Good afternoon gentlemen, I am looking to buy a Land Rover Discovery 2004. I am trying to familiarize myself with the issues that might occur upon purchase. The one problem the owner says he has is this. I can't find much about this problem what kind of help can you give me regarding this issue? "It goes into park but won’t come out of park unless you reach down and press a button."

 

Brake light switch bad? To get the shifter to move, you have to apply pressure to the brake pedal, once this is done, it sends a signal to the shifter lockout to release. Maybe someone rigged up a bypass switch?

 

Okay, thank you for your quick response. should I worry about this as a deterrent from buying the vehicle, or would replacing the switch be worth a try?

 

It's a $20 switch that takes 10 minutes to change.

You would be better off worrying about what other backyard fixes they may have done.

 

Awesome, I'm also trying to find a reliable place to find cost-effective parts. Do you recommend any particular website?

 

Rockauto, ebay, Advance, Oreilly, Rimmer Bros, and Amazon have the best repair parts prices generally. Rovers North and Atlantic British for more specialty items. The shifter issue is likely a brake switch, sometimes they get out of adjustment, sometimes they plastic tab breaks off, sometimes they just come loose. Occasionally they will just outright fail, but it is a $20 part and 10 minute repair. Search the forums for pre-purchase inspection threads.

 

Exactly! Better drive it for a while, and get under it and really look at everything. Listen to the engine. Check the electrics. Squeaks? vibrations? sparks? history? receipts? There is no way of telling if this will be a good disco for you, but that is the crapshoot of buying one. Maybe you get 10 years, maybe 10 days, before a major breakdown........

I would not buy one as a daily driver unless I really knew the vehicle beforehand....

 

Or AutoZone. It's a commonly available part.

You can test whether or not the brake light switch is bad by turning the key to Position II or starting the truck, then stepping on the brake pedal. No brake lights = bad brake light switch.