getting a 96 disco , anything i should look for?

as above really , the chap just spent £1600 getting it thru an mot on welding ,cv joints etcs but has now got a horsebox.

its a diesel es and is apparantly the 300. full leather etc
also its an auto. and what ive seen of it looks and drives fine.

a couple of niggles on it tho .

cruise control does not work and he has told me it is a rubber tube that has perished and just needs replacing ( does this make any sense to anyone? )

also the passenger seat wont move back and forth on the electrics and he said it was a switch ( any idea where and what sort of cost it will be to replace?)

it's done 140k and has full service but was wondering if £1400 was a fair price ?

last question lol : i want to put some AT tyres on it , ive have general grabbers on a previous 4x4 but would like to try something different while keeping the cost down .

ATB bigred

bigredbusa said:

as above really , the chap just spent £1600 getting it thru an mot on welding ,cv joints etcs but has now got a horsebox.

its a diesel es and is apparantly the 300. full leather etc
also its an auto. and what ive seen of it looks and drives fine.

a couple of niggles on it tho .

cruise control does not work and he has told me it is a rubber tube that has perished and just needs replacing ( does this make any sense to anyone? )

also the passenger seat wont move back and forth on the electrics and he said it was a switch ( any idea where and what sort of cost it will be to replace?)

it's done 140k and has full service but was wondering if £1400 was a fair price ?

last question lol : i want to put some AT tyres on it , ive have general grabbers on a previous 4x4 but would like to try something different while keeping the cost down .

ATB bigred

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Hi Bigred, the problem with the cruise control is very often caused by perished rubber pipes in the engine bay. It can usually be rectified by cutting off the perished bit - about half an inch - and then rejoining the pipes. Do a search for cruise control and you'll find loads of stuff.

You'll pick up an electric seat switch off ebay for £5-£10.
Discovery Drivers Electric seat switch on eBay, also, Land Rover, Car Parts, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 15-Jun-09 19:02:13 BST)

Re the motor itself, check to see if it has an EGR valve on the exhaust manifold. If it has, removing this will help the engine run better. Also look underneath and see if the exhaust downpipe has a cat - if it has, removing this helps the car run a LOT better.

Re the price, £1400 sounds a bit heavy, but you don't say what year it is? Sounds like it is an ES spec, which is top of the range. With Discos their biggest enemy is rust, so irrespective of what has been said and done, check carefully for rust everywhere.

thanks for the quick reply and answering all my questions .

it is a p reg and looks very clean for the year , i looked on ebay and the same spec seem to go for a little bit more but if you think it is a bit too much i will try and barter a bit more .

thanks for the help and no doubt the forum just got themselves a regular .

bigredbusa said:

thanks for the quick reply and answering all my questions .
It is a p reg and looks very clean for the year , i looked on ebay and the same spec seem to go for a little bit more but if you think it is a bit too much i will try and barter a bit more .
Thanks for the help and no doubt the forum just got themselves a regular .

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So if it's P reg it'll be 95 or 96 I think. As with so many things condition is all-important when putting a value on Discovery's. After all, we are talking about cars that are 13 or 14 yrs old. Also in my experience the mid years of TDi 300 were noty the best for rust protection - they got better towards the end of the run in '98.

Here are a couple of examples of TDi 300's that I bought recently:

1. June 1998 Disco XS 5-door (mid-level spec) nearly fsh, good bodily and chassis-wise, 144,000mls when purchased, couple of small cheap issues to resolve, £1125. Now looks and runs beautifully - de-EGR'd and de-catt'd;

2. July 1998 3-door, some service history, never seen a better, rust-free chassis, some small issues to deal with, £800!!!

Now runs like a train. Actually runs better than any TDi300 I've had before, pulls really well.

My advice would be, don't rush, look at loads so you build up a good understanding of the vehicle's weaknesses and when you find a good one always go with cash to negotiate and buy.

If it needs a set of tyres that will cost you roughly £400.

ATB Big red,
There are numerous things to look out for but I reckon the most important check you can do is find out when the timing belt was last changed!!! If you can't get an honest answer from the vendor, plan to replace it ASAP (if you purchase the vehicle). I am speaking from experience.
Good luck with the purchase.
Ciao
John W.

he said it will probably need changing and knows of a land rover guy who will do it for a £100 which is abit of a bonus

the problem with cruise control is correct, i bought a 96 last year and cruise didn't work, the light on the switch worked etc but no cruise so i looked into it a little and if you look in the engine bay near the windshield you will see some rubber hoses and i checked the ends of them and found some were cracked so i trimmed the ends and the cruise control worked, i would send a picture but i don't have the 96 anymore

bigredbusa said:

as above really , the chap just spent £1600 getting it thru an mot on welding ,cv joints etcs but has now got a horsebox.

its a diesel es and is apparantly the 300. full leather etc
also its an auto. and what ive seen of it looks and drives fine.

a couple of niggles on it tho .

cruise control does not work and he has told me it is a rubber tube that has perished and just needs replacing ( does this make any sense to anyone? )

also the passenger seat wont move back and forth on the electrics and he said it was a switch ( any idea where and what sort of cost it will be to replace?)

it's done 140k and has full service but was wondering if £1400 was a fair price ?

last question lol : i want to put some AT tyres on it , ive have general grabbers on a previous 4x4 but would like to try something different while keeping the cost down .

ATB bigred

Click to expand...