Wow. That seems like a lot for brakes and the ABS unit. Do you need any specialized tools other than a metric set and Torque wrenches to work on the Disco yourself? Being a third vehicle I would have no problem making it sit on stands for a couple weeks to work on major issues myself. I'm not a great mechanic, but I'm not afraid to learn.

I'm sure the head gasket involved a valve job and essentially a rebuild from the head up, so that's not an unreasonable cost.

 

I am happy to say that in over seven years of ownership my Disco has never left me stranded. Actually, as of right now it doesn't even leak any fluids... Sure, I've replaced head gaskets but besides that and a leaky throttle plate heater I really haven't had to pay for anything outside normal maintenance that wasn't covered by warranty. I've been very lucky but also smart enough to research problems and do the preventive maintenance.

Still, unless Tata comes up with something I can't resist in the way of a basic no frills truck (I'm thinking an old Scout that doesn't fall apart from rust, new Defender or cool retro Series type vehicle) this is the last Land Rover I'll own. I would love to have a new Land Cruiser but what I'd REALLY love to have is a 4x4 Sportmobile for travel since I just don't trust the Disco for long range stuff anymore.

 

If it hasn't left you stranded why don't you trust it? I just took my whole family on an off-road trip this year. Over 100 miles of 4WD trails...rain, mud, muck, rocks, hauling a trailer with gear. I have 180k on my '95 LC. Did the trip, washed the mud off a week later () and drove it to church on Sunday.

Not competing, but just saying. Why wouldn't you trust your '02 with 80K for a long trip?

 

Just to clarify my above post, the vehicle I'm looking at is a '97 with nearly 150k on the odo. If you don't trust your '02 at 85k, I'd have serious concerns taking the same trip in the one I'm considering, or even concerned that it will go over 200k! Are there many 200k+ members on the board?

 

That disco you are looking at is owned by a guy on discoweb.org. Take a look at the classifieds there and I think there is some history to it. Seems to be pretty clean, it looks like he did not lift the front bumper to match the body lift, put some rubber in the gaps on the side. Not sure how it would ride with the body lift, my 97 has just 2" lift on it and it rides fine. Miles are not bad , if it has been taken care of. You will find that most of these engines will last 250K-300K if taken care of, that of course includes a HG job. They all need these around 100K miles but once done, you should not have to do them again.

 

Yes there are (were) some member on her with well over 200k, one guy bought a '94 brand new and just late last year with 234k? wanted to kill it and was asking us ideas on how to do that.
I paid $4500 out the door for my '97 one owner, I just booked it yesterday and retail is $4300, not to bad for 2.5 yrs of depreciation huh?
When I bought it it booked at $5900 they were asking $6200.
When I was laid off last summer I drove her home and parked her, 3 months later fired right up first tap of the key.
She has over 1500 trail miles on her from us and who knows how many (if any) from the previous owner.
Are Disco's for everyone? No.
But here are a few videos just for fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tQ2Tp3u_f8
http://www.offroadbigbear.com/Landrover.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtexoMZJ7Y0

And unless that 5" lift was done right you will have all kinds of driveline vibrations.

 

There is a guy in Asheville who has a 1995 Disco with nearly 290k miles and still chuggin'.
He told me that once he got past 200k very little went wrong, because it already had. The main thing he had problems with is plastic things going brittle and breaking or causing leaks. I plan to keep my disco until is just completely dies, I hope it makes it to 300k!

 

Yeah, if I did it I'd probably pull the body lift. Doesn't do much for performance. Maybe it enhances wheel stuffing, but only if you have the articulation to match. I have 14" of articulation each way with a Medium OME lift on my cruiser and it's been plenty in all but the worst situations. I understand driveline position so I have a good idea how to fix it if there is vibration...at least on LC's. I imagine it's not that different.

I don't know, it's only a center diff lock, which is what I have in my LC. It's capable, but I did get stuck in some soupy mud this year that (I believe) I wouldn't have gotten stuck in with lockers. Open diff's are open diff's regardless of the badging. I had to get winched out. Off camber, with the trailer and 6 kids in the rig, humiliatingly close to the highway. I'd like to make sure my next vehicle is more capable AND reliable. So, I'm not getting a Jeep or other American vehicle.

My LC looks like a hippo with wheels. Considering that, it's not bad looking, but the LR's have additional character.

$3,800 for a similarly capable vehicle with similar maintenance costs and reliability is tempting.

 

the douche bag comment was not aimed at your bro,,, it was aimed at the guy on that toyota site. sorry for the mix up

 

i got lucky when i found my rig last year. it was a one owner least return from a LR dealer in L.A. california. had 49k miles and was never off road in its life. the chassis told that story.

after a year of ownership all i have done is the normal stuff like fluids etc. added a sat. radio, rebuilt the front shaft and replaced a window regulator.

i have garage space for it now so it will get to live indoors when not on the road or trails. that always helps increase the life of a vehicle. we forget how harsh the elements in time can be to fabrics and materials.

unless LR comes up with something that once again looks like to discoveries did and get away from the ugly LR3/4 look i will continue to drive my 04 into the earth at which it came from.

unless i get my hands on a D110 td