Buying a Disco II

Unless it comes with some sort of motor plan I would be very weary of the high spec models. The air suspension tends to go after a while and is expensive to fix.

I am not too sure about the other problems but with so much to go wrong you need to be careful. If you are covered by some sort of motorplan for the time you expect to own the vehicle then go for it.

Regards Stephen

That could be good, or it could mean it's done all short runs without the engine and gearbox warming up properly and the clutch has had a hammering in town traffic all it's life.

Sometimes a higher milage one is better!

Might explain the sticking if it's never gone fast enough for the turbo to really kick in. Look for shopping trolly damage and check the suspension after it's spent it's life rock-crawling over speed humps.

On or around Tue, 09 Nov 2004 23:02:40 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice" enlightened us thusly:

if it's been driven slowly around town, it could well be something like EGR. I'm not sure if the TD5 *has* and EGR valve, mind. I blanked off the one on the TDi here :-)

Hi Dave

Plenty of people love 'em. I had the 2001 model and found it not suited to my needs - gutless at low revs with the turning circle of an oil tanker - so I got rid. This model and these issues have been covered in this group at least twice in the last 12 months - try a Google search.

There is an excellent website devoted to the Disco II:

and many others (Google for "Disco2"). Opinion seems to be that the Td5 is pretty bulletproof if looked after, and the bodywork fairly rust-resistant.

HTH

Rich

I had one of the first (99 model) TD5s, and at one point the oil feed line split causing the turbo undergo "sudden and catastrophic failure to rotate" as the service person told me.

A turbo with bearings which have disintegrated due to lack of lubrication could be defined as "sticking"

Things to look out for:

Has it had the clutch flywheel recall done? Has it had the brake ECU recall done? Has it had the transfer box end seal recall done?

Has it had every other damn recall done?

These things are *dangerous* without all the recalls done.

P.

In message , Dave Liquorice writes

[Snip]

Brilliant vehicle. I've had mine (Td5 ES auto) for nearly 5 years and it's much, much better than the two Discovery Tdis I had previously.

Try a few to get to know what they should feel like before you buy. There are plenty of them standing around at LR dealers, who will be only too pleased to let you drive them if they think you might be a buyer. Now that the Discovery 3 has been launched, series II prices should be coming down.

I'm not aware of common faults - and I've seen no sign of rust on mine - but they are mechanically and electronically complex, so make sure that you get a 12 months Land Rover Approved Warranty and not some lesser form of warranty.

My go faster days are over. I just like to get there in reasonable comfort and time. I suspect I might make a few pulling out and not away misjudgements to begin with. I drove an auto last week and unless you booted it definately didn't get up and go.

Though that applied to all (long wheel base) Land Rovers. B-) With the 110s I've driven you do need remember that you do need a lot of space. Mind you the turning circle on my Mondeo (ex Mondeo, hit grease or black ice last week, followed by a drystone wall and a flip on to it's roof...) was on the large side around 11m.

Apologies, I did have a google but obviously couldn't come up with the right keywords.

Thanks hadn't found that site, found one for the Range Rover and several general ones. The FAQ there will keep me quiet for a while.

Not a search term I used, "discovery", "disco" and "ii" along with "land" and "rover" etc...

Looking around at what is available as "Land Rover Approved", most are

3 years old (end of warranty, odd that) with a range of mileages from 30k to 90k. The Disco II demonstrators have mostly been snapped up and anyway ex demos with the must have toys(*) are over budget.

Oh, yes. Lots of toys means lots to go wrong. I tend to keep motors until I either write 'em off (see other post) or they start to cost more than routine servicing/fuel etc to keep on the road. Hopefully the nasty, expensive, faults happen later rather than sooner.

(*)Like heated windscreen. Ice on the inside is a right PITA. Living at 1400' hard frosts and several inches of snow are not uncommon, even with our currently mild winters.

R2000/038 ?

R2001/169 ?

Can't find that listed on the AA website list of recalls. The VINs of affected units are there, so at least I can check.