TD5's - are they worth it?
- Thread starter Louise
- Start date
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gdb
New Member
- Posts
- 39
- Location
- Near Poitiers, western France
I bought my almost top of the range 2001 TD5 auto almost three years ago - every twiddly bit and extra save satnav, and was initially impressed, until it started to go wrong.
It's an export model, so a bit tarted up, I live in France, where Land Rovers are a religion, and they keep their price - on a good day, even now, I'd probably get 10,000 Euros for it
I've had almost every usual problem, as listed by someone else, including the infamous oil pump bolt falling out and almost wrecking the engine - but, it didn't, it cost me an oilpump and six hundred punds to fix - the good Lord smiled on me that day.
It's an expensive car to run, so for serviceing I brought it back to England for servicing - I got ripped off bigtime by a leading LR 4x4 specialist on the second service and vowed to go to a smaller independent the next time round. Which was a good idea, but you should take a personal recommendation - not look at the ads in the LR press.
The one thing to remember is that if you do have to replace the engine, and you're not a weekend mechanic that loves getting friends round to help you replace it, you're going to be facing a bill of up to six thousand pounds.
My advice is don't touch a Discovery.
When I can flog this one onto some upstanding French national I won't be looking for another Land Rover.
gdb
It's an export model, so a bit tarted up, I live in France, where Land Rovers are a religion, and they keep their price - on a good day, even now, I'd probably get 10,000 Euros for it
I've had almost every usual problem, as listed by someone else, including the infamous oil pump bolt falling out and almost wrecking the engine - but, it didn't, it cost me an oilpump and six hundred punds to fix - the good Lord smiled on me that day.
It's an expensive car to run, so for serviceing I brought it back to England for servicing - I got ripped off bigtime by a leading LR 4x4 specialist on the second service and vowed to go to a smaller independent the next time round. Which was a good idea, but you should take a personal recommendation - not look at the ads in the LR press.
The one thing to remember is that if you do have to replace the engine, and you're not a weekend mechanic that loves getting friends round to help you replace it, you're going to be facing a bill of up to six thousand pounds.
My advice is don't touch a Discovery.
When I can flog this one onto some upstanding French national I won't be looking for another Land Rover.
gdb
disco_steve
New Member
- Posts
- 465
- Location
- Cheltenham UK
Hi Louise,
Just to give you a little more confidence, I have a Disco 2 2004 MY, I have had it from new (lucky me) so I know it's history, it was serviced by LR until the warranty expired, now I DIY all of it (it's not difficult to do) and shed loads cheaper !!!
My Disco has now covered almost 144,000 miles, it is still on it's 2nd set of tyres (BF Goodrich all terrains) it's 2nd set of brake discs, 3rd set of pads, 2nd set of front shocks, apart from that all is still original - it also eats headlight bulbs for some strange reason !!
The only real big gripe is teh gearbox (mines a manual) it is a pain, often denying me of 1st and reverse, but you get used to it's quirks, and live with it, maybe I should have got an Auto, but the manual returns an average of 30mpg, and I doubt an Auto would manage that !!!
I would have another LR without hesitation, it is simply superb, but you have to realise it is NOT a car, more of a truck/van in it's road behaviour - it goes anywhere I want it to (yep, I off road) and tows best in class.
I'm saving up for a Disco 3, but the series 2 will have to reach 200,000 before it goes !!!
So - I wouldn't hesitate to recommend owning one !!!
Steve.
Just to give you a little more confidence, I have a Disco 2 2004 MY, I have had it from new (lucky me) so I know it's history, it was serviced by LR until the warranty expired, now I DIY all of it (it's not difficult to do) and shed loads cheaper !!!
My Disco has now covered almost 144,000 miles, it is still on it's 2nd set of tyres (BF Goodrich all terrains) it's 2nd set of brake discs, 3rd set of pads, 2nd set of front shocks, apart from that all is still original - it also eats headlight bulbs for some strange reason !!
The only real big gripe is teh gearbox (mines a manual) it is a pain, often denying me of 1st and reverse, but you get used to it's quirks, and live with it, maybe I should have got an Auto, but the manual returns an average of 30mpg, and I doubt an Auto would manage that !!!
I would have another LR without hesitation, it is simply superb, but you have to realise it is NOT a car, more of a truck/van in it's road behaviour - it goes anywhere I want it to (yep, I off road) and tows best in class.
I'm saving up for a Disco 3, but the series 2 will have to reach 200,000 before it goes !!!
So - I wouldn't hesitate to recommend owning one !!!
Steve.
OK I just did a 5,100 mile trip to morocco and back in my TD5. I drove all the way to ferry in Spain in 48hrs non stop driving except fuel stops and driver swops. Only 1 problem was a split coolant hose that was easily repaired at roadside. mines been 100% reliable touch wood! 11,000 in 5months. Its a 2001 model now on 66,000 miles.
