I have been looking at Land Rover Discoveries in order to purchase one. I have never owned one before and have been told the best would be a TDI300 not a 200. could anyone advise me of the difference between the two and what is it that makes it either or.
What would the Landie fans out there say about the reliability of the Discoveries I was thinking of getting From a 1996 N onwards but not much younger.
I have been both seriously warned against them as unreliable and expensive and also told that they are a really great vehicle to own and a good workhorse.
OK if you get a good one, terrible if you get a bad one. Maintenance records are essential, but be realistic about what you can expect from an 8 year old vehicle. It will almost certainly have some rust, substantial wear in certain components and there are some things that always break at that sort of age, some minor some major
i) manual gearboxes pre 1996 die at about 100-120K miles ii) door locks start to misbehave and fail iii) rot in the rear arches and in the front inner wings iv) various clonks and thuds from worn bushes (there are quite a lot of bushes and balljoints!)
I have owned a 1995 disco for just 12 months now. OK when I bought it the rear dif needed replacing, and the cylinder head gasket went soon after. Total cost about £900 including labouir for both jobs. After that the Disco has been brilliant. Just waltzed thru the MOT for only £40! Totally reliable and fuly reccommended. I would advise you to have the car looked at by someone in the know though. It would have saved me £900!
On or around 27 May 2004 21:42:20 GMT, Alison enlightened us thusly:
the 200 TDi runs from the introduction of the model in 1989 up to about
1994/5 (K/L plate) and the 300 TDi starts then and runs up to about 1999, when the disco II with the TD5 starts.
Also changed at the same time as the engine were the gearbox (R380 instead of LT77), the front panel/lights, addition of lights in the rear bumper, the dash, and the advent of split heater controls, which it's been said allow you to create a 7 degree temperature difference side-to-side in the cabin.
There's really not that much difference between the 2 engines - the 300 type is slightly smoother and quieter, almost identical performance.
The R380 is a better gearbox, but early ones (pre 1996 sometime) still have the design fault that causes the output shaft wear on the LT77.
The new front panel is better looking, the headlamps perform slightly better.
Having compared them, I actually prefer the dash on the early ones.
like Tim said: hunt a low-mileage one with good history. We've a 1995
300TDi which we bought with about 78000 on the clock, and full history, and it's very good. I've just bought a 1991 V8i with 85K ish on the clock (now just over 87K...) which is pretty good although there's more corrosion on it, and the gearbox output shaft sounds pretty worn. I might well put an auto in it eventually, as I do like the ZF auto 'box.
Don't rule out an auto, BTW - the ZF is a damned good box and reckoned to be stronger than the manual one.
My 96 ES 300TDi is an auto with over 120K on the clock, there's hardly any backlash in the transmission most of which is from the diffs. It is thirstier than a manual but thats probably down to EDC and the lead in my right foot.
On or around Fri, 28 May 2004 12:36:24 +0100, "Peter Seddon" enlightened us thusly:
AFAIK, the auto box doesn't suffer from the output shaft spline thing, and in any case, a 96 might have the cross-drilled gear anyway.
I'd expect EDC to give you a bit *more* economy. I'm slightly surprised that your '96 is EDC, unless that's 'cos it's an auto. I didn't think EDC came along 'til later than that.
It's a Dec 96, ISTR that the EDC boosted the BHP to 130, as to economy I run all the time with the Air Con on so it must take some out for that, and like I say if I removed the lead from my right boot it would help, crusin at 85 with the aerodynamics of a brick doesn't help either.
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