Thanks Grumpo. Great offer. With more digging, there are actually plenty of cars within an hours drive of me here. I've narrowed it down to three.

03, 140k ish, not sure of history. Vin range of dooom. Loose sleeve. $2000. Seems like a decent solid vehicle. Plenty on cash spare to throw at it..

04, 114k, very clean and tidy. 5 owners. Reported rear end accident. Not had head gaskets done. New power steering and water pump. $6000

04, 87k, Immaculate. 1 owner. Only reported issue was cooling system check. Thinking it may need cooling service, no biggie. $9000. I'm expecting one owner, started to see some lights, sold it.

I ask myself, what do I want? I don't want to spend every waking hour with the thing in pieces, chasing problems. But do want an excuse to get out of the house and go and tinker with it

I also don't want to pay the top whack for something that can develop problems anyway.

So the middle guy seems logical. But then 5 owners, reported rear end. Dunno.

 

Tough call. any one of them could crap out tomorrow or run trouble free. Tough as hell to say. The cheaper you get it, the more you will have to do. The more you spend up front the more pissed you will be when the head gaskets go.


Knock on wood I bought 04 with 80 something thousand miles and now have 124 never had gaskets.........I did however flush the orange crap out and put in the 180 thermostat and my temps dropped from 220and up to 188-198 consistently.


Good hunting!

 

Just my opinion but, all of those are too high.

The slipped sleeve one should be $750-$1000 tops and that's if you can work on it yourself, otherwise you'll have a ton in it.

The rear-ended one if you don't know how sever the damage was, then I'd pass unless it was very very cheap since there are too many of these to pick from.

The $9,000 one is too much. $9,000 is just too much for any of these if you ask me!

But it's not my money and you may make $9,000 a week for all I know so then it may be worth it to you.

 

I'm starting to think I agree with you. Just viewed the rear ended one. That was its best feature.

Power steering squeal.
Idler pulley noise
3 separate oil drips underneath.
Horrifying vibration under breaking.
Ripped.
Broken plastic everywhere.
Evidence of neglect at every turn.
The paperwork shows a woman who had ignored everything until it ground to a halt, then she took it to a dealer and got stung for $$$$.
Asking $6000 is just hilarious.

There are a lot of them around, but it is appearing to me that they all seem way over priced. I do most of the work required myself. My 96 Heep sees to that. I can spot what's right and what isn't. What I'm finding is that it's difficult to find the genuine seller. I've seen one that was obviously stolen. I was screwed by a guy who upped the price when he got interest in the truck. 2 or 3 that simply have far too many 'visible' issues, contrary to the "mint", "excellent condition" claims.

I'm able to count most out, just by talking to the seller.

The search continues.

$9k a week. I don't get out of bed for less than 10!!

 

Keep looking, the right one will turn up. Just keep watching craigslist and other classifieds and be ready when the right one comes along.

 

Is the '04 with 87k a private party? If so, this is beyond high retail and the owner has no reason to expect over full price on it. Look at it; if you like it, offer him $6,000 and tell him to go down to CarMax and see what they offer him! Negotiate from there. You really do want an '04 if you can get it...

 

The 04 with 87k is a dealer.

The KBB price for it is 8-10. But I'm realising that is nothing more than a very rough guide. Maybe it's my zip code.

I also can't get KBB to agree the SE is not a 7 seat, so it may be over inflating the price based on that.

Oh, here's the ad Land Rover Discovery 2004 in Jamaica Queens Long Island | NY | Auto Field Corp | 5400

The lettering on the front not being complete is an instant head shaker.

No way the dealer is going to entertain an offer of 6. But I'll go see it anyway.

Carfax reads very well for it. You never know, he may 'really' want the space on his lot back. And the more I view, the more I learn.

 

That '04 is listed at $9,998. That's pretty steep, but it sure looks sweet. One thing to consider is the warranty laws for used cars sold by a dealer. Is it only 30 days for that one? Not sure what the law is in New York.


The carfax may list major work completed. I wonder if the head gaskets were done yet.

 

Wow, look at that. I even fell for the old, $X,998 trick. So It's 10k, not 9. Even less interested.

It does look sweet. The carfax is incredibly clean. As I mentioned the only thing of note is that the cooling system was "checked" by a dealer, recently. I could call the dealer and dig further. Im picturing dash lights come on, taken to a dealer, who has a horror story of expensive cooling repairs, and it gets sold. Of course that could be HG, which hasn't been done yet. But I don't think I'm spending that kind of cash. I'm off to see it tomorrow to expand my learning curve about these cars. I will offer something low and walk away. If the HG seems ok.

Next on the list is an 03, with 129k. More reasonable at $5.5k Will have to be very clean though. Sick of seeing junk at that price. Getting good vibes about a genuine seller. Car fax is good. 2 owners, 40,000 and 90,000 miles respectively. Means they both inputted interest in keeping it well.

Appreciate the advice on what I'm finding. There is a knack to this. And it is mainly keeping patient and learning the idiosyncrasies of the vehicles when viewing. Being addicted to this forum doesn't hurt either... Makes it easier to drop a knowledgable comment "oh crap, look at that, dexcool!"..

 

I bought mine wholesale at $4700, we gave $3500 for it on trade.

The day I bought it, it's odometer read 120,063, and Sir Axlerod had 3000 miles on $1000 worth of Toyo tires.

(all employee deals are + $400 pac, and $750 to the house, I opted not for a detail, just the oil change and inspection, Those two cost me $750, but I got paid to sell it to myself $150 of that, lol, so not a complete loss)

One owner 2004, dealer maintained to 80k, and then iNdy Rover shop maintained from then out.

If they are asking $10k, $5 says they gave sub $6k for it, be shrewd. We'd have given $4500 for mine, if it had 4 chrome rims, and one other trivial defect had been rectified, CEL, or axle seal, something petty.