I never liked looking at my 06 HSE LR3 from the outside. It was never one of those vehicles where you get out, walk about 10ft and look back thinking to yourself damn she looks good. It just looked like a box with wheels IMHO. The 4.4L engine was great, but I'll stick with 87-04 any day. When I sold that LR3 I had no remorse or regrets lol.

 

You're in Pittsburgh? I haven't seen many Discos that weren't rusted out here. I'm here now but bought my Disco in CA. I can't find a Rover mechanic here. Can you recommend someone?

 

mines from Pittsburgh and it’s been garage kept, drove it a few times in the snow that’s about it. Stays clean. Bottoms of all my doors are perfect. It’s the ones parked outdoors all year round that are destroyed

 

Any tips on a Rover mechanic?

 

Ive been burned many times by shops working on it I ended up just learning myself, I pad 1200$ to get the abs wires replaced when I first got it and they went bad in 5 months, meanwhile I fixed it myself with shielded cable and connectors for 25$. Depending on what it is it’s honestly better to try yourself. Outside of that just search up euro auto repair near you and read reviews, or specifically search Land Rover repair near me

 

Ok. I haven't found anyone here who knows the Disco and I've also paid way too much for someone to troubleshoot..... I had an amazing Rover mechanic in CA... makes all the difference in the world.

 

This rise in prices doesn't really surprise me. I can't say I predicted it but glad I found mine when I did. I Think there are several things that created current demand.

Discoveries have always been undervalued in my opinion based on their unavoidable lifecycle. Enthusiast do not make up the bulk of buyers for any interesting production vehicle. If brands tried to make money on people like us they would go bust. Most Discos went into service as suburban/soccer/mall crawlers and that started the demise. People fell in love with the brand and its posh UK pedigree, the cool styling and it fit the needs for a family hauler. This demographic was not prepared for the nuance of Land Rover ownership. First out of warranty trip to dealer (who in many cases were being predatory) and they went straight to the Honda or Toyota store, traded it in on a minivan (kids were growing and now have friends) and never came back.
The Honda/Toyota dealer in most cases sent it straight to auction.
This was the beginning of the end. Once on the indy guys lot, they polished them up, taped over or disconnected the CEL, added motor honey or leak-stop and resold them to the next group. To be fair many fixed the issues and sold as legit pre-owned. I remember 10 years ago there were dealers specializing in pre-owned european cars and would have 5-8 Discos on the lot at all times. All shiny and beautiful. As they say - "If you can't afford it new you cant afford it used". The next group got in over there head really quickly. They unloaded via Craigslist or other outlet with the trucks having problems. I remember more than a few adds that said - 75k, runs but overheats, $1000 OBO. Wish I had a warehouse at the time.
Since auction the truck started the transition from "loved and respected" to "abused and neglected". Discos do not fair well here folks. An 80 series Land Cruiser will survive this transition better but you still don't want to buy it. Unless it is very, very cheap.
So now a bunch make the trip to the salvage yard. Gone forever only to support the remaining running inventory with parts. I don't think Land Rover sold a ton of these relatively speaking, compared to say a Ford Explorer of the same years. So now decent Discos are harder to find and really cool trucks. I rarely see them anymore here in the midwest driving around. I know they are not rare like 1970 911s but not nearly as common as they were 10 years ago.

 

the good news is you can find a good decent disco not a garage queen for about 4-6k or cheaper any week

 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...0Rover%20parts

$31k obo

 

All assets are rising in price. With crypto and stocks at all time high, you see lots of folks cashing in.

By the way, I get asked about my car all the time. Won't sell and will probably buy another Rover soon. The next "best" new car in the line ups are as follows: LR Defender ($60K), Land Cruiser ($90K). None of these are cash flow friendly. It costs me $1K/year to keep my Disco near "old mint" and I'll take that option.