Maybe you guys can help me. I am looking at buying a D1 but i hear alot of bad things about them, I can't figure out if only the unhappy people complain about them or if they are as much of a headache as they sound like they might be, any input would be greatly appreciated. thanks

 

What are you expecting out of it?

You can not neglect the maintenace on it, and you will get bad mileage. Know that going in. People get these for the name and when they break, they get mad. It happens. Stay on top of repairs and you will be ok. They are easy to work on , if you are mechanically inclined and get the parts first. Dealers and shops like to overcharge for the name.

Nothing comes close offroad.

 

what things tend to go wrong the most?

 

the main thing i am looking for is a good reliable 4x4 for my wife to drive daily and for the family to play in on the weekends, we are stuck between LR D1 and Jeep Cherokee.

 

I bought mine 6mo ago for the same exact reason, except the wife driving it daily part. I don't trust the car enough, with my wife driving it, at this point (needs more maint.) for her to drive daily but I take the family out on the weekends. I know major things probably won't go wrong and whatever little thing happens I can hopefullly fix on the spot with some spare parts and tools in the trunk. I live in the midwest and couldn't think of a better car for driving them in the snow.

 

I know a number of 2 and 3 Rover familys that swear by them, I would rather see you go towards a Disco 2 instead of an older higher mileage D1.

 

My '97 has 170k on it and it is a daily driver. We bought it in April '07 and have put 20k on it since. We have had to replace the front wheel bearings and the alt and we average 20 mpg on the highway.
They are just as reliable as anyother vehicle in my mind. If it is mechanical it is going to break. As long as you take care of it it will last a long time. These trucks were designed to live in the deepest darkest jungle their entire life. So going to the mall is no problem.
Common problems with the D1 are non working cruise control (vacum leak), mis-fires (bad plugs and wires) and ABS senors (cheap brake pads).
Those are the most usual things to go wrong and are easy to fix.
But if you keep it well tuned, maintained and use premium gas you will get good MPG.
Parts are easy to get if you know where to look.

 

As Disco Mike says there are several 2 and 3 LR owners and they swear by them, and I am one of them. I have a '95 and '01 Discovery and an'88 Range Rover Classic. I am a former Mercedes owner and cost of parts are actually less than a Benz but the shops like to bend you over to work on the Rovers. So if you can do some of the work and maintenance by all means you will love the truck. Remember you are not buying this for fuel economy, you are buying an adventure, and remember you can go on that adventure with your Rover. Jeep guys don't like Rover Owners, especially off road. Keep in touchon the forum you will learn a lot. Good Luck

 

That really makes me feel better. I am new to the forum because I am currently looking at a 96 Discover(D1 or D2???). It is selling for $3500 but I forgot to look at the mileage. Not sure what I should expect so I will keep reading the forum before going back to see it tomorrow.

 

The 96 will be a Discovery 1, Discovery 2 started in 1999. $3500 doesn't seem too bad if it is less than 125K on the miles and depending on where you are in the country they have different values. The thing to remember is when you are back in that age of a vehicle and any vehicle you are going to have things go wrong, what we call in the car business the bolt ons. Water pump, alternator, starters and things like that. There are a lot of resourses for parts on line and do the work yourself if you can. Check for oil leaks around the valve covers and where the heads bolt to the block.Check for foaming in the coolant or the oil signs of head gasket leak. These motors don't like to be over heated AT ALL. Plugs and Plug wires will be very important and very easy to change on this motor. People here recommend Magnacore wires and Bosch Plugs. If you can find repair records that would be nice. If you do purchase I would spend a few hundred anddo some general maintenance.