Greetings all,
I have just purchased my first land rover and this will be my first truck/SUV. I live in Buffalo, NY (SNOW!!) and was looking for a great truck to get me through the winter as I plan on storing my 330i in the inclement months around here. It is a 1996 SD and appears to be in great shape. The link is here if anyone is interested:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Land-...spagenameZWDVW

I talked the seller to $2700 and I will be picking it up early next week in Rhode Island. I asked the usual questions- no dummy lights on the dash, all accessories work, 4wd, electronics etc. It has passed RI's state inspection, so it should not have any issues passing NY's state safety inspection. Is there anything I should know or look for upon pickup? I plan on checking oil and coolent as these seem to be common areas for leaking as it has to make the drive back here. I do notice people seem to have a lot of issues with head gaskets, how much labor is involved in replacing one? I'm sorry for the newbie questions, I was looking for one a couple years ago and did some DD and going on what I remember. You seem to have quite the community on this website with ample help when people are in need. I apologize for the long post, but look forward to contributing to the forums .
Regards,
Brad Ferguson

 

Welcome Brad. I'm not a big regular on this forum, but I'm always lurking around. I have a '96 Disco SD also. I've had it about 6 years. The issues I've had are: the potato chip dash, the dripping rear view mirror, the faulty window ECU, the sticky exhaust valves, and the sticking rear door latch. It did have a bad window regulator when I got it also, oh yeah, the idle stepper motor gave me some trouble. Everything's good now though, and these trucks are not that hard to work on - except for a couple of exceptions. Your's may not have had the first two, they are heat related.

 

Before you pick it up see if it will shift into high and low lock, some times that linkage does get stuck from lack of use. Check for rust in all the door jam areas, hinges and the floor areas from under side.
Check for coolant leaks, and make sure all the fluid levels are up before you drive it home. Once you get it home then get back to us and we willl give you a list of stuff to do before you start using it alot.
Good luck,
Mike

 

Thanks for the help guys! I'll look for those issues when I pick it up, particularly checking to make sure there is no coolant in the oil and there is ample coolant in the system itself. I'll def. make sure the low and high lock as I will be using it in deep snow. What kind of maint. items are we talking about when I get this back home mike?