I'm looking at buying a 2001 discovery, and since i've never owned a land rover before, i decided to look up some reviews and such to get a feel at what people thought about them. The first thing i noticed is that theres alot of people that say their disco needs constant attention and always replacing something.
I guess my question is, is this true. Do they break down all the time? I was seriously excited when i finally found the disco like i wanted, it has 100,000 miles on it, but seems like the previous owner took really good care of it, and i can't find a problem with it. But i really need to get a reliable car. I'd appreciate any help at all.

 

Land Rovers are like super modles, they are great to look at and great at what they do but they do need constant attention.
That is not to say that they are not reliable because they are.
If you are not very mechainical it will bleed you to death, but if you can do most repairs/maintence yourself then you are golden.
I have owned my '97 for just over 2 years, put 28,000 miles on it and I have spent a total of less than $1500 in unexpected repairs.
Alternator, wheels bearings on both front and rear axles and the viscous fan clutch.

Do a search for my thread "what to look for when looking to buy a Disco"

If you are looking for a gas it and forget it car or truck then get a Toyota.

 

Same here, I bought my '99 with right at 100k, and it has left me stranded, but only because i didn't have the money to fix problems right the first time.. If you're mechanically inclined, they're pretty straight forward and easy to work on..

Often you need to wait for parts, so if this is your only mode of transportation, you need to be VERY observant of any potential problems, and fix them, before they arise..

 

I guess my biggest thing is that I don't want something that seems like every time i turn around I'm having to replace something, Or be so worried about the reliability that i can't take it on a small road trip. I actually just sold my truck (dodge ram) because it wasn't very realiable, so don't want to be back in the same boat as i have been.

I do usually do all mine and my family's mechanic work (short of tearing the engine apart) so doing the usual maintenance and light repair work isn't a problem.

Honestly, if ya had it to do all over again would you have still gotten the disco?

 

YES!! Without a doubt.
I still would have gotten a DI as they are less trouble prone than a DII, they have fewer electronics on them and the British cant make anything electrical to save their island.

 

Whats the difference between the two (DI and DII) cuz the one that i'm looking at is a DII.. also i searched for that thread you mentioned earlier, but couldn't find it. The search function took out all the words except "disco", so go figure had about a million threads pop up, haha.. anyways post a link if ya have it.

 

The D2 is a little longer, a little wider and has a lot more electronics. The D2 also uses a Bosch engine management system rather than GEMS like the D1. Both systems do the job I just like Bosch, the Germans get that kind of stuff right.

You are doing right by asking questions and getting information before you buy. I spent a month reading everything I could about the Discoveries before I bought mine. Would I still have bought it knowing what I know now, absolutely. Truth is I am thinking about a second Rover. I want to replace my 07 Dodge Ram with a LR3 as my daily driver. My 97 has 117,000 miles on it and I'm not afraid to take it anywhere. I wheel it as often as possible and feel completely confident that at the end of the day it will still get me home. Today I am taking a drive to Rocky Mountain National Park just for the purpose off driving my Disco across Trailridge Road, the highest paved road in the country (over 11,000 feet elevation). I have had to do some repairs such as head gaskets and water pump but those are things you'll run into with any vehicle at some point.

 

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

The search function on here sucks, but if you go to "advanced search" and then search all threads started by "spike555" then it would have come up.
It sucks you have have to be really specific.

 

Thanx everybody for the help. Obviously i know nothing about LR's so I'm trying to find out as much about the disco as i possibly can.

Most of what i've seen people complaining about have been little stuff, stuff that i feel would have been fixed along time ago. But i take most reviews I read with a grain of salt, because i'm sure there's not a vehicle out there that every owner is 100% satisfied with.