After a somewhat long (albeit not particularly arduous) search, I'm officially a Land Rover owner! I looked at about 4-5 before settling on one - I was close to a really nice white 1990 Range Rover Classic but couldn't get the seller down to what I was willing to spend on it (ironically, after I bought my current one, he lowered the 1990 to less than what I offered him after his previous sale fell through...oh well). At any rate...

I'm now the third owner of a Charleston Green 1997 Discovery SE with 110,000 original miles. The original owner put a 2" Bilstein lift and full Safari rack on it (with Hella lights on the rack...that he never wired up...??) - other than that, it's stock. Second owner replaced the fuel pump. Other than regular fluid maintenance, nothing else has been done to it (at least that I can tell). First up will be an oil change, new plugs and wires, throttle body cleaning, and brake bleed. Then I'll look a little harder at what's next engine-/drivetrain-wise. The CLD is a little stiff, but I'm working it every day and it's loosening up quite well. Body is straight, if not a little dirty. The 245/75/16 Falkens are in good shape - which is a little disappointing as I'd rather something with a little more aggressive/AT-style tread. But the Mrs. says these have to wear down first, which is pretty hard to argue with.

The front passenger and rear driver side windows need some work. I popped both door panels off, and the front regulator arms are all mangled; doubt I can salvage that one. The rear just needs a new roller (OE plastic one split). Front sunroof doesn't work, but I haven't bothered with troubleshooting it yet (winter in Utah isn't particularly conducive to sunroofs anyways). Cruise control doesn't work, but I haven't looked at the vacuum tubing yet to see if anything's dry/cracked/split. And I'll have to wire up the rack lights. I want to pick up a brush guard and get some fog lights mounted...the road to/from our neighborhood can get really bad in the winter...I didn't realize how much I used them on my Jeep until I didn't have them anymore.

Other than that, the ride is really nice. Shifts smooth, drips [next to] nothing (following oil and transmission stop leak additive), and even the heated seats work (the leather is a little worn...but whatever). It'll probably make it's first Moab trip in April, and it's already been out and about in the snow here in the Wasatch. I have to say, I'm very, very pleased and glad to join you all in Land Rover-dom. For a guy that's had a Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, and most recently a Wrangler, I was hesitant to make the jump to LR - but I needed something a little bigger for the kids and dogs, and really happy thus far (we'll see if I'm still so optimistic when the head gaskets need to be done).

This forum is an excellent resource, and I suspect I'll be using it frequently! I'll try and get some photos up soon - it really is sharp with the racks!

 

I love my 97 D1 and hopefully you will like yours.