Help on buying a discovery

Hello there first of all apologies if this question has been asked before I have had a search through the old threads and not found an answer for all my questions so thought I would put them all in one thread and see what response I get .

Anyway I am interested in buying a Discovery (ideally a 2.5 diesel) I think one would suit my life style . Anyway a few questions I have are as follow's

Is car tax £215 a year on pre 06 models ?

Anything to look out for when viewing a car ?

What are they like on general running costs ?

How does the 2.5 drive ?

I can stretch to 10k tops for one and I have a piccasso to part ex as well , I suppose I am looking for the pro's and cons of owning one of these motors , I dont do a massive amount of miles the car will be used for a short drive to work the mrs getting around and me getting out fishing and hunting .

Any help appreciated


All the best

Hokey Pokey

get a rangie

my advice test drive as many as you can, i cannot give you any pointers on the later discos as i have a 200tdi. All i can say is when your hooked you will get by no matter what goes wrong with them

get yerself a late 300tdi ! they drive nice, they aint to bad on fuel if your right foot is light, they are easy to work on and i have to say a good one is reliable.

places of rot are inner wings on the front, boot floor and the inner wings under the back passenger doors, inner and outer sills, body mounting points around bottom of door posts, if they have them stupid plastic arch covers on try and have a poke around behind them as they hold silt and rot !
the rest is mechanical like gear box, try the high and low ranges as a lot of discoveries can have problems with the low range and difflock part of the box as they rarley get used. engine obviously propshafts, axles and any bad oil leaks. there are very few that will be in perfect condition though.

boot floors, sills, arches and other bits that need welding shouldnt put you off as all the replacment panels are available and they are resonably priced and easy to fit if your able to weld.
that should give you some idea

hokey pokey said:

Hello there first of all apologies if this question has been asked before I have had a search through the old threads and not found an answer for all my questions so thought I would put them all in one thread and see what response I get .

Anyway I am interested in buying a Discovery (ideally a 2.5 diesel) I think one would suit my life style . Anyway a few questions I have are as follow's

Is car tax £215 a year on pre 06 models ?

Anything to look out for when viewing a car ?

What are they like on general running costs ?

How does the 2.5 drive ?

I can stretch to 10k tops for one and I have a piccasso to part ex as well , I suppose I am looking for the pro's and cons of owning one of these motors , I dont do a massive amount of miles the car will be used for a short drive to work the mrs getting around and me getting out fishing and hunting .

Any help appreciated


All the best

Hokey Pokey

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For the sort of money you are talking you should be able to find a very nice low mileage 2004/5 TD5 such as :

discovery td5, Land Rover Range Rover, discovery, discovery tdi items at low prices on eBay.co.uk

Or you might just scrape a Disco3:

All good cars at this age, just look for the normal things, good service history, low mileage etc etc.

Please do drive several before you plunge in, auto and manual, just to make sure you like the drive !!! They weigh 2200kgs (so heavy) and don't drive like a car - but they are great and your fishing/hunting requirement would be dealt with superbly.

Beast o Bodmin said:

get a rangie

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dont get a rangie if u want to go off road, they get stuck,lol, iv pulled a few out with my disco

For 10k you may find a lower spec Discovery 3.

Though you would have more choice with a TD5 Discovery 2, you should be able to get the later ones to with the newer front to.

If you are going to take it off road and fancy something different you may be able to find one of the G4 Discovry's to which already comes fitted with a lot of off road equipment. They come in just one colour though - bright orange.

The top of the line Discovery's are known as ES models, they comes with things like leather, air con and a lot of electrics may be worth having a look at these over.

My budget was quitev a lot lower when buying my first Discovery so I bought a mark 1 300tdi, and I love it. It is great for off road and greenlaning and usually very easy to repair, the later models seem to get a bit more tricky as have more electrics.

My tax is around the £215 mark being a 1997 model. For 10k I doubt you will be looking at a mark 1m but if you don take note of the boot floor - one of the major killers for Discovery, and the Chassis is also very important to.

Buying a newer model they wont have such a problem, but still worth a check to be safe. And make sure everything electric works, as these may be a bit costly for repair (hence the seller may leave it)

Anyway hope that helps a little

Nigel

I've moved from a 300Tdi to a Td5 this year and haven't looked back yet. There are some really cheap machines out there and for 10K you should be able to get a good used late Td5, ideally the facelift with the altered front lights. There are loads of bits that you can bolt on as I am starting to do. Test drive as many as you can, don't buy the first. Ask about where it has been, has it done any towing and if so how much? Ask about off roading, it is unlikely but possible .Check out the side steps if fitted because they will tell you if there has been even a small amount of off roading as there will be scrapes and dinks on the bottom corners. Be aware that these vehicles have complicated electronics ACE, SLS and loads of other abreviations that i haven't worked out what they are yet. These can cost if they go wrong but make life easier to drive. Also there is a world of advice out there for even the most stupid question. Trust me I've asked a few! Work on about £90 to fill it from empty but don't let it get empty, its purely psycholigical but I find it easier to put £30-£40 more often. Good look and enjoy.

I've got a 52 Td5 Xs, (one down from an ES) facelift model, paid £4800. Don't go paying silly money! I would look for the following:

PAS and ACE leaks
Work the low range box and drive it around a bit
Airbags
Off road height adjustment works
Any clunk on taking up reverse
FSH Ideally (with bills)
D/M Flywheel ok
Discs and pads ok
TYRES!!! Pricey...
And check any factory recalls have been addressed

But saying that, for 10k you can get a bloody good one! Look at Landmarks and final run Disco 2's and as said before, early D3's.

Cheers people i shall take this into account got a couple lined up that look the part , will report back.

We bought our first Disco 2 in April, it's a V8 with LPG conversion and it had a dicky engine. We fitted a new short engine ourselves.

ALL of the Discovery models have their quirks and foibles, but they are great when up and running right.

I'd be inclined to pass on the Disco 3 as it is almost impossible to do your own repairs and work, the Disco 2 was the last one that you could really do all your own repairs and maintenance on.

The TD5 is a great engine, but has a few big faults, cracked fuel passage in the cylinder head and the Dual-Mass flywheel breaking up.

The V8 is thirsty, but easier to work on albeit a complex injection system.

Having driven both, I'd go for an LPG Disco 2 every time, but personal tastes differ.

We are getting 18mpg on gas (53p a litre) or about the same on Petrol.

Great long-distance cruisers, they will sit at 75 all day on the motorway, just the sound of the fuel gauge going down to keep you company! We did 1500 miles to Inverness and John O'Groats week before last, no problems and neither of us felt that tired after 8-1/2 hours in the vehicle on the way back.

Peter