I don't disagree with longtallsally but I think there's a little wiggle room if the OP has a desire to become a shade tree mechanic. A strong desire. This site is a great resource and the trucks aren't that complicated. Very few special tools are *required* and there are readily available parts sources. You couldn't say the same thing about a period SAAB or Volvo, so I think that adds some validity to the whole endeavor.

One thing that is undeniable however is that a truck with 7 or 8 prior owners is a horrible place to start. I would expect problems to be coming at you hard and fast. Spend more money at the outset to get a truck that's been better sorted and then you can deal with what arises more methodically, rather than taking on a potential sh!tst0rm of issues all at once.

 

Thank you again everyone for your valuable suggestions.

so just today I went to check one for sale at a local dealer. It looked immaculate clean, even under the hood. However the cardax says potential odometer rollback. Previously it had continuious records for upto 180k miles whereas now its showing 104k. The mileage keeps flashing on the odometer. Coolant has metal flakes (i think)

any feedback on this car?

 

Probably a replacement cluster, it will flash if there's an inconsistency between the cluster, ECU and BCU. I would advise you to keep looking. Something is definitely goofy already, who knows what else is wrong. There's no reason to jump in this quickly, there'd need to be a LOT of other things really right on this truck, like thousands of dollars in aftermarket parts or something to want to take a gamble in a truck from a dealer with a flashing odo. And while it's been mentioned here, I don't think enough emphasis has been placed on checking out the frame. Without knowing where you're located this can be a huge wildcard and can turn an otherwise really nice truck into a "don't touch it with a ten foot pole". You'll want to look under the rear of the truck for the two sections of frame rail that run parallel from the bumper to the rear axle.

 

Well the metal flakes = you will need a HG job, massive collection of oily soot on knuckle = axle seal leaking if I had to guess, and the zip ties = did it for me.... RUN Forest RUN...

My advice = if you have a set budget say 3-5K on a used D1/D2 honestly look on FB Marketplace, this LR Forum, or even Discoweb. However that price range now = fixer uppers. If you want to get a good jump in and enjoy it D1/D2 you're probably looking at 5-10k now to be honest. DO NOT get a 20-25 year old D2 from a used car lot. They will make it look good, and do anything they can to make it drive off the lot, and if it blows up just 10ft down the street = your problem now not theirs and they made their $$$$. You need to find a LR from a LR owner that is just selling it to get a newer LR. Used car lots are a huge NO GO!!!

I'm probably going to be selling 2 D2's in the near future. I'm thinning the herd (10 LR's currently), and I'm going to start wheeling an 06 RRS with a lift and 275/65R18's, but if I don't get what I want for them I'll just hang onto them.

 

What Best said…

 

Thank you folks! I wasnt going to buy it off of a used car lot. Just wanted to get some experience on how these cars looked, what they sounded like, etc etc.

Your feedback is really awesome and I didnt even notice the zip ties until you mentioned here.

 

i have to disagree, if he is not mechanicly inclined, and if you are going to use a shop good luck, shops from my experience want nothing to do with discos, its like they go brain dead as soon as they see the land rover lettering
i have not had any luck with shops working on my disco, unless you take it to a landy shop, which then you will pay premium rates, and forget the dealership

 

please stay away omh run run run, buy a disco from a disco owner that took care of it and follows this forums suggestions on basic upgrades, buy one from a land rover guy, take your time

 

+1 for redwhitekat, the metal flakes is most likely from stopleak. Someone noticed the coolant was getting low and dumped in a can of it. Unless they are practically giving that car away (like under $1000 out the door) I would not buy it. You will be spending potentially big dollars to fix whatever that problem is.

 

Or get it much, much cheaper and don't plan to drive it for a while.

I paid $400 for my Disco II. Previous owner just abandoned it and the city had it towed. No cats, no keys, full of stuff and pretty rough. I had no idea if it would run or if I would be parting it out to get my money back.

It ran.

I am looking for an off-road buggy mostly, but I have a bit of "gotta be right" in me, so I am trying to fix things as correctly as I can as I go. And man, there are a lot of things to fix. Here is a quick preview:

The coolant was clean and new looking. There was no milkshake in the oil, and the oil also looks reasonably fresh. The general appearance of the engine block and heads make me think it has been worked on in the last 20K miles-ish, so I am hoping that means the head gaskets were replaced and replaced correctly. It could mean that it had a mild leak and to hide it the two shop replaced the coolant and oil, but that seems like a big investment for a car they moved for a couple bills. I have since run it long enough to get it to temp and let the coolant cycle. No bubbles, oil still looks good, no leaks. But I have not driven it under load. I could be in for a fun time.

The passenger side exhaust collector flange was welded to the manifold studs. Had to remove the manifold and cut the collector off. The drivers side had a broken stud and the manifold had to come out as well.

Idle air control valve was not working. Luckily I read a comment by Best4X4 suggesting they very rarely go bad and usually just need cleaning. I was about to buy one, but sure enough, hosed it down with carb cleaner and it worked great.

The the cats were stolen one of the vehicle side connectors was ripped off. It had to be the one above the transfer case of course. Easy button here was to disassemble the center console (found $4.38 in coins in there) and then drill the rivets that hold the tunnel cover on. And then install rivnuts in the tunnel cover for the re-install.

The center console was in sad shape. The storage area was cracked and also pulling away from the main console. Epoxy and a couple of interior screws put that back in good shape and looking nice. The ears that the window switches mount to are just plain gone, so I had to fabricate a new plate to fit that area. I am sure the next owner (if there is one) will appreciate my bubba work there.

The passenger A-Piller trim is broken. I have an idea for that, but it is still not installed. The cowl was cracked in the middle. I have rebuilt it bubba style with fiberglass and abs cement. It's not quite right and I am not sure I can live with it, but I am gonna try.

The seats in the middle row (I have an SE7) were not in great shape, but the local pick-n-pull had one with great seats, but busted seat belt re-tractors. I made a new set of road worthy, nicely upholstered seats out of the two sets.

One of the rear seats was stuck down. The cables for the release mechanism had issues. I had was able to fix the cable and now it works correctly.

The gauge cluster surround was holding on by cracked plastic and a prayer, so that came out and got plastic welded, sanded down and then I coated it with herculiner to both hide my repairs and add a bit of strength. Looks good now.

The air box is broken. The MAF housing is held to it with zip ties, so I have to address that still. One of the headlights was "loose" and on investigation four of the size headlight adjuster/retainers were broken in some way. Luckily they are cheap.

The output flange on the exhaust resonator is gone, and the resonator is just bubba-welded to some pipe, meaning at some point I will have to sawzall that all out and fix the exhaust correctly.

Drip rail trim is in sad shape. I have removed most of it and may well just live without it. The bumper cover is trashed. Looked fine but touch it and it was clearly not. That is fine as I plan to install a winch bumper anyway.

Rear step is interesting to say the least.

Literally everywhere I look there is something that is cracked, broken, borked or not quite right. If you started with something like mine, one of three things will happen:

One: In a year or two you will have a nice disco that cost you about $5k all in and you know inside-out. Mechanical know-how will be in the bag. And you will have scars, both physical and emotional!

Two: In a year or two you will get tired of looking at it and sell it. Hopefully you will get back what you are into it. DO NOT fall into the trap of buying parts cause you are "gonna" work on it. Buy parts as you need them. Repair what you can.

Three: Your kids will haul it away when you die.

Most end up at number two, along with a big pile of costly upgrade parts that they never put on the car. It's fun to watch, from your cozy chair, guys on youtube build these cool rigs in the space of four, or even twelve, 20 minute videos. Less fun when you are laying on your back in a puddle of water trying to figure out how in the #$(@#*$ to get that last nut on the exhaust manifold stud that is in hidden in a black hole between the firewall, fender liner and exhaust down pipe.

Only you can say how much adventure you want.