I have an 03 in the 'death VIN' range. I have used this truck as a daily driver for the last 5 years. I have taken it wading until the headlights were under water and the water was lapping on the hood. (BTW, I was on my way into work at the time!) I have driven it through 8+" of snow, up 20+% grades, without getting stuck. I drove to 105K without rebuilding the front drive shaft. I drove to 120K before I changed the plugs & wires. While I have had momentary visits from the three amigos, I have not seen them in 9 months, my TC and ABS works perfectly and I haven't done anything to the ABS module. What more can you ask from a truck?!

At 120K I changed all the fluids, replaced the wires and the plugs, changed the CPK, and I will shortly be changing the coolant, T-stat and S-belt. But all this stuff is normal maintenance (in my case, maybe a little deffered. ).

One thing I have always noticed, as I do almost all my wrenching myself, is how easy these trucks are to work on. They are built tough and were designed to be worked HARD. When something breaks, which inevitably everything will, it is easy to fix. I have said to my wife, these trucks were designed to be fixed in the middle of nowhere with the factory jack and a leatherman tool (an exaggeration I admit - but not far off). If you really think it is tough to work on a Disco, try to fix the traction control on a SAAB 97x!

If you haven't gathered by now, I love this truck; so does my 11 year old son who plans to drive it 5 years from now. And yes, I am confident it will still be around!

 

You talk dirty.

 

Man, this reminds me of why I own a DI and not a DII.
I have put almost 50k on my truck in the ~3.5 years I have owned it and I would drive it anywhere with no hesitation.
I have spent under $2000 in repairs, it is the second most reliable vehicle I have ever owned.
The most reliable was a 2001 Mitsubishi Montero that I bought brand new.
I put 100,000 miles on that truck in 5 years and it never once needed a repair.
Timing belt, plugs and wires at 60k was all I ever did to it besides fluids and brakes.

 

if anyone comes here and asks for advice and is told that if you cant afford to repair them, to stay away and then freaks when things go bad they should have to turn in the keys hahha.

some of them are good and some are bad. its a crap shoot if you got a good rover or not.

 

I feel your pain...

When I owned my first Jeep ('90 YJ) I paid 4k for it, and after a little over three years I was into it for something like $7500. I put a new engine (which I put a new headgasket on after 1000 miles), rebuilt the transmission, rebuilt the transfer case, installed two water pumps, an alternator, two batterys, 33" tires, and a completely new suspension.

It left me stranded in the middle of BFE 7 or 8 times, but I absolutely loved it, and the day I traded it I was one of the most depressing days in my motor vehicle history.

I really hope my Disco isn't going to be a repeat of the YJ, but if it is, I'm prepared to spend the money to keep it on the road.

 

just drive it until it breaks then throw it away...

 

to answer the OPs original post...

viagara

 

As stated, these beasts are very simple to work on compared to the new technology out. If someone from a repair shop can't work on this ride take the truck to someone else or heck get a manual and give it a go yourself. As you can see this site has some tremendous support for a truck that deserves more appreciation in my opinion. My 04 purchased new other then a large head gasket replacment job has never left us stranded as a daily driver. I bought another since my wife didn't want to drive anything else and it sure helps in troubleshooting when you can pull and play with parts when something does go wrong. The ride is not for someone who doesn't like working on it though, go buy a japanese car if that is what your looking for and look like everyone else on the road

 

I won't be giving up, the possibilities of possible repairs is the frustrating part. My 2 brothers will give me sh*t if I sellout now and get a Toyota haha. Once I figure this ticking/knocking noise out, I will definitely post, I know not everyone will have the same result.

 

I will say this, though I love my truck and put up with it's ...eh...charms.

It is flat out embarassing that a modern manufacturer would offer a product to the market in 2003 that will need head gaskets before 100K miles, is known for ABS faults, and the mere possibility of oil pumps failing boggles the mind....but that being said, I still adore the truck for it's uniqueness.

But I am dumbfounded on a regular basis that what breaks on this truck could have been corrected and simply wasn't. It is strange that despite Land Rover's abysmal reputation they don't do more to correct it.

But I do love my Disco because so far, even when she broke, she always got me home!