worth keeping?

Just purchased a 1991 discovery 2 days ago and took it in for an M.O.T to work out all the little things that needed done.

it has 160,000 miles on it and the motor, gearbox and chassis are like new.

However after going through it's M.O.T the mechanic informed me that the body mounts are rusted and that a previous repair job on them had rusted out.
Seatbelt point were also rusted.

He went on to inform me that the scale of the rust and repair job was beyond what they would themselves attempt to fix.

He said if I could get a new body it would be fine as the chassis is in mint condition.

It passed on everything else though.

Should I repair the discovery or return it and get my money back?

EDIT: I paid £650 quid for it

everything is repairable - but you'd have to DIY for it to be cost effective

was it a private sale ?

it was purchased from a dealership... I still have my 30 day legal right of return.

However I would like to keep the vehicle if possible... I'm prepared to repair it myself if it's not too bad.

I'll crawl underneath and take some photo's tomorrow to give you an idea of the work needed.

The mechanic is a good friend of mine, I'm hoping he simply means it's not worth paying him the labor to fix it as opposed to me fixing it myself.

has it failed the MOT on rot ?

yes it did... here is the M.O.T details...

1. Nearside rear (door pillar) Seat Belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded

2. Offside rear (door pillar) Seat Belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded

3. Nearside front Body or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting it's strength within 30cm of the body mountings

4. Offside front Body or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting it's strength within 30cm of the body mountings

5. Nearside rear Body or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting it's strength within 30cm of the body mountings

6. Offside rear Body or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting it's strength within 30cm of the body mountings

7. Nearside lower (sill) Body or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting it's strength within 30cm of the body mountings

8. Offside lower (sill) Body or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting it's strength within 30cm of the body mountings

i assume it wasnt sold with a valid MOT ?

looks like you got a project there - hope you can weld

yes it has a valid M.O.T until mid-next year... I put it in for one as I do for any 2nd hand car I purchase.

It probably scraped through it's last M.O.T... it has been patched before.

think if that wuz me i'd be back at the "dealership" in the morning waving the failure report in their faces and asking for an explanation

would be interesting the see the degree of rust your man found - MOT failing levels of rust takes ages to develop

I'll post pictures tomorrow... I'm working until Saturday, so if I return it to the dealership it will have to be at the weekend.

See what you guys think, I'll put pics up

Not looking forward to driving back down there again though... it's over 50 miles away.

If you can weld yourself its not the end of the world. I have welded up many disco's and as previously said its all repairable. When people use "cost effective" and 'Land Rover' in the same sentence it always tickles me!
I had a 200 a few years back that needed the whole rear floor,arches,crossmember replacing and a few plates on the sills. That took me a weekend and it is still going round today (another owner) quite hapilly and flew thru its MOT 3 weeks ago!

that honestly makes me feel better...

I mean if it was a car it's another matter... but this is my first Body on Frame vehicle and I understood that I might end up doing a little welding to get things sorted.

I'm increasingly thinking i'm just going to restore her.

I fabricated a large flatbed trailer a couple of years ago and it's still running strong. There's always something rewarding in using something you have put a little bit of your heart and soul into.

I think it's illegal to sell an un-roadworthy car, so the dealership should be be "happy" to take it back.

To be honest I wouldn't expect to find anything different on a disco of that age unless it had been repaired already. And if it had it would be worth a bit more than 650 quid. A valid MOT seems to be absolutely no indication of condition these days, I've seen a few shockers that must have been rotten when the MOT was issued. If you feel you can take on the repares yourself and want to do it, why not take the fail sheet back to the dealer you bought it off and try for a bit of cash back off the fooker as a goodwill gesture. He might well tell you to eff off but it's worth a try. You've got to remember discos with NO mot will fetch 500 quid on ebay as they're worth more than that stripped for spares.

I bought mine knowing the following was wrong. Boot floor was more holes than metal, had down pipe and mid box but rear box had rotted and fell off, front inner arch large hole approx 1.5" high and 4"-5" long, rear wheel arches where rear doors close holed on both sides approx 1" dia both sides, rear body mount 1" dia hole, rear bump stops not there and rear shocks were so knackered they were solid. One top shock bush was in place but had fresh air round it because it was that knackered and split and the other had no top bush in it as its had completly split and come out so a nice bit of metal on metal and the best part of it was that it had 10 months mot on it! Needless to say it was very cheep and has had all the crap cut out and new boot floor and patches everywhere else. Takes a bit of time but as mentioned previously anything can be accived with a little patients and lots of persavirance. Mine is still work in progress but used daily.

As Hughesy said - what have you got to loose by taking it back and waving the failure report in his face? Anything is possible if you have the time and inclination (and money). I would be inclined to take it back and ask what they are going to do about it, as selling an unroadworthy car is illegal. Trading standards would be very interested in hearing what they are doing. Maybe a (substantial) discount/money back - or they will do the repairs FOC( I doubt it)?

status update guys...

Spoke to an ex-land rover mechanic who now works with me. His (professional) opinion was to keep the vehicle as the fundamentals are all good.

I am tempted to take a trip down there tomorrow though and see what happens.

I'll keep you all updated.

Thanks for the tips