So I've been a faithful Jeeper for years but instead of buying another Jeep I've decided I want to kick it up a notch and go with a 96-98 Discovery (these years seem to fit in my price range) Just wondering if anyone could give me any info on these particular years, pros and cons, common repair problems, things to look for when shopping around, test driving etc. Any input would be appreciated as I'll be shopping around within a week or two. Thanks!

 

I purcahsed my 96 off ebay for $4700 and it is a 1 owner Cal suv I have driven it for a little over a year and it has been a nice truck You have to look at big items first Transfer case Shifters jam due rust ,transmission diffs and so on Drive the truck and make certain it does not have any surging ,miss fires or lags .They do tend to have valve issues on the 96 -98 4.0 engines ABS<SRS>CHECK ENG lights can mean big bucks Resets on codes tend to be $100 or so Mine has recently failed Air Care in Vancouver so it looks like the cats Could be bad, $1500 or more. Exhaust can be big dollars Try to steal a 2000 or newer . I bought a 2000 full load last year with 54000 miles for $8800.00
Bob

 

Thanks for the reply. The more I keep looking and searching around this site, the more anti-Land Rover I'm becoming. Reading about all the problems with sensors and modules, these things sound like an electrical nightmare. Unfortunately for me, I've had my heart set on one so I'm probably going to be one of those posting soon griping about ABS this and TDC that or whatever... Such is life.

 

You have to remember with ANY product is the people that seek out messageboards are the ones that are having trouble with it. For every one person complaining about their car/computer/whatever that is giving them trouble there are many more with little to no problems. Just get a trusted mechanic to give it a look over and take a thourough test drive. Good luck!

 

Yeah, makes sense. Another question. Why the low resale value. At the prices they were selling for in 96, for instance, right off the showroom floor, why are they only going for 5-6 grand 10 years later? I see Wranglers and Yotas of the same year being sold for more nowadays. I'm not trying to knock Rovers but with their reputation as being rugged and dependable why don't they hold their resale?

 

Eastland I agree with you I don't know why Rovers don't hold their value well not all rovers D90's still cost alot even the 1993 D110's are over 30 grand But I think it's because of parts or S#!T that J.D powers said freakin asswipes. I'll tell you This I got my 1996 Discovery for a little over 7000 dollars with only 80K miles In a way rovers not being expensive is actually a good thing. When you can have a vehicle That is In my opinion alot stronger ,better looking hella larger frame than others ,good amounts of luxury not everyone has one, plus is tougher than both jeep and Toyota regardless of what people think and has history. Than paying less than normal isn't really all that bad as long as the engine,trans,frame,and body of the truck is good.

 

Oh yeah, it definitely is a good thing you can get them for that price, it means an average guy like me can own one. Just from what I've been reading here and other places they definitely seem to be a very rugged, yet comfortable vehicle. I can understand why people are skeptical about buying them as far as parts/repair bills go which is one of my concerns which in turn like you said would make them less desireable to people which in turn would make them cheaper to buy... alright now I'm just ramblin and pretty much repeating what you just said! haha! Anyway, yeh thanks for the reply.

 

SURE NO PROBLEM .I've learned to love my discovery like a good woman treat her right and she will last.

 

I too am looking at Discos'. I've never had an SUV before and I think I could finnally put one to good use. In the last 2 weeks I've driven a couple, one 99 Series II and a '97. I was suprised by the '97, it rode a lot smother than I expected. I thought the series II was supposed to have a better ride than the original. Milage was the same on both vehicles (130k 140k) the newer one was a little rougher around the edges but all the important stuff seemed to work. Warning lights were on in both cars. I guess this is a common occurance. I guess it may be time to invest in a code scanner.

Today I drove a '89 Range Rover. I didn't really like the way it drove it was very loud and vibrated a lot.


Is there anyway to sticky a buying FAQ?