Jason2

Jason2

Well-Known Member
:eek: Hi Every-body,Newbie here! This is a great FORUM!

I was wondering if you could help (PLEASE) as I'm in a bit of a dilemma!
Basically I have been wanting to buy a Diesel Discovery for the last 10 years but dare'nt!,Love the vehicle and have always been a Land Rover fan,have 3 kids,have a 1 ton trailer to pull,live in rural France so why not, then there's the other half of me saying (after having owned VW's & Audis for the last 20 years) get a life, big noisy,unreliable,expensive,tyres,servicing cost's,fuel consumption etc............

We have a vehicle change coming up as our current A6 is getting too small for us, not bothered about massive drop in performance as now here in France Automatic speed cameras are popping up every where and think that if you are going to abide by the speed limits you might as well do it in style with a better view/ride

My major concerns are:

Engine/gearbox life: How many miles is a Td5 engine good for?, what problem signs to look out for?

Cost of tyres?How many miles do they do? Reliability?Maintenance cost's (I do all my own servicing/repairs to a limit:( wouldn't want to rip an engine in bits for example)

Sorry to sound a fanny but I really would appreciate and help,Model advice,what to avoid or encouragement. As much as I would like a Discovery I haven't the time,bank account or enthusiasm to spend all week ends repairing it!

Many thanks in advance

Jason
 
Reading between the lines ...you really do want a discovery. you only get one life so live it......go buy one ...you know you want to.

then wait till it snows or we get a torrential storm and feel how suddenly safe you feel knowing you are in perhaps one of the most capable cars on the planet....then if you still want happiness to the full find a kind farmer who will let you have a mess around in his field and go off roading. then before you wash it yet ... role up in the works carpark on Monday morning. your A6 may have turned heads but havn't you ever seen a dirty discovery covered in mud and just wondered how.....go find out ..get one.
sorry but i love mine to bits even if it is sometimes anoying.
 
danny said:
Reading between the lines ...you really do want a discovery. you only get one life so live it......go buy one ...you know you want to.

then wait till it snows or we get a torrential storm and feel how suddenly safe you feel knowing you are in perhaps one of the most capable cars on the planet....then if you still want happiness to the full find a kind farmer who will let you have a mess around in his field and go off roading. then before you wash it yet ... role up in the works carpark on Monday morning. your A6 may have turned heads but havn't you ever seen a dirty discovery covered in mud and just wondered how.....go find out ..get one.
sorry but i love mine to bits even if it is sometimes anoying.
Click to expand...

Cheers Danny!
Funny that's what I said to the wife last night!
That just about sums it up,except for the works car park bit, as there isn't one & couldn't give a sh*t what other people thought anyway.

Would still like buying advice though,I have absolutely no knowledge of them what so ever!

Cheers once again, keep em coming!
 
We have a disco and a 90, the Disco 300tdi we have had for about 8 years and its been very reliable. Its used everyday and does a fair milage.

It had a starter problem a few times but thats before I bothered look at things myself, and I was on this forum, even then it just needed hitting with a big stick. The other problem I had was the battery in the winter was not good enough, so we got a new one.

So in all these years, these were the 2 immobolising problems, even at that, I could get her running within an hour.

Personaly I would advise getting a 300tdi engine, this engine is not full of electrics to go wrong. The TD5 needs a bit more attention when it stops working.
 
Had a similar dilema to you, we bought a Freelander from new and as it had a 3 year warranty, had the safety net of no repair bills, when it was around 3 years old, we went to the dealer with the intention of getting another Freelander but they had a 3 year old Discovery TD5 for a similar price, it was bigger, looked nicer and being honest to ourselves, really what we wanted. My wife was really keen but I took a bit more persuading, having similar concerns to you, but we went for it in the end and 2½ years later still very glad we did.

Its been a great vehicle, towed a caravan all over the UK without any fuss. Problems have been -
heated rear window blowing fuses because of a wire shorting out inside the back door (easy DIY fix)
New battery last winter (fair enough at 5 years old)
New starter motor this summer as the old one would on occassion, decide not to turn the engine (easy DIY replacement)
And (as they all do) a leaking sunroof!

Go for it any enjoy it but take your time and find a good one.
 
Thanks for the advice Discomania,Mantamad-Very Encouraging,sounds good! :)

But what is a good one?What to look for?:confused:

What I'm really worried about is engine and gearbox especially out hear in France where parts might be an issue.

Anyone done any High miles and still motoring?And if so how many?

I've found a couple in local garages notably a 2002 Td5 -SX with GPS,aircon,leather,towbar and 50kmiles on the clock for £12k-Any thoughts!
 
Good question - how do you buy a good one! In my case it had one previous owner and traded into the Landrover dealer for another Discovery - The theory being that it must have been good or the owner would not have wanted another! Well it worked for me anyway.
 
Depends who you are, do you spend weekends doing DIY, would you do work on your landy yourself, or will you take it to a garage? If you will do your own bits and pieces get a 300tdil. Reason being, when it goes wrong you will be more likly to fix it yourself, and they are quite simple.

The TD5 by nature has more to go wrong, and its not fixed as easily as the 300 which relys on fuel and air being in the right place at the right time and some compression. The td5 has a bloody computer that tells things what to do. Now I have seen computers, do you really want to have one of them, in your car... what happens when it blue screens.
 
I have,do,and will continue to do all repairs and maintenance myself (cambelts,EGR valves,Maf etc...) for various reasons like I don't like robbers,like things well done and geographically it's easier here to do it yourself than mess around trailing to a garage.

I hear where your coming from Discomania and agree/prefer but correct me if I'm wrong,The 300tdi was replaced by the Td5 in 1999 and subsequently all the 300tdi's out here being min 7 years old and being a large country have all over 100k miles which personally isn't a problem as I've never had a car that has done less than 120k and never had any problems (except a gearbox on a 100tdi with 220k).

All this prudence is because in France if you buy a Lemon or have a severe bad stroke of mechanical luck with a vehicle you cant get rid,no car auctions,no flogging it on with your fingers crossed,your stuck with!

Which again brings me to my question how many miles can you reasonably expect a 2.5tdi Disco engine/gearbox/clutch to do under normal conditions with correct maintenance??????????????

Seems like a fairly straight forward question to me!

Jason
 
Tyre wear - I got 32,000 miles out of a set of Goodyear Wrangler 255/55 18 on a 1999 Disco ES TD5. Only 17,000 on new Disco 3 with Pirelli Scorpions. That's what weight does for you.
300Tdi is much easier and cheaper to do DIY repairs and service.
 
Spyderman said:
Tyre wear - I got 32,000 miles out of a set of Goodyear Wrangler 255/55 18 on a 1999 Disco ES TD5. Only 17,000 on new Disco 3 with Pirelli Scorpions. That's what weight does for you.
300Tdi is much easier and cheaper to do DIY repairs and service.
Click to expand...

Well that's good to know and more points towards my change to a Disco!!! ! I can only get 14k out of a pair of front tyres on the A6!!
What do you pay for a pair of Goodyear Wrangler 255/55 18 ?

Do the Td5's have mega electronics problems ?

Have been reading the Freelander forums!God! scary or what!
 
200/300tdi. were the best Diesel engines Land Rover ever made Both are good for well over 200k miles if engine well maintained .Gearboxes can give trouble. Most spares can be bought cheaply on the web, Td 5 is harder on fuel and has a lot more electronics and apart from very basic maintainance are going to be costly dealer only jobs.Main problems are leaking sunroofs and windscreens. Rust on front inner wings inside roof Rear floor above fuel tank. Rear wheel arches and steel panels behind aluminium. Electric problems are usually caused by bad earthing. Chassis seem to be a lot less rust prone than Defenders.Automatics are good for cruising,but because of gearing I wouldnt recommend them if you intend to tow heavy loads most of the time.I go to the Gard for most of the summer and air con is essential. Pipes tend to perish and would be cheaper to replace in gold . One 18 inch pipe Dealer part only with full discount 95 quid plus vat . Repressuring system80 +Vat. Hopes this answers some of your questions. BB
 
Thats a good point on tyres, we had a nearly new set on the car when we bought it, now 24,000 miles later they are only half worn at most.

I stay in Scotland and regard air con as essential, great for keeping cool in summer and demisting in winter (above 4 degrees !) the climate control is excellent as you can set different temperatures for driver and passenger - saves all the arguements about too hot or cold.
 
Goodyear Wranglers 255/55 R18 About £95 each.

had my TD5 chipped and bigger intercooler. 30mpg 185bhp 90ft lb more torque.about £1200 doesn't slow down for hills. V8 performance with Diesel ecomony. cruises to the Alps 4up with top box at 100mph no problem.
 
Jason, change your oil out regularly and use good filters and you will be fine. Change your oil 3 times a year regardless, begining of summer, end of summer and some other time I forget.

I can't help but notice you are concerned about the clutch/gearbox. These items can be changed, ok they are bigger heavier and you do need a big hammer and crowbar, but it can be done. You could put a TD5 box in.

If you could find out something about the cars history, then that would be good, i.e. a well maintained, well driven one and not been used for towing, then the gearbox SHOULD be good for many more miles.

There is a lot to be said, by simply driving a landrover carefully. A gentle touch, not over revving when taking off, changing gears and bringing the clutch up nice and smooth. In my 90 going into 5th at speed, I bring the foot up real gentle, try and match the plates, almost seemless gearchange, makes everything last. So try and find one that has been looked after.
 
Jason2 said:
Cheers Danny!
Funny that's what I said to the wife last night!
That just about sums it up,except for the works car park bit, as there isn't one & couldn't give a sh*t what other people thought anyway.

Would still like buying advice though,I have absolutely no knowledge of them what so ever!

Cheers once again, keep em coming!
Click to expand...
i bought my first land rover about 4 months ago and love it i don't think i will be going back to a normal car again its so easy to work on, i bought a disco series 1 costs about the same as my 406 to run and parts are abit cheaper as well only a little difference on insurance and alot safer for your kids tobe in also you tend not toget people trying to race you through road narrowings when you have right of way my advice is go and get it
 
A VERY BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYBODY THAT HAS REPLIED!! I thought Thursday night was pub night???? (After all the replies last night)or are we just waking up for the weekend?It's been a long time!

After all your helpful advice I think I'm going to be looking like I've never looked before for a pre TD5 disco to avoid computer problems and visits to the local stealer.
Speaking of which can you not get software for the newer landrovers and special leads to connect up to laptops for error codes etc?????????

Found a 1997 tdi300 (Killy) this morning in a local garage with 150kmiles for £6000,metallic blue, looked really good but I was put off by really knobbly off road tyres (We often go to Spain and would probably be deaf by the time we got there with tyres like that,also shows it's been places),industrial tow bar,and enough soil still stuck underneath to grow plants in!!!! yes I know that's what this vehicles were intended for and look forward to driving down a few rivers myself but 1997, £6000 and 150Kmiles!!!!
I have found a few expats selling their Discos too but the bl**dy steering wheels on the wrong side!

I had a quick look on autotrader website with a Yorkshire postcode (Where I'm originally from) and found about 50 under £5k.We might have more sun & cheap wine out here in France but you don't know how lucky you are for vehicle choice!!!!

I will keep you informed and send you some pics when it happens but have been here long enough to know that it's not going to be easy to find.

In the mean time keep the info flowing and am currently building a great opinion of Landrover forums.

Jason
 
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