I've come across a 2004 Disco SE7 that only has 38,xxx miles on it. They're asking a little more than what I think it's worth, but that's not the question. It's about 520 miles from me right now, but it's got such low mileage, it's really tempting. The question I have is, with such low mileage for the year, is there anything I should be worried about? It's obviously been sitting somewhere for awhile, possibly in the shop!! LOL But I love the mileage on it, and it looks so cherry in the pictures. Tell me what your concerns would be in buying this if you were the one looking. Thanks a lot.

Josh

P.S. I have owned a 2001 Disco SE7 before, so I'm somewhat familiar with these things, and I still love them!

 

Maintenance records! Even if it has been sitting, it should have had maintenance done for time (oil, brake fluid, etc). It also should have had the 30K service done. When you go to look at it, ask them to let you see it with a cold engine so you an see how it starts & runs when cold. Run the VIN through Carfax, it is not 100% reliable but if there was an accident it may show up. It will show how many owners have registered the vehicle. It sounds like you may have found a gem. Good luck.

 

The good, it has a clean carfax as far as accidents.

The not so good, carfax doesn't show many records of maintenance.

The really bad....they just sold it. I called this morning, and it's already been sold. Oh well, wasn't meant to be.

But, I found another 2004 with 36,xxx miles for a little cheaper. Couple issues I saw right off, was the carfax came back with 4 different owners, plus a "minor accident". Looking at the pictures, there's no damage seen, but we all know that really doesn't matter as far as damage you can't see. It was in a wreck before the first owner got rid of it. So, knowing it's had 3 other owners since the accident makes me very leery of it. Think I should at least look at it, or not bother? This one is only about 100 miles away. And it looks pretty sweet also, just kinda scares me.

Thanks any advice.....

 

I honestly think that the reputation of these vehicles comes from people who don't want to pay the high prices for maintenance at the dealer, so it is avoided and then things wear and breakdown. It is possible that with 4 owners, they were all scared off by a $2000 30K service. Still worth looking at.

 

The 30k service cost $2000? I thought the most expensive one was the 60k service at $1000.

 

It depends on if the dealer sees you coming or not.

 

The fact that it's had 3 owners after a minor accident could be taken as good or bad. Obviously people are still buying and driving the vehicle so it might not be related. I did some pretty bad cosmetic damage to my truck some time ago but since it has been repaired it looks better than it ever did.

 

Could you possibly suggest how that could ever be anything positive?

Neutral? sure. Bad? easy to imagine. But good? I'm not seeing it.

 

Do the service yourself and it won't cost you anywhere near $2k.

In fact, the only way I'd recommend buying a D2 is if you plan to do the maintenance yourself...

 

I definitely would! I'm an auto mechanic anyway, just don't want to buy something that's going to be a more serious project than just a regular Discovery is going to be. I don't want any body damage/repair surprises. As long as it's been somewhat maintained and has low mileage, I think I'm okay. I'm just scared of the typical engine things happening to something that has age but not a lot of miles. On these 2004 models, what's the most common issues I need to be on the lookout for regarding engine/transmission failures. I keep reading about oil pump failures, valve train ticks, the great head gasket issues....what else?

Like I said previously, I owned a 2001 Disco for a little bit, but didn't put but about 20k miles on it before we sold it, so the only issue I ever ran into on it was having to change plug wires due to a really bad short on the wires, around 100k miles (give or take). I loved it, but my wife hated driving the thing. She won't be driving this one, unless it's dire emergency. I've been looking at them, and she says they look nice......for me to drive!! And that's fine with me. I don't want her driving it if she feels that way.

Was going to ask also, how hard is the head gaskets on these things to do? Any worse than any other vehicles, or just a plain ole pain in the rear?