Looking for a Discovery 1

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ArfurDaley

New Member
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5
hey

Looking to get into the Land Rover scene and hoping to find a Discovery 1 200/300tdi manual. Preferably 3 door. Hoping for support and advice as I go from the forum!

Thanks in advance
 
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Welcome to the forum:)

Look for rust above all else. Discos are great but advice is don't be put off if one seems a couple of hundred £ overpriced - the supply is going to start drying up soon. It already is on 3-doors. Everything else can be fixed easy / cheap but rust is your enemy.

Happy landyzoneing:):)
 
Thanks - 3 doors are more difficult to find. Not sure how concerned I should be as 2 out of the 3 I have chased to date are recorded as cat c write offs (with their owners denying all knowledge!)

Given the age of D1's, should I be less concerned they are insurance write offs??
 
I wouldn't worry about buying a write-off, given the current market value of D1s, it does not take much damage to get them written off. Ones that were written off when worth more will more likely be decently repaired.
 
I've always liked the 3 door and indo as above makes me keep my 19 year old D1 with its 45k miles on the clock.
One day someone will won't a 5 door V8 and then it will be a lot more than a couple of £ hundred overpriced :)

'Rust' I don't do rust, my disco would have been sold long ago...not all disco's have issues with rust.
Now Ive move on with other vehicles they are still low mileage and weekend use only as I always commute via train or use a company car. :D
 
I've always liked the 3 door and indo as above makes me keep my 19 year old D1 with its 45k miles on the clock.
One day someone will won't a 5 door V8 and then it will be a lot more than a couple of £ hundred overpriced :)

'Rust' I don't do rust, my disco would have been sold long ago...not all disco's have issues with rust.
Now Ive move on with other vehicles they are still low mileage and weekend use only as I always commute via train or use a company car. :D

Out of interest, how do you value such a well cared for low mileage D1???

There is one listed on eBay, 3 door in white, 65k and been in storage (alleged). Asking price £3650. I offered £2500 which was accepted provided I could collect within within a certain time frame but I could not meet the demands of the seller. Plus his dramatically reduced acceptance at £2500 made me suspicious!! Is it worth the £3000 he is now looking for???
 
Out of interest, how do you value such a well cared for low mileage D1???

There is one listed on eBay, 3 door in white, 65k and been in storage (alleged). Asking price £3650. I offered £2500 which was accepted provided I could collect within within a certain time frame but I could not meet the demands of the seller. Plus his dramatically reduced acceptance at £2500 made me suspicious!! Is it worth the £3000 he is now looking for???

Go and have a GOOD look at it, take a couple of mates and tap all the chassis, lift the carpet ask to see bills for work done ...

Check all the numbers on the paperwork too ...

or ask the AA or similar for a vehicle report ...
 
I've been wondering how long it will be until Richards etc start doing disco chassis.

Discoveries are nice, but just not as well supported for continued maintainance as defenders.

(We have one of both - both 300tdis)
 
We have two D1's; a 3 door and a 5 door. the 3 door is much nicer to drive, and handles much better, due the reduction in weight by having 2 less doors. (IMHO:p)

However, the 3 doors do rust more than the 5's - especially in front of the rear wheel arch, and it is much harder to get at and fix, so be careful. ( you can't take the door off ( obviously), so you really need to take the side panel off to get proper access. IMHO, any other way is a bodge - and If you are paying garage rates for this type of work, then you will need very deep pockets, and quite long arms too )

IMHO, unless you can weld, and weld well, I wouldn't go near one, unless its a re-import from Japan (etc), where there is no road salt. However, for the low mileage bit, you will have to pay towards £7K for one with about 40K miles on it.

Definitely lift the carpets and look at footwells and boot floor. If the seller isn't keen on this, walk away. definitely take a mate who knows what he is doing, and take a magnet too - flipping underseal can hide all sorts of rubbish pretending to be steel !

If you buy one, almost your first job should be to strip the underseal of it - only my opinion, but its shared by a few others on here - I think we have all learned the hard way :rolleyes:
 
I've been wondering how long it will be until Richards etc start doing disco chassis.

Discoveries are nice, but just not as well supported for continued maintainance as defenders.

(We have one of both - both 300tdis)

There's a firm on flea bay fitting galv chassis to D1's for £4K - item # 162134255123 - in Liskeard.

and another firm selling the chassis for £1700
 
So you suggest a tidy 5 door - accept it is what it is and pay £2k for a tidy'ish one and expect bills?? (Rather than pay more just because it is a 3 door)

I have had many defenders and spent loads on mods but the prices and 'thefts' of defenders are putting me off. I need to learn to buy one, use it and not try to make it perfect! An expensive hobby that usually sees me lose money! But is that not a Land Rover 'given'? You will lose much money!!

And thanks for all the comments
 
I've a pair of 200tdi / 3 door D1's, a '91 (on road) & a '93 (sorta resto in progress:oops:)

3 door specific parts are getting harder to find, rear wing panels for example are alloy, I've seen dent or corrosion damage on a few including my '91's :(
Inner trim is cardboard / fibreboard so water damage is common;)

As previously mentioned, look for rust, chassis included especially around the rear suspension's top link mounts as this is hard to access & a mud-trap :eek:
Also remember the bodies unseen steel inner frame that shows many surprises when interior trims are removed

Great landies and worth owning

Rich.
 
Ive eyed up those "sahara" kit builds a number of times. The 'luxuary' of a disco, without the rot. But the doors just make them look like some Jap roadster : (

(that, and i dont have £3k spare)
 
...i guess theyre not so bad with the uppers fitted -

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I paid 1500 hundred on my d1 had low miles need abit of work , minimal rust just on rear inside wheel arch good to go spend a few hundred on getting it right with some hard work cant go wrong. Saying that im about 4000 in and just re-spraying it ., but I do love it ,had a defender before and I think I prefer the disco just for comforts more than anything
 
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