Hello All,

I have been wanting to purchase a Land Rover for years, and am in a position to buy an older one for use as a daily driver. In looking online I see many of the Discovery models available in my price range, and am curious what to look for. Are there years that were better than others? I have noticed from poking around online that the Discovery around 2003 may have oil pump issues, so is that a year to stay away from? I really like the look of the Discovery from that era, but also want to be cautious. I hope to purchase this in the next few months, and it will be driven maybe 150 miles a week. No plans for off-road use (but of course that may change). Thank you in advance for the help.

 

1970 0r 80's or brand new all others suck oh and they are only good for 100k miles don't even think about one with over that.

 

This post and your last in another thread regarding a potential buyer are obviously totally biased and contain ZERO useful information in response to the OPs actual questions and concerns. Just thought I'd state the obvious for a second..

Oh and FWIW I've got 171 on my '99 and she runs perfect, air suspension and all. Do I spend some time and money keeping it that way? Of course I do.. but guess what, so do most people with a 15 year old vehicle (which, I might add, isn't capable of half the stuff my disco is).

Anyways as far as the original question - at this point the vehicle is over a decade old... if it had an oil pump problem the engine would usually be toast very early on, but that's no guarantee. Plus I've run into a couple people that had basic machining knowledge that just remachined or otherwise re-aligned the oil pump.

With that in mind, forget the 2003 thing... even the best years of the Discovery had more problems than a more "conventional" SUV would have.. just browse around on the forums for a little while and look through some of the problems. But also keep in mind that people only post in the forums when there IS a problem, which says nothing of the tens of thousands of Discos that are running perfectly right this second.

This is in the bottom of the DII sticky by the way.

Buying a Rover
DI & DII Side by Side Comparison
What to look for when buying a Land Rover Discovery
Buying a 2003 DII

 

So could you link me to a 70s or 80's Discovery, I'd love to see what it looked like back then.

Perhaps it would be better to refrain from commenting if you don't know or have nothing useful to add to the discussion.

I have a RRC with 240k miles on it going strong, my 110 made it to 165k before it needed new heads, another RRC I owned was still going strong at 157k but rust got it and last my Discovery II has 146k and runs perfect.



Rust rust and more rust, check everywhere for rust underneath, look under the carpets in the load space and frame. Service records are great to see but unlikely with the age and amount of owners a Disco will have had at this point. Other than that check all the normal things you would with any used vehicle. If you are not comfortable with this have a pre purchase inspection done by a shop that knows land rovers.

 

love these old ones

Land Rover for Sale | Hemmings Motor News

 

Ok I see old series rovers and 90/110 but no discovery from the 70's

 

then you should learn not to assume a meant a discovery I meant land rover any land rover old ones are good new ones are good all others "discovery's" suck, the tdi is good this is my OP ok? the poster is looking for opinion's or should you have him talk to a used car salesmen?

 

He was asking about Discovery's not series trucks and old 90/110

 

(Ding ding, insert Used Car Salesman here)

LOL, couldn't resist. I bought my 04, due to the passion I've had for one since I saw my first in Niagara Grey in 1999 as a new unit.

I guess as far as DII's go, I have the "best of the best".. on that same note, as far as dI's go, I would vager a 98, or early 99 would be the best of the best.. seemingly the best one with the least amount of bugs is the year they kill the model run.

Happy Hunting. Other than Loathing the mpg, I'm ecstatic with mine... Hell, I've even named each one of the three Amigo's....

 

I feel like the motors and driveline in 99 were perhaps the best.. of course you've got all the rumors / myths that the machining for the motors was pretty much shot by late production runs and that tolerances weren't so hot by then. It's probably partially true, especially if they were converting the plants to new engines and knew production would stop.

Of course other stupid smaller stuff will be way worse on first year vehicles - you hardly ever hear about sunroof issues in 03-04 but early models are famous for it.