2003 GS D2 40k miles - £10k - is this realistic?

I have my eye on a GS D2 at a garage - its on the forecourt for just under £10k

It seems quite well looked after but the price is way above recommended prices for an ES - let alone a GS.

But it has less than 40k on the clock.

I want a nice D2 - but is this just too expensive regardless?

I am on the look out for a better Discovery and have seen a few around this price with that sort of mileage. As far as I am concerned, the lower the spec the better as for a long term car there is less to go wrong.

It's not unreasonable for a low mileage discovery 2 IF that is what you want. The problem for me is that for that money you are not far off Discovery 3 prices (albeit the repair costs will be potentially higher) and the door is open to other vehicles like the Nissan Patrol and VW Toureg for example.

There is no absolute answer, it's really an individual decision...............but look at the alternatives before making the decision.
Also consider that a high mileage D2 at say £3000 might have had all the bits that fail replaced! The 2003 is 10 years old and the chassis may or may not be good...........

I'm definitely in the market for a D2 - I'm keeping my X reg one

Good point on the age of parts - everything on this one is going to be 10 years old - and you're right - many of the parts on mine are new

If only it weren't a million miles away!

My wife's 2002 GS was half that price - and yes, from a garage. Higher mileage - 120k but with full service history

I bought my 2004 td5 es premium which had 51k and only. 1 owner fsh I paid £11500 but that was in 2009

I think prices of low mileage ones have increased, possibly because it's the last practical Discovery to be able to afford to run. D3 and 4 may be great cars but they are far too expensive and complicated to maintain for many of us..................

i paid 8900 for a 04 es premium, full spec and history, 66k auto, i had it 1 week, the things you find when you get it home from garage and it was all problems, had a few threads on here whilst in possession of 7 days, knew my right, talked to garage, they understood, gave me full refund, bought an 04 pursuit 95k fsh, 4.5k private, give it a full service and a few other things, good car now at half price, my advice have a good look around, then around, before you purchase! good luck!!

I have seen some cracking looking low mileage D2's over the years,well good looking on the top side BUT get down and look under !!! RUST !!! If the chassis has not been well looked after then imo it aint worth much.
A lot of dealers now "waxolye" just prior to the vehicle being presented to the public,if you see that then it is hiding something.

i'd rather a car with slightly high miles atleast you know its been on the road and not on the ramps

Thanks everyone I have slept on this for a few nights but have decided to write this up...

If you are planning to buy a landrover, I'd suggest that you avoid these people:


I believe they prey upon less experienced people looking for a shiny landrover.
Their website implies a main dealer - not the small car lot they really are.

Unless you want to pay too much and live within 30 miles of this garage I would suggest you go elsewhere.

The facts...

The car I was looking at was an '03 GS spec - no ACE or cruise control - this is about as basic as it can get.

They were asking £10k for it which, for a GS, is seriously overpriced.

That said I was still interested as I wanted a good low mileage D2.

Before I set off I asked all the normal questions but specifically a catch all one of "Is there anything obviously wrong?" - to which the answer was a definite 'No'.

I made him very aware that I was going to be travelling 5 hours to get to him - he took a £300 deposit to hold it - assuring us we would get it back if we did not like the car.

When we got to the garage I gave it a good look over.
It had been 'waxoyled' - in quotes because this was hardly a thick coat or consistently applied - much of the underside was barely covered if at all.
Under the bonnet everything glistened - obviously sprayed with wd40/'engine cleaner'.
Given the lack of rust bumps under the waxoyl and the straightness of the plastics under the bonnet this was all done to tart it up.
The wheel arches were pitted with UV - this is normal for a car of this age - but not for one at that price - this highlights the limit of the work they are willing to put in to make the premium price.

When we went for the test drive it was a different matter.
On starting, there was the tell tale noise from the squealing clutch/thrust bearing - he explained they all do this (!!)
But at around 2500 revs the rattle from behind the dash was atrocious. He tried to laugh this off describing the rattles as 'landrover rattles'.

He offered to drop the price to £9,900 because of the rattle!! He knew I would never spend the time driving to Blackburn to get the rattle sorted out on his warranty - he could obviously sense the way this was going

I was not going to pay £10k for a car that had such problems - the car was not as described - I asked for my deposit back.

He had first tried to just walk away and keep the deposit!!!
He then offered half of it back!!
He then refused to give us the £50 for the MOT he had put on it!!
I was spitting furious - I had to drive for 10 hours, pay for the fuel not to mention lose out on my day and he wanted me to pay for the MOT (which he kept)


I believe he felt that if I would drive that far I would buy it whatever the problems.

I know he bought the car from a dealer in portsmouth for less than £8.5k, had it driven back to Blackburn, 'waxoyled' it, ponced it up and planned to sell it for £10k.

On his forecourt there is a >100k miles X reg D2 for just under £6k
(which must, by his own account, have clutch squeal)

My 190k mile D2 does not make the squealing noise - nor does it have as many rattles!!!
in fact all the other D2s I know at the moment don't either

As to a 'landrover dealer' passing off rattles as standard - not exactly an ambassador for the marque!

We all have to make a living but I don't think this is the way to do it.

I hope this honest write up affects the way they do business.

Mileage isn't everything. In fact, with a Turbo Diesel, the higher the mileage, usually the better. Turbos like long journeys and usually, if a car has a high mileage, it will have had quite a lot of long journeys.
Last year, I bought a 2004 Td5 Landmark for £6995 with 127 000 on the clock. It is in almost immaculate condition and the chassis has only surface rust as it has been garaged and WaxOyl'd all its life. It has a full service history so the engine and 'box run really well. In my opinion, service history and condition are much more important than mileage because, if it has been looked after, Discos can quite easily do 200 000+ miles.
My car has now done 133 000 miles and all I've had to do to it is replace the rear off side hub. I bought it from a dealer, GP Cars - in Herts. And I can highly recommend them.

In south wales there is a garage selling a D2 which has the BMW engine in it,well thats what the description says !!and there is a photograph of the engine but yes its a td5 engine. I e mailed to say you have that description wrong, no answer of course and was still being advertised with a BMW engine last time I looked.Winkers

all cars are different! depends on how they are looked after by the individual owner, also what part of the country helps a little, but you have to go and see really, bit of a lottery, they are out there! just keep hunting, but i wouldn't pay 10k,

I couldn't spend that on an older model when you can have the newer model.

My Td5 has done 172k but its had the work done to do another 100k and serviced religiously over the past 6 years, I put my 99 Td5 up for £3500 I thought it was highly priced but then I was and still am unsure I want to part with it.

When it is time thou I think I will be going for the newer model but sub £10k even thou the XC90 is very appealing at that price range as it seems you get more for your money.

I had similar problem, travelled 3 hours to see 'immaculate' and 'completely rust free' disco1. Paid deposit before leaving, got there and it was a bag of sh*te!! I had a fit!! The boss disappeared when things got a little heated refusing to give deposit back as he had put MOT on aswel. Clearly an illegal one as car was unsafe for the road. Luckily I went with a mate who is a body builder and cage fighter. He got hold of the lads who worked there and told them to get their boss back with deposit money and extra fuel money to compensate us or all hell would break lose. He soon turned up with cash for us!! Problem was solved. But wasted a day of out time. Can't stand these rip off merchants who blatantly lie to u thinking if u travel this far you'll buy anyway.... Scum!

loudandproud205 said:

When it is time thou I think I will be going for the newer model but sub £10k even thou the XC90 is very appealing at that price range as it seems you get more for your money.

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Have to agree with you when you start spending that money some other options do start to become appealing, XC90 or Touareg possibly even though my heart lies with the Discovery.