Disco 2 D2 as a main vehicle?

I cover about 5k miles per year and I’m looking for a vehicle I can use a few times a week for local journeys and that I’m not scared to chuck the dogs in.

I already have an old 90 which I love so I wondered about adding to lineup with something with a few more (or at least one!!) comforts.

I test drove a d2 this morning as it was local. It is a metropolis automatic with 122k miles. I really liked the driving position and very comfortable but it’s clearly been used as a family runner for a while which you would expect. That means I won’t worry about getting it muddy inside.

Needs new headlining as sunroof has leaked at some stage. Currently sealed shut and unused. I know this is a common fault.

The owner has had it for 2 years and has had head gasket replaced and reconditioned the head with a local garage (not LR specialist). Seems to run smoothly and gear box was good.

Other things done include a key receiver unit and injector seals. I felt like things may have been fixed when they go seriously wrong which gives me concerns about the rest of the maintenance but it seems as though money has been spent as above.

It did feel quite underpowered. I wasn’t expecting fast 0-60 and having read a bit more I think that’s this might be just how they are.

There seemed to be some oil leaking at some stage on the inlet towards the air filter and when I looked at the rear chassis it was a bit flakey so might need a new one soon.

all that in mind I thought the £5995 price was high for a private sale but wondered what others thought.

my other question, re asked in this forum is whether those with older discovery’s think I could use as a regular vehicle without too much worry. I will happily get things fixed and want to prevent further issues although it can’t be off road for long periods as will be main vehicle.

Thanks

They are going up in value as they can be repaired.

If galvanised and good condition you could pay 10 grand and not feel ripped off.

But if tatty offer less if you want it.

As standard they are slow, but should feel willing.

A remap transforms them. Takes them to roughly V8 performance.

Regular use is better than occasional use.

Oil changes, keep up with them, keep it serviced, if something starts to play up get it fixed.

LR parts rust
Denso parts wear out and fail

Most of my repairs apart from rust have been Denso components such as starter, aircon, and alternator.

MJI said:

They are going up in value as they can be repaired.

If galvanised and good condition you could pay 10 grand and not feel ripped off.

But if tatty offer less if you want it.

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I get the feeling they are going up. I feel something 4500-5000 would be reasonable especially as I seen similar ones with dealers at this but I am wary of non LR dealers selling LR as they can’t tell you anything about them.

yes they can be repair which is the draw. They just seem a bit of a leap when I only have 200tdi in my 90.

I reckon the td5 is a good engine, the 4 speed auto is a bad match though, loads of revs and not much go, though better than the tdi autos!
To heavy a tune will wreck the auto box, ask any of the reputabe tuners.

Do check the mot history online, often find some interesting stuff that an owner might forget to mention.

lynall said:

I reckon the td5 is a good engine, the 4 speed auto is a bad match though, loads of revs and not much go, though better than the tdi autos!
To heavy a tune will wreck the auto box, ask any of the reputabe tuners.

Do check the mot history online, often find some interesting stuff that an owner might forget to mention.

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Yes the mot history showed a few lights and mainly steering joint wear and brakes which I would expect albeit not to fail if you carried out a service beforehand.

you are right, there was certainly revving.

I think 170 is the limit without changing the torque converter.

Mine is definately near the torque limit.

TD5 is the best engine they have done in allround performance and reliabilty.

Much better performance than any other LR Diesel and if well maintained similar reliabilty as 200 and 300, just different things to go wrong.

new to all this said:

Yes the mot history showed a few lights and mainly steering joint wear and brakes which I would expect albeit not to fail if you carried out a service beforehand.

you are right, there was certainly revving.

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Did you go over 5000rpm?

Mechanically safe to a bit under 6000rpm, but 5000rpm is the most you would take it to on full throttle as it runs off power. I think mine change in high 4000s.

new to all this said:

Yes the mot history showed a few lights and mainly steering joint wear and brakes which I would expect albeit not to fail if you carried out a service beforehand.

you are right, there was certainly revving.

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So long as chassis and body are sound the rest will be easy enough to fix.
I personally could not live with that engine/gearbox combo.

MJI said:

Did you go over 5000rpm?

Mechanically safe to a bit under 6000rpm, but 5000rpm is the most you would take it to on full throttle as it runs off power. I think mine change in high 4000s.

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No didn’t work it that hard as tried to be respectful. Also the fuel warning light was on so not knowing how they perform in fuel I didn’t want to run out completely.

lynall said:

So long as chassis and body are sound the rest will be easy enough to fix.
I personally could not live with that engine/gearbox combo.

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Yes it was a surprise even coming from my manual 200tdi in my 90. I pull away from junctions a lot better than in the d2 although I appreciate there is probably a weight difference. The d2 definitely felt big and heavy.

As someone who has both a 300tdi Disco and a TD5 auto, do bear in mind the electronic gremlins lurking in the TD5 which are much worse to deal with than the tdis.
If the chassis needs work that price is high for one in that condition. And if it is only beginning to look crusty, it will be far crustier than you can see as they rust from the inside.
Best of luck, and yes you can do 5K miles a year in one, that is what we do in ours.
The bigger boot is handy.

Stanleysteamer said:

As someone who has both a 300tdi Disco and a TD5 auto, do bear in mind the electronic gremlins lurking in the TD5 which are much worse to deal with than the tdis.
If the chassis needs work that price is high for one in that condition. And if it is only beginning to look crusty, it will be far crustier than you can see as they rust from the inside.
Best of luck, and yes you can do 5K miles a year in one, that is what we do in ours.
The bigger boot is handy.

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Interesting. I would happily forego the electronics.
I think I will have to keep looking although it was good to try one.

Will probably try a manual to see difference. I have driven old manuals but never old automatics which I think is half problem.

new to all this said:

Interesting. I would happily forego the electronics.
I think I will have to keep looking although it was good to try one.

Will probably try a manual to see difference. I have driven old manuals but never old automatics which I think is half problem.

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Manuals are okay, but off boost they are as flat as a wet fart, even tuned they are carp off boost.
I did 50k in my td5 manual d2, different tunes/boost etc, went okay but like all early discos the engines are to small.

lynall said:

Manuals are okay, but off boost they are as flat as a wet fart, even tuned they are carp off boost.
I did 50k in my td5 manual d2, different tunes/boost etc, went okay but like all early discos the engines are to small.

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I cured my 300tdi's unwillingness to pull off boost by fitting a sports exhaust. It doesn't sound much but it was enough to get it much faster off the line with none of that flat spot they seem to suffer from. It ain't a race car but if I wanted one of those I'd have bougth summat else. It towed my huge box trailer to the southwest of France and back, again and again loaded with all the stuff needed to fit out and furnish a 4 bed house so I love it. And with no trailer I can get 30mpg, on a run. MUCH simpler to fix in fact never let me down. TD5 came with all the usual problems, whistling exhaust manifold, oil in the fuel loom, ABS lights on so it has needed 3 hubs and the 4th is on its way out, SRS light on intermittently. Sensor in roof fubar so I have to lock it with the key, leaking and non-funtioning manual sunroofs, (The tdi don't have any), no horizontal roof bars, tdi has those so I can carry shedloads on the roof.
And the autobox sprang a really stupid leak between the torque converter cover and the gearbox so it cost me over £1k to just get the whole lot off the back of the engine, onto the floor so the mech could simply dicsonnet the two, replace a paper gasket and then replace all the bolts. the bolts had simply loosened a bit but i was forever under it topping up the ATF until I got it done.
As with many cars, when it's going which I have to say is most of the time, it is a nice drive and a shade more powerful than the 300tdi. But it drinks the fool.

Interestingly someone has fitted a sports exhaust to this and the seller says might have been remapped at some point.

I am going to go and have another viewing tomorrow or Saturday and look more throughly and ask a few more questions.

Also satnav unit doesn’t work in roof. Not fussed but suspect it is another casualty of the previously leaking sunroof and I can take a look at some stage if I want to replace.

I will keep you posted on whether I need to become a permanent member of this forum as well as the 90/110 group.

The main thing is it's all Repairable and you can if you handy do most of it yourself,

As standard 0-60 is something like 16 seconds or to put it another way for ever. Remapped between 10 and 12. Needs a stop watch to work it out properly. But it si sufficient.

My last car was in region of 7, that was a V6 saloon.

The repairable nature is what is drawing me to them. I have surprised myself so far with my 90 as to what I can do so should be fun.

Will just be little daunting at first as I won’t have the brand new alternative on my drive in an emergency. But I won’t miss the monthly payments!

speed is getting less of an issue as I mainly drive on b roads and smaller a country roads than motorways. And when it snows and floods I will be better off out here.

new to all this said:

The repairable nature is what is drawing me to them. I have surprised myself so far with my 90 as to what I can do so should be fun.

Will just be little daunting at first as I won’t have the brand new alternative on my drive in an emergency. But I won’t miss the monthly payments!

speed is getting less of an issue as I mainly drive on b roads and smaller a country roads than motorways. And when it snows and floods I will be better off out here.

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I will also not miss the nervousness in the supermarket car parks!