LR Discovery 2 - really that scary?

Are Discovery 2s horrible beasts? They sure are cheap.

I'm looking at getting a midsize SUV to replace our Volvo Wagon in a month or two and it seems that nice Discos are cheap.

She is a stay at home mom, her and the kids walk to school most days (barring rain/extreme cold), just runs back and forth to the grocery store.

Fuel economy isn't a huge concern, since she doesn't drive a terrible amount. Though my car is a X1/9 so when we go somewhere family style, we would all go in it.

We want something with 4WD for going down the coast (down the national seashore, no roads) and backwoods camping.

I only have 3rd hand knowledge form teh 1ntr4w3b, yo, and this topic has come up here before, so you might try a search, but I'm gonna suggest that there is a reason they sure are cheap. And if you need something to get Momma around in, I'd suggest an older TOYOTA vehicle over a Disco.

My favorite post described how the Englishmen (separate study showed that over 1/2 of English workers were drunk after lunch) would run interior sheetmetal screws anywhere they felt like, some of which would happen to go right through the sheet metal and into the wiring harness.

Discos and Boxsters. I really like them both, but any time I start getting serious about either I get spooked.

There is a very good write-up here somewhere...

I have a 99. With 120k it came to me with a broken passenger side window regulator, driver side regulator on the way out, flaky air ride suspension, droopy headliner, and a myriad of coolant leaks. Im chasing the coolant leaks and dreading the possibility that the head gasket may be the culprit. The good news is that I am discovering that the previous owner had a fear of overtightening hose clamps to the point of leaving them so loose that they leaked so maybe I will get lucky.

Its imposing, looks good, is more truck than most trucks out there, will go anywhere, drives ok, has all sorts of British luxury feel, and the door chime sounds like an airplane call button. Even if I do have to do a head gasket I think I could have spent my 3k in worse ways.

I did a few off-road driver's schools with the Discos my father had over the years. They are ridiculously capable off-road, but noisy and heavy on-road. Mileage was abysmal - maybe 15mpg in mixed driving. The manual transmission in the first one was functional in an agricultural sort of way. My dad didn't keep them long enough to develop big problems, but they did have a few odd electrical issues, IIRC. I wouldn't want one unless I was doing the majority of my driving off pavement.

Discos are off-roaders first, on-roaders second. When they go along on tests with car magazines, it's always the Disco pulling the other trucks out of the goo.

For a mostly road vehicle, I'd look at one of the trucks that are on-roaders first. Like a Jeep Grand Cherokee

Keith wrote: For a mostly road vehicle, I'd look at one of the trucks that are on-roaders first. Like a Jeep Grand Cherokee

Chrysler products scare me. Though my experience (all bad) is limited.

We went through these in some depth before MrJoshua bought his

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/the-unthinkable-suv-buying-advice/4255

Here is my opinion on the subject, having been a DII owner for 2 years, 26k miles

Sonic said: I've been quoted already and wasn't even here I just had a talk about Discos with another friend today. Let's get one thing straight: they are not well thought out reliable cars. They are the anti-Toyota. Odd ergonomics, highly variable build quality, overly complex designs, and soul just pouring out like a british car leaking oil...wait... But still, I love mine. It does exactly what I need it to do, and has some of the je ne sais quois that someone who's first car was a 35 year old MG requires. It is tough as nails, holds tons of people and crap inside, drives nicely, has lots of comfort and goodies and stuff, was cheap to buy and insure, has a great enthusiast community, and lots of good used part availability, will drive through 3' of water, and climb a greased flagpole. Mine is a 99 Disco Series II SE7 (top trim level, 7 passenger). Nearly 151k miles and going strong. I've owned it for more than a year and a half, put 20k miles on it (sometimes a daily driver, sometimes it sits for months, sometimes I beat the hell out of it towing my 4500# boat). I've only had to do maintenance to it: tune up, battery, belt, fluid changes, and an A/C hose, and I don't see anything upcoming that is going to need any work. The DiscoIIs are a much nicer car and daily driver, and more reliable than the D1s, and about 98% as good off road. From 99-mid 2001 there was still a center differential lock in the transfer case but no lever in the cockpit to engage it, but that can be added easily. They removed the CDL for late 01s, 02s and 03s, and put it back for the 04s. Major mechanicals are all fairly reliable, it's just the little stuff like sensors and crap that goes. Engine electronics are all Bosch, trans is ZF, etc. At your price point, look at late 99s and 2000 models. There is no simple list of things to look for to be broken, as it could be nearly anything. Try to find a car that has been good and reliable and been maintained for it's whole life. I looked for a while for mine, it was a 2 enthusiast owner car that had never had any real problems, and had had plenty of preventative maintenance. Find a car with no dash lights on (the 3 amigos plague many a DII), and that has had it's front driveshaft replaced (non serviceable part, and when the U joint breaks, the driveshaft bitch slaps the transmission). I have a hard time recommending one to someone, as they can be really hit or miss depending on how drunk the limeys putting it together were that day, but I really like mine and think you might be the right kind of crazy to enjoy one. The best online resource for them is DiscoWeb. Lots of info over there, and they won't blow smoke up your ass like most model specific boards, they fully acknowledge the pros and cons of these things, and choose to put up with the "personality" as they like the rest of it.

Sonic wrote:

Sonic said: IThere is no simple list of things to look for to be broken, as it could be nearly anything.

*shudder*

ABS modulator rebuilds cost $900 in parts minimum and they ALL go bad sooner or later. Everything leaks. Let me say that again.....EVERYTHING leaks. Head gaskets dribling coolant are common. when you get in there you will likely need lifters too....in fact if you have any engine leaks just yank the sucker and reseal it. Replace front driveshaft every 40k miles OR ELSE. More info later, I have to drive over the ice to work on the suckers right now.

Simply put, don't buy one. Leave that to those of us that love them. Not buying them keeps them cheap enough for the rest of us.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe a Discovery is basically the same as an original Range Rover mechanically, with a different body and interior.

I've had a couple of Range Rovers over the years - an '88 when I was young and stupid, a '90 when I was a little older and still stupid. They were both awesome. The '88 was reliable because it was basically new and I was way in debt to buy it. The '90 was cheap to buy but ended up costing nearly as much as the basically new one.

As mentioned, sensors are a big issue. O2 sensors, ABS sensors, coolant level sensors, coolant temp sensors, washer fluid level sensors, they all want to break randomly and in concert. The dash lights like to put on a show. Every part is very expensive, and it's not because they're overbuilt and last a long time.

Did I love them? Yes. Absolutely. But it's telling that I don't have any now, when I could well and truly afford one. An extra special note: a daily driver for your wife and kids needs to be reliable. The last thing you want to end up with is a Wife that's Angry at your Car Habit.

Alternatives: 7th gen (1990 - 1998) Land Cruiser / Lexus LX. The LX tends to have front/rear diff lockers, which makes it amazing off road. Build quality on either is top notch, reliability excellent, fuel consumption is horrible, and they're really slow. But they're as close to a Japanese Land Rover as you'll find, imho.

Like dc sez, wait, that's what I said earlier: Get a Toyota fer momma.

So, it seems like the ultimate Disco would be: Take a 1999 or 2000, rip out the ABS, EFI and anything else remotely dealing with electrons. Inspect for Drunken Englishmen Antics. Put a MegaSquirt on it with a Ford truck fuel pump, new wires as needed. Then you only have to worry about the drive axles grenading every 40K miles, taking out the transmission in the process and maybe the head gaskets. Humm, maybe if you pulled the drivetrain and frame and replace them with Toyota parts... I know: Take a Land Cruiser, cut off the "Cruiser" name parts, glue on a "Rover" badge, you're good to go.

We have had a few of these Discos at our Brits in the Ozarks car show. They were some pretty hard core versions. They certainly look interesting if you need another full time hobby.

It's interesting though. In Aussieland, I saw these EVERYWHERE, and they were actually used as utility vehicles. They love 'em out there.....

Nathan

lol. My wife and I have had 3 Range Rovers (an '88, a '95 LWB, and the current '01 4.6 HSE). It's telling that it's the only vehicle she wants now. ALL of them were/are daily drivers...

I should add that the mechanical pieces (differentials, transmission, transfer case, etc) were all very reliable, and my dad's had an '89 Range Rover for a couple hundred thousand miles and only had one minor problem with the transmission. (Parking Pawl broke.) Now, everything else on that Rover is a completely different story, and we spent $36k on it over the years in repairs alone.

(let that sink in)

...and that's NOT taking it to the dealer, but to a very knowledgeable local shop that did good work. It wasn't repeating problems, it was different problems. Lots and lots of different problems. I think he got a lemon, though, and should have swapped it shortly after purchase. Mine were not as troublesome.

I think they are cool as hell. I'd also look at the aforementioned Land Cruiser Toyota. Both vehicles are cut from the same type of cloth.

Holy carp. I spent $800 in two years on the '95...

The '01 has reciepts for $10k in 60k miles, but the guy only took it to the dealer who RAPED him (for example, it would cost me $400 to replace all the brake pads and rotors. he got charged almost $4k for the same job about a year ago...). I needed to change out the spark plug wires on the '01 a month ago. $45 total cost for a set of high performance 8mm wires. Same job at a dealer would have been $800.

If you can work on them yourself (i imagine you can) they aren't that bad. I can't speak from direct Disco experience, but i had a 93 Range Rover LWB County.

Yeah... it had some minor electronic issues, yeah the rear window gate thingy rusted out, yes, the airbag suspension collapsed. (SUCKS)

But some bilsteins and a 3" lift later, i was sitting pretty. The tranny/engine was dead nuts reliable, stupidly simple to work on, and it was an AWESOME truck. Had enough guts to move through traffic, towed anything i threw at it, and i can't think of ANY time i got even close to stuck. I used to drive it through 5 FEET of snow for fun.

There was always SOMETHING not quite working right, but it would NEVER leave me stranded.

For the price they're going for.... i wouldn't think twice at picking up another Range Rover classic, and same goes for any Disco.

You can get a Land Cruiser/4runner... but they just aren't as..... hardcore?