Thinking of buying a Disco II Have ??
 

I'm looking at an '04 discovery. 132,000 miles. Head gaskets replaced at 106,000 miles. I have a checklist that I made on what to look for when we test drive from my research here on the forums. It's had 8 owners which makes me a little nervous, but it looks to be in great shape (we saw it while they were closed so couldn't drive it yet)

My question is do you think with that kind of mileage it could reliably drive cross country (1,000 miles one way) once a year and through the mountains with gear overhead and a light trailer with camping gear? We have property in Colorado and it's all dirt roads so I thought a smaller 4x4 would be a ton of fun. With 6 kids a jeep is out of the question and a Land Cruiser is out of the budget. We typically put 6,000 miles on our vehicles per year.

I'm a little nervous to bite the bullet after reading how much work they seem to need. We have an Excursion so we are used to older vehicles and random $800 repair bills every 18 months or so, but have never been stranded on the side of the road. With all these issues everyone talks about are you ending up stranded or is it issues that you notice and have time to fix???

If you are doing proper maintenance you are unlikely to be left on the side of the road. In the end it is a 13 year old SUV so break downs do happen though.

I have taken my Rovers all over America. I'm also the guy that buys one based on pictures and flys out to drive it home 7-800 miles :D So I might be the wrong guy to ask.

I think nowadays people who are getting Discovery's are very willing to take the chance of maintaining and fixing the truck themselves. If you would like to get one and not fix it yourself, $800.00 in 18 mos might not be enough. Like ArmyRover mentioned that its a 13 year old car and with that mileage, theres more repairs to come. Its smaller than an Excursion and you have 6 kids. The most you can fit in there is 7 in an SE7 or an HSE7 and its tight plus a roof rack with goodies, it will slow you down. I have one with 185K miles on it and I'll drive it anytime cross country. Cross country having the original factory tires for more relaxing trips. We drove to nj to florida almost every year and once we used a disco with larger tires and lifted, that was a pain. We probably seen all the rest stops along the way.
Anyway, Discos are fun to drive. My wife never returned my truck since she borrowed it. She got her own stories how people loved and liked the disco when she goes to the pump gas. :)

My 2003 Disco 2 is great fun off-road (really, these are offroad kings!), but I have no idea about long road trips and the seating capacity maxes out at 7 so you+wife+ 6 kids would not seem to be a good fit for using one as a road warrior.

To me, Disco 2s make more sense for wrenchers and off-roaders. Decent crash protection for a family of just 7, but the gas mileage is abysmal.

I need new O2 sensors. With the old sensors I'm just getting 9 (nine) miles per gallon...without pulling a trailer.

OK, the above said, drive it and make certain there are no wobbles/vibrations and the alignment is straight. Make certain that it doesn't overheat. Listen for bird chirping sounds that could be coming from your front driveshaft. Test your cruise control. Check the engine codes with a cheap OBD2 scanner connected under the steering wheel/knee bolster.

Get dirty. Lay on your back underneath the parked Disco 2 to briefly scan for any signs of massive rust or wreck re-welding repairs.

While underneath, count the grease fittings on the front drive shaft (3+ is good). You're going to be greasing that front drive shaft at each oil change...or replacing it if it has fewer than 3 grease "zerk" fittings.

Pop the hood. Check the oil. Milky is bad. Clear brown is good. Open the coolant reservoir cap. Does it smell like exhaust (bad)?

Adjust offer/price accordingly.

Thanks for the replies! I guess I should have specified that my oldest would drive himself if he goes, lol, he's 18. So we are looking at 7 seaters.

My husband used to work on fighter jets in the military so I think he would be just fine doing repairs himself or have his friend who is a car mechanic help. I have been pricing parts online for some of the common problems and the parts themselves don't scare me. It's how people seem to say they are so unreliable.

Our Excursion has over 200,000 miles on it and is still going strong. We bought it with 175,000 miles so we are used to high mileage maintenance. We plan on still keeping that one, we actually just sold our second excursion a couple months ago so the disco would be a replacement second vehicle. I want something smaller because I feel like I'm driving a boat anywhere I go. Tiny parking lots are awful. I usually find the furthest spot and just walk, but I still want to be able to drive to our property, we actually couldn't get up the hill 2 years ago when it was raining in the excursion even with the 4 wheel drive activated so 4 wheel drive is a must.

I think you passed the written test. Go ahead and get your Disco! Lol! Youll enjoy it. Plus, this forum will get you to most difficult problems with rovers. Cheers

Lucky8 for any parts!
Their prices are the same, or less, than domestic or Japanese vehicles! New LR part prices are obscene everywhere else!

And guys, they drive Excursions.
So Disco gas mileage is gonna be awesome!
Friend of mine had a gas engine, V10, it got......
6 mpg! Lol!
The diesels will get you 16-22 mpg, so huge gain.

I've also worked on most everything domestic and Japanese.
The D2 was a big suprise. As it is probably the easiest vehicle I have ever seen to work on.
Not only is it a very simple design, but you can tell that there was a consious effort made to make it easy to work on. Nobody designs cars to be worked on!

Thanks guys! We do get 9-10mpg city/ 13-14 hwy so yes gas mileage is already crappy, LMAO! Our diesel excursion was way better on gas mileage, but we owned the V10 outright so that's why we sold the other. I think I am reassured. My only issue now is the salesman is saying that another salesman is trying to buy it out from under me!!! Waiting to hear back after he talks to the manager. If it doesn't work out with that one I will find another one. I definitely want a disco.

No Doubt why do you have a Jeep badge as a Avatar? :)

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...cad7b64294.gif

My guess........because JEEPS are AWESOME!!! :)

I charge the Jeep boys 1 badge each time I have to tow them out of the mud...then put 'em on my Disco like the old fighter pilots would do kills!

Well....... We drove 8 hours yesterday round trip to pick up a 2004 with 111,000 miles. It was $1,000 less than the dealer was asking for the one they sold that I was supposed to buy. I love how peppy it is! It's just fun to drive, though I wish the steering wheel would tilt up a couple inches higher.

I'm currently adding up the cost of repairs to get it how I want it.

So far both passenger door actuators need to be replaced or repaired and I'm thinking the others sound a bit rough, they are very loud when you lock/unlock them.

Need to figure out why the driver's side seat belt height adjuster won't adjust the height.

Going to replace the drive shaft as it's original, though it's not showing any signs of going out.

Possibly do the head gaskets though the engine didn't get above 180 the whole trip.

Diagnose why the check engine light came on after we stopped for gas with the error codes P0134 & P0171. The OMBii reader was picking up 02 readings so I'm not sure what would cause the code. We were about an hour from home at that point and it hasn't come back on yet after I reset it.

Oh, and we are going to change the fluids just to be safe. Belt looks good like it's been replaced recently.

We already had to replace the rear lightbulb before we left town... I had to add windshield fluid, and am on my way to the store to get a fuse to figure out why the front windshield washers won't work. Hoping it's just the fuse!

Also, planning to get a luggage rack, spare tire cover, and possibly new tires even though these are new.. they look like old lady tires!!! Guess I'm officially in the club :driving:

And because this post is useless without :laugh: here she is.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...e8d6f45871.jpg

With six pregnancies and a husband in the military, I'm pretty sure there's nothing a Disco (or anything for that matter) can throw at you that you can't handle.

Strongest and toughest woman I've ever known had five kids and a career AF officer husband, and you've got six!

I posted a reply on here, but I guess since I added a photo it needed to be approved! So the update is that I got a 2004 discovery and I'm making my list of repairs... I'm sure my post will show up soon, lol. Researching door actuators, and a key that's hard to get in and out of the ignition right now if anyone has tips?

Congrats, on the new acquistion. A little lube would probably help the ignition switch, they are known to be problematic.

Brian.

How do you lube it?

Get a WD40 Contact cleaner. Spray without holding back until it drips. Let it dry. Then, spray regular WD40. Works on mine really well. BTW, you have to insert straw inside the cylinder.

Yay, my post finally posted it's a few posts back if anyone was curious, lol.

Seat belt height adjuster is just the molded plastic to plastic rail inside. Remove rubber door weather seal on both doors to get to the clips that secures the trim on the pillar.

Just got front drive shaft from Lucky8 for $208.00 have not received it yet.

For the mean time, just clean MAF really good with CRC MAF cleaner. Saturate the sensor then let it dry completely. If code returns, then we'll see.

Fluids? Order all the filters and gaskets needed for your project.

OMG!!!! Thank you!! That was so easy to fix the seat belt height! I've been searching all over to figure that out! Took less than 5 minutes! I had to drive home 4 hours with the seatbelt across my neck!

I will look up how to clean the MAF now.

Yes, by fluids I mean flush the system and replace gaskets and fluids as suggested in the major maintenance in the stickies. First up is an oil change though. I decided I am going to do it myself.... I've never done one before, but the new guy at the shop we usually go to is not the most competent and I am not going to trust him with my car, lol. My husband said we can just take it somewhere even though he knows how to do it..... UMMMM NO! Doesn't seem like rocket science. The only question I have is do you need to replace the bolt or just the gasket for the bolt when you do an oil change??? OH, and what oil is best I've seen mixed reviews on doing synthetic, but I don't know how to tell what's in there now. More stuff to google!

A favorite oil among many here is Rotella T4 15w40. It says Diesel engine oil on it but that just means it has extra detergents meant to clean dirty diesel engines. It will work fine in our dirty old V8 petrol motors.

It has the ZDDP that this engine requires and is always in stock at Wal-Mart for around $13 a gallon.

Don't worry about what oil is in there at this point. Just change it out and use a good oil filter as well, and fill the new oil filter before you put it on.

You can get fancier with oils but for the price the Rotella works very well for most.

X2 on the Rotella. I also use 1 qt of Mobil hi mileage. Recc the Mobil or KN filters, large size.

Oil change done!!! Luckily my oldest boy stopped by just when I was heading to the store to get the oil. He took pity on me, LMAO, and helped. Car started right up and we don't see any leaks so guess it's good. I used the Rotella and a Mobil filter.

Welcome. I had to replace both my rear door actuators. I ended up getting them from amazon then later found them a lot cheaper on RoverLandParts.com

Discovery Door Latches

Glad to hear it. Always nice to have a helper. Working on these trucks is mostly pretty simple and straightforward. I came into this with a little wrenching experience and have done a lot of work on my truck. Did the head gaskets last spring, and for the longest time just kind of figured that would be beyond my skills, it wasn't. Lots of great help here on the forum, and the Rave helps in places too. Good job getting that first thing done. These are pretty awesome trucks and the sense of pride in doing your own work is great.

Ok... good news... I fixed the ignition sticking. I used some dry graphite lubricant, soooo much better. Bad news I have an oil leak, but I'm thinking the bolt just wasn't torqued tight enough. I tightened that and will check on it tomorrow.

Question- What is this?? I'm hoping the oil all over it is because it came from the oil bolt directly in front of this thing. Again... will check tomorrow I wiped it down, but have no idea what it is.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/nadialynnphoto/, on Flickr

Also, I know this is not a greaseable drive shaft, but does it look original? Trying to decide if it's an immediate need to change item.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/nadialynnphoto/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/nadialynnphoto/, on Flickr

I definitely need to invest in a lift of some sort it is a tight squeeze under there!