If that Disco has everything as described, then $16K is not a bad price for an enthusiast in that particular metro area. Hint: Plenty of well-paid workers from Amazon, Microsoft and the likes. Today's Disco scene reminds me of RX-7 craze: Once people figured out how to turn a good car into a great car with some reliability mods, prices went up for the cars in good condition. Disco may a few downsides, but with a few proper mods it is a decent overland vehicle for the price. Granted, Land Cruisers (FJ80, FJ100) present solid competition but they are rare too and prices are climbing. And don't forget the market: People who want to buy a Disco today are not looking for a reliable car on a budget--they are enthusiasts who know what they are getting themselves into.

 

Couldn't agree more. Plus, isn't there something significant about owning a D2 that is a genuinely reliable daily driver? I believe many D2s out there right now are on a wing and a prayer with little hope of being preserved long term.

Nothing better than getting a knowing look from someone on the road that seems to indicate their approval. We're a pretty special lot that keep Discos running as DDs.

 

I've been pleasantly surprised with my D2. When its running good it feels great to drive. Sturdy, excellent visibility, comfortable, fun. Just had our first winter blast in Toronto. My Disco just loves it. (apart from the salt). But I read up on here and knew what I was potentially getting into. Now I am thinking " if I could find one with a frame in great condition....."

 

My truck just loves the cold. It feels like my D2 has an extra 20 horsepower when it’s freezing outside. You can’t beat the headroom either.

 

My Y pipe exhaust leak seems to have diminished with the cold weather too...

Maybe I can put off that repair until spring...

Or maybe the the cracks induced by having the manifolds unhooked and moved aside for an engine replacement are now filling with sufficient amounts of soot to block the hairline crack leak???

 

I’ve owned a couple of these in Aus and now the US.

I reckon the high price on good and modified cars is totally justified. It comes down to you get what you pay for. I’ve recently rebuild my engine, gearbox, suspension ancillaries and modified our US disco quite a bit so that it can be a daily safe driver for my family, tackle Moab out here in the Utah and generally be an end of the world apocolypse car.

I’ve put about 25k of parts into it on top of the base car of 5k and if you value my Labour probably another 15k. I’ve been building cars my whole life at this stage and often do things myself because I know I’ll do a better job than a shop. I would not sell this car for under parts plus at least half my labour. And for me that’s it. If someone offered me 25k I’d say no. I have one of the most awesome 4wds of all time (disco with locking diffs) and its classic and it’s also basically new and good for 200k miles from here (top hats). People give it props every day. I also have sports cars and enjoy driving the disco the best. Such an enjoyable car to run and maintain and they do need a lot of tlc to run great.

There’s some poorly modified discos out there for 10-15k and then You see some good quality builds for 20+. I almost bought a car from roadsters in tx for about 16k and on inspection it had slipped liners so I walked away and basically built a similar spec car with bullet proof mechanics and driveline to back up the accessories and looks that I was after.

Anyone who does their research knows that you’ll spend 3,000 doing machine work and top hat liners if you want to do a quality engine build. It’s simply adds up.

No doubt there’s a lot of over priced crap out there. I also don’t see these going nuts here in the US like the defender because there are just too many around. You can buy a nice base car in need of a 7k engine build for 1-2k here and there are plenty of drivers around for 4K.

I do expect as hey get older quality cars will continue to fetch 15-25k. Crap will sell for 500bucks.