RE: Shed of the Week: Land Rover Discovery V8
Discussion
Gtom said:
It wouldn't be cheaper. I wanted a defender in the first place but couldn't afford one so the disco was second best.
The discovery did go everywhere my friends Gwyn Lewis'd defender went, it also towed two stuck defenders whist acting as an anchor point BUT a defender is just way cooler.
And on the v8 point. You have heard one with no silencers haven't you? It's worth £5/mile to listen to it plodding round a field all day.
Absolutely. I wish I had another one now. My mate has had several, and Range Rovers with the same engine, and the first thing that happens is the silencers come off. He came in his with a trailer to pick my van up, the sound is just glorious.The discovery did go everywhere my friends Gwyn Lewis'd defender went, it also towed two stuck defenders whist acting as an anchor point BUT a defender is just way cooler.
And on the v8 point. You have heard one with no silencers haven't you? It's worth £5/mile to listen to it plodding round a field all day.
I would always choose one over a Defender purely from a comfort perspective. I cannot fit in a Defender in any meaningful way.
Top shed points for it being a V8 but, as others have said, it strikes me that it's a wallet-buster in the making.
There's a chap who insists on parking in our office space who has a D1 that's all snorkelled-up, over-wheeled, jacked-up etc, albeit with a 300 TDi in it. He also has a D2 that he's chucked some later RR wheels on. Both are used to deliver kebabs for the shop round the corner but the D1 looks entirely unsuited to the role! I presume he goes with which one has the most fuel in it.
Needless to say, with all the tales here of astonishing reliability, one or both is or are depositing substantial amounts of oil all over the tarmac out back.
There's a chap who insists on parking in our office space who has a D1 that's all snorkelled-up, over-wheeled, jacked-up etc, albeit with a 300 TDi in it. He also has a D2 that he's chucked some later RR wheels on. Both are used to deliver kebabs for the shop round the corner but the D1 looks entirely unsuited to the role! I presume he goes with which one has the most fuel in it.
Needless to say, with all the tales here of astonishing reliability, one or both is or are depositing substantial amounts of oil all over the tarmac out back.
Not sure I've ever seen a standard V8 spin all four wheels on wet Tarmac (unless it's the first few inches after moving off)?
Bizarre how my mind works, I wouldn't entertain a V8 Disco, but wouldn't think twice about owning a 3.5/3.9 RRC. I'm not sure if I'd entertain a tdi Disco either, after having driven a Police one which we had as our patrol vehicles afew years back. It had too many faults, and that was from new (like every warning light on the dashboard lighting up under heavy braking, which also caused the windows to go down, and the ACE fluidnreservoir being empty - yes really, the rear suspension collapsing, despite it never being used for towing, etc etc)
I'm not impressdwihthr vendor saying 'this vehicle is sold as seen/trade sale. No warranty implied"
That in itself would make me want to take a real hard long look at the sills, chassis, boot floor, A, B & C pillar bases etc. Either that or find a sound one...
Bizarre how my mind works, I wouldn't entertain a V8 Disco, but wouldn't think twice about owning a 3.5/3.9 RRC. I'm not sure if I'd entertain a tdi Disco either, after having driven a Police one which we had as our patrol vehicles afew years back. It had too many faults, and that was from new (like every warning light on the dashboard lighting up under heavy braking, which also caused the windows to go down, and the ACE fluidnreservoir being empty - yes really, the rear suspension collapsing, despite it never being used for towing, etc etc)
I'm not impressdwihthr vendor saying 'this vehicle is sold as seen/trade sale. No warranty implied"
That in itself would make me want to take a real hard long look at the sills, chassis, boot floor, A, B & C pillar bases etc. Either that or find a sound one...
Love it, love the wheels and the colour.
I had a D2 V8 manual which I was incredibly fond of, unfortunately, losing the keys and having to use the spare meant that the alarm system frequently shat itself leaving me stranded unable to get into or once in, start the damnable thing. The alarm went off and continued to do so even when driving and loaded on the back of a low loader.
I did have the leaky sunroof too, eventually I silicon sealed the crap out of it after dehumidifying like crazy. However the car has passed every single MOT before during and after my ownership. It wasn't the best car, it wasn't spacious, it handled in a certain manner, it drank like a fish (thank god for LPG) it wasn't that fast and because they decided to put a traction control system (That of course failed) in instead of a locking diff it wasn't even good in the snow. However it was incredibly characterful, felt special every time I got in it, I have never smiled as much with a car as when I drove the Disco.
I had a D2 V8 manual which I was incredibly fond of, unfortunately, losing the keys and having to use the spare meant that the alarm system frequently shat itself leaving me stranded unable to get into or once in, start the damnable thing. The alarm went off and continued to do so even when driving and loaded on the back of a low loader.
I did have the leaky sunroof too, eventually I silicon sealed the crap out of it after dehumidifying like crazy. However the car has passed every single MOT before during and after my ownership. It wasn't the best car, it wasn't spacious, it handled in a certain manner, it drank like a fish (thank god for LPG) it wasn't that fast and because they decided to put a traction control system (That of course failed) in instead of a locking diff it wasn't even good in the snow. However it was incredibly characterful, felt special every time I got in it, I have never smiled as much with a car as when I drove the Disco.
Every time I come across a discovery on the road they are being driven slower than a hearse by a bloke with a beard.
Utter P.O.S.
Now I realise they were always slow and s
te but please, resist whatever sadomasochistic urge you may have about romantic notions of a british rural idyll (long since evaporated) and do not buy one now.
Particularly if you have kids; they will hate you for it and you will die alone in an OAP home that smells heavily of disinfectant.
Utter P.O.S.
Now I realise they were always slow and s
te but please, resist whatever sadomasochistic urge you may have about romantic notions of a british rural idyll (long since evaporated) and do not buy one now. Particularly if you have kids; they will hate you for it and you will die alone in an OAP home that smells heavily of disinfectant.
Mine has been in the family since 2003, a 1997 model, now with 106,000 miles.
Never broken down, very comfy to sit in and has a nice V8 rumble.
The rust issue?
This one has not been bad at all.
At 15 years old it needed a small patch on the rear inner arch.
At 17 it needed patches on the inner front wings and one sill patch.
At 19 it had a complete sill and the bases of the A and B pillars doing on t’other side.
Fuel consumption is fine – pretty much what you would expect from a heavy, brick-shaped, automatic V8.
Lovely old thing that I would never sell.
Never broken down, very comfy to sit in and has a nice V8 rumble.
The rust issue?
This one has not been bad at all.
At 15 years old it needed a small patch on the rear inner arch.
At 17 it needed patches on the inner front wings and one sill patch.
At 19 it had a complete sill and the bases of the A and B pillars doing on t’other side.
Fuel consumption is fine – pretty much what you would expect from a heavy, brick-shaped, automatic V8.
Lovely old thing that I would never sell.
I had one while I was doing up the house. Mine had the optional boot floor, but unfortunately it had to go. The headlights falling out when I closed the drivers door got a bit tiresome.
Love seeing these still, but pretty glad I no longer own one. Certainly a car to make you happy and angry at the same time.
Love seeing these still, but pretty glad I no longer own one. Certainly a car to make you happy and angry at the same time.
The worlds shoddiest car equipped with the worlds most underwhelming V8. I should hate this, but having heard one being given the beans (and moving very very slowly) I am feeling a lot of want.
Sadly like most old Discos it'll probably end up in full on paedo spec with a snorkel, big wheels, roofrack, and a One Life Live It sticker.
Sadly like most old Discos it'll probably end up in full on paedo spec with a snorkel, big wheels, roofrack, and a One Life Live It sticker.
Edited by dme123 on Sunday 5th November 20:56
Lovely car in a superb individual colour combo. I got one of these (like Withnail going on holiday) by mistake about 5 years ago. Went down to the village corrugated-shed garage about a couple of hits of works on one of my brothers cars. They had a grey Disco ES V8 parked outside for sale at £995. It was perfectly standard fettle, 7 seats, leather, everything worked including both sunroofs, with original stereo, wheels etc. It had that LR smell of oil and leather. It had just clicked over 100k miles with straight through exhaust and fully stamped book. Chatting to the garage owner he said he took it in lieu of payment for some work he had done on a chaps car. Negotiated it down to £700 and owned it for around 6 months, used mainly for chucking the MTB in. In that time did around 3k miles, aside from a spot of electrical infidelity (new alternator solved) it was superb. There really wasn't a mark on it, interior particularly impressive..infact the more I talk and think about it I wish I still had it. Sold it for double what I paid and almost instantly regretted it. Although using kick-down you could actually see the speedo moving south in real time!
Edited by billzeebub on Sunday 5th November 20:58
My only experience with a Disco V8 is a skiing holiday, when my parents used one from a colleague. We got in Switzerland and back to Belgium, so no problems there. But the only memory to that holiday for my dad were the petrol stations. We still talk about it sometimes, that thing did drink a lot! Never heard my old man talk about fuel consumption in any of his other cars, that means something ;-)
I wonder how many that are slating this have actually owned a Discovery?
I moved to Canada a few years back and picked up an '03 Discovery V8 (the 4.6, not 4.0) in 2014 - after some initial expense to rectify seeping valve cover gaskets, and some faulty sensors, it's been more reliable and cost way less to keep on the road than our '06 Audi A4. In fact, for the last 2 years I've only had to do regular servicing. It copes with the -30 temperatures and heavy snow we get here, doesn't mind the +30 in the summer, and has only left me on the side of the road once in 30000km....and, my kids love it!
Is the earlier 4.0 V8 that slow? The 4.6 Disco is no G63 AMG, but it's got enough poke to pull out and overtake when you need to. For what I paid for it, running costs (even with its liking of high quantities of premium fuel) I'd much rather be driving this everyday than be part of the sea of X5s, Lexus SUVs, Merc SUVs, Audi Q5s/Q7s, Porsche Cayennes that every other bugger is in!
Now, if I just could stop the sunroof leaking, and get rid of the intermittent fault lights on the dash...!
I moved to Canada a few years back and picked up an '03 Discovery V8 (the 4.6, not 4.0) in 2014 - after some initial expense to rectify seeping valve cover gaskets, and some faulty sensors, it's been more reliable and cost way less to keep on the road than our '06 Audi A4. In fact, for the last 2 years I've only had to do regular servicing. It copes with the -30 temperatures and heavy snow we get here, doesn't mind the +30 in the summer, and has only left me on the side of the road once in 30000km....and, my kids love it!
Is the earlier 4.0 V8 that slow? The 4.6 Disco is no G63 AMG, but it's got enough poke to pull out and overtake when you need to. For what I paid for it, running costs (even with its liking of high quantities of premium fuel) I'd much rather be driving this everyday than be part of the sea of X5s, Lexus SUVs, Merc SUVs, Audi Q5s/Q7s, Porsche Cayennes that every other bugger is in!
Now, if I just could stop the sunroof leaking, and get rid of the intermittent fault lights on the dash...!
Edited by pjksutherland on Monday 6th November 20:32
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