Ive bought this disco today !! your thoughts please

disco2shaun said:

if you can see rust at bottom of the A and B posts just before the plastic trim, then a good chance there fooked pal

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thanks mate,and for that link ive had a look !
where is that a and b bit ??? can you point out excactly what im looking for and il check tomorrow

but if it passes an mot...its gootta be ok to an extent hasnt it ?

say in a years time the cills needed replacing...how much would that cost the average person to get done ??? (im not saying id want one that needed that doing mind) but to get an idea , and rear floor replacement also for a rough idea ???

really praying someone can come check it over with me tomorrow, would save the day really, id love for it to be looked at and me being told its a goodun buy it

ant you with the AA or RAC dont they do a vehicle inspection you would have to pay for it mind

look for pics of rust areas on discos...its your best bet if no one is close to have a look....
they all look very good, but under the carpet is a whole different story as the sound proofing foam holds the water for months and rusts through..

to check the sills get underneath....

here's some pics of my old disco where rust can do serious damage, some areas had been patched on this pics



drivers side


front wheel arch


rear cross member, looking from rear wheel to the back..


same but on the other side


front inner arch repaired


front floor repaired

nice one mate

thing is...i cant start taking all the carpet up etc , can i ???

i looked right underneath...and itr wasnt all flakey or rusty anywhere on the chassis, tiny bit of surface here n there, but no holes or anything bad, bearing in mind id had a look half hour before under that jap import one,and was under a crappy bighorn yesterday, this looked good to me , and nice underneath

thing is...for under 2k range...any of em are not gonna be 100% mint in every way are they,so its weighing up pros vs cons of each one and trying to find the best all rounder

polsta said:

this is a winter comfort thing for me, for ice and snow, bit of a weekend toy aswell...so mod cons and comfort are on the tick list ,thats why im buying it, not for an off road or real work horse where i need no mod cons and an a to b 4x4

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Too be Honest. You don't want a Landrover. you want a vitara or an Honda CRV or even an XTr**L or any slitty 4x4 really.

Owning a landrover requires either a very good mechanical know how, A mechanically minded best friend or a big bank balance. & as you don't seem to have any of those things. I Don't think you'll cope with owning a landy.

polsta said:

nice one mate

thing is...i cant start taking all the carpet up etc , can i ???

i looked right underneath...and itr wasnt all flakey or rusty anywhere on the chassis, tiny bit of surface here n there, but no holes or anything bad, bearing in mind id had a look half hour before under that jap import one,and was under a crappy bighorn yesterday, this looked good to me , and nice underneath

thing is...for under 2k range...any of em are not gonna be 100% mint in every way are they,so its weighing up pros vs cons of each one and trying to find the best all rounder

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Chassis rarely rot if you looked at the pics in the link I posted. the only chassis rot was invisible until the body shell was removed.

I'm getting the impression that you're trying to talk yourself into buying the motor in question which is fine. But FFS don't be coming on here in a month or so and whining about the body mounts been rotten or the boot floor needing replacing.

redhand is right...
owning a landrover is a load of trouble! lol

if you are going to part with 2k you should be allowed to lift the carpets, just take a philips screwdriver to undo the bolts that hold the plastic trim down and lift it... it only takes 1min...

every landy ive baught ive always made sure ive got a few hundred quid in bank for repairs. ive spent **** lods on mine recentley but all seems good at the minute. When there good there excellent and when there **** theres still good

if the owner/dealer refuses to let you lift the carpet then walk away, also regarding m.o.t if he owns a garage that is a testing station none of his cars will have had a m.o.t by vosa's standard. and if u do buy it make sure that arch is replaced not just filled with gobbo and filler. £1900 is a lot of money, if u find bits wrong with it knock the price down a few hundred to pay for any work that needs doing, i admit it looks nice but id never sell a landy with a fooked arch, i bet theres other gremlins under sill covers and carpets

well im definatly going to check the rear floor no question !!

im not trying to tlak myself in to buying it, im just saying it how it is..yes id like to think its a good worthy purchase and a nice disco for the money, hence this thread is for me to soak up advice from you lot who all know what your on about as ive not a fooking clue ,and go back tomorrow armed with all the knowlege and look it right over, i absoloutly at all costs do not want to buy a lemon or regret this purchase if i complete it

what im trying to establish the difference in...is a 1997 wont have 100% no rust will it ?? so whats acceptable/not too much to worry about,and whats walk away material ?

coz if the shell,interior,engine,chassis, etc is all good..then what sort of rust is deemed as worth it and not too much ?

ie this ones mechanicly sound and drives smooth and lovely, engibe looks nice, the service history etc , so if i bought say that jap one..it needs alloys, roof and bonnet sorting, interior sorting, no service history, or another with little history but no rust...then i might have engine trouble etc and a mechanical nightmare ?

i know though my e30 bmw rust issues on them are common..yet can be sorted , but too rusty is to be avoided...so its deeming whats acceptable or not, and what can easily be sorted and not etc

im a bit stuck here on what to do ???????

well im definatly going to check the rear floor no question !!

im not trying to tlak myself in to buying it, im just saying it how it is..yes id like to think its a good worthy purchase and a nice disco for the money, hence this thread is for me to soak up advice from you lot who all know what your on about as ive not a fooking clue ,and go back tomorrow armed with all the knowlege and look it right over, i absoloutly at all costs do not want to buy a lemon or regret this purchase if i complete it

what im trying to establish the difference in...is a 1997 wont have 100% no rust will it ?? so whats acceptable/not too much to worry about,and whats walk away material ?

coz if the shell,interior,engine,chassis, etc is all good..then what sort of rust is deemed as worth it and not too much ?

ie this ones mechanicly sound and drives smooth and lovely, engibe looks nice, the service history etc , so if i bought say that jap one..it needs alloys, roof and bonnet sorting, interior sorting, no service history, or another with little history but no rust...then i might have engine trouble etc and a mechanical nightmare ?

i know though my e30 bmw rust issues on them are common..yet can be sorted , but too rusty is to be avoided...so its deeming whats acceptable or not, and what can easily be sorted and not etc

and reading this arch is a common issue on these, yet hes sorting it out for me and it will be done ??

im a bit stuck here on what to do ???????

disco2shaun said:

if the owner/dealer refuses to let you lift the carpet then walk away, also regarding m.o.t if he owns a garage that is a testing station none of his cars will have had a m.o.t by vosa's standard. and if u do buy it make sure that arch is replaced not just filled with gobbo and filler. £1900 is a lot of money, if u find bits wrong with it knock the price down a few hundred to pay for any work that needs doing, i admit it looks nice but id never sell a landy with a fooked arch, i bet theres other gremlins under sill covers and carpets

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to be fair ....its a local garage, and had came in the weekend, i went monday and said i want a look at the disco parked there, and was told well its only just came in ,its not been readied for sale yet, needs an arch doing etc and was pointed it all out , its not like one thats been sat there ages waiting to be sold


i know 1900 is alot of money,its a lot to me and i absoloutly cant afford to waste it/buy a dud ,and im really getting the jitters now, but im also glad ive nt posted this after paying 1900 and driving it home, il get my 100 deposit back should i not like the look of the floor etc and/or that arch hasnt been done properlly..i know what im looking for there ive had welding done before on my other cars,i know buying 90s cars you get rust,sadly, but what can i do ? ive not got 3-5k for one and its justa bit of a toy really and for winter use

surface rust is ok but rots a no no for me. but if you know a welder and can get the price down to a reasonable price then go for it. i can see on pictures below the rotten arch that there is some rust around the black plastic cover. Thats your sill and i bet if you remove it there will be some welding waiting to be done

If you can get it down to 1500 with the work done (cos there will be more rust) then you've got 400 in your bank for future repairs.

Otherwise walk away..tbh it looks a bit of a turd with a cherry on top.

just paid 1560 for one.. 97 300tdi..
for mot i did 2 days welding (both sills) new drag link, adjusted handbreak.
since then ive fitted complete interior, new sunroof, had headlining out twice (hate that job).. bought a load cover, wind deflectors. gave up on reversing lights (not an mot fail)..
as sed before... there's always somethin...
i knew nothing when i bought mine.. but i'm learnin fast..
and poly bushed anti roll bars..

make a list of things to be done and ask your mate how much he'll charge to sort it. once its fixed its fixed. maintain it and look after it and it'll look after you. Also if you buy it also buy a haynes manual for it and start doing bits yourself. landys can be demanding at times and every1 ive had ive spent first few weeks/months doing jobs. there easy enough to work on.

polsta said:

to be fair ....its a local garage, and had came in the weekend, i went monday and said i want a look at the disco parked there, and was told well its only just came in ,its not been readied for sale yet, needs an arch doing etc and was pointed it all out , its not like one thats been sat there ages waiting to be sold


i know 1900 is alot of money,its a lot to me and i absoloutly cant afford to waste it/buy a dud ,and im really getting the jitters now, but im also glad ive nt posted this after paying 1900 and driving it home, il get my 100 deposit back should i not like the look of the floor etc and/or that arch hasnt been done properlly..i know what im looking for there ive had welding done before on my other cars,i know buying 90s cars you get rust,sadly, but what can i do ? ive not got 3-5k for one and its justa bit of a toy really and for winter use

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Just scrapped RobinT's R reg 300TDI disco cos the body had that much rot it weren't worth repairing.

nick2303 said:

just paid 1560 for one.. 97 300tdi..
for mot i did 2 days welding (both sills) new drag link, adjusted handbreak.
since then ive fitted complete interior, new sunroof, had headlining out twice (hate that job).. bought a load cover, wind deflectors. gave up on reversing lights (not an mot fail)..
as sed before... there's always somethin...
i knew nothing when i bought mine.. but i'm learnin fast..

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disco2shaun said:

make a list of things to be done and ask your mate how much he'll charge to sort it. once its fixed its fixed. maintain it and look after it and it'll look after you. Also if you buy it also buy a haynes manual for it and start doing bits yourself. landys can be demanding at times and every1 ive had ive spent first few weeks/months doing jobs. there easy enough to work on.

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same with my bmw mate...im a big forum user and join in, read,ask,learn...and do as much as possible myself , i work in eve so have afternoons to do stuff , dont mind tinkering n performing all servicing myself etc


really...theres jsut that arch bit,and cruise control he said wasnt working but where its only just came in, theyve not had a chance to get it in there yet, he said is simple/doable the cruise control will be fixed , if not il be told whats wrong with it , and that arch will be done

in ref to the 1st quote...

there is always something, and exterior,interior on this were all very nice, wheels and engine all looked and sounded and worked spot on, its just this rust thing, and it definatly didnt look like "rust bucket" to me, and ive dealt with rust issues before on my other cars etc, and i wasnt expecting it to be 100% perfect being 13 years old, its just weighing up the pros and cons isnt it

so ...sayijng at worst next mot in a year the cills needed doing, how much would they cost to get done roughly ??? jst for an idea , i dont like the thought of that mind

around 100quid a side i think

where are yu based, Polsta - change yo user CP