Disco or Jap model?

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SimonKeyes

New Member
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Hi guys,

New to the forum and will probably get flamed for this but wanted some advice :D

I am looking to buy a 4x4 for towing and launching a boat which is about a ton. Was looking into a Land Rover Discovery as this could do the job easily and I love the look and feel of it however a lot of people point to reliability and cost of running and one forum quoted:

"For a total hassle free boring journey get yourself one of the Jap models,e.g. Nissan Patrol, Isuzu Trooper or a Mitsubishi Shogun different league altogether to a Disco"

Can someone offer some honest advice (I know to ask that in a Land Rover forum is a bit rich)? I would love a Disco but not if every 6 months I have foot another bill.
 
I have been using my Disco for the last year to launch a 16' boat. I have had no problems on sand or on slipways and the Disco unlike most 'slittys' as they call them here is that its full time 4wd so can pull 3.5 tons (ask how much a nissan can pull). The key is (whatever you get) to keep it out of the salt water at all cost. If I get even a splash of salt water its straight to the pressure washer.
 
welcome to looneyzone.
yes you could get a jap car but when it does break it WILL cost you a fortune to fix, even if you are a good diy mechanic, if you ain't the garage will love you:rolleyes:
on the other hand a land rover, yes they are amazing off road very cheap on parts, half to aquater of the price of most jap 4x4's. but you pay more to get em in the first place.
but they are more of a hobby than a car, i spend most weekends either under mine or taking it green laneing, always getting moaned at by the wife for spending money on it but NOT coz it's broke down on me, coz so far it's never let me down and starts first time everytime:D
ooops hope i haven't shot me sen in the foot now
a few little niggles like broken door springs and a new fuel pump but it's easy to fix and easy to work on
go on give landrover a go you'll be so impressed you'll want another


BUT DON'T BUY A FREELANDER:eek: THIER ****E
 
I've owned a couple of isuzus in the past and while they're quiet and comfortable I wouldn't want to be at the receiving end of the bill when they go wrong and they are not in the same league as a Land Rover for hauling heavy loads or driving offroad.
 
I was helping a friend on his Pajero and was amazed at how little room there was under the bonnet for maintenance. Even the simplest job like tightening the A/C drive belt was a mission. Also beware of overcomplicated set ups and uneccesary electronics. You have to take lots of stuff off to work on the engine and that means time which menas money if your not doing it yourself. On the other hand open up the bonnet of a Tdi300 and its a lovely place to work. But dont take my word for it, check it out yourself.

By the way, a word of wisdom. A Landrover forum is probably not the best place for an unbiased opinion of their virtue. I've had mine over a year. I have spent a bit on it but nothing really compared to the amount some spend on modern cars.
 
Japs not always that reliable. A friend had a brand new nissan and got through three turbo units (nissan admitted it was a fault, but would only replace with recon units which also broke). He's just sold it to a dealer for a surprisingly good price and bought a 51 plate range rover, which he has found much more reliable (yes really!)
 
Compelling and well thought out argument Yella - I now realise the error of my ways:rolleyes:

Anyway thanks everyone else - if someone could offer any advice on what to look for with around £6k would be grateful. Narrowed it down to something like a Disco 2.5 Diesel TDI Auto so recovering boat on slipway would be easier.
 
SimonKeyes said:
Compelling and well thought out argument Yella - I now realise the error of my ways:rolleyes:

Anyway thanks everyone else - if someone could offer any advice on what to look for with around £6k would be grateful. Narrowed it down to something like a Disco 2.5 Diesel TDI Auto so recovering boat on slipway would be easier.
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Hi Simon, if you're thinking about a Tdi 300 auto there is no need to spend anywhere near your max budget of £6000.

Just as an example, last December I bought a June '98 Tdi 300 auto, 75,000mls, full dealer service history, 2 owners, mechanically superb, cosmetically a little less than perfect, for less than half your budget.

In the last 4 months, nothing problem-wise has come out the cupboard - no nasty surprises - drives really well and I'm delighted.

Incidently, I always used to be very anti auto-boxes when towing, but this vehicle really is just great., good on juice too unless you get silly with the pedal. I get about 33mpg overall.
 
i have had isuzu`s ive had pajeros also 200tdi`s 300tdi`s discoverys and now run a td5 disco none of the jap stuff has come close to the land rovers in way of fuel economy availability of parts at good price i have repaired all off them myself and found the land rovers to be the simplest and easyist to repair i would not go back to the other side may the force guide you:p
 
ps i usually tow in excess of three tons up and down the country and the discoverys do this very well and comfortably
 
Ask yourself a question before you buy. Are you a diy mechanic and reasonably handy with a spanner? If the answer is yes then go the Disco route. repairs are mostly annoying leaks and greasing well within the scope of the home mechanic with basic tools, this keeps running costs to a minimum.

This is not true of the Jap stuff with special tools needed for this and that and of course you should have a degree in Nuclear Physics to understand just why it needs so many wires/relays/ecu's ect just to start the damn things!

If you know nothing about cars full stop so whatever you buy is going in the shop for repairs then I must say in MY personal experience the jap stuff is more reliable however, the cost of repairs at the dealer will leave your head spinning because when they go wrong parts are super expensive.

JMHO

regards

Dave

93 200 tdi Disco has NEVER let me down!
 
Well ive owned mitsubishi l200s and isuzu troopers and even a nissan navara but im sorry to say the l200s are very soft its the old shogun 2.5 4d6 engine heads go for fun total rubbish.troopers strong engine but the rest is junk they rot if they even drive through the seaside pmsl .nissan navaras well i cant find anything good about them no ground clearance at all ...The thing is about landys is they have a axel front and back all the rest have drive shafts on the front if you go through long grass bye to the cv boots straight away .a land will go through out mud not a problem just goes over the axel .drive shafts just sipt it everywhere normally across belts and the important bits ..articulation on japs is ?? what can i say. i say i disco td5 will do the job strong engine 100.000 miles just run in there was one in the auto trader a 02 plate with 475.000 miles on ...the only thing that comes close or dare i say BETTER off road is a suzuki sj only because there light and have front and rear axels aswell but sorry wont pull yer boat lol UNLESS you can sqeeze a rover v8 in ???? somehow i think not..plus landys are BRITISH tells something about a guy ..we drive em with union jack shorts on ....yeeee haaaaa
 
v5dcr said:
plus landys are BRITISH tells something about a guy ..we drive em with union jack shorts on ....yeeee haaaaa
Click to expand...

wud that be the BMW owned landies, the FORD owned landies or the TATA owned landies?

ffs nissans are more British - or at least the British built ones are.
 
The Mad Hat Man said:
wud that be the BMW owned landies, the FORD owned landies or the TATA owned landies?

ffs nissans are more British - or at least the British built ones are.
Click to expand...

arn't the parts for them jap things made in japan and only assembled in britain. LR may be owned by some group of foriegners but most of the parts are still made in britain aswell as being assembled in britain. not to mention designed and built by brits(mainly)
 
fook me Slob - yu sayin that the noo Landies are still being built by untrained monkeys in Solihull? I thort that was raised to the ground years ago.
 
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