Mad thats terrible that you are having such problems. New if your going to buy a Discovery you should be ready to get your hands dirty. I am always fixing something on mine. I love my Disco but it take some TLC to keep on the road. I agree that an 04 with 48k is rare...might wanna carfax it but thats not even 100%. If your coming from the reliable Lexus to a Discover your pocket and or time will be affected. Its an awesome suv but can really **** you off. Jap cars are more reliable....

 

Two reasons I have a job:
1. People love their Rovers and put money into upgrading them.
2. Their Rovers hate them and break down often.
Take that for what it's worth, but even if I didn't have my job I'll still always have a Rover.

 

Z thats almost poetic and very true!

 

Sold my 03' about a month ago for a Land Cruiser and I now have confidence while driving. I'd fought a tick and went through the process of tearing down the engine. Found a cracked oil pump thinking this had to be the tick maker put her back together. Should have replaced all bearing along with rocker shafts and arms as it still ticked after all that work.

The Cruiser is nice and quiet and doesn't sound or drive like my 04' truck which I still do like very much.

I was out at a local FedEx store loading a box in the back of my cruiser when from behind I heard the infamous tick. I thought that's gotta be a Disco and sure enough it was.

Just sold a spare 4.6 block I had sitting in my office. People often would ask why I had this sitting around and my answer was you never know when you may need it. If you have spare block on standby this is a good indication this truck needs much attention and maintenance. You may be lucky and find a real gem, but from what I've read throughout the years, gems are very very hard to come by in the Disco world.

 

I'm a recent buyer of a Super Clean '03 DII. It was maintained VERY well before I bought it, and the normal "Issues" had been addressed, or I've addressed them already.

I like the feeling of owning a vehicle that not everyone owns. I came from a Jaguar, so I'm accustomed to the quirky/often repairs on these cars. I still LOVE the car, but I have to admit, the gas is getting a bit tiring to buy. I get average 13.6 MPG. My Jag got 17-22, so I didn't think it was going to bother me, but lately, I'm wondering if I could be spending the money somewhere else more effectively. And, I do constantly have that nagging feeling in the back of my head that something catastrophic will be happening at any moment.

I'm not saying I'm jumping ship, because I LOVE the Disco, but I'm giving it some thought. The older I get, the more I consider a reliable get-in-and-go vehicle.

 

In a nutshell, I think this sums up the experience of owning a Disco. You love it, but you know something is always around the corner and it just sits in the back of your mind all the time. At those low miles I would guess that all the major work is yet to be done. You would be better off buying one from someone on this forum who can detail everything that has been done for your piece of mind!

 

If I may ask (even thought it's off topic) which Land Cruiser did you buy? What's to consensus about those... are we talking the classic ones from the 80s, or newer ones from the 2000s?

Thanks again for all the discussion. It's much appreciated!

 

The only way to survive as a Disco owner is to be willing to work on the truck yourself in at least some capacity.Especially if you want to keep it for the long haul. You can save your money for a future head gasket job or something for a mechanic but things like drive shaft, drive line service, O2 sensors, oil changes, plugs/wires, things like hoses and even the radiator you should learn to do yourself. Not just because you need to be a shade tree mechanic, but doing the maintenance yourself gets you in tune with the truck. The more things you do yourself the more confidence you'll have in the truck's reliability and performance.


After the past couple years I have a hard time even letting my truck get inspected because I'm afraid of some douche screwing it up. Do not let anyone work on this vehicle unless they have land rover experience or are very experienced mechanics. There are lots of places out there that will you screw your wallet and your truck.

 

I purchased an 2001 with 70,000 miles and is mint. It an incredible piece of a machine!!! From my studies these babies run 300K+ with very mild maintenance and are very capable Wheelers. They also hold there value very well unlike all Land Rovers. The 2001 still has a blue book of $20K. They gave me $7,145.00 for my 03 SE& with 70K and tick that would drive most insane. The LC also has 3rd row seats that a normal adult person can sit in and not lose circulation in his legs.

 

Ha...hah...aha