I am looking to pickup a third vehicle for weekend 4WD play and for driving in the winter in lieu of my RWD car. I want to spend south of $4K so I am pretty much looking at the Range Rover MkII's and Discovery 2's, or perhaps a Discovery 1. In terms of what I would prefer (cost not a factor) the RR is speaking to me more. I have looked at the buyers guides but wanted to fill in a small gap in my assumptions.

I do not see a lot of used RR's in my local area (St. Louis) and I can surmise that parts availability and cost of replacement parts are going to be higher with the RR over the Discovery.

I certainly don't mind buying parts over the internet but there is something to be said about running down to Autozone/Oriley/etc to pick up some parts. Of course local junk yards are a possibility as well, but that stock locally may be limited as well.

• For the years I am looking for, are RR parts going to be substantially more difficult to locate?
• Are RR parts going to be equally priced? 20% more? 40% more?

Thanks in advance.


Mike

 

Not a lot of spread. Check prices for on line sources like Rovers North, Atlantic British, BP Utah, AutohauaAZ, even Rock Auto. Don't make trips to the dealer. Free shop manuals for many models below. Local boneyards vary, and some guys, like Paul Grant who posts on this forum, make a business of parting out Rovers. Paul has processed maybe 500 of them, sells the decent parts and recycles the rest.

 

Not wishing to burst your bubble, but, a 4x4 only accelerates better than a RWD car in ice and snow, IMO, they don't corner any better or stop any better, in fact, stopping is probably slower due to the extra weight. A good RWD or FrWD with TC is a good bet in the winter but having said that there is nothing better, psychologically in my mind, than having a big 4x4 with lots of chassis and metal encased around you. If you do wish to go down the 4x4 route, there is little to choose between an RR and a D2 particularly apart from the RR is slightly more comfortable and may have additional 'toys' on board. If you need an offroad, if it were me, I would go for the D2 although, once again, the RR is very capable. It also depends whether you want to mod them for offroad whereas the D2 probably has more equipment available for modding. As for spares availability in the US I cannot really comment and similar on the prices of spares, but in europe RR spares command an additional premium although many parts are exactly the same as the D2. You are probably better placed to research this in the US than I am. Whatever you choose I hope you enjoy it.

 

Thanks for the replies. I did not provide a full background, but I used to own (and heavily offroard) a Jeep CJ5 and my current daily driver is a BMW 550. As far as commuting, the Rover would be pretty much limited to really crappy winter weather or if one of the other vehicles is out of commission save the occasional change-up for the hell of it. While the traction control on the daily driver is pretty good, the car is not ideal for my 40 minute commute when there is snow on the ground both due to traction as well as the very low ground clearance.

When I generically refereed to '4Wd playing' I was indeed referring to spending time offroad on the weekend on 4WD trails. The point about more offload parts availability for the D2 is exactly what I suspected and exactly what I wanted to learn a little more about, as I do see making adjustments to suit my needs. All things being equal, if I could better outfit the D2 over the RR as far as availability and price, then that definitely sways me more toward the Discovery.

 

Right. And one thing to consider is that while both the P38 Range Rover and the Discovery 2 are somewhat unreliable, the Range Rover has twice the amount of computers/gadgets/electronics on board which means more things to go wrong and more hassles. Computer/electronic parts are probably the most expensive replacement parts on these vehicles, more so than say mechanical parts or cosmetic parts. Also if your considering water crossing with a Range Rover, might want to think about how you might water proof the electrical workings on it.

The Disco has less electronics on board and is more user friendly in my opinion. Like they mentioned above, there are more off-road parts available for the Disco than the Range Rover. Disco has more cargo space and if you get the SE7 or HSE7 then you have a 7 seater whereas the RR has less cargo space and only 5 seater. Alot of the panels in the D2 are cheaper quality compared to the RR so you will pay less to replace them. If I were you Id go with the D2, simple as that.

 

Exactly what I needed to hear I think. I know and recognize all the benefits of OBDII, but there is something to be said for pre-1996 simplicity. Fewer electronics on this third vehicle / weekend toy is a colossal benefit in my opinion as is the availability of offload parts.

Now if I could only get Craigslist people to respond to my text/emails/phone calls. It's amazing how few responses I get despite having cash in-hand. One is even a dealer and doesn't care enough to get back. Amazing.

 

I know how you feel, believe me. One of the problems with craigslist is that there is so many spammer/scammers on there and every time you make a new post you are almost 100% guaranteed to get at least one BOGUS email from some dumbass pretending to be an interested buyer. Honest people get overwhelmed with so many bogus emails that they canot decipher legit from bull****. Another issue is that sometimes the email YOU sent to the seller will go directly to his/her junk folder and well thats probably it for you. Dont give up. I search craigslist for a couple years before I found my 04 D2. Looked all over the country and even in Canada. In the end a seller 3 hours north in the same state had one for sale for half its value, and she even let me make payments on it! I was lucky, but I kept searching. Hell I purchased my last 3 cars on craigslist! Also sold several items there as well. The site does have potential.