Deal or no Deal?

Been offered a Disco through a mutual contact that looks suitable:

R reg Disco ES 2.5 TDI Automatic ES... air con, twin elecy sunroofs, 4 electric windows, full leather, electric and heated seats. 7 seats.alloys, tow bar. roof bars, auto cd changer.

122,000 miles though and towed quite a bit although has FSH - wants £4k. What do the experts think?

Did you look at the autotrader link I posted in your other thread?? If not have a look at that 1st. £4k Is more than I'd pay for an R reg (I found one for a friend for £1700) but there are plenty of other people around who will think that £4K is a reasonable price from a dealer. You're certainly not getting a bargain off him, But if it's as good as you think then your probably not getting ripped off either.

Hi mate, thats Identical to the one I bought in Novemebr last year only mine had done only 103K and had never towed or been off road fsh etc etc.

I paid £3500 for it, but it was immaculate till I got my hands on it!

So in answer to your question I would say £4000 is a bit steep. I would probably pay no more than £2750 for it now, but as you know you gets what you pay for in this life, i probably paid too much for mine but there you go.

Thanks - I thought it was a bit steep but no harm in checking.

Redhand I will have a look at your link later but to be honest I have checked out autotrader and MSN already and this is what gave me the impression that this deal was overvalued. Was surprised when I checked out parkers price guide that this model on R reg was valued at £4,425 for a private good model although this was for one with 80,000 miles.

Oh well, will keep on hunting - thanks for the advice. Will email this person back and say it is to much - see what happens!!

Problem with Parkers is that they over value everything. and is out of date by the time it reaches the shops. They bring a new one out every month but only update the prices once every 6 months. Offer him £3k and tell him the mileage is too high. See what he says.

Thanks again Redhand but might walk away from this one. He let slip in his most recent email that the boat he tows about is 2 tons. He gave the impression of doing a lot of mileage when towing this load.

I think I will have another look around for one a little less punished.

SimonKeyes said:

Thanks again Redhand but might walk away from this one. He let slip in his most recent email that the boat he tows about is 2 tons. He gave the impression of doing a lot of mileage when towing this load.

I think I will have another look around for one a little less punished.

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The problem with the 4x4 market is that it is in free-fall, and the dealers just don't want to admit it !!!

Imagine if you were a dealer and had given £2-2500 for this car 4-6 months ago, you would probably imagine getting back £4000. Profit of £1000-1500 is the norm for dealers.

This may be a nice car and in good condition, although we don't know if it's got a rusted floor (normal) rusted sills & inner front wings (normal) but no way is it worth £4000.

Just as an example, in December I bought (private sale) a June '98 Disco Tdi 300 auto, 75,000mls, full Dealer service history, 2 owners, for, well guess how much??

You might be surprised

And no, it's probably not quite as nice as the one you were looking at, as it's only a GS, but guess how much, go on I dare you

£2,200?

thebiglad said:

The problem with the 4x4 market is that it is in free-fall, and the dealers just don't want to admit it !!!

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Been saying that for the last 12months but peeps just don't want to hear it. Because if it's true it means their landy is worth a lot less than they paid for it, and when they want to sell their not going to get what they want for it.

SimonKeyes said:

£2,200?

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Yes.............and I'm sulking now.

Ps You've been reading my posts haven't you?????????????

PPs It's a really nice car honest - worth a lot more than that insulting figure there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Sorry Simon, I'm going off on one - must be me age

Sorry thebiglad but have to admit I cheated Looked through your previous posts which I have to say were interesting reading.

You seem to have a wealth of knowledge in this area so let me ask you is it worth going out and spending £6k? I know you will point out it is dependent on what you are looking for but I want a pre 2001 model so as to not hit the new tax system. I am looking for something like a 2000 2.5 TDI Auto - am I looking to spend to much?

redhand said:

Been saying that for the last 12months but peeps just don't want to hear it. Because if it's true it means their landy is worth a lot less than they paid for it, and when they want to sell their not going to get what they want for it.

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Hi redhand, the trouble is that most people just don't understand or accept that just because a dealer asks £5000, for example, it doesn't mean the car is actually worth that much !!!!

It can mean that either, he paid too much, or, he wants to make too much profit.

The value of the vehicle is only determined by what someone is willing to pay for it. Ffs we're talking about vehicles that are 10 - nearly 20 yrs old, are unreliable and rust like buggery - DON' PAY TOO MUCH FOR THEM

You don't need to tell me I've had loads of arguements with people asking £2500 to £4000 for 20 year old 90's FFS talk about aving a larf. I paid £800 for my disco which I had for 10 months and sold to sirus for half that and I've just got an 87 td90 for £600, with most of the parts to carryout the repairs needed, included in the sale.

SimonKeyes said:

Sorry thebiglad but have to admit I cheated Looked through your previous posts which I have to say were interesting reading.

You seem to have a wealth of knowledge in this area so let me ask you is it worth going out and spending £6k? I know you will point out it is dependent on what you are looking for but I want a pre 2001 model so as to not hit the new tax system. I am looking for something like a 2000 2.5 TDI Auto - am I looking to spend to much?

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Hi Simon - you little tinker!! - for a start there is no such thing as a M.Y. 2000 2.5 Tdi Auto.

The Tdi 300 ended production in late '98 and was repalced by the TD5.


In your budget of £6000 you could buy a mint Tdi 300 auto (I know where there's a nice low-mileage one ) OR, you could considor a TD5.

Now, let me be clear, I have never driven a TD5 but most people who have say they are much more car like and if that's what you want, then maybe some thought ought to go in that direction.

I went for a Tdi300 because:

1. My wife has a Tdi 200 and it's SUPERB - I don't mean cosmeticly but, It weighs about 2 tons, gives us 35+mpg day in day out, tows a horse trailer with ease and is a delight to travel in - so long as you accept that it's NOT a car, but a heavy 4x4!!
They are great cars to work on, like a large Mechano set really, and I enjoy very much, fettling 'er !!

2. I wanted to find a replacement for the above, so that when she (Daisy2) comes to the end of the road, we can gravitate onto a much newer one.

So, all the benefits of the older Disco, but newer, better looked after in the early years and less rust.
And so Daisy3 came along. I haven't done much to her yet, just some std mods that you will read about on here - but I am enjoying her tremendously.

I would say that ANY Disco in your budget needs to be approached as a hobby/project. If you imagine that you can just get in and go, having 100% reliability you will end up frustrated. These cars need pampering, they usually don't let you down but they need looking after and are a great way of making new mates and are a good hobby.

They can also open your eyes to wider horizons - read some of the longhaul trip stories, they're brill.

Sorry I'm waffling, If you go into Disco ownership with your eyes wide open, you'll have a great time. Assuming that you do DO that, buy a Tdi 300, play with it, modify it, make it your own.

By the way, spare parts for Discos are, generally speaking REALLY cheap.

If I can help you further into Disco heaven, just ask,

Cheers
Dave

Thanks for the honest info.

I always believe that enen if you need a certain vehicle (i.e. I need a decent 4x4 to tow a boat around) you have to want it! Been looking at the options i.e. Japanese models etc. but I don't really like them. When I look at a decent Land Rover Disco I think its practical for my needs but more importantly I want it.

One worry is my complete lack of mechanical knowledge but I guess you have to start somewhere. Will definitely be in touch - will need it!

If prices for Landys are falling, does this mean price of spares and parts will fall ?????????????

They already have you can pick a 200tdi disco engine up for £150/£200 on fleabay While defender engines are fetching £500/£700 for the same year and will have had much more heavy use & abuse. I know people will say that you have to get a new exhaust if you fit a disco engine in a defender and that you can't get at the starter motor once you've gone it. But both engines share the same block and head and you can actually get all the bits to convert a disco engine to a defender engine by picking up a blown/knackered defender engine and swapping all the bits over. Half a days work and then you've got a defender engine, for half the price . .

Disco Blue said:

If prices for Landys are falling, does this mean price of spares and parts will fall ?????????????

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Yer havin a larff intcha??

Personally I doubt that the price of new parts will reduce but as redhand has said, the price of 2nd hand bits for Discos is already on the wane.

thebiglad said:

Imagine if you were a dealer and had given £2-2500 for this car 4-6 months ago, you would probably imagine getting back £4000. Profit of £1000-1500 is the norm for dealers.

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Really, bash my b*lls with an iron bar I'm doing it wrong?

Let me play with the worst case figures you quoted, stock owes £2,000 all prepped, serviced, HPI'd, valeted ready to go 100% all good and then get £3,500 back...and dealers have told you this? If so, they are talking out of their behind, or have a very large ego

...and remember if you had say a £1,000 profit in a car you then need to subtract VAT @17.5% and tax at your tax level and stand behind it for any comebacks.

I will say that for a good clean Disco', 5dr diesel, sold all good, with verified miles, all clear HPI with proper service history from new to date you got a steal with your one...I couldn't buy that thru the trade for that money!

iconic said:

Really, bash my b*lls with an iron bar I'm doing it wrong?

Let me play with the worst case figures you quoted, stock owes £2,000 all prepped, serviced, HPI'd, valeted ready to go 100% all good and then get £3,500 back...and dealers have told you this? If so, they are talking out of their behind, or have a very large ego

...and remember if you had say a £1,000 profit in a car you then need to subtract VAT @17.5% and tax at your tax level and stand behind it for any comebacks.

I will say that for a good clean Disco', 5dr diesel, sold all good, with verified miles, all clear HPI with proper service history from new to date you got a steal with your one...I couldn't buy that thru the trade for that money!

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Half the car dealers I know fiddle their taxes and their VAT. and the other half just won't admit to it. As for stnading behind their sale if bluster threats and refusal to accept any responsibility for their sales count as standing behind it then you may have a point. I think Biglad was referring to smaller car dealers as opposed to main stealers an franchised networks