I am new to the land rover world and I need some help! Last year I test drove a 1997 land rover 4.0 and it was so slow off the line it just turned me off from the land rover world! But I am now looking at a 4.6 2003 land rover discovery se I havnt test drove it yet but I hope it's a little faster also is this a good year any problems things I should look at or for???

 

Early 2003 are known for oil pump failures ( if I was gonna buy an early production 2003, I'd just go ahead and change the oil pump right away and get it over with, rather than wondering when and if it will ever go), they do not have or the possibity to install CDL ( center locking diff ), but if you do not plan on doing hard trails, this shouldn't be a concern.

Apparently, the 4.6 makes a world of difference powerwise.

 

Still dont plan on going fast, fast, but i'm sure it is faster from what I've heard. But generally Land Rovers just dont go fast, its not really what they are made for. If you have the chance compare the 03' to the 04'. Most people say the 04 is amazing and it has CDL. If you have any questions, ask us before you buy, someone will be able to help you out.

 

As for speed, there's only so much you can do when you're pushing a 5K Lb brick down the road. Even the Supercharged RR and Cayenne Turbo aren't fast, fast for an SUV yes, but fast no. I believe the 4.0 Series I and II were somewhere in the 10-11 second range 0-60 and the 4.6 is right at 9 sec. I do, however feel the power with the 4.6 is adequate where you need it. You don't have to wait for traffic to be clear for a mile before pulling out.

Reliability, well we are talking about a Land Rover but that;s just one of the things that adds to the character of these vehicles we love so much. That being said, I have had Series I, II and IIa and the IIa is by far the most trouble free of the lot, at least from my experience. My series I and II were seriously at the dealer about every three weeks. For the first month I owned my '01 I only drove it for eight days, not eight says straight, a total of eight days. The rest of the time I was in a loaner.... however, I never experienced any trouble with any of the loaners. I don't feel I've had any more trouble with the '03 than one would have with any other make but again, as with any make, it's the luck of the draw.

Warranty- Most everyone will advise that you get a warranty. Def good advice. As for me, I don't think I would pay for a warranty but I would try to get them to throw one in as part of the deal. The reason I would not pay for one is because I don't want to wait for things to break before they're fixed. If the dealer can't duplicate the problem, and then duplicate it for the warranty people (I'm talking about the LR extended here) warranty won't fix it, no matter how well you have documented the issue. So I, more often than not just fix the problem myself instead of paying a $100 deductible to be told.... couldn't duplicate nothing we can do. The saving grace of the LR warranty is that if something catastrophic happens, drive shaft takes out transmission, exhaust, transfer case- warranty covers it. Oil pump goes out and trashes an engine, LR warranty pays for a new engine.

 

Wow thats all good advice after a bit more searching I found that the 03 discovery se built after sept have the " PIN" ? and I looked online and from the pics I sean the PIN is on the driver side up high by the shifter the one I plane to look at I will get under it and feal for the pin but is this the pin? I dont know!