TD5 for under 5k.. worth a risk

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smallzoo

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I am looking for a 7 seater TD5 for under 5k. As I need to p/ex I will have to go to a garage..

here's my question.. I understand the TD5 are less prone to rust than 300's but can be expensive to fix..

For example is it better to get an earl TD5 with low mileage and the side seats or for a later with forward facing rear seats and higher mileage..

this is going to be our main family car and I know I have a tight budget but I dont want to make a big mistake

cheers

Peter
(based in cheshire)
 
As I understand it, there are no TD5 with side facing rear seats. All 7 seat Disco 2s had forward facing rear seats.

My TD5 was 5k, but from a private sale, and a bloody bargain at that. However I would not expect to get such generosity from a dealer.

TD5 vs Tdi is a debate that has been had here before. Have you tried a search?

MW
 
I bought a 2001 TD5 GS last week for under £5k, full service history up to date. Drives great and surprisingly economical. This was from a dealer that sells 2 or 3 vehicles a year from his house. It's a buyers market at the moment so ideally you need to sell your vehicle and have some readys available. Forecourt sales tend to be £750 to £1k above dealer book price (in my experience), so the dealer expects to be knocked down a fair bit. As for part exchange, well it depends on how much you expect to get for your vehicle. As an example, prior to buying my Disco I had a van for sale. I offered a dealer a straight swap for a £6k disco, he laughed. I put the van on Ebay and sold it for £7k, needless to say I never went back to that dealer.

In your situation I would seriously consider selling the car first, money talks as they say.
 
From recent personal experience. Disco2 TD5 7 seaters are great family cars with off-road ability and older models can be bought for under £5k (I got my 2000 model with low milage for £4200). I agree with the trade in issues already mentioned.

My advice, for what it is worth is 1. look under the car very carefully for oil leaks 2. take a socket with you to take off the cowlings to view the engine properly, again for oil leaks. 3. Have any leaks sorted out by the dealer or discounted from the price.
4. pay by credit card. That way you can claim compensation under s.75 of the Consumer Credit Act if the car turns out to be a lemon. 5. Look at any warrenty on offer very carefully. If there is mention of `wear and tear' you will find that anything that goes wrong was down to that in an older vehicle - its their get out clause and they dont like paying out! If you do take out a warrenty remind the dealer that this does not remove any responsibility/liability from him under the sale of goods act if there is a problem not covered by the warrenty.

I hope this helps.
 
Thanks for all the responses so far.

First and dont laugh..this will be third landrover and I am NOT a mechanic !.. I just love the drive and the fun so knowing what is good and what is not will be almost finger in the air and gut feeling job...

I mentioned the inward facing seats as there was a dealer selling a TD5 but the pictures showed inward facing seats which I thought was strange..

I live near crewe in cheshire, I dont suppose anyone can point me to a recommended trade garage ?
 
I would personally try and get a later facelift model if you can. They can be had for your budget if you bide your time.

I paid £4600 for my 03. Granted it is only the S model and has 5 seats, but that gives you something to think about.....

Having said that the main reason I went for this one was because it is one of the more basic models, no sls to go wrong. After reading on the forums about the air suspension issues I wondered if I really needed this feature. My 200TDI coped perfectly well without it.

The main reason I advocate going for a later model is because they improved the engine towards the end of the production run. I've got a 16p engine which is more robust than the 10p unit.

Oh, and budget for unforseen repairs. I had about £600 in mind for mine when I bought it. That was about right in the end. Also find yourself a good mechanic who will talk you through options and underatand that you don't have bottomless pockets, unlike the numpty I took mine to. I ended up just taking it back off him in the end and going out and looking for someone with some common sense.
 
Last edited:
Thats good advice...

Is there a good source of reference for telling me when the various facelift models of the Td5 came out ?
 
we sold a 99T 150,000 mile TD5 a few months ago for £3995.

'we' are a dealer in altrincham area. it was a really nice car, only a 5 seater, but very nice for its mileage. never had a warranty issue come back on it, customer was very happy.

it needed a few bushes, a new brake pipe, a track rod end and some wipers for its MOT, was a great runner.

excellent cars IMO.

as for that warranty thing, the buyer is entitled to 'good value', so depsite the fact that the vehicle has to be fit for its purpose, the purchase price has to be taken into account.

thus, trading standards will not tell you that you can get everything replaced under sale of goods act regardless of warranty. if you do end up buying a lemon it would have to be very lemony before it can be descibed as not fit for purpose, but obviously the car does have to work, and certain things do have to be replaced under warranty.

as i say, the main thing is that your are entitled to 'good value' in the word of the law, so if you buy a 4 grander td5 you SHOULD end up with a nice motor that you can be quite happy with, although it might be a bit rough round the edges!

cheers :D
 
oh and you wont get vewry far finding a land rover without oil leaks, and its pretty far fetched to expect a dealer to repair the oil leaks on a land rover just to sell it to you.

takle a gearbox out to replace a rear main seal that will leak again anyway in a few minutes, days or months? no thanks!

dont worry about minor oil leaks, a big dripper can be a pain, but theres no need to discount a car cos it leaks oil, its a landrover thing! :)
 
i payed £3300 for my 99T had a short mot (failed on a track rod end and no number plate lights) and needed a new clutch after around 3 months (did the work my self) well worth its money but it was only a 5 seater (had a look at a 7 seater but it was an auto) had it just over 3 years now
 
The other point is to get the car serviced when you get it - dealers increasingly dont do this these days - and ensure that any `advisories' are listed. This then lists any faults on the car that could reasonably be said to be there at point of sale. I did this with my car and had rear o/s hub and a transfer box leak as `advisories' - total cost to me £685.49 of which £358.39 were parts. I've just gone back to the dealer requesting reimbursement of the £358.39... Very reasonable of me I think - though I suspect I'll still have a battle!
 
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