Hi.
I've been looking at cars only for a while now, and I am at the point where I have enough saved to actually buy something.

While on my search I came upon several Land Rover Discovery I and IIs, but the fact that they are even affordable in my $4000-4500 price range is one of the first things to put me off. I have, heard horror stories about these cars, so I am definitely a bit unsure if I should even be considering as an option.

All of the repairs that I could do myself, I would plan on doing myself. I have no problem spending a weekend trying to fix something, however If it is something that I would need to do EVERY weekend, that would be a pretty serious inconvenience. During this summer I will have plenty of time to work on it and fix problems if they arise, however for the entire school year my time will be limited and I will need to rely on it as a daily driver.

So the big questions...

• Should I even be considering this with my $4000 budget?
• Should I get the Discovery I or Discovery II?
• What would likely be the annual cost for a car like this?

Thanks a lot in advance for any advice!

 

If you're in high school and planning to go to college, save your money for books, tuition, minimizing student loans (if no scholarship), and housing. Don't spend it on a gas guzzler, high maintenance 4x4. Do you really need a 5-7 passenger vehicle to be your daily driver? Are you going to be doing much towing, off-roading, live in a remote area with inclement weather, or have a family to fill those 5-7 seats?

You've worked hard to save that money, don't blow it on a potential money pit. Think about an uncool Civic or other import high MPG sedan or coupe. When you have money to blow later and are financially stable, then you can buy toys. Hell, most cheap econoboxes can be inexpensively modded for speed if that's your thing.

Yeah, it isn't very fun to be responsible, but future you will thank current you.

If you still want to buy a Discovery:

If you're looking at ones in the $4,000 range and have some mechanical ability, try and find one with a blown head gasket (expect to spend about $1,400-$1,800 for one of these). You'll have to do the repair eventually, so might as well save money on the purchase price to offset future gas spending. You can do a DIY swap of the head gaskets for about $400-500 with machine shop work, which would include resurfacing the heads that can be warped if the engine is overheated. Overheating is common due to the fact the coolant temperature gauge in these trucks doesn't show accurate temperature readings until they're overheated. Couple this with the fact that later years used Dexcool and you are asking for trouble.

You'll also want to rebuild the driveshafts and make them greasable. Failing to do so could result in an exploding driveshaft which destroys your transmission casing when it goes.

Just know that if you buy one that hasn't been well taken care of, you could have all sorts of issues.

 

I have seen '03 Discoverys with blown head gaskets on CL for under $2K.But do you have the know how & a garage or driveway to do the work.

 

This is solid advise, buy a civic and get through school. Then if you still want one buy it and sink the money necessary to own it. These aren't plug and play their drive and cuss and spend and cuss and then maybe drive a little more... but always prepare to cuss... a lot.

 

I agree with advice that is posted above, but I'd like to add that if you want something kind of fun, and don't mind getting teased about it from time to time, get an old Miata. My friend has one, and I've driven it multiple times and its an absolute blast. Very easy to work on and very fun to drive. The only thing that could be a drawback is if you are in an area that gets a lot of snow.

 

I have a well paying job and bought a discovery 2 in excellent condition and it gets to be a little tiring even for me. But, I needed a car with soul and one that I could tinker on. It's a curse.

A pre-2005 Land Rover is a pretty simple vehicle to work on, the problem is there is always something to work on... You have to budget for that. So lets do the quick math.

Car: $4000
Gas: $4000 (15000 miles at 15MPG and $4/gallon. Odds are you'll drive less but get crappier mileage)
Insurance: $1500-$2000 (?)
Tools: $200-$300
Maintenance: $500 (oil changes, various fluids, wiper blades, etc)
Parts budget: $1000-$2000 (tires, driveshaft, brakes, etc)

So on top of the $4000 for the car you can expect to spend another $7200-$8800 over a year. (Wow, it hurts to put that in perspective... Like I said, a curse)

IF you think you can handle that, you can't go wrong with either, in your case I'd lean towards the Disco 1, because it's probably easier to keep going. A Honda Civic is a depressing car, I can understand why you would want to avoid that fate.


In the spirit of full disclosure, I bought an 82' Mercedes 300D when I was 17. That was a great car, had it for >10 years. Even when I bought a new Audi I held on to it as a second car. I might not be the best person to listen to, being cursed and all.

 

There is no way in the world i would have the Disco as my primary car let alone first car.

When you have a vehicle to fall back on, and time to work on it, Discos are cool. Nothing worse than headgasket going and you dont have the time or place to work on it, hence you gotta pay a shop to do it while you're studying for exams for instance.

Do yourself a favor and buy a late 90's Civic. Parts are dirt cheap, you trip over them everywhere and they are built like Legos with a lot of parts interchangeable with the rest of the fleet.

 

Thanks for all of the advice guys!

It sounds like everything I was worried about seems to be true, which is unfortunate.

I'm not sure if it would be correct to ask here, but I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on my alternatives... I live in Minnesota, and out of town at that, so a car with 4 wheel drive is pretty much a must. I might be a bit ambitious, but I have found the following cars in my price range that I am interested in. Keep in mind that gas mileage isn't much of a factor as long as it is above 14.

2002 Mercury Mountaineer
2002 Mitsubishi Montero
2001 Mitsubishi Montero XLS
2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac
2000 Isuzu Trooper/Acura SLX
1999 Infiniti QX4

Doing research on these things, I wonder if it might just be better to get an old Tahoe or something of the sort...

Again, thanks for the help.

 

Miatas are fun... especially with a supercharger!!!!

Id stick with a Civic or the like though... good all around car.

 

a supercharger? Nah man, you gotta go with the twin turbo! Or go all out and get a FC RX7 Twin Turbo (since we know a FD RX7 will be way too expensive).