Greetings all, my old man, a pensioner with a broken hip, owns a Patrol TD42 and is selling it because it’s rusted through and he can’t repair it. If he sells it, he’ll get around 5–6k euros and can buy one of two cars: a Discovery 1, 1995, 300Tdi, 296,000 km (restored but sitting in a garage for 3–4 years), or a RAV4, 1996, 2-door, 2.0 manual, 175,206 km, first owner, seemingly in mint condition. He’s leaning towards the Discovery, but I think the RAV would be a better option for him. I’m also torn, since both cars are legends in their own way. He doesn’t want to go with me to test both cars, he says I should sort it out.
The Discovery’s asking price is about 7.5k, while the RAV4 is 6.5k, so it's 6–7k. The thing is, I would need to put some maintenance money into the Disco 1 right away, whereas the RAV4 is just drive. I can provide links for both cars if that’s possible. I have a feeling that RAV4 would serve him better. Disco is in my town and RAV4 is 4-5 driving hours away.
Automatic would probably be the best idea for him, but he just prefers manual. He says the Discovery is like a plane compared to the RAV4. The Disco is from our old mechanic, so it’s known and restored down to the last bolt. Top equipment, it even has heated seats
and a camel trophy roof rack but it has been standing for 3–4 years and needs brake service, fluid replacement, inspection and possibly replacement of rubber parts, as well as new tires, etc. - all those well-known things. Additionally, I’d clean and protect the entire underbody and fill the chassis with oils and anticorrosion coatings. I figure that’s a few thousand altogether. On the other hand, the RAV4 looks like it doesn’t need anything except registration, which expires in about ten days. I’d just change all the fluids and do an inspection at the service. Maybe a winter tires in the end. It’s a lot simpler with it. It doesn’t have that Camel Trophy aura, but hey... The Disco consumes 8–10 l/100 km, the RAV4 maybe 12–15 l/100 km, but overall I think in the long run maintenance is cheaper with the RAV4. He does go in the mountains once in a while and lives on the hill with a rough road approaching his house but both cars , I think, could handle all of that....
The Discovery’s asking price is about 7.5k, while the RAV4 is 6.5k, so it's 6–7k. The thing is, I would need to put some maintenance money into the Disco 1 right away, whereas the RAV4 is just drive. I can provide links for both cars if that’s possible. I have a feeling that RAV4 would serve him better. Disco is in my town and RAV4 is 4-5 driving hours away.
Automatic would probably be the best idea for him, but he just prefers manual. He says the Discovery is like a plane compared to the RAV4. The Disco is from our old mechanic, so it’s known and restored down to the last bolt. Top equipment, it even has heated seats
and a camel trophy roof rack but it has been standing for 3–4 years and needs brake service, fluid replacement, inspection and possibly replacement of rubber parts, as well as new tires, etc. - all those well-known things. Additionally, I’d clean and protect the entire underbody and fill the chassis with oils and anticorrosion coatings. I figure that’s a few thousand altogether. On the other hand, the RAV4 looks like it doesn’t need anything except registration, which expires in about ten days. I’d just change all the fluids and do an inspection at the service. Maybe a winter tires in the end. It’s a lot simpler with it. It doesn’t have that Camel Trophy aura, but hey... The Disco consumes 8–10 l/100 km, the RAV4 maybe 12–15 l/100 km, but overall I think in the long run maintenance is cheaper with the RAV4. He does go in the mountains once in a while and lives on the hill with a rough road approaching his house but both cars , I think, could handle all of that....
