Hello everybody! I am looking to buy aDiscovery. I will take it to the dealer if it passes my inspection, but being new to the Land Rovers, I'm not sure what things to look for. I work as the parts manager at a Mitsubishi dealer and I am mechanically inclined.WhatI'm looking for from ownersis what things to look foron the Disco that could potentially be expensive for me to repair. Every vehicle has it's "things". what are the ones on a Disco?

 

If it doesn't have any warning lights lit up on the dash, I would say you are off to a good start. I would say for starters, check the condition of the coolant. If the reservior looks clean and the fluid is topped off. If it'svery low it may have a coolant leak or if its dirty it probablyhasnever been changed. Disco's likeclean coolant.Look for coolant leaks like head gaskets or obvious signs that coolant has mixed with the oil. They seem to develop coolant leaks and overheat.

 

There are some good pages out there on what to watch for on a Land Rover. Big things include leaking hubs ($400 each to replace) coolant leaks are common, I'd do a compression test as well as a spark strength test, alternator health test, a hot start test, also look into the oil filler pipe with a flashlight at the rockers and metal surfaces, the darker they are the worse condition the engine will be in generally. www.v8engines.com has a page on judging the health of rover engines. I'd have them change all the fluids with you present so you can see the condition of what comes out before you sign, even if it's not due. Look for coolant in oil, sludge in differentials, and the other obvious things like large chunks of metal on the plug magnets. Test everything electrical in the vehicle, check every fuse to make sure none of them have been removed or uprated or blown. If someone is running a 30A fuse in a 5A slot there's a good chance there's an underlying reason, though it could just be they forgot to swap in the right one when they bought more... you never know, but do look closely and carefully.