I have recently found a Land Rover 2002 Discovery II and I am tentative to buy it as I have heard numerous stories of failure. I am look at purchasing it at $2500 at roughly 120,000 miles. All of the parts on the vehicle are stock and I will probably purchase new headers with it. Outside of the Thermostat and the Front Drive Shaft issue what other issues should I be on the look out for when looking at the vehicle.

 

Look for an empty or low coolant reservoir which could be signs of it needing a HG job (not a deal breaker IMHO as it's not a hard job), front drive shaft, OEM temp thermostat, depending on your location check the rear frame section for rust, if it has sun roofs chances are they leak so check the floor for rust, and make sure the electronics work (interior fuse block can get wet), Check 4Hi/N/4Lo operation as the interlock solenoid can sometimes go out. Let the engine fully warm up on a test drive and listen for any knocking or loud ticks.

LR's are awesome vehicles, but it really comes down to how they've been treated which is true for any used car really. If you are mechanic savvy and aren't afraid to troubleshoot or do some of your own repairs then owning a LR is a great experience. I honestly don't wrench on mine that often, but when I do I enjoy the time I spend on em. I like driving something unique with history vs just another cookie cutter vehicle.

 

Why are you considering buying new headers?
You should look at oil leaking form the valve cover gaskets, Power steering pump leaking fluid, the water pump leaking. At 120,000 you may be on the cusp of a number of issues. I did water pump at 150,000 the power steering pump at 155,000 and arriving at everyone's favorite the head gasket replacement just recently at 174,000. If you can hook the car up to code reader do so. Some less than honest folks have disconnected light bulbs in the dash and the buyer is S-O-L a few months down the road.

 

I think you going about this the wrong way, you should be opening your tool box to see if you have enough tool to work on a Discovery, my guess is you don't, so before you jump the gun and start buying up the store for all the exotic stuff you think you might need... buy the stuff you will need like more tools.... the more tool you have the more money you save

start watching all the video on how to fix it..... then make a list of what wrong and go through one by one as you build up your experience you will be able to do more.....and save more...