Disco 4 - lots of towing miles

[LaserTam]

Looking at buying a used D4 from a private seller. It has a LR warranty remaining, done 35k miles but seller tells me he has done probably 10k towing a caravan. Should I be concerned? Would that have a detrimental effect on the engine/transmission?

Everything else about the car sounds great, going for a viewing soon.

[PaulV]

They are fab cars for towing, even with a big caravan they won't be struggling.

A flush of the automatic transmission fluid would be the main thing to get done.
If it has a detachable hitch, check it isn't getting loose at all.

[camel_landy]

35k??? It isn't even run in!!

These things are designed for towing, I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

As for the hitch, as long as it has been serviced at a main dealer, it should have been looked at as there was a recent recall over the hitch.

M

[LaserTam]

thanks gents. Owner has mentioned that the tow hitch has been looked at. It was the wear and tear I was a bit concerned about, thanks for the reassurance.

[blueacid]

PaulV said:

They are fab cars for towing, even with a big caravan they won't be struggling.

A flush of the automatic transmission fluid would be the main thing to get done.
If it has a detachable hitch, check it isn't getting loose at all.

Yep. With most automatic gearboxes flushing the fluid out (or a few drain & fills punctuated with a few hundred miles driving between each) will do them little-to-no harm and a world of good.


If you are concerned, take it for a test drive and check that it shifts gears smoothly and doesn't 'thump' into gear. Driving gently you should have to look at the revs to tell when it shifts gear - that's if my friend's D3 auto is a good yardstick of how smoothly the gearboxes can shift (his has 150k on it, to give you some basis for comparison)

[jep]

JLR are currently doing investigations / replacements where needed on tow bars. Is this the "looking at" the seller is referring to?




If not, it sounds like something that you should ask him to enquire about.

[LaserTam]

Dont know if he got that letter, but he said that it had been checked at last service. To be honest, I'm unlikely to be towing, so the tow hitch issue doesn't concern me too much, it was the potential of the towing miles.

[BossHogg]

Our Disco4 patrol cars do 40,000 miles a year and are used to drag anything up to 44 ton out of live lanes on the motorway. They really are a brilliant powerful car, I can't fault them.

[petery]

our old disco 3 did 180,000 miles doing probably close to 100,000 miles with 3 tons behind it and it was never an issue.the cars are great at towing, i'd be disappointed if a land rover hadn't been used for towing and off road

[LaserTam]

Lets hope you are all right - bought it yesterday

[madmover]

Assuming he has been towing within the limits of what the manufacturer states it's capable of, I don't see why you should be concerned, they're built for it after all. Maybe ask what kind of weights/what he has been towing. if he says something which is over the limits of the car then think about it in a bit more depth. I've been contemplating one recently - there's certainly lots of good examples about. If you find that the seller is honest and genuine, that's worth a fortune in itself. Good luck with your search

[LaserTam]

Search is over, collect it in a couple of weeks.

[RedLeicester]

jep said:

JLR are currently doing investigations / replacements where needed on tow bars. Is this the "looking at" the seller is referring to?




If not, it sounds like something that you should ask him to enquire about.

Ho hum, I haven't had that letter.

[jep]

OT

I appreciate this may seem a daft question, (apols in advance Bob), but does an AD know you have yours? Only I rang JLR and a raft of AD's when I got mine to get a replacement service history, so having not bought it from a JLR dealer I guess this is where they got my details from.

/OT

Nice one OP, hope you like it when it come.

[RedLeicester]

jep said:

OT

I appreciate this may seem a daft question, (apols in advance Bob), but does an AD know you have yours? Only I rang JLR and a raft of AD's when I got mine to get a replacement service history, so having not bought it from a JLR dealer I guess this is where they got my details from.

/OT

Nice one OP, hope you like it when it come.

They've serviced it, worked on it and occasionally try and persuade me to upgrade it, so I would hope so!

[jep]

RedLeicester said:

They've serviced it, worked on it and occasionally try and persuade me to upgrade it, so I would hope so!

In that case, I'd have hoped so too! Worth a chat and asking for an inspection next time you are in getting it fixed.....which knowing LR products, won't be too long a gap...

[RedLeicester]

jep said:

RedLeicester said:

They've serviced it, worked on it and occasionally try and persuade me to upgrade it, so I would hope so!

In that case, I'd have hoped so too! Worth a chat and asking for an inspection next time you are in getting it fixed.....which knowing LR products, won't be too long a gap...

Funnily enough I've started taking it to the local garage and haven't had a single problem ever since!