Disco 2 Reviews

[gurus5000]

Hi All,

I am after a bit of advice on the Disco 2 I am looking at spending approx £10000-£12000 on one so one of the later lower mileage ones. I drove a manual the other week which i wasnt that keen on so I wanted people's opinion on the auto ones. The other things I would like to know is the following;

1. MPG
2. Reliability
3. What they are like off road and in the snow obviously with the right tyres on.
4. Any other points that people may feel would be helpful.
5. I was looking for a Disco 3 but I dont think I can afford one as they seem to be about £17000-£20000 for a decent

Thank you in advance for your comments they are greatly appreciated.

[ilaishley]

1. MPG
TD5 = up to 25

2. Reliability =
No major problems with mine @ 92k miles

3. What they are like off road and in the snow obviously with the right tyres on.
Amazing off road. Grabber ATs make them even better

4. Any other points that people may feel would be helpful.
At your price range you will be looking at ES which is very well apointed. Depending on mileage I would consider the V8 as the TD5 is very agricultural, but can be remapped to give very good performance.

5. I was looking for a Disco 3 but I dont think I can afford one as they seem to be about £17000-£20000 for a decent
A totally different car. I would be very very inclined to find the extra money somehow to get into a D3. Dont forget spending 12k on a d2 that in 3 years is worth lets say 5K is not as good value as a D3 at 17k that you can sell for 14k in 3 years. Not saying those are real figures but ownership is about the cost of the car when you sell it not when you buy it.

Go D3 all the way

Ian

[sunbeam_alpine]

I've got a 2000 MY Disco 2. I bought it as a 3 year old ex-company lease car with 138000 km. It has been an absolutely brilliant vehicle - we've been all over Europe in it, and it handles very well off-road (I'm in agricultural machinery sales and agricultural contracting) and on snow.

I should say that I've never used it for extreme off-roading (got a toy for that) but it goes into muddy fields most weeks.

I was going to change it 18 months ago, but didn't because I got offered bugger all (€4000) against a new Disco. Instead I decided to run this one into the ground.

The last year it's had a lot of niggles - all annoying things - ABS sensors are a favourite. It varies between having 7 warning lights on (max) to 1 (min). I no longer look (except for important ones like oil!).

Its got air suspension, which is great for driving comfort, and also more stable when towing, but quite expensive when parts are needed.

If you do this, get one with full service history. I'd also be tempted to haggle for a D3 - I reckon you'd be better off.

[quey]

Disco 2's have been around for over 11 years now. They are a seriously under-rated vehicle bot on and off road. The technology used was well ahead of its time with common rail diesel engines and ABS/traction control as standard.

I have owned one for the past 5 years and use it daily for business. Its been worked really hard and regularly tows loads of up to 4 tonnes.

Reliability has been excellent, its only failed me once with a broken front prop. Yes its had a new minor repairs needed too, but i should point out its now got 189000 miles on it and still going strong.

One thing you need to remember that the TD5 (while a brilliant engine) it a bit lacking in standard form. if you get it professionally re-mapped it will be transformed. Don't be tempted by those cheap plug in boxes you see on eBay, they just pump more fuel in - if you shop around you'll get a profession job done for the same price anyway.

Personally I'd never buy and auto without a re-map, although I'm not a fan of the auto version anyway.

If you've got about a grand to spare you can mod it up to 200bhp and then it will fly

I've driven 400 miles in one stretch in mine and stepped out feeling fresh and did a day's work!

Some of the later ones have serious kit as standard.

check out the common issues on Land Rover forums and watch out for those.

Would i buy another one - definitely.

[colonel c]

I'm on my second TD5 Disco.
MPG have ranged between 25 and 30.(manual box)
Reliability. I have had no major issues. Bearing in mind these are large and mechanical complex vehicles, so some repairs can be expensive. (don't use main agents for servicing. Find a recommended local independent.

Excellent off road. As others have said decent tyres gives you the confidence to tackle most situations. I'm on General Grabber AT2's. Although I have been impressed with standard road tyres too.
One of my biggest niggles is with leaky sunroofs. I had electric and manual and they both have developed leaks that are seeming incurable.

Would I have another one? If when the time comes I can't afford a D3 then I would have another D2.

[300bhp/ton]

gurus5000 said:

Hi All,

I am after a bit of advice on the Disco 2 I am looking at spending approx £10000-£12000 on one so one of the later lower mileage ones.

I'm sure you know, but at that money you are right on the edge of the lower end Disco 3 prices. I'm a huge fan of all Landy products and the D2, but there is no denying a D3 is a totally different type of machine. Less rugged, but more sophisticated and arguably better for most people.

Also at this money if you are after a good 4x4 then it's well worth considering the new shape JK Wrangler. It's available in 3 door SWB and 5 door LWB. £12k'ish will get you an 06/7 plate example.

They have a 2.8 litre motor and are faster, more powerful and more economical than a Td5 D2. And have either 6 speed manual or 4 speed auto.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

gurus5000 said:

I drove a manual the other week which i wasnt that keen on so I wanted people's opinion on the auto ones.

What was it you didn't like? Also was it a V8 or a Td5?

Auto's are quite nice, but will blunt performance a bit and not be quite as good on MPG. Arguably the V8 auto's work better than the Td5's.

If you are going Td5 manual or auto, I would highly (very highly ) recommend a remap (lots of places Twisted Performance, Allisport, JE Engieering, Jeremy J Fearn). It will make a huge difference to how the vehicle runs and drives, and chances are it'll more economical on fuel under normal driving too.

gurus5000 said:

The other things I would like to know is the following;

1. MPG

V8 15-18mpg
Td5 24-32mpg (depending on how you drive)

If you mod with bigger wheels and such, then it'll lower these figures.

gurus5000 said:

2. Reliability

Reliability should be good, but Landy's do like TLC. Look after it and keep it maintained and it'll last a long, long time.

But they can suffer niggles, silly little annoying niggles. But usually most are livable.

The air suspension is often a cause of concern, but mostly its due to lack of maintenance. If it develops a leak, lots of people leave it. This causes the pump to run at full tilt all the time, which then causes it to fail.

Engines are fairly stout. The V8 is still a 1960's Buick small block though, so regular oil changes are a good thing. There have been some issue with the liners and such, but I think it's often overdone on internet forums.

Td5 had some issues with oil getting to the ECU early on. But should not be an issue on later models. Generally a very good engine in my opinion.

gurus5000 said:

3. What they are like off road and in the snow obviously with the right tyres on.

This question is a little 2 fold.

Essentially a Discovery 2 is still not all that different underneath to a Defender, or a classic Range Rover. As in it uses the same live axles, the same box section chassis, the same engines and the same gearboxes.

This means that off road they are very capable. They have good ride height, ground clearance and axle articulation and flex.

The Traction control system is also rather handy.

The only real difference (and I'm not sure on exact years here) is some D2's didn't have a centre diff lock. It relied fully on the TCS to get power to the wheels, where as the Defender Td5 had both centre diff lock and TCS.

On some years you can simply hook up a lever for the centre diff lock, some years you can't as it is all missing and I think, but I'm not sure that Land Rover reintroduced the centre diff lock at some point.

How important this is to you will depend on what you are wanting to do with it. If it's just an occasional green lane or field, then it's not an issue at all. If you want to play more seriously and tackle more severe terrain or look at entering competitive events, then you may want to look at it further.

In terms of snow, yes very, very good. Tyres will have a big affect (just as they would off road), but even then the D2 should be very capable. The TCS makes a huge difference here. (I'm not sure if all D2's had TCS, if not, it really is a good thing to have for conditions like these).

gurus5000 said:

4. Any other points that people may feel would be helpful.

Not really, just go drive a few and see. But I would seriously check out some alternatives such as a Jeep Wrangler and maybe even a Defender. They might surprise you.

Lastly remember a D2 will lose money. Landy's are usually pretty good on residuals, but D1 prices are rock bottom at the moment (sub £1k). A D2 will eventually reach this level too.

gurus5000 said:

5. I was looking for a Disco 3 but I dont think I can afford one as they seem to be about £17000-£20000 for a decent

Oops, well ignore my point about it above