I’ve been looking to get a disco and I don’t know if I found the right one. I’m not a mechanic, but I am pretty mechanically inclined. Some feedback as to whether the one I found would be worth it or not would be nice.

There is a 2001 disco for sale currently listed for 1500.

the pros:
- it “runs”
-it’s a disco

the cons:
- some water damage due to leaking sun roof
- windshield seal needs some work
- passenger window motor isn’t functioning
- a/c isn’t work, but blower is
- rear taillights are either dim or out
- paint is kind of rough
- rear passenger door doesnt always unlock
- needs regular coolant fill up

im no stranger to having cars in rough shape, most of the stuff I am confident I could address like the A/C or windows. My concern is the coolant. My first thought is the head gasket needs to be replaced. The guy didn’t mention any leaks or any high temperatures. He also said it runs very well. So additional concern, the current owner has driven it a couple times with the coolant issue.

The car sounds rough, probably cause it is, but it surprisingly looks pretty decent besides the paint. The engine bay looked cleaner than any car I’ve owned. Would anyone pull the trigger on this? I’m considering offering 750. I feel like I’m looking at least spending $1000 on the easier stuff, and whatever is causing the coolant to leak can vary vastly.

 

Sounds like it'll need quite a bit of reconditioning. How much are you willing to put up with and spend on it? I just had my coolant leak diagnosed by my shop recently. Head gaskets need to be replaced. $3100 for them to do it. I consider myself fairly mechanically-inclined, but serious engine work is where I draw the line simply because I don't have the experience and money to have someone else fix my mistakes the second time around. Be honest about your abilities and the time and available space/tools you have. If you're undaunted, then put in your offer and download the RAVE manual. I wish you the best in saving another D2. Despite all of the issues I've had over the years with mine (especially in the last year), I very much enjoy it.

 

Pretty good price for a good cosmetic truck. Cosmetics are way more expensive than mechanicals. Paint has gotten outrageous, nearing $1000 a gallon. Most important thing to look for is frame rust. After that is miles on the clock. The rest is fixable. Based on your description sounds like it is a mid 100-200k mile truck. These easily go 200+k miles without major stuff if the previous owners took care of them. Get the carfax service history, look at it and post it here. We will help you. Lots of post on almost any repair you need to make.

 

Why does it need a regular coolant top up,...cooling system or head gasket ?????, find out before you part with any cash

 

For $750-1k I'm not sure it really matters if there is no rust and the poster isn't afraid to dive in and do a head gasket job. Parts are cheap and it's more time consuming than hard.

 

thanks for the input everyone.

I guess I’ll pass on this one. I found another disco about 100 miles south, listed for 7000.

The coolant leak is pretty concerning especially considering the current owner kept driving it. Don’t want to open it up and find that the header or block have a crack and fork out more money to fix it, along with all the cosmetic and electronic issues, I think in the end it would be cheaper to just get a disco in good condition so I can just immediately upgrade the fun stuff.

 

At this point you are probably going to have to do the heavy lifting of overhauling the engine/cooling system regardless of entry price. Unless you find an example with a huge stack of records and even then it's a crap shoot.

 

Buy one of mine and there is no crap shoot

 

Well yes of course haha but different pricing stratosphere and rightfully so. And if I show up with another rover at this point the boss is not going to be happy lol

 

Russell, I would take it to a mechanic and do the test for exhaust in the cooling system. It won't cost much vs major head gasket work. Maybe compression check.

At a minimum look really closely in the oil fill hole. Black and gunky is bad. Coffee color is OK. Latte color is bad.