As per title thinking of purchasing an 03 plate Disco 2 TD5 I know about the common issues (head lining, head gasket, rear coil conversion) from research but I'm very wary of repair costs and that I am not knowledgeable about 4x4's at all. Would anyone be able to tell me what an average year would cost in terms of repairs/other bits and if I'm being stupid considering an older car when I have only ever owned newer "cars" (oldest I have had is around 5 yrs)

The specific one I'm looking at has had the rear coils done and headlining looks fine but he doesnt know about the head gasket so going to get him to find out (its done just over 100k) lots of mot's with almost no issues very well looked after (as far as I can tell)

When I decide I will also get a AA mechanic check over the car, is this money well spent or would it be better to find someone specifically knowledgable with landy's?

Hi There,

May be of use to you as well.
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/handy-buying-alarm-info.311291/

Cheers

Hard to say what yearly costs would be depends on many factors. I do all the work myself on mine and on parts alone I would estimate £800 since February. However with labour cost I'd imagine closer £2500-£3000.

It's the labour cost that makes these costly. Parts cost are similar or in most cases cheaper than other brands of car but labour is the expensive bit.

Most issues that arise on td5 discovery aren't likely to stop you in your tracks. For example on mine the mass air flow sensor died so I drove about with it unplugged for a couple of weeks until payday. When I needed a new front prop shaft I drove around with it removed and the centre diff engaged until the new one came in the post.

The discovery 2 is a great all round vehicle, it is quite a different experience from any modern vehicle but if you are confident you'll get on with driving it then you'll find repairs worthwhile.

The biggest & growing threat with all Disco 2s is the rear chassis - which can easily be in such an unrepairable condition to make the car a write off.
Make sure you are able fully inspect the chassis condition before making any purchase decision. All of the other D2 issues are minor in comparison. A replacement chassis is £3,000+ without the labour cost!

As @neillly has already said, there is a useful buyer's guide for prospective Disco 2 owners.

In addition, I would advise trying to get hold of a known compatible diagnostic code reader such as Nanocom, Hawkeye or Lynx, sadly they aren't cheap but they are the only ones known to give truthful results. They will save you a fortune if you have to get any fault codes read by a garage, it can be anything between 40 to 80 quid a pop.
The electronics are what tend to frighten many people off owning a D2, so if you can do your own diagnostics it will go some way to keeping the costs down.
Another way to help keep the costs down is to keep a check on what's likely to fail in the near future and get it sorted before a major failure occurs as a result. Small little jobs will also help you to learn about your vehicle.