6K is enough to get you either a fully sorted D2 that will serve you reliably, or a good project truck for less than $1500 with plenty of funds that you can sort yourself so you make sure it is reliable. Your color and interior choice is a bit specific, but doable.

I would not get an 04, the engines in those are the worst as are the roof rails. No roof rail extension available and not cross load bars available and retrofitting is a giant pita. The only redeeming quality of the 04 is the transfer case CDL and that is easily retrofitted.

The 4.6 vs the 4.0 is highly overrated - I currently have two 4.6 and three 4.0's, can't tell any difference in power but I can tell you the 4.0's almost never have slipped cylinders and you can get non-SAI 4.0's (easier to work on), I have never seen a non-SAI 4.6. My 4.0's get about 1-2 mpg better too. The 4.6's were the only ones that had the oil pump issue but most of those are gone now.

Some good advice on here, but here are my recommendations on what to look for:

Must:
Southern or western truck ie no rust
Wants
Non-SE7 - I prefer the saddlebags to the cargo seats - but that is personal choice.

Some considerations when you are shopping

Bumpers - steel or stock?

If you get an enthusiast truck it could already have the steel which is good, a fixer upper or stocker will have the plastic that crack if you look at them hard.

Wheels - 18" or 16"

The 18's handle better on road around corners, and it is a more popular tire size now. The 16's have a larger sidewall, generally ride softer, and seem to be preferred for MT or AT tires and for rock crawling builds.

Low mileage without 100k service or 100k + miles with service (HG, coils, wires, CPS, etc). This goes to the fixer upper vs fully sorted decision. Here are some mileage estimates for major component replacements based on my experience with 9 Discos with mileage between 97k and 230k.

1. HG - 1st round 100-140k
2. Starter - 180-200k
3. Coils - 120-140k
4. Water pump - 120-140k
5. Axle hubs (three amigo issue) 180-200k
6. Front Driveshaft - 150-170k
7. Hoses/catch tank/radiator tank cracks - 170-200k
8. PS pump - 150-170k
9. Master Cylinder reservoir seal - 120-140k

Some Interesting options to keep your eye out for when shopping

1. Air suspension - I personally like this, great for towing and off-road, the problems are highly overstated in my opinion. Usually only on the HSE's
2. ACE - I also like this, the handling is incredible. Usually only on 01 or earlier, the one I had with this had 176k on it and worked flawlessly without leaking.
3. Harmon Kardon sound system - very common option, excellent sound system except the foam surrounds on the subs disintegrate over the years - they can be repaired/replaced and sound great.
4. S vs SE (vinyl and sunroof delete) - common on 03+, the vinyl is very poor quality and I do not recommend it. The sunroof delete is ok, but I actually like the sunroofs. They don't leak once you know how to prevent the leaks and keep them functioning
5. Backup sensors - pretty rare, I have one with this. A good option if you have the factory plastic bumpers, might help prevent breaking the factory bumper cover.
6. Becker Traffic pro radio with GPS - usually only found on the 03+. Obsolete technology for the most part - usually has display issues - I recommend the oem cassette with cd changer under the seat - you can obviously replace with more modern options.

 

 

Guys, I can't thank you all enough for helping me with awesome suggestions!!


Based on what I heard so far, I think I will go for 4.0L version then. My question: is the interior/size of the SUV the same? Will just a simple headlight swap make it basically the same cosmetically as the 4.6L version?

One thing I note on these D2, is the front bumper is cracked, horn buttons missing, pillars missing, e-brake handle worn out, ripped front seats, headliner sagging. Will I need to get a steel bumper for D2? I checked the price of a new OEM stock bumper and it's $950. If I go for stock version, I'd definitely like some type of a bush bar grill to protect those expensive headlights and bumpers.

As for the interior; do you guys have any tips as to how to find a good upholstery shop? Last time I got a quote of a $300 for a sagging headliner on my Ford 500 but I ended up just fixing it myself.

 

 

Doing the headlight swap is not a trivial task... I've done it, involves cutting out body metal, jerry-rigging, and re-wiring the electrical plugs.

For interior I just said **** it, and gutted it all out, and made some simple, durable, custom stuff. I prefer banging on metal over finessing plastic trim, plastic rivets that break, and fabric. I think I only have 1 trim piece left - the center console.. and that's getting the boot soon too

 

I didn't read all of it, but here's my 2 cents: 6 grand is good enough if you plan to do all of your own wrenching. I bought mine 2 years ago, didn't know a wrench from a ratchet, and picked it up as I went. The RAVE manual is your bible

 

 

Only vehicle that ever ran me into the ground and I lost 12K = brand new 2001 Nissan Xterra SE 4x4...... Thing was a lemon, it's AC died two weeks after buying it, and then it leaked coolant constantly for 76K and I took it in for coolant leaks at least a dozen times. It didn't classify as a Lemon because they always put it down as a different part or hose. However it never did stop leaking coolant.... I finally traded it in on a keyed, and covered in Oak pollen 97 D1 and I was not longer spending $$$$ on my car payment and about the same on repairs. I took it to a LR Dealer to be inspected after I bought it, they asked if I had an hour to have them work on it, I said sure, I ended up with a two service campaigns being performed on it for free and a brand new Y pipe that I didn't even notice that was rattling. All for 0.00... Not to mention they detailed it inside and out and made it look brand new! After the horrible Nissan experience I never have owned another Lemon or POS. I've bought D2's for as little as 500.00 all the way up to nearly 40K when they were new and not a single one of them has ever emptied my pockets out or caused me to live in a van down by the river. I spent much much more when I had two 05 Jeep Wranglers. They required all kinds of parts and I sold them both when they had around 50K on them. There is no way they'd ever make it to the 235K mark like my 02 Kalahari without some serious empty pockets!

 

Carparter...

the problem with some of these comments, they are wanting you to buy a D2 also. Most of us, have years of experience, that experience takes years to mold. Most of us own our homes, have a decent income, have time to spend on a needy vehicle.

you're in college. You're creating massive Bill's on the daily. You're time should be spent on studying and grades and not wasted on posting help threads on a forum and hours of troubleshooting. Youd be much better off researching a vehicle with much better mileage, higher reliability ratings, and cheaper easier maintenance.

Graduate, get that job, buy the house and then build a massive garage and buy all the rovers you like and come back here and help us all out. Your life will be better for it.

 

In my case the only basket case I've had is my current daily driver that I've had for 3 years. It was an abused fleet car with a whole list of issues mainly due to neglect.

A/C was completely dead; so I bought some freon and tried adding it, but the compressor wasn't sucking it up. Took it to my friend who determined that compressor was dead. OK. Got a used compressor on Ebay for $80 (new one was $350+); however, in my car the compressor is hidden undernearth so removing it and installing a new one took around 5 hours. Mechanic charged $140 for 5 hours of labor and got it done, pretty reasonable IMHO. Then added some freon, the A/C started to work! Fantastic! (or so I thought). But after a few days, the A/C got warm again befor finally loosing all cooling ability. Fine. Went and bought A/C freon with dye in it to detect leaks; recharged the system, went during the night to inspect for leaks - NOTHING. ZERO leaks. Then i got thinking, well, my windows fog up like crazy during winter, and most likely my heator core is bad and leaking coolant into my evaporator core, which is probably where the freon leak is. My friend mechanic refused to work on heator core, saying that I will need to drop the car off for entire month and he'll do it for $400. Not having my ride for a month in a rural Texas area was out of the question, so I went to an independent shop to get a quote, as was quoted at $1650 for heator core/evap swap! So that's clearly wasn't going to happen. Finally, asked my other friend who used to own a car repair shop to help me out. He fortunately agreed and we spent 2 days working 12 hours per day to remove the dash, get to the heator core/evap which was barried deep under the dash as well as being secured by outside screws..Recharged the system finally, and finally I have my A/C working! LOL