Hello all, I'm new to the discovery part of this forum. I've been wanting to purchase a late P38 Range Rover, but now I've been looking into possibly getting a Disco. I was looking at the 2003-2004 years and I've been reading some reviews and many people had some major problems with the 03, so I was wondering what year would be best. I know really good maintenance is required with any Land Rover, just wanted some other thoughts. Anything I should really look at when test driving and such? Thanks!

 

2004 hands down between the two. The 2004 models has CDL stock and its a must if you plan to off road. Many here will tell you, the 04 is the best year of the Disco so I suggest looking a them over the oil pump plagued 2003's.

 

X2 on the '04.

But if you are looking to save some money and don't care about the CDL, you can usually find an '03 for cheap, just make sure to research the oil pump issue as mentioned above.

With the Disco II go ahead and look into rebuilding/replacing the front propshaft/driveshaft with a serviceable one if it hasn't been done already.

 

I have an '03 and love it! I'm not a big time off roader so the CDL wasn't a must for me. I have everything else though. TV, heated seats and blah blah blah... I got it all for half the price of any other Discovery i was looking at in the '03-'04 year range. I found an excellent deal, i was very patient and looked at a lot of discovery's. I test drove what felt like 100s of them, it was probably like 15 or 20, but some were awesome and some just flat out sucked! steering was loose and brakes were squishy and stuff.. just be careful and don't rush it!

Regards,

 

Yeah, you gotta look at a bunch! Like Shane said, you will be able to tell instantly if the Disco has been taken care of. The first one I drove I thought was pretty good, then after testing a 2nd I realized the first one was total crap. Have it looked over by a mechanic before you buy if you're new to Disco's.