Greetings everyone,
I am thinking about purchasing a 2004 Disco II ES premium as a sort of extra car to share with my son.
The Disco is at a used car dealers who sell quite a few Land Rovers of all types, but their main stock is cars.
The car looks very good bodywork-wise and is very clean inside (we haven't test driven it yet) and has done 130k miles

The first problem is that the rear step is missing, the bracket and gas strut for it is there but the lower end of the strut terminates in a bit of rusty metal, so obviously where the strut fixes to the arm has rotted away, and the arm/step has been removed. The chassis looks ok on first inspection but if the step arm has rusted ..................…. where should I be looking for signs of corrosion/holes on the chassis etc.? And, can all the suspect areas be seen easily from lying underneath?

The MoT history does not show any advisories for corrosion, just the usual occasional fail and advisories through the years for baldy tyres, ball joint wear, thin brake pads, lights not working and a couple of leaking brake pipes etc. It passed it's last MoT in August 2019 but will come with a new full 12 months if we buy it. Has a full 'service history' but we haven't seen it yet, I don't think it has been a Land Rover specialist or franchise, due to the various fails and advisories on the MoTs (is it fair to say that?)

I had both a Disco I and II before my present Freelander so know how the cars drive and behave but mine were only six or seven years old when I sold them on, so any advice about buying a 16 year old Discovery II would be very much appreciated.

 

Post #19 in this thread - https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...69/#post654265
If it looks like that, dont buy it

Most people will tell you the standard things to look for - take an OBD or similar scan gauge tool so you can read the engine temps while driving, idling etc.
In an 04, listening for ticking/knocking, possible slipped liner.
Just my opinion from reading around these forums for months - 03-04 are far more prone to head gasket, piston liner issues - over heating....
The video link below explains why.
You can see everything from lying underneath a Discovery - rust, leaks etc...Check it all.....

 

Welcome to the forum. Since you mentioned MOT, what part of the UK are you from?
Is this Disco a V8 or Td5? As you probably know frame/chassis rot is the main problem on these Discos especially here in the UK.

 

The #1 place for rust is the frame rails from the rear suspension back. They're going to rust from the inside out, so just because they look good doesn't mean anything. Pay extra attention to the weld on the bottom of the frame; if the seam looks like it's starting to swell, you're probably going to have problems in a year or two.

From what I've found, that step will eventually rust away to nothing on every Discovery equipped with it. It's just not made very well.

 

Thanks for the replies, to answer questions, the car is in the North East, on the coast near Sunderland. it is a TD5 and after having a good look at it today it seems very good. Couple of little faults like the drivers seat doesn't move at all (although the heated bit works) which they say they will fix and they will knock of £250 because the rear step is missing. Chassis rails look ok, surface rust - no flaking and they seem solid so we will see...….