Thinking of purchasing a Discovery...
 

Greetings!

New to the forums here. I'm currently driving an 06 Rubicon and am looking for something with a lot more space. I just got engaged, she can't drive stick and we have two dogs ;).

I've been seriously considering the purchase of an 03 or 04 Discovery. I'm very concerned with the maintenance records for these vehicles. Would a Discovery with less than 60K miles be considered a relatively safe purchase? I only commute a total of 8 miles to work. I'm not mechanical, but do have a local foreign car mechanic who comes highly recommended. I've found a Discovery locally that's an 04' with 36K miles. CarFax shows no major work.

Should I back away slowly?

I've always wanted a Discovery and the prices seem great right now. I've been looking at Jeep Commanders, which are bit more expensive. I keep coming back to the Discovery though.

Thanks for the advice!

'04's are oft considered the best year of the Disco. If you're considering an '03, search for "oil pump failure."

If you go for the '04, which you should:D, you'd need to rebuild or replace the front propshaft/driveshaft (do a search), and you'd need to stay on top of the maintenance. LR's can be expensive to maintain, so you may want to start doing some of the work yourself to save some bucks. Preventative maintenance is the key with these rigs.

If you do end up pulling the trigger, this forum is a great resource for any and all of the questions you can and will come up with, search first, ask questions if you still can't find what you're looking for. Good luck with the shopping!

I second the 04, i bought an 02 and if i knew what i know now, i would have spent the extra on the 04

Have you read through the "write up" section of the forum?

i went from a 06 rubicon to my 04 discovery.

never have regretted it nor will i ever swap back. best choice in rig you can make.

cheers

I would highly recommend the Disco over the Commander. It will cost you more to maintain but I think it is well worth it.

I too am in the market and inline with what has been said here, '04 seems to be a night and day difference in owner experiences than the '03. Seems oil pump failure is the big issue with the '03 but there also seems to be more dealer visits for other inconveniences.
I really want a '99 Jeep Cherokee again(Xjman1) but have always liked the Disco's and price is pretty close on used Disco's due to their rapid initial depreciation. Seem to get alot more vehicle for almost same money.

If you are doing your own stuff, the whole workshop manual is a free download in my signature. Walks you through just about everything..

Well pretty much just grabbed a black 03' Discovery SE7. It's got just about 70K miles and is in excellent condition. It’s had only one owner with no major issues. I found it at a smaller dealership about 30mins from where I live. A client of mine and a fellow co-worker highly recommended them. I shot over this morning and it was an easy decision.

I've got the Disco until tomorrow morning and will finalize everything in the morning once I bring it back. I must say that this thing is amazing! I've been a Jeep guy for years now and was VERY close to picking up a used Commander. So glad I didn't!