Hey fellow LR fans. I've been thinking about some of the past opportunities I've had to buy or keep vehicles and wanted to start a thread to share some opportunities that leave me wondering, what if?

Regret #1: I had a rusty 96' 5 speed D1. Rust in all the usual places, but no rust on the frame. All of it was repairable. I was young and dumb. I plaits-dipped the wheels black and somehow got a DII brush guard to fit on it. I ended up selling it for a couple of grand (had zero mechanical issues - 95k miles.) after I did OME shocks and new shock towers, as well as some preventative maintenance. Why did I sell it? Bad move...

Regret #2: Three years ago I was running a pro racing team full time. We ran out of funding and I started going a different direction and decided to sell my truck and trailer. My daily driver was a beautiful 83' Porsche 944 that I bought for $3500. The perfect stable mate for a Disco, similar in many ways. Temperamental if not maintained, but simple and cheap to own if you do your research.

Before I had a buyer for my truck (Dodge 3500 dually) a Disco 1 was up for sale locally. I knew the seller, as he always had a stable of British cars and had a tendency of restoring them back to their glory. He daily drove old Jags and also drove this D1 quite a bit. It was a 5 speed, white, no sun roof car from out west that had been properly done up with a 300 TDI swap. Zero rust, perfect body, everything worked perfectly. I was so enamored that even though I couldn't afford to buy it before selling my truck I went and drove it around for the better part of 45 minutes. It was an AWESOME vehicle. That would have been one to keep for eternity but I just couldn't swing it at the time. When you hear people complain about how slow and powerless those little diesels are they mean it. Absolutely gutless. You're at 70% throttle just to keep pace with traffic in most cases. The durability, MPG's, diesel rattle, uniqueness, and everything about it would make it worth it. I know folks upgrade injectors and run more boost etc which of course decreases engine life, but it might be worth it...

I hate that I sold my 5 speed D1, and I hate that I couldn't buy the 300 TDI D1. Those are my two big LR regrets. Since then I've ended up owning some cool stuff. Bought a Porsche 944 Turbo S after I sold my 83' that was a blast to own. After selling my 5 speed D1 I bought an 05' BMW M3 (E46 chassis, 6 speed manual, silver with black interior) with 30k miles on it. Pristine car. I put 20k miles on it and sold it to my younger brother who still has it. Great car, yet another European car that you have to stay on top of. Not as easy or as affordable to work on as a Disco though...

I've always loved off roading and after owning a four door wrangler and a Disco I'll never go back to an American off roader. My 15 year old D1 (at the time) was more comfortable and better in every way than my silly V6 wrangler - which had major reliability issues.

What are your regrets? Or, what do you wish you would have known or done before buying your current LR?

 

I have 3 regrets regarding previous LR's I owned.

#1 97 Range Rover HSE Vitesse in AA Yellow which I got in nearly mint condition in 2002. I got it for a steal as I had just totaled my 97 D1 in an awful accident (I walked away without a scratch). I had it 4 years and it NEVER had any issues. I sold it because my G/F at the time didn't like it being yellow..... I then had to see it daily for 2 years after that on my way to work everyday... I should have never sold it especially since the G/F didn't last much longer after I sold it lol.

#2 94 RRC SWB I had always wanted a RRC and I found this hole in the wall dealership with a 94 RRC. When I first looked at it must have been a work in process as each time I stopped by more and more little things were fixed on it. Like front fog lights, interior wood trim on the doors, stock radio, and small stuff like that. I finally had enough and asked how much they wanted for it. They were wanting 6.5k back in like 2005. I said ok let me test drive it. I got the keys, the AC blowers were out, it wouldn't shift into 4Lo, and the original style tires were cracked all to hell. I got em down to 4k and I drove it home. It had a brand new headliner, new mud flaps, and it ran excellent!! I fixed the 4Lo linkage in about 10min after getting home, and I found the fuse blown for the blower which never popped again lol. I didn't lift it as I was living in Houston at the time, but I did get 4 nice AT tires, and I got some new shocks for it. Every single electric thing worked on it and not a spot of rust to be seen. It was from Beverly Hills lol. I found the dealer info in one of the seat pockets. I had no intent on selling it, but a friend of mine bugged me about it for years and when I fell upon hard times he bought it for 3.5k. I had owned it 3 years without a single problem! He gets his hands on it, and he blew up the front drive shaft because he never lubed it, and when it was acting up he just drove it faster... He was extremely lucky it fell vs taking out his transmission.... He then said the OEM radio sucked, and that after 2 months the battery would go down. He owned it for nearly 4 years and it never had any mechanical issues while he owned it. I had changed companies so I lost touch for a year, and then he started to work at my company and I found out he had just sold it for 5.5k no questions asked like 1 week earlier!!!! I told him he should have called me!!! I would have bought it back no question about it! He said it was the most unreliable vehicle he ever owned and he would NEVER own another LR again. I asked him oh really?? What did it give you problems with??? He said oh the drive shaft, the radio, and the battery always going flat after a month. I wanted to tell him ummmm dude that's NOTHING...... but I didn't want to take away his man card. I should have NEVER sold it, and I learned after that never sell a vehicle to a friend or family member.

#3 98 Woodcote Green LSE 50th Anniversary D1 in showroom condition. I got it for 3K and the interior looked like no one had ever sat in it. The owner had a new RR and his Bently Continental GT and no longer needed the old to him LR. His nanny used it to do errands lol. It was completely dealer serviced and garage kept. I got it, lifted it, and got it setup how I wanted it. I replaced a few small mechanical parts upon first buying it, but besides that I never put a dime into it and it was extremely reliable. For some reason I had a craving for an 04 D2 so I sold it in less than a day for 5.5K. Once again a few months later I was like WTH was I thinking...... It had zero rust being a TX truck, and the paint was perfect. I told myself good luck ever finding another D1 like that again......

Then in 2019 I finally tracked down a near flawless interior/exterior/body/frame rust free 95 D1 near Austin, TX. However on the drive over to my buddies show I discovered the engine had a knock once it was fully warmed up. I had to tear into that engine and replace a nearly cracked in half piston with broken piston rings, new lifters, and HG job while it was apart. After that she's a great running D1 and I will NOT be letting this one go!!!!!!!!

My advice is if you get a good LR DO NOT LET IT GO! You will regret it later I promise. I've owned nearly 23 LR's and here are my favorites.

02 D2 Kalahari (still have it)
97 D1 XD (still have it)
98 D1 LSE 50th Anniversary (sold it)
97 RR HSE Vitesse (sold it)
94 RRC British Racing Green (sold it)
95 D1 (still have it)

 

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I got to thinking so I added em up last night and I was right 23 LR’s to my name so far and not a single one of them was POS.

Funny thing is I told my wife 23 LR’s to my name & my 8 year daughter overheard us talking and said daddy daddy daddy get mommy another LR as her new car is too low to to ground please!! LOL raising her properly if I don’t say so myself!

 

@Best4x4 man, you've had some awesome trucks. I had the same experience with my 96' D1. Never had any reliability issues whatsoever.

I'm confident if I bought that 300 TDI D1 it would have run forever. There's a beautiful 5 speed Disco for sale a few hours from me now. 110k miles, pristine inside and out, and seller just lowered the price to $9k. My wife said no...

My wife loves LR4's and wants to replace her Honda Accord with one. She can't tell the difference between and LR3 and LR4 so we might get an 07-09' LR3 with 100k miles on it and call it a day. We will see!

 

I have a feeling I will be holding on to my 04' for quite a while. I've already sunken a ton of time and effort (as well as cash of course!) into it, and it's still half the cost of any relatively new car. I want to hold on to it long enough to do afford a Turner long block and new galvanized rear chassis section.

I'm sure we all have opinions on this, but there is no doubt Disco's are going up in value. They are now old enough that people like me who grew up in the early 2000's and saw them everywhere can afford to have a second car and choose a Disco.

I owned two Porsche 944's and they had a similar value increase. Since they are 80's cars that value increase came in the early 2000's. I think Disco's will have a similar value inflation in the early 2020's because that is when the folks who have nostalgia for them will be able to afford a second fun car.

 

I just hope with 2 Hurricanes now bearing down on me that my babies survive!!!!! I've got flooding to worry about again and this time I've got no clue how the rain will do after they've been playing God with the creeks and bayou's around me by modifying them. Then on top of that I've got several large/tall trees to worry about landing on my shop (home of my LR's) and then the house. I'll do the best I can, and just keep my fingers crossed and pray. I'm prepared to perform the scene from The Gods Must be Crazy with 2 of my LR's since they have winches on them lol.

My wife was upset I didn't make room for her new 2020 Kia Forte GT in the shop/car port and I flat out told her that thing has full coverage from head to toe Gap Insurance, and everything else vs my LR's which she refused to put anything more than liability on..... She can park that car up on the highest place she can find and just go from there lol. I could replace that car with an identical model in just a few days vs trying to find an XD, mint 95 D1, and my Kalahari which would probably take years to track down.

Yes RRC/D1/D90/D2's are certainly picking up in $$$$ and they're also pretty rare to find in good condition especially with a lot of them going to the crusher lately at salvage yards. I drove 10hr over the weekend in my 99 D2 and I never saw or even passed another D1/D2. I passed plenty of shop/store front windows and my D2 looked sexy as hell. I love the styling of older LR's. They did an excellent job of capturing the classic lines/curves from earlier models and placing them onto the D1/D2. They look boxy upon first glance, but then you notice the curves and the newer LR's have nothing on the older ones IMHO.

I had a guy in a black G500 AMG speed up to catch me over the weekend and once he came up along side of me he slowed down looked over at me and gave me a thumbs up. He then went along his way. Little did he know I was having to baby the throttle on my 99 D2 to keep it from downshifting. I was in some pretty decent rolling hills, with a very strong headwind and my 99 D2 with it's rack, 4 9inch Aux Roof lights, lift, and ARB bumper is anything but aerodynamic lol. Once I got out of the headwind my 99 D2 was fine. I've thought about taking the 4 9inch LED lights off, but they do excellent out on the trail, and although I was having to baby the throttle to keep it from downshifting I was still going 70-75MPH vs back when I had Jeeps and 65MPH was all she'd do to the floor in 3rd gear....

I am really curious about looking into different gear ratio's for the F/R diff's. I have a spare set I could have built up, and quickly just slap em in. The 99 just runs out of grunt due to the larger tires, and lower RPM's. I'm doing about 2300-2500 RPM for 70-75MPH and usually for that speed the RPM's are higher say 2500-2800 (at least all my other LR's with stock tires are in that RPM range at 70-75MPH). The torque just isn't there at lower RPM's.

 

I regret selling almost every car I had

1- Subaru gc 2000 bought it in 2006 and sold it in 09. Try to find one today. Extremely hard here in Canada.

2- 1983 Porsche 911 targa. Bought it for 17 k sold it 2 years later for 22k kicking myself because now they go for 30-40 k here in Canada 🇨🇦

3- 98 jdm Subaru sti built the engine with a closed deck block beautiful car. Bring rhd insurance was starting to become a pain

4 - just sold my 03 disco mint condition. Bought it 3 years ago for 5500 sold it for 10500 but I put at least 5 k into it
I got a new job that doesn’t offer a company vehicle so I had to get a better car instead of the rover. I do already regret it but I had to make a smart choice in regards to gas mileage etc. Plus off-roading here kinda sucks. If it’s not the 3 hour drive to decent trails it’s the deer flies and mosquitos that kill you up here. Plus all trails close in November

I already have the LR itch again I’m thinking if get more financial stable I will try and pick up a old defender.
I can pick up another disco in the future as well there are always a few selling for 3-5 k Canadian around here.
And with the knowledge this forum has given me im sure I can fix one up nice minus any engine trouble

 

@redwhitekat I think I’m going to save up for a Turner or RPI engineering motor regardless of if my truck needs one or not. Once I can afford one I’ll just hold on to it until it’s time.

​​​@Best4x4’s point about the styling is the same way I feel. For some reason Birmingham, AL is a Land Rover haven. Within a mile of my office there are two Defender Restoration shops, two LR speciality shops, and one big LR retailer that sells everything from Santana’s, and RRC’s to brand new models.

There are two other people that daily D2’s that I pass on my two mile commute. One of them is my mechanic... haha!

The styling of D1/D2 is hard to beat. I think their value will continue to rise as RRC’s have. I plan on keeping mine for the long haul and dumping whatever I need to in it to keep it on the road because one day they’ll be impossible to find is decent condition.

Nice list of vehicles @redwhitekat. Sucks about the Targa, those are definitely worth some cash these days.

 

I also think as D1/D2's age that people are going to lean more towards an LS swap vs the OEM Rover engine. One reason is the blocks are no longer made, and top hat units aren't cheap. You can only refurbish something so many times before you eventually run out of cores and I haven't seen any companies making new blocks for a Rover V8. Not to mention you aren't gaining any HP from all that $$$$ you dump into that top hat engine. So you might as well use the Trailhead 4x4 type conversion on your D2, with a 4.8L V8 that is more powerful, parts galore, 87 octane fuel, better MPG, and it's very reliable while retaining all the OEM hardware and gauges. LS 4.8L's aren't that much $$$$, and if Trailhead gets a bigger demand they could release just a wiring harness, engine brackets, motor mounts, bell housing adapter kit for the DIY LR guy. Some people are jumping into 5.3 or 6.0 LS engines with their D2's but then you've got other driveline parts that will either die an early death or need to be upgraded. 4.8L puts out more than enough to make any 4.0/4.6L D2 owner happy especially if their D2 is modified for off road use and it's heavier than stock.

I've already made up my mind I DO NOT plan on ever owning a new vehicle myself. From higher insurance cost, monthly payments, and just no styling like the older vehicles. My Kalahari has 240K on her and if she survives this inbound Hurricane Laura, and say her little 4.0L gives out one day I'd rather dump 5-8K into an LS conversion, and eventually a bright new Borrego Yellow paint job. The body is totally rust free from head to toe, and the interior is nearly perfect minus an OEM headliner which is just now starting to get unglued from the backing in a few spots. I'd have a classic LR in mint condition with a 4.8L V8 and nothing to complain about!

I've anchored down as much stuff as possible at the Sands Rover Ranch for Hurricane Laura, and we'll see how my LR's pull thru this one!