We have found a 2000 land rover discovery II for 6500$ with 130k miles on it, I have test driven it and checked it out for a couple hours today. I got down under it and couldn't see any major leaks, and the owners driveway was clean where they parked it. It was a northern car for most of its life, so it has some surface rust on the frame. The oil looked clean and I didn't see any trace of coolant in it, the brakes are new, it has year old tires,and one of the air shocks in the rear went out and was replaced. Carfax seemsclean, andthey have service papers for the 2 years they have owned it(serviced at a landrover dealer), but none from before that.There were a few issues that came up when I test drove it....

-A very faint whistle or something like that when letting off the gas. It goes away when you reapply the gas.
-There is a clunk when you go from coasting to when you apply the gas to accelerate, it seemed like our old explorer did this too
-At 70mph there is a humming( as my fiance puts it), but when you hit 75+ it goes away.

Any thoughts?

 

The whistle is probably a bad idler pulley. The clunking may be either a bad driveshaft or a bad transfer case. Those are pretty serious issues so I would be careful.

 

The whistle is very faint, I can barely hear it. The clunk only happens some of the time, and feels like something is catching before the drive engages

 

The klunk will be one or both of the following. Rovers are know to have some slack and they will klunk when backing off the gas then hitting it again. 90% of the time this is normal and not to worry about. The other issue would be the front drive shaft, crawl under and make sure that the two u-joint that attach to the t/case have grease fittings, if they don't get them replaced ASAP cause when they failk they can take out the tranny also, $7500 olus.
Mike

 

Thanks for the reply mike..... how much can I expect to pay for the replacement parts if it ends up being the U joints.

 

Parts and labor around $200 if you take it to a tranny shop or anyone that is familiar with rebuilding constant velocity joints.
Mike

 

I haven't seen the truck, and although it has pretty high mileage, the price seems pretty low to me. Sounds like they want to absolutely get rid of it. I would definitely take it to the dealer and have them check it out. You're better off losing a few hundred bucks for a check upthan ending up with a truck that needs a head gasket and god knows what else.

 

The clunk is normal, mine does the same thing when I let of the gas and reapply quickly. Ask the owners is they will allow you to have a Land Rover Inspection done on it before you buy it, if anything major is wrong you will be glad you did. Also so lots of research to make sure there isn't a better rover out there for you. Good luck!

 

I don't think they are trying to get rid of it,I dealt with the wife the entire time, she wants to get rid of it because they have twins and wants a bigger vehicle.We drove it for about an hour and a half with no over heating issues, half an hour on the interstate at 70+.

Another thing, the SRS light is on....

 

With all due respect, are you trying to convince us or yourself on the condition of this Disco???? You kinda sound like me when I want somethingreally badand I don't want anybody pissing on my parade. You came to the right place with your question, but you have to be receptive to the answers. I'm very happy to see somebody else is getting a Disco, But I'd like it for you to be a positive experience. I can't press this enough.......bring it to the dealer!!!! Then if nothing major is wrong, get it. Look around, if it ain't this one, there's another one waiting for you.

Good Luck.