I am very close to purchasing a 2000 D2 here in Jacksonville FL. The truck has about 130,000 miles and the new engine has 80,000. The current owners drive it 70 miles a day and he says that it has a miss. Cylinder one and six and his mechanic says it will be about $500 to fix. Based on my research, cylinder 1 and six share the same coil and it can be replaced by removing the intake (which I assume is labor intensive).

It has no rust, cracked windshield, small dent in front bumper and new paint, new rotors, pads, master cylinder, tires are 75%.

Here is the listing with pictures and I plan on looking at it tomorrow with cash in hand.

2000 Land Rover Discovery

I will look at the drive shaft and look for grease fittings by the transfer case. I will be turning my own wrenches (mechanically inclined).

Is this a good deal for 2,500 or should I keep looking. Thanks for all the help and I look forward to officially joining the community.

 

I'd pay it just because I like that color. Pulling the UPPER intake is a piece of cake. I'd probably do plugs and wires before I'd replace the coil though, they are pretty robust... though they have been known to fail occasionally.

 

I feel in love with that color too. I wonder why he had to install a used motor? Am I understanding it correctly that every one of these d2s will suffer from headgasket failure? Can you tell what model this one is by the rims? I really want the air suspension.

 

For the most part yes, D2 head gasket's tend to go... mind you that most people joing forums either because they love the vehicle and want to upgrade and work on it themselves as part of the hobby, or because they have problems... so the problem representation might be scewed... but there must be a reason thier resale value is so bad lol

Its a very old engine design, very overtasked, in a very weighty drivetrain, on a heavy chassis. The "upscale" nature of the initial ticket price goes along with my theory that a high percentage (relative) of original owners simply werent aware of the products stretched limitations and drove them as you would expect to drive a new vehicle off the line, and where probably little inclined to do proper maintenance and upkeep. Several design factors also possibly contribute, such as using dexcool, without proper warning labels (or did the owners just not read the bottle labels that clearly state which coolants you can mix) leading to adding strain to an already overstretched design. Also factor in that in that they are beat on since they are underpowered, the pedal pressure required to merge with commin fast movers only strains the motor more... they do leak oil and cover bolts walk out, so unless they are monitored, they are usually running hot and low on oil. You can extrapolate the rest lol.

Anywho, air suspension feels great in my opinion, but the airbags can rot out and blow up under offroad conditions depending on thier condition obviously. Also, when the airlines leak, the airpump will start to run more and more until its almost always on, causing very earily pump failure, and they are very expensive to replace. Again, if you monitor it and do routine line and bag inspections, you can stay ahead of the curve.

You're already aware of the ujoint issue on the drivetrain, but also look at the rear "rotorflex" rubberized coulper on the rear, they also tend to be ignored and need to be watched and replaced when they show signs of wear just as a belt, oil, tires, brakes etc. should be.

There are many things that can cause missfires, youd have to pull the codes and do some simple tests to narrow down the probable causes... also ask to take the car to your own garage and see if he discovers and describes the problems the same as what youre already being told is wrong with the vehicle. IE without telling a mechanic what you think might be wrong, see if they can find it independantly, to varify the probability that its a legit diagnosis.

I believe the coils can be changed without taking off the top end, theres a writeup on here somewhere... just takes some nimble part movements and pacience lol. But always start with the simple things, plugs, wires, boots. Swap them around see if the missfires chace the parts or if they stay on the cylinder.

They are great trucks, but they need carefull monitoring to catch things BEFORE they become expensive, otherwise, they really arent that much less reliable then anything else out there that has the same setup/capabilities from the box!

 

Thanks so much for the detailed reply. I do have a lot to think about. I got a little more info from the the current owner. He swapped in an engine with 80,000 miles a year ago because the previous owner was a college girl that overheated the thing. I am worried that the maintenance has not been kept up. I'm going to look at it and if I am interested then maybe try to talk him down to 2,000.