OT :Landrover Discovery

I'm in the market for a cheap (<£2k) Land Rover and Discovery's seem
plentiful in this price bracket , much more so than 90's or 110's.
Whats wrong with them?

Steve

 

Older models have got a pretty horrendous reputation for reliability.

 

I'm in the market for a cheap (<£2k) Land Rover and Discovery's seem
plentiful in this price bracket , much more so than 90's or 110's.
Whats wrong with them?

Steve

Lots can go wrong. Diesels are where it's at, but they are slow.

Engine wise.

Head haskets can go
Turbos can go
Water pumps can let go
Timing belts need doing
Sumps leak

Bodywork

They can rust very badly
Inner wings
door bottoms
rear seat belt anchor point, just inside car
Boot floor rust through
Electrolytic corrosion on paint

Mechanicals

Swivels can go tits up
Gearboxs can clunk on drive take up, new box outout shaft req
dampers can be shot
steering damper

To be fair, there's loads of them & they are more reliable than you
think. Look for an ex-japanese one & the rust wont be as bad.

300tdi is better than you think & all the above bits are quite cheap if
you are handy with a spanner. The rear boot floor can be terminal due to
cost getting it done unless you can weld.

 

I'm in the market for a cheap (<£2k) Land Rover and Discovery's seem
plentiful in this price bracket , much more so than 90's or 110's.
Whats wrong with them?


Also, the 90n & 110 suffer many of the same problems. Main reaosn is
they look a bit dated. I would another tomorrow, but i maintain my own.

Nige

 

Says the man who drives a BMW.

 

My neighbour has rebuilt his (don't know the model) XXX XXXL registered
Land Rover from new chassis up. I was very impressed.

--
R100RT
Aprilia Pegaso 650 IE "The Flying Mythos"
Formerly: James Captain, A10, C15, B25, Dnepr M16 solo, R80/7, R100RT
(green!)
www.davidhowardjeweller.co.uk

 

I nearly posted the same as ogden, but then realised *I* wasn't sure
what my point was!

 

Cheers Nige

 

Oh the old ones are shit to drive on road, but at that age most will be
getting to use off road, where they are ace.

The new D4 I had for a few weeks a while ago, was bloody amazing.

 

Like nothing else...

The viscous coupling to the rear diff can be troublesome, and if it goes
and is left, it can take other bits with it due to transmission wind-up.


They're pretty capable though. I did one of those 4WD activity day
things in one, and it was pretty good.

 

They're named after two Pet Shop Boys albums.

 

Viscous Coupling? Are you talking about the Freelander?

 

Bollocks. Yes, Sorry. It was the mention of head gaskets tht got me on
those lines.

 

Some do have couplings though.

--


Nige,

BMW K1200S
Range Rover Vogue

 

I'd be the first to stick up for Landrover, but the Fucking Freelander
did its head gasket today. It's just clicked over 71K miles, having
gone around the country 3 times on various interview junkets recently,
so it did quite well. They usually go at 60K ish.

Paul.

 

What Nige says ... BUT ...

If you can wield a spanner (hammer) and have some knowledge (Angle
grinder and welder) and can do your own servicing and stuff then they
are pretty easy to maintain, run extremely well, are a lot of fun and
surprisingly cost-effective.

They're extremely good mile-eaters/ I find it has a very comfortable
driving position and I feel better/fresher after a long drive than I
ever did in my Mondeo/Laguna/Vectra rep-mobiles ...

90's and 110's hold their values better, but suffer exactly the same
problems, indeed they're the same engines other than ancillaries, and
chassis apart from length. Disco's rust a bit .. but if you can weld
then they're pretty easy to work on and repair.

Regular filter/oil changes do lots of good, not driving them stupidly
helps longevity, parts are easy to get hold fo, cheap and easy to fit,
mostly.

Great vehicles, IMHO ...

 

Ever owned a Rover?

 

Are you after a Land Rover because it's a Land Rover or after a rugged
4x4?

There are Fourtraks in that price bracket. Worrying for me 'cos I paid
nearly 7K for mine a few years ago. At that time dealers were all
asking 6K for ones that had obviously been used as farm vehicles.

They're rather truck-like to drive and ground clearance is slightly
compromised by the gearbox support member but generally have a good
reputation and will pull up to 3.5t braked. I don't know if this is
model-specific though.

 

The benefit of the Land Rover stuff is that it's so cheap to fix. OK -
stuff goes wrong, but that's true of most older vehicles.

www.paddocks.co.uk (and there is John Craddock too - but I don't like
him) will keep any old LR kit on the road for pennies. I did discs and
pads all round on my P38 not long back for 60 quid.

 

It does look like LR spares are cheap: in some cases about a third of
those for the Fourtrak, but so far in about 21K miles of ownership
(its now done about 92K) I've had to replace a couple of CV gaiters
and an exhaust back section. I did have the timing belt replaced just
after I bought the car because there was no record of it having being
done and the radiator is now corroding - I might replace it this
winter as a precaution. Bodywork is fine - a few stone chips that are
rusting and there are recessed bolts in the roof that also rust.
Underneath is solid. Alloys are pretty rough but that makes them
slightly less desirable to thieves.

When I bought the Fourtrak, I really wanted a Land Rover but couldn't
justify it: the tales of unreliability; the prices (at the time) even
for high mileage examples; the fuel consumption; it all added up.

It isn't a luxurious vehicle and is very unrewarding to drive over 70,
but I've driven it solo to the Alps twice now without discomfort.