club members that own disco's

[t-jay]

hi everyone, my fiencee as decided that she wants a discovery and has already seen one that she likes for sale localy, so can anyone tell me what i should be looking for? bad bits, common faults etc.

[jace]

buy a patrol much nicer vehicle or navara cammeraman has an offroad tdi version eclipse has a td5 rangie thats got engine probs

[t-jay]

i know, i know but i think she's got her mind set on a disco, and it is one of those situation where it is best to shut up and agree :lol:

[jace]

there ok but no where as nice to drive as jap 4x4s take her for test drive in patrol or something just tell her its to compare them to disco is it gonna be td5 (bmw) or the 200/300 land rover tdi engine

[t-jay]

looking at 300 series. i think they are the better ones?

[jace]

its same engine same power they modified few things updated it a bit my mates pulls well enough its ok off road pretty good on fuel its not really had anything big go wrong front axl blew but theres so many in scrappys it was swapped out next day. they just dont cut it for me they sound so slow an heavy in engine dept terrano will eat it on power but loses out on low down grunt with disco having lower g/box range i reckon!

[(RIP) PLANK]

well i dont think disco does hava alower gear box, when off roading with disco owners i found i was using low ratio 3rd when they were in second!

in my experience, front hubs, seal etc, diff lock, and of course (depending on age) rot! boot floor and flitches being the usual suspects!

but i dont theink they are any better or worse really than any other 4x4, it aint rocket science just make all the whells go round, at the end of the day 'you pay your money and you take your choice'!

I off road a disco, its a 200TDi.

The 300TDi is better and produces more power. The 200TDi can be brought up to same by bigger intercooler and tweaking pump.

Things to look out for:

Rust on chassis or rear cross member, Rusty boot floor, rusty front floors. These can be welded but welding is expensive.

The body is alloy so should be Ok, the roof is metal though and prone to odd spots of rust if had a roof rack on.

Everthing else is bolt on bolt off and can be replaced reasonably cheaply.

They have a good return on MPG, but are unreliable if not looked after. All parts are readily avilable off shelf as are bits for modification or improvements.

They are quite noisey (I think) compared to the Nissans, my wife thinks my old Patrol was noisier though, so opinions do vary.

On road they do tend to rock and roll a bit but the 300 TDi is better than the 200TDi. They are still a bit agricultural compared to the refinement of a Nissan, but compared to a Land rover they are warm and comfortable.

Off road they come into there own, and even as a standard vehicle outperform the Nissans.

As with all vehicles you get bad, good and horrible ones, you pays yer money and takes your chances.

If the vehicle is structurly Ok the rest can be fixed. A complete engine for example is only about £400 - £500 second hand.

[jace]

think engine power is identical on 200/300 tdi moved turbo higher altered cam belt (had to isue recall on that as didnt line up properly) stuff like that

[Deleted Member S]

I was looking at disco's before getting the T2 :roll: But the only ones I could find in my price range 5K tops were 1994 models & they all looked as if they had a hard life with trim damage or bits missing & with 150,000 miles or higher. When I worked in a rover garage one of the main things they came back in for was water leaks because of bad joints between panels so check for damp everywhere :smile: As they get older the sills rot like a good'un & the boot floors are a very prone to rotting to nothing. The inner wings next to the A post are the same :roll: On the plus side you can pop into your local breakers & get a c/locking motor out of a rover car or window switch etc as rover used the same parts on on a lot of their models to keep cost down :lol: