I'm late to the party here but one upside is that if you're not mechanically inclined now you either will be, or you'll spend that $4k-$10k you were trying to avoid. Or you'll drive it to the point that it breaks beyond your capacity to repair and you'll sell it for a substantial loss. With that in mind, they're great trucks that are simple to work on, if occasionally frustrating, and you've got a great support system here. You are buying more than a mode of transportation here, you're entering a commitment.

 

I mean EVERY vehicle of this age is going to require work.

if you are willing to spend the time and money on tools then I say buy it.

do not track how much you spend on repairs and tools cause it will depress you lol

 

OK, so here's the thing- a Disco II is a great vehicle to learn to become mechanically inclined. Every fault with these vehicles is known and has a repair guide to it, weather in the RAVE, rebuild manual, or on this forum. As far as looking for Disco freaks is concerned...well, you're here so you've found them! Don't worry about knowing someone "in real life" yes, I'm sure it's nice but just about everything is right here. Make sure you post again with pictures of you sweet ride and your near term plans, people will give you their opinions (and expertise) for sure!

 

You said 'trails'....................better read up on what year disco has what locking diff options!

Get the disco. consider the 5g's a down payment (tools n parts will add up to another 10g's or so over the next few years). get the RAVE download all manuals and documents and start reading. Read here about the usual fixes...plenty of posts on those....

you are never going to learn how to fix a vehicle sitting at home...it's time to get your hands dirty....

https://discoii.wordpress.com/resources/

other option: save up a bit and get a 'better' disco for around 10g's that has documented work already done....

 

tools and parts won't cost you 10k over the next few years..I have 3 rovers and two D2s and I haven't spent close to that even modifying them over the past 5-6 years. Hell I bought all 3 Rovers for under 10K.. A decent socket set is all you really need and the willingness to learn. If you rebuilt multiple motors from scratch with machine cost sure but I put a cam in both d2s when I did the hg for both vehicles I was maybe $1500 into both of those jobs in parts.

 

And the good news is that you can get every tool you need easily if you do not have them.....and the most expensive is the nanocom....

OP...best thing..read up on all the major issues on this forum first BEFORE purchase....and really inspect the D2 to the best of your ability before purchase. If you are not sure, bring it to a qualified mechanic and pay the money to have it checked out...
Buying one of these is really a purchase of the unknown...hopefully you will luck out and get a good one and it will not cost you thousands more!

 

Me, after owning four Dll's...and since it's your first. Seek out a nice, clean 01. Put my 01 through hell and back and that 4.0 never left me. Drowned it water crossing (blew the air filter right apart), over heated it (pulley/belt broke, drove two miles pegged in red)...bad...twice (hose failure)...and ended up driving it another 20K afterwards, four wheeling and loaded for bear too. Show me a 4.6 someone can say that about. In my personally opinion...the 4.6 is a piece of garbage.

Granted, you'll have to add the shift mechanism for the CDL on an 01(and make sure it has CDL transfer case before purchase, some didn't).

The 01, 500 miles from home...after all of the forementioned events...



Here she is in southern Ohio wheeling with their LR group...



Camping with the grandson...



Good luck in your quest for an inexpensive or something that won't empty your savings account 4X4...don't think there's ever been one made yet...lol.

Just be sure to look the frame over good, lengthy road test and be ready to become a "regular" at your local gas station.

 

I too have been following this thread with some interest. The way the title is worded: "...worth..." evokes a lot of thoughts.

Ultimately worth is defined by each of us individually. The OP has to answer that based on his needs and his values.

Can a $5000 Disco 2 with 160K miles run another 100k miles with just routine upkeep? Maybe.

Will it drop a cylinder liner tomorrow? Maybe.

I think the question the OP needs to wrestle with is: What happens if he buys and the vehicle DOES need an unexpected major repair in short order? It is a 20 year old vehicle with 160K miles and half-dozen previous owners. Does he have a strategy for either getting it repaired within an acceptable budget or a plan to exit his pocket book mostly intact? Or will he end up with a $5k driveway ornament. Only he can say.

 

Yer nuts if you want to buy a D2 and aren’t mechanically inclined.

The OP sounds like a nice person and has a willingness to learn, but I don’t think realizes just how much of a rabbit hole they will be going down. The D2 is a wonderful place to learn about cars, the mechanics of them, and varying electronic systems. However, there is SO MUCH to learn with a D2, jumping in with 2 feet may be a bit overwhelming- especially when looking at one with 7-8 prior owners and limited if not sketch service records.

My general statement is it takes a year to make a D2 correct by this time- and I don’t care how perfect it seems. As I continually say, this is due to the ignorance and/or lazy/cheapskate owners by this time who bought the image and not the experience. In that year, you may not get to drive it much. It may need more than you are willing to give. You may also be patient enough to learn all the idiosyncrasies and systems of the platform during that time. If you have that level of desire and patience and have another vehicle to rely on, I’d say go for it.

But the OP is delving into what it’s like to buy a used car that is 20 years old at this point, which translates to having very little to do with the platform itself, but more about what was done wrong or ignored in the past. That means they have to fix what was not done or done wrong just to get the machine to a good state.

That seems like an awful big elephant for someone not mechanically inclined.

 

Someone who is somewhat wise once told me, "Do not buy a Discovery to have a daily driver. You have to have a reliable car to own a Disco." As long as the OP has another car, this might be a good project to learn about how cars work.