Hey guys, I am new to the possible world of owning a Land Rover Disco. I have been doing my reasearch and looking at Disco's to purchase. I found what I believe to be a good deal but wanted an honest opinion on Discovery II.

2003 SE 7 with 103000 miles. Very clean interior and motor; has a slight exhaust leak but is being repaired prior to purchase. Price out the door will be $3500. This was a trade in at the local LR/RR dealer and I am going to request the maintenance records.

A buddy has one that I fell in love with and am now in the market.
What can I expect for maintaing this vehicle. It appears to me after doing extensive research that they are a "mechanic's vehicle" meaning you have to pay attention and baby them. If you plan on just driving it and not paying attention to it's needs it will be a problem.
Advice Please.

Thanks,
Rob

 

Rob

I've wrote up a couple things outlining what should / shouldn't be considered when it comes to maintenance on these.

I suggest changing the fluids once you get it. I mean change all fluids lol you can learn a whole lot just from looking at what comes out of the vehicle. ex: metal in trans / diff/ TC oil, water in the oil, oil in the water, color / smell.

You should also be mindful of coolant temp. Go to amazon and buy a scanguage or ultraguage just to monitor the temp. It's well worth the investment. You can eventually go with a softer spring t-stat or an inline one depending on what path you choose, but the stock one might just be fine for you

I also check for leaks semi passively as well. I don't make it a task to inspect the vehicle for leaks lol I just take a glance every now and then at the concrete its parked over.

If shes not running hot, shes not leaking anything, and you trust the fluids you put in it (since you changed them yourself) then you should have all the confidence in the world to drive it in nearly any manner you see fit.

 

Rob,

I posted this a while back to someone looking at an 04. I think it pretty much sums up a lot of experiences that people on here have had with their Rovers.



"I've got an 04 with 204,000 miles on it that I bought 14 months ago with 165,000 on it. If they are properly maintained then you can have a solid vehicle on your hands. People will tell you that maintaining them is the key. It's what most of the second and third owners neglected to do and then you wind up playing catch up. I use mine as a daily driver and it's never left me stranded. BUT...

The caveat is that even if it's been properly maintained you have a 13 year old vehicle on your hands. Over the past year I've rebuilt and replaced all of the parts that wear on a car. Battery, starter, alternator, brake pads, rotors, springs, shocks, the entire cooling system (hoses, thermostat, radiator, overflow reservoir) plus a dozen other things that I can't recall at the moment.

Was I surprised by any of this? No, I knew the rover was 13 years old when I bought it and knew I would do those things proactively so that it wouldn't leave me stranded. You are a tech so I'm guessing you know this already. If not then welcome to some reality. That's why people have problems, they want to pay for the vehicle and then not worry about maintenance. It comes with these vehicles, you can ignore it but at your own peril.

I decided when I bought it to bring the mechanical side of it back to spec before I started in on the fun stuff. And I'm plugs, wires, coils and valve gasket covers away from being there. I like working on cars so this has been fun for me. Plus I have one freaking cool *** vehicle and a ton of first hand experience in working on it. I wouldn't trade that for anything.

Most of the questions and repairs you will ever have can be answered by downloading the RAVE manual and using the search function on this forum. Most of it has all been addressed before and if not then this is a great group willing to answer questions.

But my 2 cents and 14 months and 40,000 miles of experience is that a Rover is one solid vehicle that won't let you down. Provided you keep up your side of the bargain by maintaining it beyond just changing the oil. Make up a list of engine/vehicle perishables. You know, like the hoses, belts, and mechanical items that wear with time (starter, alternator, water pump, brakes, shocks, etc). And then buy and install new parts every month at a pace you can afford. Do this for a year and you have an extremely reliable vehicle.

I'm really looking forward to this year. 2017 will be my year of bumpers & rock sliders & winches & roof rack & lights (oh the lights!). By the time December rolls around I'll be set up exactly as I want. And I'll have the pride of knowing that I've done 90% of the work on it.

I would definitely get my hands on the maintenance records and possibly have a pre purchase inspection done by a local independent rover mechanic if you have one where you live.

Other than that, have fun with it, maintain it, put some gear on it and be 50 times cooler than those Jeep guys could ever hope to be. Oh, and if I could only get you to do two things it would be to replace the thermostat with a factory 180 thermostat and change your oil and filter on a regular basis with a quality oil. "

 

Zoltan and Chris,
Thank you for the tips and advice, I get it... Get it home and drain everything out of it, that makes total since. Addressing a perishable once a month; great advice.

I too am looking forward to wrenching on an "enthusiast" vehicle, its part of the allure of the truck, the pride you can take in knowing you have kept it running and made it what you want.

Thanks again guys, should be picking it up this weekend.

 

You will have a blast with it and there will be times you cuss it like your worst enemy but at the end of the day, the disco is like a high class hooker, she likes it rough at times but you still have to caress her more often than not. Everybody on here is here to help and at some point, somebody on here has faced the issue you might face and have that answer you might need.