Thinking of buying my first Disco 4 - help please

[Sealine South]

Hi All

I am seriously considering buying a Disco 4, it will be my first ever one.

I am after a bit of advice please. Its a 59 reg 3.0 TD V6 GS with 68,000 miles. Its on the market for £20K.

Looking through the web you get the usual horror stories but I am wondering if there is anything particularly scary with these and if the price is sensible. Its a pretty low spec (cloth interior, no nav, no heated seats etc) will re-sale be tricky?

Any help welcome!

Thanks

Ben

[bakerstreet]

Sealine South said:

Hi All
its a pretty low spec (cloth interior, no nav, no heated seats etc) will re-sale be tricky?

Yes it will. The D4 upped the game in luxury compared to to the D3, so all the toys are essential for good re-sale.

You'd want a decent warranty on it and hopefully £20k will get you one. Warranty Direct is something like £500 per year.

[piecost76]

I would say £20k is too strong for a 59 plate GS.

If you look hard enough, you will at least get a XS if not a HSE albeit with more miles!

Try to get a XS model & remember, it's a buyers market! You will suffer come resale with the GS undoubtedly & I think that XS models can in part be upgraded to semi-HSE spec via software upgrades. Join disco4.com for better advice http://www.disco4.com/forum/

Good luck!

[Sealine South]

Thanks guys. The trouble is I need to finance it (sacrilege to some on here I know ) so a private purchase is out.

I've heard they can be expensive after a few miles (100k+) is this right?

I think I will keep looking for a XS or HSE (doubtful!).

Thanks

[Gazzab]

As they are pretty much a D3 with a few tweaks I think I can comment...
I have an 07 D3 XS that I have owned since it was 6 months old.
It is expensive to run as the mpg is around 23 on avg over the 7 years.
The car is heavy and so chews through bushes and brakes.
The electronic hand brake is problematic as are the EGR valves (had both fixed a few times).
At 59 reg it could be getting towards needing remedial work on items like the turbo and brake lines. These are both expensive to resolve.
I found that the warranty wasnt cost effective and so think it was cheaper to just pay for stuff (but I could be wrong in my man maths).
But it is a great car. Tows anything, goes anywhere, is amazing in the snow (on the right tyres), is great on the motorway etc
It is a massive car and so can be hard to park and to get around in town sometimes. Tree huggers will hate you (until it snows and they ask for help).
Its great for ferrying kids and will provide plenty of protection should you have an accident.

[IroningMan]

I have an 08 D3 HSE. The warranty I bought has more than laid for itself...and I'd happily recommend Warranty Direct.

£20k feels a bit high - I gave £18k to a specialist dealer for mine when it was the same age and it's an HSE; there is a cam belt change at 105k miles, which is a £700 job with an Indy, but otherwise a good warranty will protect you from the wear-and-tear on suspension.

[macar]

Good thing about the GS is no sat-nav and no sun roof, on my old HSE both were playing up when it was sold. The GS will be ok if you intend to keep it a few years, re-sale will not be so much of an issue.

[simonej]

Had my '09 D3 for four months now and already had a full four wheel alignment, EGR valve and rear diff replaced under Land Rover approved used warranty (well, scheduled for the last two items). Not a chance I'd run one of these without a warranty!

[bakerstreet]

simonej said:

Had my '09 D3 for four months now and already had a full four wheel alignment, EGR valve and rear diff replaced under Land Rover approved used warranty (well, scheduled for the last two items). Not a chance I'd run one of these without a warranty!

Out of interest, what went wrong with the diff? I thought that the diffs were a solid part of the D3

[A.J.M]

Don't buy a GS model. You can get a very nice D3 HSE for that price, so I wouldn't even consider one.
I know it's a bit badge snobbish but on the 2nd hand market you can be picky.

EGR valves have been failing since they fitted them in the 90s.
Wheel alignment is good ownership sense to stop the tyres prematurely wearing out.

They are big heavy cars so bushes, brakes and tyres can take a hammering over time.

Also the autobox needs it's oil changed every 50-70k to avoid issues.

They are expensive to run, both for upkeep and on fuel, they just are. You either accept that and live with it or find something else.

Realistically for a D4 HSE your looking at £25k or so.

[Gusto]

Don't worry about the lack of Nav - it's not fit for purpose. Leather is nice but glass roof? I don't spend a lot of time looking out of it to be honest. Never use the voice command. Stereo is nice though. Apart from that more than happy with my 2012 HSE. I would have bought an XS but this came up as a bargain. You might have to take a bit more time selling a GS - but, so is the guy selling it to you. Someone will want it for the same reasons you do.

[simonej]

bakerstreet said:

Out of interest, what went wrong with the diff? I thought that the diffs were a solid part of the D3

Don't know yet. It goes in to the garage in 3 weeks so I'll find out then. I'm not convinced it's the diff (possibly the front diff) but apparently they've had a listening device on it and it's sounding rough.

[simonej]

Oh, and to the OP, there's a 2010/2011 D4 for sale with 70k on it near me in Barnsley. Think it's an XS spec and is at £22k.