Son has fallen in love with Disco II. Live in So. Cal

Looking @ a 1999 (70K miles) costs $6K, with three lights on called the 3 Amigos (?). The guy still drives the car and he said he hasn't experience any problems other than the lights always on (and he has reset them once before but came back on). He had it for a year, never been off road and only done oil changes and no other service. He put less than 10K miles. The 1st owner took good care of car. Car looks in good condition, a few minor scratches, CD magazine doesn't come out, really clean inside, the brakes though went down a bit too much.

Also looking at 2001 (71K miles) cost $8K. Car is super clean (interior and exterior). I don't usually say this of a used car, but it looks amazing, not a scratch on it and it sounds best of all LR we've seen/heard last 2 weeks of searching. 2nd owner has had it for two years and put ~15K miles. Also this guy, has not done any maintenance, only oil changes, and changed a faulty switch on passenger seat (it wasn't moving), that's it. Never offroad this owner or 1st owner.

Questions:
1. Am I looking at doing a major scheduled maintenance (60K miles?) that these guys maybe missed? What's worst case cost?
2. How about brakes, are we in for brakes on either one, given 2nd owners haven't done any brakes and due to their mileage? For this mileage would it be both front and rear? How much would that set me back?
3. The 3 amigos, I've been told could be a number of things so it is hard to predict worse case cost to fix, is that true?
4. Is it worth purchasing an Extended Warranty for either vehicle.
5. When we finally get one, I've seen that there are 2-4 LR specialists within reasonable driving distance, is that recommended instead of going to a dealer (which it still be a 20 mile drive for me)
6. Any ideas on the price, are these high, low?

Thank you, and hope to officially be a part of the forum when we get a Disco. Thank you ahead of time and Happy New Year!

 

Lots of questions.
PM me your tele number and lets talk father to father.
Mike

 

Never ever buy a extended warrenty unless it is the full factory warrenty.
They are a huge money maker for the salesman and will do nothing for you other than take your money.
You are better off with a savings account for repairs.

 

Well, I know the markets are different you bein in SoCal and all, but I paid less than $7k for my '03 just 3 months ago. When I bought the truck, it had 110k+ miles. The exterior and interior are in fantastic shape. Previous owner took really good care of this truck. I couldn't believe the condition of the undercarriage once I got up under the truck. Looked like it just rolled off the boat from the UK.

 

If your son wants to take the beast off road a 1999 or 2000 would be preferable because it has the ability to lock the center differential, some 2001s (early builds) have this capability. The Landys are great and I am glad you are supportive of the bug, but it is a high maintenance truck.

Service records are a must and find a local independent shop to check it out. The rover dealership will not be the best place to take it if you want a retirement... good work, but expensive.

Three amigos are usually a faulty ABS sensor, but can be as bad as a new ABS pump which is expensive.

Get the codes read on the ABS fault to see what it could be if you go for the 2000.

A good rover in that vintage could be had for 4K.

Search "CDL nipple" for the information to determine if the 2001 has the capability of licking the center differential.

E-mail with more questions: rcshauger@yahoo.com