Living with a TD5

This has probaly been asked before, but im looking at getting a Disco TD5, and looking to spend up to 5k. Im looking at a 2001 TD5 S which is up at £4400ono later today. It looks pretty basic mind, with black plastic bumpers, matt paint, and a basic interior, with 120k on the clock.

What I want to know is, how easy they are to live with and running costs. I do less than 10k a year these days, and spend most of my time driving short distances, around town.

Also how much for road tax, and what are servicing costs like if I take it to an indi.

Thanks in advance.

servicing costs?? Do mine myself. get between 25 and 30 odd mpg and the tax is 180 ish a year at the moment going upto 200ish by 2010 if it's registered before march 2001. there is a topic on tax somewhere already on here while back.

johnacky said:

This has probaly been asked before, but im looking at getting a Disco TD5, and looking to spend up to 5k. Im looking at a 2001 TD5 S which is up at £4400ono later today. It looks pretty basic mind, with black plastic bumpers, matt paint, and a basic interior, with 120k on the clock.

What I want to know is, how easy they are to live with and running costs. I do less than 10k a year these days, and spend most of my time driving short distances, around town.

Also how much for road tax, and what are servicing costs like if I take it to an indi.

Thanks in advance.

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Re the servicing it depends on whether you can/want to do the work yourself? Re the round town mpg 20.

From your other post I see that you are looking for a cheap runabout - this would not be my definition of a cheap runabout.

Do you have need of a 2 tons+ vehicle with permanent 4wheel drive.

Parts are considorably more expensive than the previous Tdi 200/300.

Lr independants are cheaper than Lr dealers, but they are not cheap - they know that the LR dealers charge upwards of £100 p/hr so they charge £50-70. Do they have all the correct up-to-date electronic test gear and do they know how to use it - if not you're screwed !!

You haven't really said why you want a Disco and I fear that you will buy one, it will break and it will be a money pit for you.

If you're looking for a cheap run around, why not a diesel fiesta/206/C3. All will give you nearer 50mpg round town, be light and nippy (a Td5 is NOT nippy) and as cheap as chips to run.

I got a TD5 to tow my new boat. It's a supreme tow vehicle, especilly after I 'unleashed' it's power by cleaning the MAP sensor and blanked the EGR valve (Both a piece of ****!). I like the way the air suspension self levels for towing.

It's manual and although the box works well enough, it's a serious drag around town. An auto would be better but more thirsty. The manual is fine on a run.

The space is good in the cabin and there is three proper 3 point seat belts in the back if you have kids. The boot space is excellent, and I can carry round all my tools, boat gear etc and still have space for weekends away.

The kids love riding around in it as they can see out.

I have 119K miles and am not bothered about engine longevity as I've read quite a few posts from > 170K owners.

I do less than 10k miles per year also. No off road but like the contingency factor of having full-time 4x4 and wading capability.

I got the car at the end of January and have had to fix about 6 niggly things so far. No big deal as I've been able to do my own work including servicing. General servicing is easy, particulary if you get the LR RAVE CD.

The steering is ****e on bumpy twisty A-roads. Mine may have an issue but it might be down to the steering box, instead of 'rack and pinion' in normal cars. My last car was a Rover 600 with speed sensitve PAS, an absolute dream compared to this, so maybe I'm still getting used to it. My MOT is today so I'm hoping something (simple!) is picked up.

There is oceans of advice available on the web and most problems are common.

I'm afraid to let my wife drive it as it's wide and visibilty is poor for reversing.

The chassis needs protected with Waxoyl as it is showing signs of significant rust. I'll be tackling this myself soon.

After 3 months of ownership, would I still get a TD5? Hmmm, probably, because I'm going through a good spell at the minute and it's great for towing.

If I didn't need a tow car? Nah!

Cheers

Andy

Thanks for the advice, in all honesty its probaly a daft idea getting a Disco, as I wont be towing, nor do I have a large family, nor will I be doing much off roading. I only want it because, I like the driving position, and love the outdoors, going mountain biking an camping etc.
I am jus unsure with the diesel prices, and with the government having it on for 4x4s that I will buy one, and it will depreciate massively, and will cost a fortune in tax etc.
Not really one for my own servicing so I will be taking it to my local garage, but I like the idea of my daily driver to be reliable, and not a money pit, and after looking at the posts the TD5 seems fairly problamatic.

johnacky said:

and after looking at the posts the TD5 seems fairly problamatic.

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Unfortunately the very nature of these sorts of forums does tend to highlight a vehicles problems. However, with all the " niggly " stuff Ive had with my TD5 Disco so far, I have been able to find the answer's on this very site !.

I find them a very straight forward vehicle to work on.
I'm constantly amazed at what you can find for these cars without needing the dealer network. I'm actually starting to wonder if I'll ever have to buy anything from the main dealers !!.

I'm personally not scared at the thought of potential problems. I know that its best to put a few quid to one side for any failures, but that can be said for any vehicle.

Again, unfortunately, people rarely write on these site's how well their Disco's go and what great pleasure they get from driving/owning them .


I think mine is great !!. ( warts an all !! ).

Del.

50 pence said:

Unfortunately the very nature of these sorts of forums does tend to highlight a vehicles problems. However, with all the " niggly " stuff Ive had with my TD5 Disco so far, I have been able to find the answer's on this very site !.

I find them a very straight forward vehicle to work on.
I'm constantly amazed at what you can find for these cars without needing the dealer network. I'm actually starting to wonder if I'll ever have to buy anything from the main dealers !!.

I'm personally not scared at the thought of potential problems. I know that its best to put a few quid to one side for any failures, but that can be said for any vehicle.

Again, unfortunately, people rarely write on these site's how well their Disco's go and what great pleasure they get from driving/owning them .


I think mine is great !!. ( warts an all !! ).

Del.

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We love both of our Discos, but for what they are - not because we wanted economy vehicles.

We tow horse boxes, carry loads of wood and other building materials, plus our 4 dogs.

I also love Discos because of the relative cheapness of spare parts for them, but that doesn't detract from the fact that if you don't need a 2 ton 4 wheel drive, maybe, just maybe, it's daft to have one.

60mpg gets to sound very attractive when diesel is over £1.25 per ltr.

I passed my MOT today. Yee Ha! Glad I did a sneaky wipe of the steering box just before it to hide the 'weep'. No steering issues picked up so I guess that's just the way it is.

Now project WaxOyl begins in earnest!

Cheers

Andy

johnacky said:

I only want it because, I like the driving position, and love the outdoors, going mountain biking an camping etc.
I am jus unsure with the diesel prices, and with the government having it on for 4x4s that I will buy one, and it will depreciate massively, and will cost a fortune in tax etc.

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Er - have you thought of getting a VAN? Before the last few Landys I had a Sherpa. The build quality was rubbish, but the driving position was good, I put a double bed and a cooker in the back (and insulated the roof for winter), it was fine offroad if you put enough weight over the back wheels, you could get a couple of bikes in the back, servicing was dead easy and it was seriously cheap to buy new. Drove one of those Vauxhalls with the weird rear lights recently and was seriously tempted...

Johnacky

I have a 2002 td5, GS model (the 5-seat gets ACE which improves handling somewhat).

My hobbies are climbing, cycling and hillwalking (and motorbikes but that's not connected to this thread). The TD5's a great tool, whenever we're off for a weekend, we always jump in the landy. You can get 3 bikes and 3 people in no problem.

For climbing, it makes loads of Munros more accessible (Seana Bhraigh for instance has a cracking green lane route). For ice climbing it makes the climbs accessible where nothing else gets through (before the snow ploughs have opened the ski roads in the mornings). I have BFT AT's which are excellent.

Work-wise, I run a couple of self-catering places in north Scotland as well, so I'm always loaded and often with items inside like fridges/washing machines. It's a great workhorse, and the 4x4 is superb in snow (northern scotland in winter).

My own experience (owned from new, now 126000 miles and 6 years old), is that the vehicle has been cheap to run (for a big car). Tyres 70k miles, still on original front brake pads/disks (just), and low cost servicing from a non-stealer. Bodywork and chassis on mine is immaculate (was waxoyled at 3-years-old, and topped-up a couple of times since) for it's age.

The MPG's a bit scarey, but not as bad as some (I get 31 mpg ish overall, but don't commute in rush-hour traffic).

Had planned to sell mine (and get another 4x4, probably a gaylander2 because it does all I need and much better mpg/performance on road), but decided to hang onto mine for another year or two.

Buy one!

johnacky said:

Thanks for the advice, in all honesty its probaly a daft idea getting a Disco, as I wont be towing, nor do I have a large family, nor will I be doing much off roading. I only want it because, I like the driving position, and love the outdoors, going mountain biking an camping etc.
I am jus unsure with the diesel prices, and with the government having it on for 4x4s that I will buy one, and it will depreciate massively, and will cost a fortune in tax etc.
Not really one for my own servicing so I will be taking it to my local garage, but I like the idea of my daily driver to be reliable, and not a money pit, and after looking at the posts the TD5 seems fairly problamatic.

Click to expand...

It's not a daft Idea, many people buy these for towing,working tha land or a work horse...
I bought one as a camping accessory, in the same way as I bought a trangia, some boots and a tent.

Just by owning such a vehicle, my exposure to the outdoors has risen far and beyond what it used to be in a hatchback which was just as capable of carring all the kit, but now the difference is that I can now take the car to the spot where I want to camp. In addition to this I found a whole bunch of other people who like to do the same...

reliable.. not
cheap to run.. not

but if you learn to roll up your sleeves and are prepaired to have a go there is such a following in these cars that you're never allone with a problem.

If you think of it as an accessory for your outdoor passion, it'll be the best investment you ever make..!!!