Looking to buy a discovery or defender...any advice appreciated.

Hello,

New to this forum today (found whilst googling defenders); we are finally concentrating on finding a land rover to see us through the country winters!

I would ideally like a disco or defender for max £1500. We wouldn't really be using it other than when the weather turns bad (snow and ice) but, as we're not that familiar with the different models I would be grateful for any advice on a) whether it's reasonable to expect to get a decent car for that money and b) anything I should look out for?

We really just want a car that we use winter months so we can get in and out when the weather's bad. It's unlikely we will make much use of it other than that (or at least that's the plan).

Thank you.

That money will get a discovery, search for rust as boot floor and sills common rust points

dazedandcofused said:

I would ideally like a disco or defender for max £1500.

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At this time of year, for that money, you'll get a wreck. Wait until summer and buy well before you need it and you'll stand a better chance of getting something half decent for that money.

Thanks fanatic, will look out for that.

Adz: we were thinking that so will more than likely hold off and see if we can pick up something better (for the money) as there's probably been a run on them because of the weather. Thank you.

dazedandcofused said:

Hello,

New to this forum today (found whilst googling defenders); we are finally concentrating on finding a land rover to see us through the country winters!

I would ideally like a disco or defender for max £1500.

Click to expand...

:welcome2::welcome2::welcome2:

I'm no expert, but I would be surprised if you got any sort of Defender apart from a total moneypit for that sort of brass, suppose people do get extremely lucky now and again though. Whatever you do though you are definitely better waiting till next year and the better weather, there is a 'Snow Tax' on Land Rovers in this weather

I would say defo best go for a disco for that budget. Any Defender iv seen for that has been trouble. You can get lucky though I guess. oh and I agree wait for the summer.lol

With prices at the moment you'd be lucky to get an old disco 200 for that price.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have jsut seen a discovery for sale on here for £1300, not sure if it's still available though-am waiting to hear back. Is it fair to assume we're less likely to buy a dud on here? I appreciate that no-one can give me any guarantees I just wondered if this site attracted the more up-front type!
If it's not available then we will definitely wait til the summer.

Thanks again, really appreciate the help.

could depend on the owner, handy thing about this site is you can cheack a users recent posts which could give you a little background about it.

unless they only registered to flog the motor which seems to happen a lot

bobbler said:

could depend on the owner, handy thing about this site is you can cheack a users recent posts which could give you a little background about it.

unless they only registered to flog the motor which seems to happen a lot

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Good point for when you buy cars off forums.You can go snooping on whats been done to it and what problems they've had. Handy. Hehe.

dazedandcofused said:

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have jsut seen a discovery for sale on here for £1300, not sure if it's still available though-am waiting to hear back. Is it fair to assume we're less likely to buy a dud on here? I appreciate that no-one can give me any guarantees I just wondered if this site attracted the more up-front type!
If it's not available then we will definitely wait til the summer.

Thanks again, really appreciate the help.

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Don't just assume that just because it's been posted on this site it will be a good car - remember this is an open forum and anybody can join, as you have just proven.

Look at every car carefully and logically - there are dozens of things you've got to look at on a Discovery of that era, so watch out!

Oh and welcome

i think RobinT has one for sale.

So do I, for that matter

not knowing what other vehilcles you run or what you use them for its hard to give advise.... but in my opinion disco is far better value than a defender..... if you can live with the 30 odd mpg of a diesel disco youll end up using it full time and selling whatever youre driving now

Hiya, thanks for all the feedback.

Ricc: we have an MPV that we use day-to-day. The issue we have is that our son has an illness so we need a) a car that's as reliable as we can make it day to day and b) a 4x4 that we can use when the weather is bad to ensure we're not stuck at home in an emergency/or we need to get to the docs/chemist etc.
So, whilst I would dearly love to have a disco for everyday use I think I'll need to wait for that one until I have enough money to buy a really decent one; in the meantime I just need to get one that will see my through the winters.

The Mad Hat Man: I'm assuming your one is out of my price range??
I will look-up RobinT and see if I can find him.

Thanks again

you mention a reliable car....

be aware that discos for that sort of price will have problems now and again, so its a must that you are handy with a spanner..
altough this site will provide you with lots of information, things can go wrong.

12 months m.o.t and 6 months tax is a bonus too at least ya can sort things out if you buy one with minor issues before the next test

me and the mrs run 3 vehicles.... pug 306, fourtrak and disco.... none is worth much more than a grand , but usually whatever happens weve got two usable.... gives time to sort the broken one without spending a fortune cos it has to be done today. mrs mostly uses the pug and i use whichever of the two 4x4s is most conveinient at the time.....

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to start having a look round now and hoping to buy in the next few months.

I hate to say this, but maybe if it's reliability you need then you would maybe be better off with a jap motor? :behindsofa:

jap all the way
1998 MITSUBISHI SHOGUN GLS V6 SWB AUTO GREEN on eBay (end time 13-Feb-11 19:11:24 GMT)
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