I have a slightly different perspective. The latest model Discovery 2 is now over 10 years old. The distribution of these trucks is starting to include a greater number of enthusiasts in addition to folks who needed a cheap 4X4 and couldn't afford anything newer. I firmly believe that both the 1 and 2 Series Discovery's will become regarded as classics and luckily for us there is still a fairly large donor pool of tired Land Rovers from which to choose our rescue/restoration candidates from.

My truck was a disaster when i bought it. It pretty much had every malady common to the Discovery, exacerbated by the fact that i bought it sight unseen for top dollar, from a "specialist" who misrepresented (nice word for flat out lied) about the vehicle to make a sale. 2 1/2 years later I have most of the damage from neglect repaired and once I get my new CV8 installed, I anticipate a long ownership period with Alfred.

Lastly, I think that the Land Rover brand is making somewhat of a comeback with regards to perception of reliability and there may be a bit of a Halo effect on our older models. I'm looking for a pre 1998 D1 and have been having trouble finding one reasonably priced.

 

First off Robert Booth, your rig is sweet looking.

I think these Disco's are great for mechanically inclined people with a few bucks to though at parts. The reason I purchased the rig I have is because a younger Russian kid owned it, and couldnt turn a wrench. He said to me, "you need to be a mechanic to own one of these", he couldnt afford to pay his LR mechanic. So yeah, mine needed some love, but I also got to talk to his expensive mechanic and verify some of the receipts that came with the rig. I absolutely love my D2, the design, craftsmanship, I will however kick it to the curb if it ever leaves me stranded out in the middle of the desert, or if I have to do constant repairs over and over and over....and it's tuff only getting 12.5 mpg's on a good day too. I want to go drive mine now

 

"Only 12.5mpg?" I'd kill for that type of mileage. I'm getting just under 10mpg running premium gas, although I get closer to 12 if I'm on a longer run driving mostly freeway.
Now I need a bigger or aux gas tank

 

a box full of problems that thumbs its nose at the idea of a wind tunnel, latches onto your wallet and drains it better than a teenager. and yet, here we are.

 

I actually got 12.8 running premium fuel, 220 miles was going back and forth to the coast, the other 40 or so was in town driving...I would have a tough time with 10 mpg's

 

In all honesty as an enthusiast of LR's, Pajero's and some other 4x4's we are all insane 'cos unless you are an enthusiast, DIY wrencher or rich and famous you are best advised to steer well clear of 4x4's as they are like teenagers and boats, a money pit. Having said that I count myself as lucky as all of mine have been pretty reliable but most of that is knowing when and why they are going wrong and fixing it immediately. The rich and famous are the best off, they just pay someone else at a main stealership to fix up their trucks and when they get bored with them they trade it in for a new model, hmmm, bit like their partners We are the eternal mugs as we spend our leisure time playing and wrecking the trucks and then fixing them up again because we 'love' them too much. Would I change my trucks for a BMW, Merc, Porche, Ferrari, Lambo, etc, nah, no way, you would look a total ponce out here towing a trailer with a Porche etc But I do have my eye on a VW V10 or V6 diesel Touareg though

 

12.5 mpg is a little low unless you have very big tires I think. My 04 d2 4.6 with off road but standard size tires 255/55/18's got me 15.9 mpg with four adults and full trunk in 2200 miles round trip but it was like %95 fwy. In city doesn't get better than 12-13 mpg. But I was keeping it below 80 mph. And I tought it is bad mileage... Maybe cause I was comparing it with my other cars. Now that i read other posts about low mpg's , I fell I am lucky and it gets awesome mileage for what it is.

 

With the taller BFG AT tires (265/ 65R 18), roof rack, tree sliders and arb bumper, i'll get ~12mpg on a freeway run if i keep it below 65. I only dream of a combined average of 10mpg.

 

I spent 6 months trolling this site and many others before dropping in on my first Rover...a 2000 D2. I love it. I don't think it's a bad truck at all but when people ask me if they should get one I say "NO" all the time.
you need to be someone who really cares about your truck and wants to work on it.
I like looking around online and fixing issues myself. If I went to a mechanic every time the CEL came on I'd be misserable.

People also need to realize no matter how great the truck is or how well it was looked after you'll need to put $2000 aside for a head gasket job within the next few years guaranteed.