discovery advice on what to buy

hey guys, looking to come back into the land of land rovers.

looking at getting a disco:

looking for 200tdi or 300tdi as they have less electronics and are easier to fix i believe.

cant really decide on manual or auto is there a difference in the MPG between the 2? i know you dont buy a land rover for mpg but if the manual can get 30mpg and the auto only 23 then manual it shall be.

i have a small budget of 1500 ish but i am quite handy with the spanners and dont mind a tad of welding.

the car will be used as an everyday car through this coming winter and then will be a 3rd car for snowy days and towing my caravan as i plan to go to small cars for our everyday cars so need something to tow with.

wife really wants an auto but i am skeptical.

other than that its a 2.8tdi frontera

thanks in advance

Bare in mind that most of the TDi 300 autos are EDC (Electronic Diesel Control).

My vote would be for the 300 Tdi auto

Had mine for over 3 years now and love it to bits. On a steady run at 60mph I can get over 30mpg. Around town its not so good more like the 23mpg but I run it on 100% bio diesel so I save at least a 3rd on fuel costs anyway.

Easy to maintain, cheap to mantain, fantastic to own and drive.

Need I say more

hi,

what effect does the edc have?

also can you just put veg oil straight in or do i need to change all gaskets?

thanks

ashleywood.ash said:

hi,

what effect does the edc have?

also can you just put veg oil straight in or do i need to change all gaskets?

thanks

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gives you more power as fueling is better controlled

my 97 300 tdi rotted out within 3 years of ownership got an old 200 now i think it knocks spots off the 300 with perfomance and economy and thats with some heavy mods on it

jamesmartin said:

gives you more power as fueling is better controlled

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there has t be a downside to this though, does it make it heavier on juice or less reliable?

what year did this get introduced

ashleywood.ash said:

there has t be a downside to this though, does it make it heavier on juice or less reliable?

what year did this get introduced

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no ,at worst you can convert back to mechanical control,95/96

jamesmartin said:

no ,at worst you can convert back to mechanical control,

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if it dont feckup when you most need it

Any D1 is going to be a minefield - they're naturally rusty and the youngest is going to be 14-15 years old. My advice would be to buy on condition. There are some bargains about if you're very very lucky. I got my '98 300Tdi manual for a couple of £100s a few months ago. Its in remarkable condition and he would have got £2k elsewhere I reckon, but he wanted it sold and shifted very quickly. (The previous owner had sadly passed away).

Barring finding something like this, I reckon buying from a knowledgable enthusiast is the next best bet - if you're in a local club ask around there. There is usually a club member that has his pride and joy, polished every weekend and maintained regardless of cost - thats what you want if you want to avoid the inconvenience and cost of serious repairs in the short term. Remember its a Landy, so it'll never be cheap to run or maintain, and it will rust, its just a matter of keeping it under control.

HTH

rust is the main issue i would look for the cleanest you can find mechanical issue's are normally simple to sort out and there are lots of parts available,but a rusty shell will take a lot more work manual for me but the autos seem fine too and if all the electronics go south its not hard to revert to non edc

thanks.
where are the main areas.

rear door arches
boot floors
inner wings
parts of chassis

thanks

inner wings ,front panel head light supports ,inner and outer sills ,rear arch area ,boot floor ,rear cross member basically any bit made with steel the chassis is not so prone but have been know to lol around the round cross member at the rear

As ^^^^^ but also have a look at the front footwells, and also behind the footwell kick panels if you can - my '98 has very little rust on the boot floor (the most common area to suffer) but I've found a hole about 4 inches in diameter behind each kick panel never heard of them rusting there before

ArticFox said:

As ^^^^^ but also have a look at the front footwells, and also behind the footwell kick panels if you can - my '98 has very little rust on the boot floor (the most common area to suffer) but I've found a hole about 4 inches in diameter behind each kick panel never heard of them rusting there before

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Mine went there too. Patched them up last year. Had enough of getting wet feet wen off roading/laning. Best bet is don't get one, bloody pain in the arse!!!

DiscoNickY said:

Mine went there too. Patched them up last year. Had enough of getting wet feet wen off roading/laning. Best bet is don't get one, bloody pain in the arse!!!

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lol

I do like them, however i am also very very tempted in finding a 2.8 frontera.

just want an older non electronic 4x4 with decent mpg (decent as possible) that will tow mt caravan and trailer and get me through the winter months and doesnt cost the earth to buy or on parts

Mines the 200 model. About as basic as u can get. Everything tht has gone I have been able to fix myself ill give her that but the problem being that everything goes and u end up spending more time under the bloody thing than in it.