Never owned nor driven a Land Rover anything. I'm here to get an education before I consider buying one.

I'm looking at early 2000's Discovery II models and have a bunch of questions. For now though I'll just ask a few...

1) What's the truth on these trucks reliability? With some aftermarket parts and modifications can this truck be made dependable?
2) Any particular year better than the other?
3) Any "must haves" for these trucks? Meaning, is there a thread or list somewhere of items I should replace/check/disable/add etc. before making the truck a daily driver/off road rig?

Thanks for your time in advance.

 

1) It's a 15+ year old truck. Reliability comes with maintenance and care.
2) The 4.0 engine seems to suffer from less weird issues over the 4.6 but the 2004 comes factory with the CDL and some better looking trim in my opinion
3) Headgasket jobs, frequent oil changes, rebuilt front driveshaft, no coolant leaks what so ever

Depending on where you are, when you find one that you like, take it to a shop that does Land Rovers for a pre purchase inspection. It's worth it if you haven't spent much time with the vehicles. Most of the repairs on these trucks can be done in your driveway if you want to fix stuff yourself. The workability on them is huge.

 

@ProTech pretty much you are buying a 15 year old truck at best.

Things to be aware of

• the engine is a sleeved aluminum engine, any significant overheat will cause damage. This is not a maybe, it will happen. It is true by the way of any aluminium engine, but the Rover V8 is more sensitive.
• The cooling system is both finicky and bit under spec'd. It takes a bit of work to get all the air out. and the temp gauge is the modern style that does nothing until you are overheated.
• Driveshaft has been mentioned, the stock on can not be serviced and when it lets go it takes out your aluminum transmission case easily rectified by getting a greasable aftermarket unit and grease it every oil change.
• Random Oil changes are not generally tolerable, hydraulic lifters and small oil passages lead to oil starvation and excessive wear.

On the other hand as noted by @FlyingZebra34 they are very easy to work on. Even at stock height you can get underneath, I pulled the passenger side exhaust manifold in 30 minutes, you can note turn the bolts very far, standing on a 2 step ladder.

Just be aware if you buy cheap you likely buying problems maybe minor maybe not. You have not indicated where you are it really matters,where I am you are looking at 4500- 6000 for a D2 in good shape. Other places 3000 - 4000.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I live in south west Missouri. When the time comes I'll be looking nationwide. I have no problem hopping on a plane and driving back home.

 

They left so much stuff out its not even funny.

These cars are easy to work on. That's why it's almost impossible to find a good mechanic that knows rovers and wants less than 300$ hr. And in case you Can't tell I'm being sarcastic to them. Because it's NOT easy to work on.

It's a royal PIA to get it set up in working order then constantly checking checking checking

 

Cooling system is #1. No orange dexcool. 180 T stat needed. All air must be removed and you need to put the car on a hill to do it 100%. Next you need the largest aluminum radiator you can find. I use a Alisport now. Also the aluminum coolant tank. A new LR genuine water pump quality hoses belt everything is needed. Most important you need an ultra gauge monitor w temp alarm. The dashboard temp sensor DOES NOT WORK. By the time it goes red AND you notice it your probably looking at a HG job or. New engine.


Second as others have mentioned you need a front HEAVY DUTY drive shaft with grease nipples. The LR drive shaft is junk. Don't buy it.

Those are the 2 most important. There are dozens of others . There is a list here and you need to buy a code reader.


Take the codes BEFORE you go to the mechanic then play dumb to keep them honest.


That's just for starters. You need to be prepared to put time into the truck it constantly needs checking and maintaining.

 

That 300 an hour is complete horse ****. You live in sw Missouri so I assume that means Joplin. Out in bfe there are lots of good mechanics for 60 an hour. A car is a car. You don't need some tea drinking fopdoodle when a good old hillbilly mechanic will do. I live a few states north of you. My mechanic is 30 bucks an hour and can fix anything with wheels

 

South of Joplin but close enough. No need for a mechanic. I can do most anything myself between service manuals, YouTube, and forums.

 

Good to see the bad information fairy is still around

 

Good to hear. There are some well known quirks but plenty of the guys on here can usually point you in the right direction. Be warned that you might get hooked. I was in your spot 4 years ago. I have bought several since then. I have never been stranded and I have crawled over every trail in colorado. My daughters all drive and maintain them usually without my help. Good luck man and keep us in the loop.