Hi everyone. I'm no stranger to this type of forum, but after 24 hours of "lurking" I have to say that this seems to be the friendliest most helpful of this type that I have seen. There seem to be A LOT of good people here.

Anyways, my reason for posting. I have been searching for a decent inexpensive soccer dad vehicle for myself and a Disco 2 really fits the bill. It will be a grocery getter, family truckster that seem mild offroad. We have a brand new SUV for mom as a primary vehicle.
I came across an 02 with 78,000 for $5500 at a reputable high end sports car dealer.
Feel free to look: 2002 Land Rover Discovery Series II SE
The truck is on the same lot as Mclarens, Lambos & Ferraris . From what I have seen it is in good mechanical shape and found no problems on a 2 hour test drive. All electronics seem to work. The air ride suspension has been replaced with coils and remote reservoir shocks. The rig is a bit rough around the edges, but nothing that I can't take care of. The dealer just replaced the radiator, ac compressor, alternator, battery, steering box, tires and several other things that I can't list off the top of my head. It passed Nevada emissions and there was no smoke coming out the tailpipe. I did find a few concerns though.
-the 3 amigos were on and the brakes squeaked a bit (pads are easy)
-I got a faint smell of antifreeze when driving. Saw no leaks or white smoke
-No record of whether the head gaskets have ever been done.

I put a refundable deposit down and expect to pick it up later this week. Can anyone give any input on anything I should go look for or run away from?

Any advice is greatly appreciated
Thank you,
Brian

 

An indy mechanic inspection would be worth an hour of someone's time. 3 Amigos can be cheap or costly, and can't reset with just a code reader. Full factory manuals and owners guides in RAVE link below. "Mild off-road" is not what most Rover owners believe in their heart.

Antifreeze small could be leak of O-rings on heater core, it gets coolant flow 100% of the time truck is running, also could be underhood leak from hose to valley pan to head gasket.

 

your first give away is "remote reservoir shocks" this was not someones grocery getter, i would skip over it and keep looking. If the dealer put "radiator, ac compressor, alternator, battery, steering box, tires" and you still smell coolant. this truck it was ridden hard and put up wet.

 

I looked at the link....Who ever owned it before wheeled in the thing ...looks like the drivers side door is dented to....Pre-runner bar...lights....Looks lifted....I dont know......

 

I thought the same at first, but looking underneath the rig I didn't see any signs of severe off roading. The undercarraige was not scuffed or dinged at all, and it certainly wasn't new either. I'm thinking that the shocks were the result of some yahoo asking what were the "best". The expensive KC slimlites wired in with exposed vampire clips were another giveaway of someone going for the tough look without a clue as well.

That being said, I think that a more thorough going overe would be wise...

 

I also took a look at the photos. This rig looks like it has bounced off a couple of things when the guy was wheel'n (the drivers side fender also as a ding in it). I'd be very careful about buying this on as a lot of those miles may be off road.

 

I am a new owner, was thinking exactly like you, had problem previously with D1, thought D2 will be better and I am discovering a new problem every day ( I guess this is why it is called discovery) If you want to have a peacefull life and don't want to smell like transmission oil or worse yet diff oil, stay away from it.

 

Wow, that bad A*s looks good, but looks can be deceiving

 

On to the next one buddy. Never buy someone else's project unless you know what went into it. Buying that is asking for trouble

 

Aaaargh. Thanks for the opinions everyone. I guess I needed to be told what I already knew...