Hello-

My wife and I are on the verge of purchasing a 2004 Discovery HSE and i wanted some opinions from current owners. This would be our first "Disco" as I see they are called, so moving from our current car (a Nissan Altima) to this is quite a change.

We are test driving the car right now, and the biggest thing I have noticed is when you accellerate, the transmission has a "whine". It is brief, and from what I can tell, only in the first gear. The car is an automatic and the shifting is smooth. Is this normal, or is this something to be concerned with?

Do you feel that the routine maintenance is costly in comparison to other vehicles?

How has the customer service been with Land Rover? I know dealerships vary, but overall, are you happy with the service?

Also, if there are any owners of this vehicle, I would love to hear of any problems or dislikes.

Was this a good model year for Land Rover, or should we look at something more current?

I appreciate any feedback...

 

The transmission noise is normal for all Rovers as is the smooth shifting. The 04 is the best of the Diso years and is in great demand because of some of the changes before Rover went to the LRE.
Maintance on Rovers is slightly higher then some 4wheelers only because of the cost of some major parts. On the average, Rover dealers are a little behind when it comes to customer satisfaction. I worked for Rover as a service writer as well as other manufactures, they all leave a little to be desired.
I would tend to promote your finding a good independent Rover shop to keep the cost down. If you are buying this truck from a dealer, I would suggest you look into a service contract, they pay for them selves quickly.
Overal, I would say you have found a good model year and should have many years of good driving.
Mike

 

Thank you for the reply Mike-

When you say look into a service agreement, do you mean after the factory warranty runs out? There is still 1/2 of the 50,000 mile warranty left on the vehicle - do I need another service contract?

Also, I'm not buying from a Land Rover dealer, it is from a large used car dealership in town. From the looks of the CarFax report, it was driven by the original owner, returned on lease, and then sold to our local dealer at auction.

The nearest Land Rover dealership is about 1 1/2 hours away from me, so owning a good model year is important to me. I was happy to see that the '04's have a good reputation.

 

Sometime before it runs out you do want to look into buying a contract from Rover, they are a little expensive and worth every dollar.
Good luck, hope you enjoy the truck,
Mike

 

We bought the Disco, and couldn't be happier. Thanks for all the info, and I posted a pic below. I look forward to drving on the beach with this baby, although it's almost too nice a car to dirty all up with sand!



[IMG]local://upfiles/3442/7BE4D2C957164A568C5C206047C4E559.jpg[/IMG]

 

Those aren't HSE wheels and the HSE badging should be under the side marker lights. Odd...

 

Great looking truck, welcome to the family.

 

These trucks are great and very unique. I have essentially the same truck as yours, only in silver. The only advice, GET AN EXTENDED WARRANTY. These babies are fun, but fickle. Mine is meticulously maintained and still has had 2K is warranty work over the past 4 months.

 

I bought a LR because I've wanted one forever. I bought it knowing it would guzzle gas, fail regularly and take me to the poor house one shop visit at a time. I still love it, but I wouldn't call it Toyota reliable by any stretch.

My second choice (and in many ways a better choice) would have been a Toyota Land Cruiser.

 

Thats stunning looking Discovery,you should be very proud.Welcome to the forum! Remember to come back and visit us often because there is a lot of valuble information here.I've said this before; this forum is better than any service manual, and in my opinion the best Land Rover information source on the internet.