without the need for a clutch, which you never have to replace in an auto !".....? im not sure about this mate...
back to chassis on discovery 2, why are these prone to rust and not a defender at the same age,, are they both not made in the same place / factory with the same metal....?
They are no more prone to rust than any other LR chassis !.
You must take into account what many of these Discoverys will have spent most of thier lives doing, whish is lots of motorway miles.
If you look at enough of them, you will soon see that the worst of any chassis corrosion is around the rear end, this is simply due to the fact this is the end of the vehicle that gets all the salty spray kicked up when winter driving.
If you wash the chassis down regularly, it is possible to prevent all but minor surface rust on these cars.
And to add.
Its highly unlikely that someone would have gone to expense of waxoiling thier chassis just cover up rot. I would see the fact that a car has been waxoiled as a GOOD thing. As has been already said, just scrape it back in a few places, ( anywhere round the fuel filter housing ), and see how the metal looks.
Manual vs auto ?.
I have a manual, only because I,m a " manual man ". I get a little better mpg. I can see the attraction of an auto, as town driving can be a bit tiresome in the manual.
I have seen that the auto seems to be very good off road, offering a lot more controll when tackling obstacles.
Del.