8 days ago I purchased a year 2000 Discovery ii. Thought I got a decent deal paying $5,500 as it only has 75,000 original miles. Day one driving it home I noticed a small amount of coolent spraying around in the engine bay. I drove it a couple of more days and well some days It smelt like coolent was leaking, and other days it seemed fine. On the 7th or 8th day of owning it, I parked it in my driveway and about 5 to 10 minutes later coolent just gushed out everywhere onto the driveway. Today I took it to a local foreign car expert who has worked on many Land Rovers in the past. The mechanic said, "originaly it showed symptoms of a blown headgasket". Upon further inspection he diagnosted that the cooling sytem was getting air into it. Something to do with the bottom of the cylinders. His prognosses is that I need a brand new engine estimated roughly to be between 4 and 6 thousand dollars. The state I live in has a 30 day lemon law. The guy I bought it from said he can't reverse the sale because he spent the money. Looks like I'll be going to court soon....................ughhhhhhhhh Other than todays news I really liked the vehicle and the enginge sounded great, just that it leaked the coolant and would overheat. On a non land rover issue, just a month before I bought the land rover I purchased a sabb and 2 weeks after that purchase that engine died and I lost a few thousand on that also. It has not been a good motor car year for me.

 

Did you buy private party or through a dealer? What state? As is or guarantee to pass inspection? You *might* have a chance with this, but it is slim.
After re-reading that he "spent" the money I'm assuming private sale. In that case, lemon laws do not apply (in most states). You can still check your local laws, but unfortunately it is not a good situation for you. Hopefully you could source out an engine for it if it is a clean truck though and worth the time/money.

 

How did he diagnose that you need a block again? Has he taken the heads off yet?

 

sounds like BS from this shop. take the heads off first before spending on a new engine. my bet is that its simply a bad head gasket. get a second opinion just like you would if it was medical and involving a heart replacement,,,

 

So on day 1 you noticed coolant spray in the engine bay and smelled coolant, but you kept on driving on to day 8.
Sorry about your loss mate, but you should have figured something is wrong on day 1. What the shop is saying is that they really don't want to work on it, but if you are daft enough to pay enough $$$$ then they will consider it.

 

Time to invest in mechanic tools and training. Sorry for your loss.

 

Judging from everything I've read on here and further research, if your an average bloke who is not mechanicallly inclined stay away from older land rovers. Unless you buy a brand new one or one with at least 50 thousand miles or less. It seems like a lot of you either work on them yourselves or just buy them as secondary vehicles to use here and there rather than daily drivers. What I don't understand is for a vehicle when new that is considered higher end luxery with a big price tag why the hell can't they be more reliable. All I here about is blown head gaskets and other nightmares. I live in the u.s. and bought a land rover because I like all the bells and whistles, (heated power seats excetera), plus they are a little different and almost like a head turner where I live. Not to mention its off roading legacy and I play music and needed the cargo space of an suv. It's just a shame that for a vehicle this costly when new a truck like say a toyota that costs almost half of a land rover will out preform it in the long run. Never again will I buy a land rover, unless I hit the lottery and can afford a brand new range rover. I'm sure there all not like this though? Maybe some of you have gotten lucky and put 30 to 40 thousand miles on them past 60k? I'm just super bummed because this is the second car I've gotten burned on in less than a month. I figured buying one with 75 thousand miles on it I could get a couple of years out of it with no major service issues.

 

X2 This shop doesn't want your business.

Find another mechanic and look into whether you can recover at least some of the $$$ from the seller under the laws in your state.

Even if you need to replace the engine, you should be able to find a used one for a lot less than what's being quoted by that shop. Those numbers sound like they're planning to get one from Turner (nice, but $$$$). It can be done for a lot less...

 

Some points to consider:
1. The cooling system is the engine's Achilles heel. It deteriorates over time and the engine overheats, then starts the downward spiral of engine problems: head gaskets, liners, etc.
2. Disco is not a reliable daily driver, if you want one then get a Toyota, Honda, Hyundai or whatever - they will be much cheaper to run in the long run.
3. Disco is an enthusiast's car. If you don't work on it yourself and keep up the maintenance then it is going to cost you a lot of money, way more than it is worth.
4. Treat any disco for sale as suspect, it most probably has an owner who is trying to offload his problems onto the next unsuspecting buyer.

 

Mike, We're all very sorry that you got burned, but did you have the vehicle inspected by a competent Rover mechanic before buying it? Did you get maintenance records? These are vital when buying an older vehicle, not just a Rover...even more so when you aren't mechanically inclined. Believe me, I learned this the hard way, and have known the angst and frustration you must be feeling right about now so I have the utmost sympathy for you.

Although they do have head gasket issues, Rovers can be reliable daily drivers if properly maintained. We love our trucks, but those of us who have the best satisfaction with them came into the experience of owning Rovers with our eyes open. They aren't run of the mill cheap foreign cars...instead they're complex high-line luxury trucks that have many systems built to take a beating and get you where you need to go. The trade-off is that their engines are based on 1960's era Buick design that GM scrapped after less than 10 years. This makes them relatively easy to work on but also means that they generally require the level of maintenance that a 60's era car would need.

If you can't pursue the seller under the lemon law, then I strongly suggest that you learn to do the majority of that maintenance yourself. People on this forum and others will gladly help you learn how to do what you need to. So, get it put right, then keep it properly maintained, and I'm confident that your Disco will show you why they're the Best 4x4xfar...