2003 discovery...worth the money???

Hi everyone, previously owned a p38 range rover for a few years and moved on. Now looking at buying a disco. Seen one locally, 2003 facelift td5 S, 83000 miles, full stamped service history, upgraded 18" alloys, side steps etc. Trader selling it says it is spotless, hasn't even had to valet the inside. hoping to go and view it soon, guy is asking £5250 ono. Would value peoples opinion.....

Pictures worth 1000 words

Doesn't matter a damn how good it looks if the chassis Is knackered

from what I can gather, guy says it hasn't been farmed or towed. used mostly for the school run etc..

School run isn't neasisarily a good thing, pootling around not giving it any revs or thrash will
Mean it becomes sluggish, diesels need work, we've got a elderly lady customer with a 300 90 and she never revs it or drives it hard and so it's the slowest tdi I've ever driven

200tdi ayre said:

School run isn't neasisarily a good thing, pootling around not giving it any revs or thrash will
Mean it becomes sluggish, diesels need work, we've got a elderly lady customer with a 300 90 and she never revs it or drives it hard and so it's the slowest tdi I've ever driven

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+1 The discovery always feels sluggish after the missus has had it for a month when I'm away at work. For a couple of days after I've had it, I always notice bits of soot exit the exhaust and onto the driveway after its first started. I guess driving it like a sloth builds up so much soot in the exhaust and like which cant be good for it.

ifloochies said:

+1 The discovery always feels sluggish after the missus has had it for a month when I'm away at work. For a couple of days after I've had it, I always notice bits of soot exit the exhaust and onto the driveway after its first started. I guess driving it like a sloth builds up so much soot in the exhaust and like which cant be good for it.

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Especially the newer ones with DPF filters, they need to get hot to burn off the soot and grime that builds up inside them, we've had a few customers with problems with tdci 90's because the old farmer dives them everywhere slowly and they clog up

Seems like a very fair price to me, I'm guessing the seller is looking at getting £5k for it.

As 200tdy ayre says, check that chassis at the rear, then check it again. If it's sound and everything else being equal, a price of around five grand I think is not out of the way. You can get them cheaper but it's worth paying a bit more for a good 'un.

finally got to view and drive the disco I was looking at, and I have to say I was very disappointed. Body and chassis in excellent condition, spotless inside, all diffs in good shape, no big leaks etc, air suspension fine, great stamped service history.
Went for a test drive and my bubble burst. Very sluggish engine, handling poor (possibly due to upgraded 18" alloys and low profile road tyres = boaty) and seemed almost impossible to stop. As this was to be a vehicle for my wife and family, we both felt that it was not the vehicle we hoped for. Reluctantly we have decided not to buy.

The performance is what it is. They're no Ferrari and there's usually a bit of a flat spot that manifests itself when you pull away, although that's easy to get used to so you don't fall foul of it, or you can have it tuned out. If the performance is below par for other TD5's, it's usually something simple to fix. As for the brakes, again, not hard to fix. The wheels and tyres would take a bit of money thrown at it to rectify though.

With these vehicles, the youngest of which are reaching their 10th birthday soon, perfection isn't easy to find, but there's a few out there so you can afford to keep looking for one that comes a bit closer.