Yup! You read that right. I did. OK, I know what your gonna say but before you do, hear me out. If you read my intro in newbies, you know I have been in England for 20 years looking after my father-in-law. Over there, Landrovers are like Fords, always broken, tons of them around, parts are cheap, and they are everywhere. I love every nut and bolt of them and hate them just as much! Biggest problem over there is they are rotten. I had a lovely series 1 300 tdi disco 2 door, it was exactly the same as the one in the Gaydon Motor Museum north of Sulihull (the birth place), same color and everything! It had 102,000 miles on it and was in showroom condition, if you didnt look under it lol. 2 out of 8 body bolts still held it together! Had to let it go as I didnt have a driveway and welders cost money! So I come home. I land in the rust belt of New England and find out that it is wise here to use SUPER corrosive compounds to keep the roads clear! On top of that, folks here think a $1000.00 Landy is worth $8000.00 even though the motor is blown and its frame is no better than my old Dasies was in england! So how Florida via Oklahoma? Weelll, I did the ebay thing. found a nice truck. Black on black leather with carbon fiber roof and hood vinyl skins. NO rot whatsoever!! 120,000 on the clock he says he drives it daily runs great! PAH! Get to that in a minute. $3,400.00 for the truck and $800.00 gets it to me. I did research on line and found out it was an ex lease the rental in miami so thats why it was clean. The trouble comes when I get it home. Cant drive it over 25 miles an hour as it vibrates so bad it feals like every bolt in it is loose! Im a mechanic so I put it on the lift. I see the obvious "tried to fix it" new front drive shaft. lol should have kept going mate! engine mounts are split, there is sooo much oil down the sides it is making mayonaise on the outside of the block! Thats a new one on me! Every front rod end is shot even though it actually handled well. Hook up my scanner and watch it run. Every cylinder is miss firing ALOT! so head gaskets and rebuild then. Not the running truck I thought I bought but there is good news. I got back to the guy and said WTF!!! he agrees to split the repairs with me and sends brakes,head set,engine mounts,and 2 of the tierods, and all four ball joints. You might say I got done, or you might say I got lucky the guy even answered my email. The truth is, as a landy nut, I got lucky to buy a Land rover with low miles , a straight body and rust free frame, and half the parts I need to fix it for a lot less than it would cost somebody else. SO not so bad really.

I started today pulling the heads so Ill keep ya upto date on my fun.

See ya around!

 

The main problem with a 03 is no CDL.

 

lol. well the disco isnt a commercial vehicle like the defender is so I guess I wont need a cdl.

 

All jokes aside, what do you mean by C.D.L.? Im not familiar with the abbreviation.

 

You'll be better off in a ford escape than a disco with no diff lock...whats the point in four wheel drive if you dont have power going to both axles? Yeah the traction control is nice, but it only works after you have already lost traction. The CDL maintains rolling traction and then the traction control only reacts once both axles have already lost traction. With the CDL the disco 2 is a very capable all terrain vehicle; without, its not worth the terrible gas mileage and maintenance.

If you just want a land rover to hit the streets, you might as well just get a LR4.

 

Center diff lock!!!!

Its what makes these trucks so much better then nearly every other SUV. Well that and the heated windshield. I pray to the gods yours atleast has the heated windshield...

 

Not true. The land rover with working traction control is still superior to most other 4x4 vehicles on the road, short of the jeep Rubicon. A Tahoe can't follow me, period.
Now if you want to rock crawl or drive through mud pits, well its not intended for that and obviously any and all vehicles require modifications for such use.

 

he says he drives it daily runs great!


why do people lie like this
sounds like he took you to the cleaners

 

Ah CDL I get it now lol. Changing countries all the time I miss some of the vernacular. Yeah I see what you mean about the D2 as an off roader but to be honest, the wife and I are getting older. If I wanted a true off roader I would get another Defender. NOTHING is better! We need less of the heavy trails and a bit more comfort now so the D2 is a good choice. I wont go anywhere near a D3,D4, anything newer than an L322 in a rangie, god kill me before I even look at a Freelander. and as for a Ford explosion? I would rather walk! Trust me , the traction control in a D2 is very capable off road and if you get stuck? Well thats why god made winches! xD

 

well yes and no. I bought it with buyer protection and I could have just sent it back. The guy was fair and agreed to send most of what I need to rebuild it which is what I do after all. I spent all day yesterday in my garage playing with my Land rover happy as a clam in oil. This is land rover ownership, if you dont know that, you havent owned one long enough. teehee The truck is very clean! and that is what I wanted after all. One in a better running condition in this shape would have cost me thousands more so Im happy. At least this way I will know exactly what is under the hood when I go out on a trail.

About the "Im driving it every day part" I didnt tell you the best bit! He says to me he drove it for 4000 miles and it had no problems. I did my research, When it was sold at auction in Miami it had 122260 miles on it. When it got here, it had 122262 miles on it. That was when he knew my buyers protection would be honored! So he coughed up the parts. LMAO