I have been reading through as many posts as I can, today, but I still have many more to go. I have enjoyed all I have read, thus far. I grew up in a long-time Jeep family and Jeep community. However, I - as I have heard some others say - love all four-wheelers and am just pro four-wheeling. My first vehicle (which I still have ~240k miles, later) was a '77 CJ-7 on 33's that my parents ordered new in'77. We rebuilt it over a year, for the second time, when I was 15. (I am now 29.)

With that said, I purchased my '02 DII 3 years ago off of lease. It has only seen mild wheeling while being relegated to primarily daily driving duties. Fuel prices have forced me back to the Miata when I'm not on the Harley, but that's another story.

The reason I joined is to try and find out what I really got me into when I bought into the LR world. I thought I read all that I could before my purchase, and I tracked down a low-mileage example with records. It wasn't until after my purchase that I seemed to encounter every unhappy owner/former owner to hear their horror stories. I am yet to meet a happy LR owner who has had it for more than 1 year and isn't the doctor/lawyer with street tire-equipped grocery-only getter that doesn't care about price and won't have it after 2 years, anyway. I guess what I am getting at is, my LR experience for the first 1.5 years were pretty good. The last 1.5 years i haven't gotten to see my Disco as much as the dealerships and local knowledgeable LR mechanics.

All maintenance was done on-time or early by these people (primarily because I purchased the extended warranty). I would never purchase the warranty on another vehicle, as I like to do the work, but I decided to try it here. I lucked out, as this thing seems to try to fall apart when I get it back. The warranty has paid for itself with all that has gone wrong. On top of this, both LR dealers that I have gone to are rediculous ripoffs and have become rude to the point of namecalling in the showrooms. My local dealer's service manager told me that I should expect any vehicle to begin falling apart at 70k to 80k miles (I'm at 78k, now), and that this includes any LR. This was even in front of other customers!

I know it seems that sometimes the only people that speak up are the ones who have bad experiences... to gripe and complain, but can I expect thing to fall apart in the next 10k to 20k miles, even with proper maintenance?! Can these be reliable? I am asking because my warranty is up in December, and I want to know whether I should sell it at a loss to avoid a larger loss next year. Any help oropinions onlong-term reliabilityfrom you guys would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long opening post.

P.S. I, too, was slightly dumber when I drove my Jeep in my younger days. Now, I love the best of both worlds (comfort and off-road ability) the Disco offers.

 

I'm at 87K in my '01. A few months after purchase I had the head gaskets replaced and most recently the 3 amigos plague taken care of. Those two issues seem to be the most common, and costly repairs. It is my hope that anything after this will be small potatoes in comparison. Everything else has been fine, except for what has been broken/damaged by me while off roading. Do a search here for DiscoMike's 60K service, do all the items on the list, and your truck will be a lot happier. If you can do the 60K yourself it'll save you hundreds of dollars.

 

Your Disco is not worth much now and when its ten years old there is
more than afew things that need to be done under normal ware and tear,,
the dealer will have a list of things that will need to be done.

If you start early you can stay ahead of the big items and plan for it.

If you sold it what would replace it with??
Its a hard thing to know what to do, mine is going strong and I have done
the ten year update.

Reliability of the Disco II is a little worse than a Disco I due to all the
extra electronics Hill / TC/ ABS but its has a nicer body and is put together better.

So on my Disco I don't have a hard time with a door ding or some off road beauty marks.
What I have a problem with if something that does not work right so my repaires maybe
more than most, overall mine is great.

I have to call and have my sun visor clip FED-X ed over nighted.

 

Well, any car will have problems when they get older. It is a machine and machines wear out. Even with proper maintence.
Here are the common problems with DII's.
Head gaskets going bad.Thats because DexCool is corroasive and it needs to be changed every 45,000 miles or every 3 yrs. Has your ever been changed?
The "three amigos" do a search on this forum and you will see what that is. Anything from DIY to big bucks.
The double cardon joint on the front driveshaft. If it isint greased it will fail and it will take out your transmission.
And the SLS(air ride suspension), it will fail. It even fails on Lexus's.
Most of these can be avoided and are easy fixes. The others are alittle more expensive but can bedone so that you never have that problem again.
Sorry that your dealer is a jerk.
Now, with all of this being said, Land Rovers are not for everyone. They are like woman, either you love them or you dont.
I have a 1997 with 174,000 miles on it and spend $600 in unexpected repairs in 2007. I think that is really good. Thats $50 per month. A hell of alot cheaper than a car payment.

 

Thanks for replies. I knew the LR was not going to be as cheap to repair/work on/maintain as some other makes and models when I bought it. I tried to go in with my eyes open. My family has other four-wheel drive vehicles that we have owned, maintained, and roughed up off-road (much of the time on jobsites) that are in the 250,00+ mileage range. I know that may not be the norm, but I found forums on the net with former Disco II owners saying that blown engines, cracked blocks, and thrown cylinder sleeves was a common DII problem pushing 100,000 miles.

I did have the cooling system flushed at the 60K mile service along with having everything else greased, checked, or changed as the owner's manual said. However, I will search for the other items you all speak of on here.

My aggravations have come from the repairs in less than a year. I have gone through two new regulators on the driver's window and one new one on the passenger's along with a new motor on each. The LR guys replaced all three hoses to/from the power steering pump (I don't have ACE) when it was leaking (paid $600+ for this as they weren't covered under the warranty but they said if I did that work it would void the warranty). After they found out the problem never was the hoses and the pump was cracked, I spent another several hundred (after the warranty paid their portion) for a new pump. This was followed by the left front wheel bearing going out (a warranty item with a co-pay). After that was replaced,now, the TC/ABS/HDC lights light up the dash like aChristmas tree. The TC tries to modulate the brakepedalupon first takeoff for a few seconds each time you start it. (The dealer said this was a computer problem and wanted &4900 to repair.) This was accompanied by the handle jamming on the rear door preventing it from opening and seeming to ruin the locking mechanism. All of this while the washer nozzles have never worked, and now the intermitten stage on the windshield wipers has quit.

Can someone tell me please is this normal, and why in the world there is still a part of me that likes this thing?! My family was also a British vehicle-loving family, but never LRs. It was always MG's, Jags, Healeys, etc. (hence my Miata, asI couldn't get a new MG, here) I have hated this thing at times, and I don't drive it except on certain occaissions or weekends, now.With all this trouble I would have gotten rid of anything else faster than the next thing could fall off, but for some reason the Disco holds a special place. Do my problems sound out of the ordinary, though? Do I have a particular lemon, from the sound of things? (Again, sorry for the long posts. Mine will get shorter.)

 

Man, I run outta breath just reading your post's!
This is why I say NEVER buy a extended warrenty unless it is a continuation of the factory warrenty. If it is not a factory warrenty DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY.
Your dealer has lied to you and raped you for some serious coin. If it is not covered under warrenty then you can repair it yourself and not void the warrenty. Those power steering hoses you could have done yourself in half a day and for under $200. Samething with the power windows. What I dont understand is why in hell anybody would ever roll there window down. Do you go to the drive thru that much? I never roll mine down, it messes up my hair! (thats funny because I am bald)
The reason those other DII owners had cracked engine blocks and dropped cylinder sleeves is because they overheated the engine. LR uses all aluminum driveline. engine, transmission, transfer case are all aluminum. You cannot overheat a aluminum engine, it WILL ruin the block.
The "three amigos" is a very common problem, do a search on this forum for them. It is almost never the ABS computer.
The cargo door not opening is a problem with any SUV that has this type of door. Dust, dirt and road grime jam the handle so that it wont open. The fix, are you ready for this...$4. Buy a can of silicon spray and lube the handle every 3 months. Pop the LR emblem off the handle with a small screwdriver or your car key, lube it up, open and close the door several times and you are good to go. Also use that spray inside the door locks and all door hinges and latches.Lube the cargo door handle every 3 months and the rest of the doors every 6 months.
Just in case you havent done it yet, have your front driveshaft rebuilt with greasable u-joints. The other big problem with DII's is the double cardon joint where the front driveshaft mates with the t-case. It comes from the factory non greasable and when it fails it WILL take out your transmission. $300 at a drivline shop, $7,000 for a new tranny if you dont get it done before it fails.
Why do you have a love hate relationship with your Disco? Nobody can explain it. We all have that same type of relationship. We love them when they are good but want to push them off a cliff when they are bad.
Oh yeah, your wiper switch is going south. Common, no, does it happen, yes.
Hereare two VERY good parts suppliers, the first is good used parts, the second is new parts and everything else that you could ever want for your disco.
www.roverlandparts.com
www.atlanticbritish.com
It sounds to me like your dealer has been screwing you HARD and I think I would talk to LRNA and maybe a attoreny. With alittle digging you might have a good lawsuit, not that I endorse that sort of thing, but when you are getting screwed for no good reason something needs to be done.

 

Its not normal,,,,,,,,,,,two window regulators on one window the first was bad,,
I had to replace my power steering hoses and trans and oil cooler lines.

I don't know about the TC/ABS/HDS but I would find a different Land Rover
place to get work done.







i

 

Very good post and read, 73S3IP!

I wondered about the reliability thing too, especially given that the 3 vehicles I've ever owned have done me MUCH more than proud.

My first vehicle was a 96 Chevy Monte Carlo that was still running great when I left it at a dealer with 287k miles. I put a grand total of $1,400 into repairs for the ENTIRE life of the vehicle, outside of oil and tires. Those were balljoints, tie-rod ends, and a blinker switch. It probably needed another $1,000 worth of parts when I got rid of it, but it was old.

I traded it for a 99 Cherokee that had 50k miles, and I've never done a thing to it. It just hit 95k, and it still looks and runs like new. My grandfather-in-law has a 96 Cherokee with 350k miles that he swears up and down he's NEVER had into a shop or over his pit. I think he even stopped changing the oil on it a couple years ago. The things are tanks.

STILL... I want a Disco, and I'll have one inside a month (I can't believe it).

I've accepted that it'll break down more frequently than most vehicles (I've heard all English vehicles will) and I'm prepared for that. I'm actually looking forward to working on the thing. I want to really build a relationship with this vehicle and turn it into a tank.

We'll see what I'm saying after this "los tres amigos" thing happens and my front drive shaft "b*tch slaps" my tranny... but I have a feeling I won't be THAT upset, lol.

Pat

 

PS- The ONE thing the Jeep DOES do, is the back door is tricky to open. I think whoever made the point about keeping it lubed and tight said it best.

 

Thanks for the response, guys. I have already started looking into exactly what I will need to do for this front driveshaft and where to have it done around here. I don't knowof anyone in this area (I just moved) aside from this dealership I now despise. Is there anything specific I need to know/purchase/request when I go to the driveline shop to have the front driveshaft rebuilt?

I did go round and round with a particular individual at LRNA about the problems and treatment at the dealerships. However, after awhile my responses were more or less just for my own amusement as I imagined (at least in my head) this unfortunate LRNA employee taking my comments to heart and feeling betrayed by his employer! Haha! Yeah, right. Seriously, though, I just got tired of his generic PR responses and transparent surprised reactions that a LR would break.