You can find stories of crazy problems with just about any make and model - the internet is very reliable in that respect. But take the info with a grain off salt.

That said, tranny problems always give me a chill, only because I've suffered from them before, autos are hard to work on, I hate the smell of ATF, and they are expensive.

Good thing is - if you get cold feet on the Pathy, there are tons of vehicles nowadays with three rows. Granted, none as cool as a Disco, but still...

 

The tranny problem was only on the 05 pathfinders, they fixed the coolant line on later years. You where talking about an 12 pathfinder, its not even an suv anymore its more of a crossover.

 

The 012 is virtually the same truck as the 05. The model change is next year. I can t find any info that says Nissan fixed the problem that's has affected 05-10's. I think they are playing the game that a fix is an admission of fault which opens them up for a big class action suit, and choosing to deal with it case by case. Jury's out on 011's & 12's likely because they haven't been on the road long enough. I agree Internet info can make issues sound worse than they are, hell if you listened to the Internet you wouldn't think you could get around the block in a Disco without a breakdown.

 

Back when we were researching the 05 pathfinders it seemed at that time which was several years ago the problem was only showing up on 05 pathfinders. It was a faulty coolant line that ran through the transmission and would leak and dilute the trans fluid. There are aftermarket fixes for this and nissian upgraded the line on later models. I have not heard of this being a problem on anything later then maybe a few 06 models. Basically it was this issue that turned us away from buying another pathfinder, hence the 03 disco we have now at half the cost as what the 05 pathfinders where going for. Now our 02 pathfinder has been flawless, it has 170k on it now and we drive it every day. Only thing we have had to replace other then brakes and tires was a cam position sensor and it gets 18-19 mpg no matter how we drive it.

 

I've been going thru many of these calculations myself. My scenario is trading my '03 Disco on a '12-'13 Wrangler Unlimited. After calculating the great resale of the Jeep and Premium vs. Reg gas, and Mileage diff, and finally warranty it ends up being much closer than I would expect.

Calculations still show it is smater to keep the rover from a pure financial sense, but it is only $1-200 more a month after factoring all costs, insurance, interest etc. to have a new vehicle.

What keeps me in the Disco, is they are not that expensive, so you can literally drive until you have a major failure and then part it out or sell it for half of what you bought it for. Also, they are pretty good values for what you get. I only paid around $6K for my '03 with ARB, warn winch, and OME lift at 87K. It is now at 110K and it has needed repairs, including some pretty big jobs (oil pump gear, 3 amigos), but still only set me back a few hundred for parts. I figure I'll drive it until it explodes, then sell the bumper, winch, etc.

Like others have said, if you pay to have work done, or can't afford for the truck to be down for a couple days here and there, it is best to look elsewhere.

At least that is where I stand today, I'll likely change my mind tomorrow. It is part of Rover ownership.

 

Are you looking to do something with the Disco that you can't do with the Nissan? If you're not planning to wheel the truck and you're primary concerns are reliability and hauling your family around, then the Nissan should be an easy choice.

If you are planning to go off road, the Disco should be more capable if prepared correctly, but it's also then going to cost you a lot more money in off road bits and repairs. (I ended up buying 4 Discos...2 to drive and a couple for parts, but there is still a lot of stuff I have to just buy (i.e.- belts, water pumps, thermostats, etc...))

IMO, the time and $$$ to not have a car payment wouldn't be worth it if you aren't going to live the 'Rover lifestyle'. (i.e.- By using the truck to facilitate going camping, hunting, off-roading, etc...) For me, it is worth it, but I totally understand that other people would rather just spend the $$$ on a car payment and not have to worry about all the quirks of owning a Rover.

 

Get a used Nissan or toyota and call it a day.

 

I'm back! Thanks for the beta. Went with a new 2012 4runner, got a great deal and good trade-in on our crappy Honda Element. Family needs and dependability trumped the Disco although I still have the bug

 

Should have gone LR4!!!

 

^^what he said, did you consider a newer Rover? Can't buy a new 4runner for under 40k can you? If you can afford that you can probably afford to buy a decent used Rover to wheel/learn to work on as well, might be a good way to get into the Rover world.