Recently my 2003 Jeep Rubicon was stolen...

Now I am looking at possibly replacing it with a Land Rover Discovery. I wanted to ask some Land Rover enthusiasts questions about the vehicle.

Is it reliable?...Have you had any issues with yours?
If so what were the problems?
...and any other issues you think are worth bringing to light...

Thanks for your time!

 

I love my Discovery. It has given me very little trouble in the almost year that I've owned it. I am currently dealing with a couple of issues, but my truck also has 118k+ miles on it. The issues I'm currently dealing with are my oil pump and water pump. While replacing my water pump, I broke a bolt behind the front cover. After pulling the front cover, I decided to check the condition of the oil pump internals while I had it off anyways. Turns out, I had a broken drive gear in my oil pump. The way the gear had broken, the it was still functioning and in one piece. Now I'm just waiting for parts to get here. I will tell you this, depending on where you live, parts are pretty scarce locally. I have a Carquest nearby that can get most anything I need for it next day, but the oil pump gears they don't have, so I have to order those from Atlantic British.

I haven't had any other issues crop up during my time with her. I would definitely recommend buying one of these trucks. For the money, you just can't find anything better or more capable.

 

Great vehicles, not without there own quirks and issues. As in anything you get out of it what you put into it. Any vehicle willl do you right as long as you do the same. Land rovers may have things you are unfamiliar with but that is why forums like this are great to have. Once you own one you will love it and never want anything else ( in my opinion). I am on my second Discovery and would not change it, nothing is more capable

 

https://landroverforums.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=21328

 

If your life style has changed then a Land Rover maybe right for you.

In my case the other 4X4's I had would beat me up on road but where great off road.

Now I travel much farther before hitting the dirt and my Disco is much better on road than any other 4X4 I have had and gives up only a few things.

If you are looking to off road most of the time a Disco I would be a good choice but the newest Disco I is now 10 years old.

Most Land Rovers were bought to show up the Jone's and were not well cared for by this crowd.
As a mini van most Disco's lived out their life never going into low range (that will lead to problems) the good news is this has made Land Rovers very cheap to buy.

Cost of parts are not any higher than other trucks.

Most old Disco's I see have been sold cheap to someone that got a great deal,, but the first time something goes wrong and their shade tree guy can not work on it its resold fast.

I guess what I'm trying to say is you will have to look a long time to find a good one, as the good ones are not for sale.

Good Luck

 

The 2003 Discovery models have an oil pump issue


The only fix is a new engine but some 03 owners are within the vin range and have 80k+ miles so there is a good chance higher mileage 03's within the range may be in the clear. This has also happened to a few 04's but very rare. For me, one option can be to install a new oil pump now at 64k miles and then again at 120k assuming the the new pump will last as long as the other one instead of replacing an entire engine..

Chances are however, that 03's out of the vin range have the updated engine. I don't know how to find his out. (someone within the range can let us know what # they have stamped on the block and then compare that to an 03 out of the vin range...

I installed an oil pressure gauge to monitor my oil real time so that if my oil pump quits, I may try to catch it in time.

Bottom line... get ready to deal with this if you get an 03.

 

My '03 has 118k+ miles as mentioned before. My oil pump gears have failed, but I only found that by the grace of God. Had I not needed to pull my front cover, I never would have known because my pump was apparently still functioning just fine. I have never had my oil pressure warning light come on while driving.

 

i went from a 06 rubicon to my 04 discovery.

the jeep was a terrific rig. it could go places that previous rigs i had owned could not. but it was a jeep. for myself it was cool, but to do much else it became horribly unpractical. plus i was getting to a point in my life where i was dating women and not girls so i suddenly found myself going to nicer places and parking my rig next to more upscale vehicles.

normally i would not succumb to this kind of thing, but the simple fact of the matter is that like all other people i like something nice for myself also. so anywho,,,,

i sold my rubicon in jan 08. searched for my discovery for most of the summer before buying the one i felt best about in october.

i can tell you that the disco along with being amazing off road as the jeep is, has actually taken me deeper into the woods in the winter then the jeep could ever hope for. i feel good driving it and i love the way it looks. its british!!!

it has its issues like 3 amigos that pop in from time to time to say hello. but for the most part it has been a terrific rig. just change fluids. stay on top of maintenance and all should be well for a long time.

and realize that the overwhelming majority of people who claim to have taken care of their vehicles ie. oil and fluids etc are liars and do not want to made to feel bad about not doing so. do as i did and assume that NOTHING was ever taken care of and do it all yourself as soon as you purchase. piece of mind goes a long way,,,, and with a rover you need all you can get =) happy hunting

 

I did the Jeep thing for a while. I drove it everyday and wheeled it on the weekends. Sure, things broke but I beat the **** out of it. As a family of 4 the Land Rover fits us much better. Equal on quality. They both break often. very poor mpg on rover with poor horsepower. Over all, the Rover boost the ego for little $ and does well. If you want good mpg. don't buy Rover. I have a love/hate relationship for my Rover (Britney). Named after Britney Spears of course. Looks good at times and gets dirty at times, yet break down often. If you blog on forums often, (landroverforums.com is my fav.) they are much help and you will realize how eazy they are to work on. I find it much easier to work on than my Jeep. good luck.