My '02 Disco has rear coils, not air, so I did not have to convert, but I believe this is a pretty common mod. You can buy kits from places like British Atlantic:

http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/9268D2ABP.cfm

Or you can convert to an Old Man Emu springs/shocks kit, which is what I did based on recommendations here.

On the tires, you can fit General Grabber AT2s to the 18" wheels, as I believe several board members here have done. The Grabbers are well-reviewed all-terrain tires that I'm fitting to my Disco right now (on 16" wheels).

 

thanks for the link to the spring conversion at Atlantic British. I did confirm with the dealer that this particular truckI'm looking at does have the rear air suspension feature. They mentioned that this one has an extended warranty for another 15,000 miles or 10 months so that's nice. The only problem I see now is that after running a CarFax, it appears that it's been in 2 accidents. One had right front pillar damage. The other had no details. I found this information out after I hung up the phone with themthis morning and my guess if if I ask them about it, they will sugar coat it to make the sale.

I don't have a clue what pillar damage could be. Is this something to be concerned over? Also, they mentioned that the head gasket has been replaced and the CarFax shows the electrical, suspension, drive axle, vehicle body, engine, and fuel system have all been serviced under the extended warranty. This list is getting rather long ..should I be concerned with all of the dealer trips to correct what appears to be non-routine items? It's hard to tell what the items actually are, though. What drive axle service could have been done? I'm beginning to think that passing this one over is probably my best bet. Advice from the experts?? (this means you all). FYI ...60K service has not been done yet except the head gasket per the sales manager. 60K service interval quote at this independent shop a few towns north of meis $970 ($80/hr. labor). Is that price typical?

Thanks,
Steve (Pads Fan)

 

From what DiscoMike told me the other day, the 60K Checkup can be around $1300...if you buy the fluids and parts yourself, it can be done for under $400. So $970 w/ parts and labor doesn't seem all that bad.

I recently read on this forum about someone doing a 60K and spending almost $200 on fluids alone. It's not cheap.

 

yeah, I pulled his 60K service list of items to address. I can probably do most of that stuff on my own with some help from this site. And yes, Knauz Land Rover in Lake Bluff not far from me wants $1350+ to do the same interval but they did not provide any of the additives. Their labor rate was $138/hour I think. Unfregginbelieveable.