Running a Discovery
Discussion
I've run my current steed for a little while now, and am thinking of changing.
I want something interesting that can fit a couple of bikes and a paramotor in the boot. Previously I have been wondering about keeping my cheap and smelly estate, and having a fair weather car for fun.
I saw a thread on here about Land Rovers which has made me think of a Disco, which I haven't really considered before. It looks like it could fit loads in the boot if required, and would also let me do some off-roading for fun every now and then. Should be fun in a car without running the risk of punishing my licence further!
My budget is only six or seven thousand, which I think puts me in Discovery 2 TD5 region. I've had a look through this site and there are a few worrying posts talking about poor reliability. I'm interested if anyone in the know could tell me if it is feasible to have an older higher millage discovery as a daily driver. Could I trust it to get me into work every morning?
Any other experience of having these cars? It looks fun!
Thanks in advance
I want something interesting that can fit a couple of bikes and a paramotor in the boot. Previously I have been wondering about keeping my cheap and smelly estate, and having a fair weather car for fun.
I saw a thread on here about Land Rovers which has made me think of a Disco, which I haven't really considered before. It looks like it could fit loads in the boot if required, and would also let me do some off-roading for fun every now and then. Should be fun in a car without running the risk of punishing my licence further!
My budget is only six or seven thousand, which I think puts me in Discovery 2 TD5 region. I've had a look through this site and there are a few worrying posts talking about poor reliability. I'm interested if anyone in the know could tell me if it is feasible to have an older higher millage discovery as a daily driver. Could I trust it to get me into work every morning?
Any other experience of having these cars? It looks fun!
Thanks in advance
They will always get you there, but they will rot away underneath and present a huge amount of niggles that you will feel compelled to fix.
The more of a perfectionist you are the worse you will find it, but if mechanicals are all you care about a TD5 shouldn't be too bad. Though don't expect to beat 25mpg too often.
The more of a perfectionist you are the worse you will find it, but if mechanicals are all you care about a TD5 shouldn't be too bad. Though don't expect to beat 25mpg too often.
I have a 300tdi, M reg. Its got about 220k miles on it.
As above, there are always niggles but if you have the right attitude to land rover ownership you will learn these are just quirks.
With ours at the moment:
You have to pull the drivers door in hard whilst trying to open it
It leaks from various places, mainly the sunroof
It crunches going into second
When going in to high or low box you have to hold the gear stick until you engage a gear and start driving or it will pop out.
Hand break doesnt work
There are some electical gremlins too
In fairness to it, its not treated well. Its serviced regularly and any major issues are dealt with but the niggles get left and it is used as a skip / tip run / dog walking / off roading. Its never broken down.
You can fit loads of stuff in the back with the back seats down too. A great utility vehicle but as above, not for a perfectionist. With Land Rovers of this age you will be forever spending money on tiny things if you let them get to you.
We have loads of fun driving it accross Salisbury plain and round the many byways in our area and dont bat an eyelid to the screeeeeecccch of branches scraping down the side as we go through a narrow gap
As above, there are always niggles but if you have the right attitude to land rover ownership you will learn these are just quirks.
With ours at the moment:
You have to pull the drivers door in hard whilst trying to open it
It leaks from various places, mainly the sunroof
It crunches going into second
When going in to high or low box you have to hold the gear stick until you engage a gear and start driving or it will pop out.
Hand break doesnt work
There are some electical gremlins too
In fairness to it, its not treated well. Its serviced regularly and any major issues are dealt with but the niggles get left and it is used as a skip / tip run / dog walking / off roading. Its never broken down.
You can fit loads of stuff in the back with the back seats down too. A great utility vehicle but as above, not for a perfectionist. With Land Rovers of this age you will be forever spending money on tiny things if you let them get to you.
We have loads of fun driving it accross Salisbury plain and round the many byways in our area and dont bat an eyelid to the screeeeeecccch of branches scraping down the side as we go through a narrow gap
Edited by PaulB81 on Thursday 26th May 00:38
The Disco 2 is a lot better than the previous generation for rust although my LR indy is reporting a few are coming in now with rear chassis rust. His view is that they don't spit oil all over the chassis so no protection. Any Disco 1 you buy will have a certain amount of rot; rear wheel arches and boot floors being the favourites.
Some D2's have rear air suspension which needs the bags changing (£150) about every 8 - 10 years. Easy job about 1 hour per side and somewhat quicker when you've done it a couple of times. If you don't chnage the bags you'll wear out the pump at £300. No labour in them there figured.
I've heard the ACE can be problematic but it never was with any of our 3. It's a great system and really improves handling.
As for fuel the TD5 will get low to mid 20's in normal use so not that frugal. The V8 will get around 17. The difference in price to buy is huge. I've just sold my V8 for £3500 and a similar TD5 would have been £7k to £8k. That's a lot of fuel to make up the difference.
Take a look on the D2 site. They're a good bunch and very knowledgeble and helpful.
http://thed2boysclub.co.uk/TheD2Boysclub/HOME.html
Some D2's have rear air suspension which needs the bags changing (£150) about every 8 - 10 years. Easy job about 1 hour per side and somewhat quicker when you've done it a couple of times. If you don't chnage the bags you'll wear out the pump at £300. No labour in them there figured.
I've heard the ACE can be problematic but it never was with any of our 3. It's a great system and really improves handling.
As for fuel the TD5 will get low to mid 20's in normal use so not that frugal. The V8 will get around 17. The difference in price to buy is huge. I've just sold my V8 for £3500 and a similar TD5 would have been £7k to £8k. That's a lot of fuel to make up the difference.
Take a look on the D2 site. They're a good bunch and very knowledgeble and helpful.
http://thed2boysclub.co.uk/TheD2Boysclub/HOME.html
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