Advice needed on potential purchase

are you intending to go off road? a defender should go anywhere within reason and same for a disco.....but a freeklander!!!!

If you are going to wash and polish your vehicle look at disco's. Electric spares are easy to get hold of on ebay and very good prices now days. Drive both and chat on this forum with others about disco's and defender and your fist experiance

I dont intend to do much off roading. I know parts are cheap on ebay etc but arent there reall problems with gremlins which arent just a case of changing a part?

Thanks for the offer but i am dont in Tunbridge Wells, Kent/ East Sussex border which is too far for me to expect you to come. I think I need to think about this a lot more.

I see mjltigger you have a disco. How has that been are the elctrics really a problem?

see I aint gonna answer that one.. kiss of death and all that...

seriously no issues at all.. and mine's an ES and a V8 so has pretty much all the electrics you can have.. only electrical problems I've had have been a rusted out fog light, a fuse on the towing electrics went and a couple of times the rear windows have refused to open when the car's been cold...oh yeah and I soaked the dizzy following Ratty too close over a stream and had to sit there for a minute or two while it dried out....

Well that doesnt sound that bad. I have to admit I would prefer the comfort of the disco but always thought they were forever having electrical faults and cost the earth to run. I am so glad for people like you and forums like this as without them I dont have a clue! Apart from the age of the discos would you say they were as reliable as any other landrover and the same price to run? you certainly do get more for your money.

On the discos what are better the manuals or autos. I have always driven manuals and steered away from autos.

I'd rather drive over there than see you buy a pup. Buy me a pint and lunch. You can be Mr. Nice and I'll pretend to be Mr. Nasty.

A Defender is your basic and good fun Landy. As you go up the range and modernity, I don't think that anyone would argue against the premise that a brand new Disco is the best one. The snags are, as you've rightly identified, the complexities that come with newness.

If you're happy splitting knuckles open on a cold day (and my cars only ever go wrong when it's cold), you can read a Haynes manual or use the intarweb, (and you're happy to become your Dad, and buy your first set of overalls) the Defender is the one to go for. It all bolts apart, often with a mini grinder, and goes back together again, sometimes with a welder. And you're prepared to become a design critic (eg. how many million of these have they built and still put the handbrake adjustment on TOP of the transfer box, and, if you're going to reinforce the alloy doors with steel, why put the U sections that way up? FFS).

When you're knuckles are all healed up, and you can type again, you can then start to contribute your experiences.

mine's an auto V8.. I only test drove V8 autos when I was buying cos I wanted LPG so couldn't really comment on the manuals... and LPG makes a lot of sense if you do many miles... 55ppl against 112ppl for derv.. fuel efficiency around 12 - 20 (I wish)mpg instead of 25-30(urban myth) but you do the maths.. plus the V8 sounds mint... and pulls as well as any derv I've ever driven (although not driven a landy derv so it's apples and pears really for me)

if you don't plan to do offroading I think the discovery has far better road manners and a superior level of comfort, plus if you do get the bug and decide to do a few lanes it is easily as capable for what you need.. you only really need a defender if you want to carry the extra weight (110) or plan on really offroading (90)

thanks boguing. I will have to think about what I want before I buy anything. I wasnt looking at anything too new on the disco side something around 1998-2000. I do some long road journeys and it maybe that the defender wont be up to that or I wont be.

Are the 200/300tdi discos as bad electrically as the TD5s or are they all the same. I am not much of a fan of really new cars as I think they are too much of a gamble and a costly mistake if you get it wrong.

new to all this said:

thanks boguing. I will have to think about what I want before I buy anything. I wasnt looking at anything too new on the disco side something around 1998-2000. I do some long road journeys and it maybe that the defender wont be up to that or I wont be.

Are the 200/300tdi discos as bad electrically as the TD5s or are they all the same. I am not much of a fan of really new cars as I think they are too much of a gamble and a costly mistake if you get it wrong.

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ent nothing wrong with a deepender for long journys they are comfy enough in the front anyway

I will have to test drive both and see what happens as i am sure they are comfortable, suspension on my renault coupe rattles my bones enough so i expect it will be better than that

90boy said:

ent nothing wrong with a deepender for long journeys they are comfy enough in the front anyway

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As long as you move the seats back a bit. (6'3"). Add heating and proper music.

boguing said:

As long as you move the seats back a bit. (6'3"). Add heating and proper music.

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quite right

Hello. As everyone says, research it, research it some more and take someone in the know with you. Try n' get a go in a Defender before you buy, coz , as stated they're a bit different to a car. Disco's are more road friendly but (personal opinion) I don't like the look of 'em. Out n' out utility vehicles for me (until the mrs learns to drive)! For me the most important thing is to follow you heart (aaahhh)! It's nice to drive summit ya love. Good look with it all. E

boguing

my d90 have a nasty hum which i suspect is coming from the injector pump? any idea?
You seem to know a lot about them

Nope. If I were trying to diagnose engine noise, I'd use the wooden stick method.

You get a stiff piece of wood or metal and press it onto the suspect item. Then connect it to your temple. Listen to the vibration induced in your head and compare it with other bits. I have a favourite wooden handled Victorian screwdriver for this job. (It hurts less).

It works brilliantly - taught by my Dad - who designed the engine now powering the Airbus 380.

Water board people do it to find leaks. Much more relevant to us mortals.

boguing said:

Nope. If I were trying to diagnose engine noise, I'd use the wooden stick method.

You get a stiff piece of wood or metal and press it onto the suspect item. Then connect it to your temple. Listen to the vibration induced in your head and compare it with other bits. I have a favourite wooden handled Victorian screwdriver for this job. (It hurts less).

It works brilliantly - taught by my Dad - who designed the engine now powering the Airbus 380.

Water board people do it to find leaks. Much more relevant to us mortals.

Click to expand...

something I have done and recommend to others but not entirely sure I would want to do it on a jet engine...