Advice on buying a Discovery

[paulhelyer]

Hi,

I am thinking of buying a used Discovery and recently went to a local Land Rover garage who advised against buying anything earlier than a Discovery 3 saying that it would cost a couple of grand a month to keep it running. He then said that a Discovery 3 and onwards would not suffer the same issues (suspension and engine problems) as earlier versions would.

Looking at the difference between 13k and 25k for a 2 vs a 3. Are Discovery 2s that unreliable when old and are Discovery 3s so vastly improved that they will not suffer the same in a couple of years time?

Thanks in advance,
Paul

 

[paulhelyer]

Just found the search function and reading through the hundreds of previous times this question was asked

 

[musky81]

You will get a good d2 for far less than 13k mate. Ive got a 2001 with 115k on the clock and it goes like a train. I had some issues early on with famous injector harness then ace pipes. Since then nothing more than you would expect from any vehicle,, discs n pads, anti roll bar links. Dont get me wrong im considering buying a d3 or4 maybe next year but I know my d2 will power through til then and im fully expecting some hefty maintenance bills from the " newer" one. Drive them and see what you prefer and shop around.

 

[SnowmanV8]

13k??????????????????????? Buy a D2 and put galv chassis new engine(not needed if you spend enough in the first place) and all the offroad mods you could want, Leaving enough in the kitty to tour england doing green lanes for about 4 months!!!!!

 

[auf_wiedersehen_pet]

Hi,

I am thinking of buying a used Discovery and recently went to a local Land Rover garage who advised against buying anything earlier than a Discovery 3 saying that it would cost a couple of grand a month to keep it running. He then said that a Discovery 3 and onwards would not suffer the same issues (suspension and engine problems) as earlier versions would.

Looking at the difference between 13k and 25k for a 2 vs a 3. Are Discovery 2s that unreliable when old and are Discovery 3s so vastly improved that they will not suffer the same in a couple of years time?

Thanks in advance,
Paul

Welcome Paul.

Sounds like somebody has fed you the biggest pile of bovine excrement I've heard for a long, long time. Mine has cost me a lot less than that and I have voluntarily spent a small fortune on mine!!

Run a D1/D2 in standard form and they are relatively cheap to run.

 

[paulchez85]

shocking to see this. TOTALLY AGREE WITH AUF WEIDERSEHEN PET. VERY NICE BY THE WAY. i drive a disco 1 300tdi and i dont really have any bother from it. granted i bought it and it needed work but its like a train for towing and a alround good motor. if you want a disco theres probleems with all in my opinion.

disco1 300tdi, older and need maintaining but cheap and easy to repair as plenty of scrapyards have them. optional diff lock

disco 2 td5. faster and more pull but newer technology from electric accelerator onwards. constant diff lock

disco 3, all singing and dancing electrics with automatic sliding seats and silly lighting functions and big bills.

disco 4, i assume more of the same but with a bigger price tag and bigger garage bills if you cant sort it.

also depends on what you plan on doing with it.

sure people will have their opinion on this but this is just mine DISCO 1.

 

[phil540uk]

Looking at the difference between 13k and 25k for a 2 vs a 3.

Surely you mean a 3 vs a 4? If so, the 4 is a surprisingly big improvement over the 3, but if you find a well looked after 3 you won't be disappointed. Afew horror stories around the 56-08 era regarding oil pump casings splitting and throwing the timing belt though. AlRegarding seem to be contributing to a new engine in cases where there is good LR service history.

Regarding the comment about costing thousands to run a d1/2, it's a load of bull. You could almost buy a new one every month for that!!

 

[dieseldog69]

Take a tidy 300Tdi D1 and just enjoy it and keep the rest of the cash in the high interest savings for when something little does break, they just keep on going, simple and reliable.

If you want highs of luxury a good spec D3 with FSH for that money should be an easy find

 

[Richard Martin]

shocking to see this. TOTALLY AGREE WITH AUF WEIDERSEHEN PET. VERY NICE BY THE WAY. i drive a disco 1 300tdi and i dont really have any bother from it. granted i bought it and it needed work but its like a train for towing and a alround good motor. if you want a disco theres probleems with all in my opinion.

disco1 300tdi, older and need maintaining but cheap and easy to repair as plenty of scrapyards have them. optional diff lock

disco 2 td5. faster and more pull but newer technology from electric accelerator onwards. constant diff lock

disco 3, all singing and dancing electrics with automatic sliding seats and silly lighting functions and big bills.

disco 4, i assume more of the same but with a bigger price tag and bigger garage bills if you cant sort it.

also depends on what you plan on doing with it.

sure people will have their opinion on this but this is just mine DISCO 1.

What is this "constant diff lock" that you speak of?