Land Rover Discovery (off topic)

Looking for an all wheel drive SUV for the up coming ski season. Am I out of my mind in looking at an early LR Disco? Looks like prices are around 4k for a 94 or 95 model year with around 100k miles. I am not looking to put huge amounts of miles on it. Are these thinks as unreliable as I hear? Am I going to be paying a ton to keep this thing on the road? There has got to be a good reason they are soooo cheap. Anyone ever own one have any experience with one?

Hmmm...from what I know the disco was not the most reliable car....I have had 2 Range Rovers that never left me stranded, my first was a 95 4.0 SE, my current one a 2003 HSE 4.4. The disco is not nearly as advanced, or refined as the RR...If you can move your price up, you can get a very clean 95 or so Range Rover...Those are very nice...i actually miss my 95 and have always thought I might pick one up just to run around in because they are pretty cheap.

HAd an early 90s Range Rover that was beaten up but never let me down. Now have an '05 RR that only let me down once. In between had a 99 Disco that was a total lemon. I'm amaze that I ended up buying another Rover product after the disco. Even the mechanics at the dealer told me that they weren't the most relying thing on the road.

Ive worked on rovers, when their good their great but man they break alot and they are big $$$$ to fix, job security is as a land rover tech

Don't do it. You'll spend more than $4k in repiars. I have three friends that had disco/range rovers, most unreliable cars and cost big $$$ to fix. They are selling for $4k for a reason.

I drive a 2000 Disco II, put on about 79,000 miles on it and is my beater surf mobile. It gets horrible gas mileage--requires premium, it takes forever to stop, it's slow as hell BUT I never had any major issues...no leaks, no electrical problems, no nothing and after driving this thing and getting into my 911 well you appreciate the Porsche so much more. I think if you get a good one your ok but there are some lemons out there...especially pre-1999, when BMW purchased them they switched over a lot of electrial and engine mangement systems to a more reliable unit.

Later is better - depends on budget of course. Suggest you check out the Discovery version of this forum DISCOWEB You'll get some excellent input from the forum there, from actual owners, rather than Porsche people who've heard this and that .... Personally - I have an 02 D2 which I use for offroading in AZ, and it's great! I don't use it as a daily driver, so like you I don't intend to put many miles on it a year. The 4x4 capabilities are as billed - go anywhere. DIY lube maintenance is easy enough to do - and essential for long term vehicle health - LR are like watercooled Porsches, they have oil drip issues Check out DISCOWEB, and I'm sure you'll be able to decide what you want to do. Chris.

I leased a 1999 - never again - luckily the vehicle was under warranty, as it was in the shop all the time. Plus, you have to replace the front brake pads every 10,000 miles. I now have a 2003 Chevy Tahe Z71 for these types of trips. It doesn't look as sexy as a LR, but I love it and it has given me zero problems. You can pick one of these up for half the original MSRP, if not less.

Check out rangerovers.net - nowhere near the traffic as this site, but some good info in the archives. I too have a 2003 HSE and we LOVE IT. It has been in the shop once, but it is under warranty so I don't really care as long as they give me a rental car for the day. I have read a lot about the disco because their owners are like a cult. Kinda like the 996's I guess. If I had $4K to spend, I don't know what I would buy. A guy who works for me just bought a 96 Blazer for $4K. It is a great truck, full size, large interior, etc. But, it is still a Cheeevy.

Don't do it, they recently won yet again as the least reliable brand sold in the US in the JD Powers long term reliability study, In short, they are the "Lexus of Un-reliability"!!

I have an 03 SE7 that I purchased about 2 years ago with 25,000 miles. It now has 55,000 and it has not given me any problems knock on wood. My parents just sold a 95 with over 300,000 miles on it. They had some head gasket, tranny, electrical and water pump issues over a 10 year run. They beat the crap out of it though.

It's British.....nuff said.

Oh please! So is 70% of F1, Cart, etc etc all developed and built in Britain, including many 'American' single seaters, plus Ferrari, Honda, Toyota, BMW, etc etc, not to mention the Prodrive Subarus for WRX. You'd do well to lay off your jingoistic statements, and get an informed perspective rather than one that could be mistaken for being ignorance. Chris.

If cost of ownership and reliability is an issue and you are looking for something cheap go with a similar year Chevy Tahoe. They are easy and cheap to fix and reliable. Also they are way more powerful then a Disco. Unless your a snob who can't be seen in a Chevy its the smarter buy.

I bought mine cause I am a snob.

I would start with a '99 Disco II (WITHOUT the air suspension-that's the big weakness, as the pumps burn out and the corresponding 18" ghetto tires are EXPENSIVE), but the '97-'98 Disco I's are relatively safe (but don't ride as nicely as the Disco II's). I've had both, wih no real problems (except that air pump, which was a warranty item). I bought a '96 Range Rover with 120K miles (now has 146K), and it is uonstoppable. The perfect winter beater and hauler. Full frame, and heavy duty. Creature comforts or not, these are TRUCKS baby! Car and Driver wrote an article about SUV's a few years back, where they awarded the cushy Acura, BMW, and Lexus "car-vans" top honors in an off-road test, but admitted that they trusted only the LR to lay out the course, AND go in and pull out a truck that got stuck. http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...smackdown.html The downside is the bad gas mileage (expected), and premium gas (I run mine on mid-grade with no issues). If you can put up with the quirkiness (that's why I think they fit hand and glove with Porsches), they're a great truck, especially as a beater. Battling Ohio winter in them is a no brainer, and I'm always the base camp vehicle for whitewater rafting. Hauls camp crap and gear for four people over a long distance in comfort.

I've had 3 full size Mitsu Montero's 80's, 90's and now an 03. These trucks are bullet proof. Both trucks went 200k-300k miles plus and are still being driven today by the people I've sold them too. The all wheal drive is unstoppable and there great on gas. There is a reason why Mitsu has won so many Dakar rally's. But if you need to have the "rich" look than buy the rover.

I'm selling mine on ebay it been good to me I've ouned 3 different one's they are good cars. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMESE%3AIT

I'd recommend looking at 93-97 Toyota Landcruisers. They are a tank in the snow, and are extremely reliable. I've had both the Landcruisers and Discos (Series I and II) - and the Landcruisers are much more reliable (plus the parts to fix them are cheap!!!) and look way cooler than a Disco!!!!

I've driven a '00 Disco II for a few years. I think as long as you buy one built while BWM owned the company (Bosch electrics and engine management), a lot of the legends about unreliability are irrelevant. pchak's advice about avoiding SLS and ACE is excellent. Going with the 16" tires is especially good advice if you think you'll offroad it. If you find one with a clean, complete service history, you're fine. If it was a problem truck, it would have revealed itself as such by now. The worst thing you can say about them is that they leak. But so what? Even my dealer doesn't recommend fixing every one of them. It's just how they are, and not an issue unless you're fussy about your driveway. What you get is a truck with a real personality, if that matters to you. And it really will go through anything. It's astounding. I wouldn't write it off without driving one; you might be very pleasantly surprised. Resale values are in the toilet because people are afraid of them, but mine has been much more trouble free than the brand new Ford I traded for it. They're pretty fun.

I had a 94 Defender 90, and 96 RR. Both of them had some serious issues, D90 needed new tranny at 26K to the tune of $4200.00 Thank god for extended warranties! The RR, the entire rear end electrically, failed... no blown fuses, nothing...just stopped working... traded it in for an X5. Loved both of the trucks, just not reliable. I test drove the RR sport the other day, it was SWEET! BUT, reading the reviews from JD power and Edmunds, I wouldn't touch it... I was hoping ford would help them clean up their act...didn't happen. Buy a used 4runner and be done with it! Mike

That's what I would do as well, the old land Cruisers are EXCELLENT off road trucks that are both luxurious AND reliable. You can get a nice one for 10-12k easy at the moment, since they are get horrid gas mileage.

Just dug out this picture - I wouldn't want to be making a water crossing like this in anything other than my LR - do you think the other trucks mentioned could handle this? Chris.

Word.

HOLY CRAP! What a picture. Yeah, Land Rovers may not be for everyone, but I can't complain (again, except for gas mileage). None of mine (my Rangie, my wife's FL, and a prev disco and DII) never even leaked oil. We dropped off my wife's for a stupid recall (extra padding in the A pillar for collisions) and 24K service. It's otherwise only been to the dealer once for a broken radio antenna. There was a new RR sport in the showroom. Looks meaner than all get out, but hardly a truck, IMO.