G

gaffer61

New Member
Hi all

I am looking to buy my first Land Rover to build into a off road camper for adventure travel. I'm looking at the moment for a Discovery 2 ES Premium mainly because the center diff lock is fitted and operating on these vehicles. They are at the top end of the price range for discovery 2's so I want to make sure I don't blunder in to buying a disaster. One of my biggest concerns is chassis rust on these vehicles I am currently looking at one at a dealer which looks very tidy, I asked the dealer to send some pictures of the chassis which to my eyes are cause for concern. That said I lack experience so I was hoping more experienced Landy owners here might give an opinion as to whether it's worth my while to have a look at this in person. I know you can't give a definitive answer based on a couple of photo's but first reactions will do. Cheers!

02_02.jpg
02_01.jpg
 
Yep looks standard manky!
Not as bad as some though! At least you can see it and it has not been all covered up. The chassis i would be looking at bashing quite hard with a hammer and poking at with a blunt screwdriver to see how bad it is, especially where the sections next to the fuel tank dip down, where the tie down rings are.
That said, a 1/3 replacement rear chassis can be done for not too much money, but you have to shop around. I was offered £700 to source and replace but that was not with galvanised.
The rest of it might be OK if you just grind/sand it back and then treat.
Depends on how much they are wanting for it.
Don't let the centre diff lock tail, wag the dog of the rest of the car. You can either accept that the traction control is OK, or you can go for fitting the CDL later on.
Anything is possible in that dept.
Best of luck!:)
 
Stanleysteamer said:
Yep looks standard manky!
Not as bad as some though! At least you can see it and it has not been all covered up. The chassis i would be looking at bashing quite hard with a hammer and poking at with a blunt screwdriver to see how bad it is, especially where the sections next to the fuel tank dip down, where the tie down rings are.
That said, a 1/3 replacement rear chassis can be done for not too much money, but you have to shop around. I was offered £700 to source and replace but that was not with galvanised.
The rest of it might be OK if you just grind/sand it back and then treat.
Depends on how much they are wanting for it.
Don't let the centre diff lock tail, wag the dog of the rest of the car. You can either accept that the traction control is OK, or you can go for fitting the CDL later on.
Anything is possible in that dept.
Best of luck!:)
Click to expand...
Cheers for the reply. They want 7k for the car, hence my hesitation. It's in really nice condition inside and out with all the goodies but if I have to spend a few grand on top fixing the chassis it doesn't look so good. Fair point I think that tail might be wagging the dog :). So is possible to fit CDL retrospectively? I understand some models have it fitted no not link up and others don't have it at all. In either case is it possible to get the work done?
 
gaffer61 said:
Cheers for the reply. They want 7k for the car, hence my hesitation. It's in really nice condition inside and out with all the goodies but if I have to spend a few grand on top fixing the chassis it doesn't look so good. Fair point I think that tail might be wagging the dog :). So is possible to fit CDL retrospectively? I understand some models have it fitted no not link up and others don't have it at all. In either case is it possible to get the work done?
Click to expand...
As I said, anything is possible in that dept.
That seems like a steep price for one that needs chassis work.
Too many peeps fall for the spit and polish applied by the garage.
There are plus points, it is obvious the fuel filter has been replaced and the rear diff has had some attention to the back plate on it and is not leaking, all good.
What is the service history like? At that price I would expect a decent full service history with receipts, I think. You also don't mention the mileage.
Didn't notice if there has been a towbar on it, should have looked more closely at the pics.
Is the bodywork unmarked? i.e. has it just been used to take the kids to school by some yummy mummy, or has it been used to tow heavy horseboxes or caravans? Any knowledge of that at all, any evidence of underbody/chassis damage for instance to front valance? Which tends to happen very easily if its been taken off road much at all.
 
Last edited:
On looking a bit more closely at the first pic I think I can see a part of the tow bar and a part of the trailer lights wiring.
 
Hi mate,

sounds pretty steep to me.

for perspective, I just picked up a 2001 D2, chassis looks similar if not better than yours, SE model so no sunroof and no roof rails (this means no leaks!)
Few problems when I brought it which where as follows:

SRS warning light
Rear wiper not working
Not much service history after 70k miles and currently 124k miles.

so I have brought and fitted a second hand rotary squib and rear wiper motor this morning.

i have changed engine oil, filter, rotor filter, fuel filter, air filter, diff oils front and back, transfer box oils, gear box oils.

All in including the disco..... £1250

just passed its MOT this afternoon!
 
Thanks all for your input. On balance I think I'll pass on this one. If the chassis was perfectly sound it might be worth it.
Also I was a bit focused on the center diff but if it's a mod I can add latter to any D2 regardless then that opens up the field a
bit more. Cheers!
 
Buy mine, lol.
2002 GS. 117k miles. 2nd owner from new. Well maintained. Good all round condition and chassis never needed any welding. Full supplying dealer service history up to 82k. Owned by me for past 5 years.
Be selling soon hopefully as buying a Defender, hopefully.
 
I get the concern and yeah £7k is ridic for that. But rear chassis rust is very fixable and as has been said, £700 at a garage is about right for a new 1/4 replacement. As long as its solid from there onwards.....
Dont buy that one, but also use the rust as a bargaining tool to get a good deal on the next one.
 
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