Newbie questions

Hi all
The time has come for my trusted Frontera to be laid to rest and whilst I was looking at some Jap motors (sorry!) I am also very interested in a Discovery. I have my eye on a 2000 DISCOVERY 4.0 V8I ES with 55K on the clock, FSH. £5,500
I was talking to a guy the other day who has several LR's and his opinion was to avoid manuals at all cost as the "gear box is likely to give out at about 70K"
Can anyone offer an alternative view on this. I am aware that maintenance is crucial and I would also look to get an LPG conversion pretty much straight away.
Any advice would very much be appreciated.
Cheers Phill

I run a 2000 4.0 v8 GS AUTO and love it. In my opinion the purchase price you quote is too high, I paid less than £4k for mine less than 6 months ago with 64k on the clock and it's in good condition.
As for LPG, do your maths first and work out based on your mileage how long the payback will be. I'm only doing about 4000 miles a year in my Disco so the payback would be 5 years or more and i might not even have it by then so I've decided against LPG, for now at least.

hello mate i bought a 99 disco 2 v8 es last year after being stitched up with a disco1 diesel i paid 3800 for mine with 92000 on the clock but it came with a years t&t but also a top of the range multi point lpg system and i gotta say apart from a couple of leaky sunroofs its been good the mpg aint brill even on lpg but it depends on how heavy your foot is just get the best you can and enjoy good luck.

Thanks for the responses.
After the view that the asking price may be too high, could I stick another in for your consideration?
Yesterday I found a 2003 V8 auto with 99000 on the clock, all toys, certified multipoint LPG system for £6995.
Could I canvas opinion on which if any would be best as whilst the 2nd is newer with LPG, it is twice the mileage and 2k more!!!!
Cheers Phill

The mileage is on the high side, i would be tempted to try and get a bit more off, but a least it has the lpg done, that save you a lot. Must say i know a few people manual gearboxes who haven't had any probs. But auto and V8 go better.

My Disco was bought at 55k, it's now on 126+ no gearbox problems at all, despite my attempts ....

gearbox dead by 55k :der: mines at 110k, me last S3 ran to 170k without gearbox problems (ok syncromesh failed at 100k and it had no oil in it when i bought it:wtf So i dunno where your mate gets his ideas - heavy right foot maybe - or if im being uncharitable maybe he cant drive

Don't forget, if you are looking at an ES model you will have the air suspension at the rear and the twin sunroofs, oh and the ACE. Check em all and check em again. Go view it after a down pour and check for leaks from those sunroofs. Try and get a six month warranty if it's at a dealer. V8 with LPG is the best choice!

I've 135K on my TD5 and the manual gearbox is in great shape

Look on usedcarexpert.co.uk. If you register (free), you can get all the information on the model you want. It give you the common faults, recalls etc, there's some good info on there. Was invaluable when i bought my jag. Also Veloce books do Essential buyers guide, it's worth looking on their site to see if they do your model. I got one for 3.50 off amazon, it's very detailed and again it give you all the common issues with the model.