1st Time buyer

Hi there,

Loving the forum, looks like it'll be a top place for advice when I finally find a Disco!

However, I am very new to Disco's. I've got 5-7k to spend on one and am completely in the dark on what things I should be looking for & what things to avoid. Could anybody offer any top tips one what's the best model/engine/ extras that are worth paying for.
If you've got one to recommend then let me know!

Appreciate any advice you can give

Thanks! Gareth

Presume you'd be looking at a 300 TDi or the same age V8 (there was a 2.0 MPi petrol but few seem to have been bought)?

Focussing on the negatives only because that's what you're worried about I presume:

- off-roading damage/wear
- rust in the chassis and body-frame. Check rear floor and seat belt mountings as well as the sills...believe this is more of an issue with earlier 200TDi's though (they are the ones with Sherpa headlights that look like a Mk2 Transit from the front)
- knackered window seals cause leaks in the rain (look for evidence in the interior trim and sniff for mouldy smells etc)
- make sure the Hi/Lo ratio's and diff locks work
- look for abnormal oil leaks
- collapsed driver's seats
- diesels seem more likely to have been made to work for a living than V8's.
- grossly over-valued by many sellers

It's a Land Rover...inherently unreliable but doesn't mean it will stop working. Spotting bodges was a big exercise when we bought ours.

Sure someone will be along to add to that but there's a start..!

Malcolm

for that sort of money, I would take a look at the adverts in the Mags LRM/LRE for the jap imports, high spec and next to no rust.

Most of them are auto's though and you'd have to waxoil it straight away.

They are mint condition. If you intend to keep it, spend the money on the best one you get to the max of your budget. You can add the toys later.

I would recommend to get one from a dealer with a warranty, unless you are good with engines etc. Basically all the discos we've owned, new and used, have had problems in the first 5 months which would have been fairly expensive to fix.

Hi,

Thanks for such a fast response. Thanks for the advice, have printed that out and got a couple lined up to see over the weekend from Autotrader. Will grab a magazine too and do some more research.

Cheers again, will keep you posted!!

Thanks

Gareth

well if you need the info of the adverts, just ask.

I have just bought my first Disco as a family car. We ended up buying a R reg V8 ES with LPG conversion. We managed to find that the installer of the gas was local to us and he knew the car quite well so we were relatively confident we were getting a good deal. We found that with the V8 you seem to get a higher spec with lower milage for the same money which was good. We will have to see how the ecenomy pans out with Gas on board but after doing a couple of hundred miles signs are pretty good that it won't break the bank.

We bought the Disco because my Wife and kids like Greenlaning but in the series 2 it can get a little uncomfortable and by the end of a long day the ringing in the ears takes a while to go. Next on the list for the disco is some underbody pretection and a 1" suspension lift.

I would say take the time to look. We looked for quite a while and found loads that looked ok at first but look at details and things come up. Things like not having the same tyres on axles were things that I just turned and walked from. Alot of the dealers did not understand why that was a bad thing. The dealer we ended up buying off knew his Land Rover's well and also the gas system.

Who was the dealer? Could be useful to know them!

We bought it off Landspeed who are in Ipswich. I was impressed with their service and although I am a rubbish haggler we got all the window rubbers replaced and a few other small jobs done. We have noticed since picking it up that it has a leak in the manifold gasket, the tail lights don't work and it is missing the 6 disc changer it was advertised as having. All going to be sorted with no arguements.

Hello everyone...

I am in the same position as the original poster of this thread.

Is there any more gems of wisdom out there???

much appreciated

Battenberg.