First off huge thanks to this forum, I have silently read this place for months bringing myself up to speed on everything I need to know before buying my first Disco.

I have narrowed my search to two 2004's.

#1

115k miles, pulled the CarFax already had the Intake and Valve cover gasket done in one repair. Curious why they wouldn't have done the Head as well? Maybe to save expense or maybe it was done and not reported? Probably just being optimistic about the latter. I have test drove this one and did the tests described in one of the threads about what to look for, smell for and listen for. Nothing irregular but guessing I still have a head replacement in my near future.

#2

82k miles, haven't pulled CarFax yet. Originally listed for almost 10k they are now down to 5800. Guessing I can get it for under 5k with cash. It's about 2 hours away but I am going to predict it is safe to say I have a head gasket replacement in the near future with the price drop. They told me no engine lights butttttt I will have to see it to believe it.

Given that neither have rust and are both SE's. Would you always take the one with the lower mileage if the price was close to the same? How much value would you put on the intake and valve cover gaskets already being done?

Thanks in advance I am sure I will have lots more questions soon enough!

 

Since you have choices, that is already a plus. Pick the one with low millage and lower price. You will eventually replace those essential gaskets no matter what. There is no guarantee you wont have any problems with a disco. Even those problem exist they still run great sometimes. Once you purchased it and replace those parts, youll have a bit of peace of mind that those were replaced. Engine light could be reset and wont show for a short distance drive sometimes. Best if you know a mechanic to check it but I have seen in this forum as well, that most mechanic gave up with discovery. Often they get towed back to the owner. You'll get to know a Discovery once you have one like the rest of us here.
In my experience, I bought a 2003 new and maintained it very well and still got the tick around 100+K miles, rustproof it every 2 years and still got rusted. Bought a 04 hse7 with complete fully loaded package for 3K with 165K miles, very nice Harman Kardon audio, dual monitor on headrest, dvd etc. hardly have any rust and has no tick and runs like new. Well, good luck. Its fun having one.

 

Mileage are pretty close on both, but mileage is not the most important as how well they were maintained in this case since both relatively low,, (there are members here with over 200k miles on their Disco),
Talk to owners & see how much knowledge they have about how to maintain their trucks, & take a OBD2 scanner with you & drive truck for at least 30min & more & monitor temp etc,,
Ask owners technical questions about what you have learned in this forum & see if they take care of truck themselves or take it to mechanic ? If to a mechanic find out who, and try to find out if mechanic is knowledgable about Land Rovers,,,
If you ask the owner what kind of oil & filter he uses & if he has replaced/rebuild front driveshaft yet,, & he doesn't know answer to simple oil/filter question, then he really doesn't know much about engines,, (not knwledgeable enough to have taken care of a Land Rover properly), so you should expect more mechanical problems than he states,,
(Just my opinion),,

 

The intake sits over the valve covers. They had a leaky valve cover so they pulled the intake and had to replace the plenum gasket on the intake, then replaced the leaky valve cover gaskets. Just a guess.

I don't like trucks with leaky valve covers. There really shouldn't be much pressure in there at all and people replace the valve covers when they leak oil.

The lower mileage one... People don't know what it is worth or knowledgeable people have shown them problems with it and passed on buying.

Who knows. I'd say the mileage is close enough to just take the nicest one with a slight preference for the lower mileage one, depending on condition and upgrades. A good condition 04 is the sweet spot.

 

I would like to see maintenance records when I buy a vehicle. I keep receipts and records for everything. I'm willing to pay more for a vehicle with higher mileage and records for every oil-change on-time using a known-to-be good motor oil. Consistency and records are key, especially for a LR. Just because the truck has fewer miles doesn't mean much if it's been running on cheap Pennzoil, at the wrong weight, with way too many miles between those crappy oil changes. The old Rover V8s have small oil passages in the top end and if there is any blockage, the rocker assemblies and related components have suffered. There are good motor oils, and bad ones. I have watched videos where LR mechanics documented the difference. You also need to test-drive each truck with a device that is OBD compatible so that you can view real-time operating temperatures of the coolant system. I will bet on at least one of them running way too hot: 215-220 degrees plus. Now, who knows how long it's been running at these high temps? Def don't want that one! It may be a lower mile vehicle but how long before I'm pumping $1-2K into a head job?

 

Actually ALL Rover V8's were sent from the factory running temps of 220F!!! It was part of the design to burn off every possible combustible for pollution control.

So, all of them have been ran hot for a long time, unless the previous owner was smart enough to know and change out to a cooler operating thermostat.

And as mentioned as long as the PO knew what oil to use, and that's not saying much because the dealers didn't even use or recommend the correct oil when they were still fixing them under warantee!!

The dealers tended to buy bulk oil for the NEW Models they are selling so by 2006 they were using an oil more suited to the LR3 and RR Sport engines. No longer the same Rover V8. So most of these were ran on Castrol 5 or 10w30 synthetic for the four years the dealers changed out the oil!!

As stated the better choice will be the one with the best oil in the engine.

Ask them what type gas they burn in it too... that answer will tell you volumes about how they take care of their vehicle. If they say anything other that Top Tier Premium then you'll know they don't know.

 

I can't decide if you are arguing with me, having my back or both. There is information regarding care and improvements that can be made to the D2 dating back to like 2011. Like I said, if I'm to buy any 2004 D2 or otherwise, it's because the seller has documentation and proof (much like myself) that the truck doesn't run hotter than Haydes and a good, recommended motor oil is being used and changed regularly. Period. If not, move on. There are a million of these for sale at any one time, anywhere in N.A.
Most of these vehicles are nothing but a ticking time-bomb so unless I'm getting the truck for pennies on the dollar knowing that it needs a rebuild of engine, modulator, trans, whatever...i would personally be looking to buy from an enthusiast with lots of paperwork in the glovebox.
Any I absolutely agree with you on knowing the type of fuel that is being used, too.

 

I go with Chubbs on this one. I would like to have a rover that has been well taken care of and had recent work, but I also want one that has a clean engine and the owner knows enough about it to tell you what he has done to it himself, what oil he prefers, etc.

I'd like to know that the owner is a member of this forum!

 

Yeah, pretty much!

 

I guarantee that the valve cover gaskets were leaking oil. In order to replace them, you need to remove the upper air intake. And after you replace them, it's a no-brainer to replace the intake gasket, which is a one-use item. Leaky valve cover gaskets is a very, very common Disco issue, and I wouldn't see it as either a plus or minus. It's inconsequential. This is an easy and common repair, and probably one you'll be doing again later.

Head gasket replacement is a whole degree of difficulty higher than swapping out valve cover and intake gaskets. It's also pointless to mess with your head gaskets if there's no evidence of a head gasket issue.