I have a 83 FJ60 at the mnoment, want to upgrade, i like Discos, the wife doesnt, she reckons cruisers are more of a 4wd, we plan to do the desert etc, how can i convince her?

 

I assume by 'cruiser' you mean the Toyota Land Cruiser, which is a fine 4WD. I love my Disco, though. I think you get more amenities in the Discovery, and it's got the long Land Rover history behind it. The Discovery, while moving up into the 'Luxury SUV' class, is still a solid 4x4 at it's base.

I haven't had mine too long, but I know that they are equally at home driving to the opera as they are climbing the side of a mountain, and with all the additional accesories you can get (snorkels, expedition racks, shielding for the essential under-belly parts, etc.) you can't really beat them in the bush. Shoot, just watch any movie about an African safari, and you're guaranteed to see a Land Rover (most likely not the Disco, but still . . .).

That said, the Toyota is a damn fine vehicle as well. I've travelled all around western South America in one, and you can be sure they will do the job of off-road admirably.

 

How are parts for Discos priced, compared to Landcruisers? yeah, thats what i have noticed, Discos have way more features than cruisers, but the wheels look small? even though they are 16s,

 

Pricing really depends on where you are and what you're buying. Land Rover's tend to depreciate really quickly in the first couple of years. I paid ~$16k for my 2000. You can get 18" wheels, but you're really paying through the nose for tires at that point.

 

You want to see how big the wheels can go on a disco, visit Iceland. they use 32" wheels on disco's over there. The Disco can be upgraded to such an extent for off road use, it will far out perform the jap vehicle.
You can lift the height on the suspension, add big wheels, provide lots of protection to the underside and even one company here int he UK will convert it to a camper version too.

The Camel Trophy used standard disco's with only things like a roll cage fitted and they really punished them, through jungles etc.

Price of parts relatively cheap, unless you want trim or anything like that. Also most companies in the UK are happy to ship to any country in the world.