Buying A Discovery V8

Hello My dad is thinking about buying a Land Rover Discovery 3.5I V8 (the early model). Could any one please tell what to look out for when buying this model of Disco. Any Pros and Cons (mainly Pros to convince my mom, who is also the Bank Manjoress )

Oily Fingers said:

Hello My dad is thinking about buying a Land Rover Discovery 3.5I V8 (the early model). Could any one please tell what to look out for when buying this model of Disco. )

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the nearest petrol station

the nearest petrol station

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LOL - having had 2, that sounds about right! I swear my 3.5 was worse than the 3.9 as well.

Make sure it has had regular oil changes, these engines don't fair well if they have been neglected. They need new oil every 6k really, tho I have heard of people who change the oil every 3k!

Matt

Matt

Oily Fingers said:

Hello My dad is thinking about buying a Land Rover Discovery 3.5I V8 (the early model). Could any one please tell what to look out for when buying this model of Disco. Any Pros and Cons (mainly Pros to convince my mom, who is also the Bank Manjoress )

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like mmaddock said, make sure the engine is tip top but even with good servicing the cam still wears, the timing chain will be stretched and the head gaskets will blow into the valley, good thing about the rover V8 though is its a very forgiving engine and will go on for miles and miles even if its fooked.

other stuff to look for is oil leaks from everywhere and make sure the gearbox is smooth, quiet etc, you'll normally find there will be alot of slack in the transmission especially for high mileage discos, try and get the lowest mileage one you can find or better still, get a Sll V8.

Thanks for your info. My Dad is now having second thoughts about the V8 due to the mpg. How does the diesel compare?

a bit better but not much, you'll get around 30mpg

I used to get 12-17 out of my 3.9 V8, Tdi should do 25-30 depending on how careful you are.

To be honest I wouldn't consider an early V8, the Tdi is a much better option unless you have a small tanker full of free fuel in your drive!!

Matt

Forget the v8,go for a Tdi auto - TA chassis(1996 0n) with the Bosch EDC pump.Far more effective,cheaper and easier to drive,etc,etc - esp in the constant traffic jams in the UK.

and thats coming from the vee8 man himself

eightinavee said:

Forget the v8,go for a Tdi auto - TA chassis(1996 0n) with the Bosch EDC pump.Far more effective,cheaper and easier to drive,etc,etc - esp in the constant traffic jams in the UK.

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I tried a TD5 Auto, I was passed by several cyclists whilst trying to accelerate out of the showroom. It just aint right to have to rev an engine that hard to get it to move. I am currently using my 4.0 V8 Series 2 Disco to commute to Aberdeen (56mile round trip including crossing the city) and I am still getting 17mpg. Sometimes you just gotta say sod it and pay the extra for the fuel. V8 Auto every time.... Until the TDV8 comes out and all of the gremlins get ironed out.

Mark

amallen said:

I tried a TD5 Auto, I was passed by several cyclists whilst trying to accelerate out of the showroom. It just aint right to have to rev an engine that hard to get it to move. I am currently using my 4.0 V8 Series 2 Disco to commute to Aberdeen (56mile round trip including crossing the city) and I am still getting 17mpg. Sometimes you just gotta say sod it and pay the extra for the fuel. V8 Auto every time.... Until the TDV8 comes out and all of the gremlins get ironed out.

Mark

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I did say Tdi, not Td5 - but the one you had a go in must have been tied to a fat bloke,or had something wrong with it.The Td5 motor works brilliantly against the ZF auto.It seems to me that when the old fashioned hate of auto's finally dies and people realise how good modern slushies are then you wont see many cars with 3 confusing pedals on the floor,and I will no longer have to get filthy changing shagged clutch plates !

Struck a nerve there me thinks.

I agree regarding auto's, that's all I drive and guess what - my 4.0 V8 is auto. I didn't try the TDI, just the TD5, and still think that when mated to a 4 speed auto it needs to be reved hard to get anywhere. I do realise that it won't have as much get up and go as my previous cars (twin turbo Subaru Legacy & V6 MG ZS), but the V8 just makes it a lot more driveable for me. Each to their own I guess.

Mark

amallen said:

my previous cars (V6 MG ZS)

Mark

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Mike Jones said:

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Hi Mike,
Did the lack of boot space or the very dodgy clutch do it for you ?? The most embarrasing thing was when I bought a new toolbox and had to collect it with my wife's Audi A3 because I couldn't fit it into the boot or back seats of my ZS Saloon .

Mark

amallen said:

Hi Mike,
Did the lack of boot space or the very dodgy clutch do it for you ?? The most embarrasing thing was when I bought a new toolbox and had to collect it with my wife's Audi A3 because I couldn't fit it into the boot or back seats of my ZS Saloon .

Mark

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I had a saloon and a hatch. the hatch was the better car despite the saloon looking better. I loved them! I had 2 main reasons for changing:
1: Needed more space for family
2: Needed to protect my license after getting done at triple figures by a mobile camera (empty dual carriageway on a clear summer eve)
I love driving the Disco, fun without the speed....

just thought on wat are the V8 petrol engines like that run on gas. Wats the MPG like?

Had my V8 LPG for 2 months or so.
V8 sounds wonderful, lovely low down torque pulls from 1000rpm which is handy as the Disco was bought for the wife!! Still wish it had more power though.
Anyway on gas we get about 14 - 15 mpg (of gas) which given that LPG is 39,9p/L here and 37.5p/L at a little place I know works out at 36mpg of petrol - that is our average. Its been down to 28 mpg of petrol (short stop start stuff) and upto 38mpg of petrol on a run.
We have an 80L LPG tank (in the boot which I need to move) which on a run gets just over 200miles, normally its a visit to the LPG pump every 175miles which is a bit of a pain but soon racks up lots of Morrisons points!!!

My 3.9 is fitted with 2x 35lt tanks mounted underneath the floor, but doesn't do much for the ground clearance . So far, i've done 90 miles on a fill & i'v still got 4 lights on the control box.

Diamond Dave - how many lights do you have on the control box when the tanks are full ?

There's 4 lights when its full, but i thought i might've used gas than i seem to have !