Hello land rover people. I'm new and thought it'd be smart to get in here as I'm going to be purchasing a 03-04 land rover Disco 2 soon, but I thought I'd pick your brains as to the options currently available in late 2019. I've read some of these topics in prior forums, but I hadn't seen any recently, and considering the state of used Discoveries is always changing as they get older and require more maintenance, I wanted to post a current one.

Basically the options currently out there are A) 10-14 grand for a clean low mileage 50k example with 2 owners. B) 7-10 grand for a clean 100k example with 2-3 owners. C) 3-7 grand for a kinda unclean 100k + example with 3-4 owners. Basically there are no more single owner Discos out there. My question is this: At this point in time with all of these being 15 years old, and with the above options being what's available on the market, are pretty much all of these going to be in need of the head gasket type repairs? And if so, does it make more sense to just get a lower priced B) example and do the maintenance right off the bat?

I'd like to avoid option C, as too many owners inevitably means a weird maintenance schedule at best, neglect at worst. Option A is appealing, but if a 50k version is going to need a head gasket soon due to age regardless of proven maintenance, I'd almost rather go with an option B version and do the work right off the bat for piece of mind. Option A also feels like overpaying considering that none of these have really held their value very well considering they were 40+ grand new. Also an option, is picking one up, doing basic maintenance, and just driving it till it has issues. I'm somewhat mechanically inclined and have some side cash or repairs and maintenance, but a head gasket would be out of my reach. I live in Los Angeles where garages charge a premium, and there's not a lot of space to do things yourselves. On the plus side, the Disco examples out here are relatively rust free and clean. I'd be interested in any opinions from those of you experienced in these.

Should mention this will be a daily driver(kinda), although I take my motorcycle 90% of the time if its over a few miles cuz LA traffic is bull****. I'm aware these don't handle neglect as well as say Land Cruisers, but I'm trying to gameplan the best way to tackle one of these without constantly having a major breakdown in the back of my mind. Might be overthinking all of this too.

 

@earic23 are you trolling or just really bad at searches, 3-7 grand is normal anything higher is ludicrous. You buy one of these for 10+ grand you will never get your money out ever. IF you get 5-6 years with no maintenance other routine brake soil etc. you would be golden at that price but do not bet on it.

At 15 years old no matter how many owners they will need work, you figure at a supposed 50k that is less than 4000 a year for a 04. Seals dry out, electric still gets wonky. As to head gaskets no overheat and you are "unlikely" to need to head gaskets BUT it is still a 15+ year old truck adn you have literally no idea how it was treated.

Lastly these are not cheap to run they should have 91 octane fuel and the gas mileage is not good, and you are talking driving in traffic. My 04 gets about 270 to 300 miles to a tank in mix hiway and traffic.

In Canada where all vehicles are more money at top end price is around average is 3 to 6 for an 03 or 04 top end model in good shape and often 2000 - 3000 if they need work. Some go higher there is one with a New turner motor in it for 22000, but a good chunk of that is the Tuner long block.

 

Mileage, owners, and years really mean nothing anymore. It's an older SUV and the only thing that matters is the condition it's in currently. I personally DO NOT buy any RRC/D1/D2 with less than 100K. I like 150K and up, it means someone is doing the maintenance, and it wouldn't be on the road if it wasn't being done! My 02 Kalahari with 237K on it is the best running D2 I have, and every single option on it works! Interior is clean, and so is the exterior.

If you look under the hood, and see zip ties galore holding stuff together, and the same thing on the inside or just plain neglect = Run Forest Run.......

Since you are new to LR's find one you are interested in and take it to an independent LR shop and have them do a pre-purchase inspection. Will save you $$$$ down the road for sure.

 

The asking price v. the actual value... People are asking 10-15k but they aren't near worth that price. The$3-7k range is a good range but at the $7k end it would need to be well sorted. A well sorted minty one would be $8-12k for a collector/enthusiast out there. Good luck.

 

Come to Canada.ontario Currently there is a few 04 discos for $3500 cdn that look in good shape. That’s peanuts in usd.

 

Personally I wouldnt buy any 04. 99-02 is my limit.

 

If you can get a low mile example(anything under 100k) for less than 10k I would consider that a win. After that it isn't worth paying 15k for a less than 40k mile truck. It's too old, plus you are still going to be doing the maintenance required to keep her on the road. If you find a 120-150k mile example that is in decent shape then at least it has been reasonably taken care of. At this point, expect to replace a lot of stuff depending on the PO. The other option is buy a nice conditioned Disco with a blown motor for cheap and keep her in the garage while you work on her on weekends.

 

"are you trolling or just really bad at searches, 3-7 grand is normal anything higher is ludicrous."

Not trolling at all unfortunately, and I've been on the hunt on cargurus and craigslist for 2 months now. Unfortunately, those are the prices around Los Angeles. Cool stuff costs more here. Should see the price of 80's toyota pickups, its insane.

"you figure at a supposed 50k that is less than 4000 a year for a 04. Seals dry out, electric still gets wonky. As to head gaskets no overheat and you are "unlikely" to need to head gaskets BUT it is still a 15+ year old truck adn you have literally no idea how it was treated."

Solid info. I'm leaning towards having whatever one I get gone through with a PPI, and potentially future proofing some stuff. Maybe even just updating the cooling system as its so important for these blocks.

 

Good info. Makes sense that a vehicle notorious for going to crap if they're neglected would have to be maintained pretty well to break into the mid 100's. Thanks for the reply.

 

While that would be a fun adventure, I'd frankly rather pay twice that amount and not have to deal with satisfying SMOG requirements here in California once it got here. Perk of buying a CA car is that it is 100% the prior owners responsibility to get it to pass smog within 90 days before selling it. If they don't, and you buy it, and it fails, they're 100% responsible for the cost of passing. My cousin had to pay $1200 for legit catalytic converters on a jeep cherokee he had sold and not smogged prior to sale. Lawyers got involved and everything. He wasn't trying to screw anyone, we just didn't know that that was the law.