To buy or not?

Should I entertain buying a 1994 300TDi Disco 1 with 130,000 miles for under £900?

Decent mot?? then yes go for it

MOT, Tax any service history or pile of receipts for work done -

Do you know the owner ?

Do you know anyone who knows what they're looking at/for to give it 'the once over' for you ?

Test drive, if you know how it should 'feel' ...

Check rear floor and inner wings, open tail door look around shut for rust, check inner and under sills full length , these for me are for a car of this age places to look if took much rust walk away. I bought a 94 200tdi 3 years ago with 140,000 was solid a bargain. Take the car for drive see how much wear in axels, any noise from gear box, try low gear as well, check engine listen for put put from head.

Gibbo_GTI said:

Should I entertain buying a 1994 300TDi Disco 1 with 130,000 miles for under £900?

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Well I would necessarily to it out to the pictures , but after a thorough test drive, examination, and negotiation I might consider it.



Dave

At that mileage a 300tdi is barely run in. As already said, rust would be the major headache but all is treatable/repairable. If the chassis, inner wings are sound and the sills are ok near the body mounting points then that's a good start.

The boot floor is not structural and there are various ways of fixing it ranging from a sheet of plywood to a floor replacement.

Wheel arches are a potential problem but again they should be repairable in situ, just factor it into the cost if necessary.

Take the filler plug out of the gearbox and check that the oil is either MTF or st least ATF and that it's not emulsified. You can also remove the cover plate and check that it has a cross-drilled input gear, if not and the box is ok that's something you need to sort out (cheap fix). If it is and the oil is good, you probably won't have any problems.

There will be play in doffs and transfer box at that age, if you get hard clunks it may just be the A-frame ball joint that needs replacing. Also expect to replace the other bushes as well unless they were done recently.

No reason why you shouldn't be looking at a bargain from the sounds of it

Another thought, how good are you st home mechanics? Head gasket is easy on these with basic tools plus torque wrenches. Same for the timing belt and almost anything except the gearbox (apart from the input gear which just pulls off).

You shouldn't have to do much at that mileage but just letting you know that most mechanics on a disco 1 tdi are kerb-side jobs, easy enough for a DIY-Er.

have you got a photo gibbo?

Thanks for the replies. I haven't had chance to call the garage that has it yet to see what mot/tax is on the car but nothing is mentioned in the ad. I am pretty handy with the spanners and although my welding won't win any beauty prizes it is definately strong lol. I'm hoping to get a look at it this weekend but with the snow and other jobs to do I might have to leave it until during the week.

Ahh, vehicle has been sold. Will have to keep my eyes open for another one lol.

Well at least you have an idea of what to look for! I'll be in the Oxford area for a while in a couple if weeks so of I'm around and you want me to cast a pair of eyes over another one, be glad to help out.

Basil5279 said:

Well at least you have an idea of what to look for! I'll be in the Oxford area for a while in a couple if weeks so of I'm around and you want me to cast a pair of eyes over another one, be glad to help out.

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Thanks for the offer but I'm flying to the Falkland Islands with work in just over a week. I'll do some hefty research whilst I'm away as my intention is to use it mainly for off-roading.