my new (14 year old) Discovery

[car crazy]

Picked this up yesterday, its a 98 Discovery 50th anniversary special edition. It's done 173000 miles and has 7 cream leather seats and special edition alloys.
What problems can I expect on a 14 year old Discovery with 173000 miles, cheers Dougie.
I bought it for the Rottweiler puppy as I don't want him on the red leather in the Audi.

[car crazy]

[car crazy]

[grand cherokee]

looks very nice indeed

but asking about potential problems after you bought the car makes me think you might be a tad late?

[anonymous-user]

Sloppy drive train, leaky sunroofs and rust....everywhere.
Is that condensation in the alpine windows?

[anonymous-user]

car crazy said:

special edition alloys.

Is that what the salesman told you? Hate to be the bearer of bad news but they're standard Boost alloys.

[car crazy]

Crossflow Kid said:

Sloppy drive train, leaky sunroofs and rust....everywhere.
Is that condensation in the alpine windows?

No sunroofs, air con still working, heated screen still working, mirrors still working no visible rust 6 months mot and tax, yes rear windows are condensated

[anonymous-user]

car crazy said:

yes rear windows are condensated

Your rear sunroof is leaking (sorry) and/or the boot floor is probably corroded as a result.
ETA. just seen the no sunroof thing, but the boot floor bit remains the same. It's getting damp somehow. Which is bad.

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 10th December 12:24

[jagracer]

car crazy said:

What problems can I expect on a 14 year old Discovery with 173000 miles, cheers Dougie.

Worst case then rust on inner wings, rust on sills, rust on boot floor and more rust on the chassis. If It's a manual then gearbox problems and possible clutch fork failure. Head gaskets and warped heads, this is due to an 50p O ring failure that generally is missed so problem not cured. There's a few other issues but generally they keep going and going if you service it fairly well.

[car crazy]

Crossflow Kid said:

Sloppy drive train, leaky sunroofs and rust....everywhere.
Is that condensation in the alpine windows?

No sunroofs, air con still working, heated screen still working, mirrors still working no visible rust 6 months mot and tax, yes rear windows are condensated

[car crazy]

grand cherokee said:

looks very nice indeed

but asking about potential problems after you bought the car makes me think you might be a tad late?

Drove 130 miles home in it last night sat at 70 lovely comfortable drive, only problem was front left indicator which works if you give it a slap

[300bhp/ton]

Crossflow Kid said:

car crazy said:

yes rear windows are condensated

Your rear sunroof is leaking (sorry) and/or the boot floor is probably corroded as a result.
ETA. just seen the no sunroof thing, but the boot floor bit remains the same. It's getting damp somehow. Which is bad.

Edited by Crossflow Kid on Monday 10th December 12:24

The boot floor rust IMO comes from some cheapy braces under the floor that are exposed to the elements, these rust causing the floor to the rust as a result. Water from inside could be an issue I agree, but from the floors I've seen it wouldn't appear to be the primary cause.

[anonymous-user]

300bhp/ton said:

Crossflow Kid said:

car crazy said:

yes rear windows are condensated

Your rear sunroof is leaking (sorry) and/or the boot floor is probably corroded as a result.
ETA. just seen the no sunroof thing, but the boot floor bit remains the same. It's getting damp somehow. Which is bad.

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 10th December 12:24

The boot floor rust IMO comes from some cheapy braces under the floor that are exposed to the elements, these rust causing the floor to the rust as a result. Water from inside could be an issue I agree, but from the floors I've seen it wouldn't appear to be the primary cause.

I knew you'd have the real answer where thousands of others have been fed a red herring.
Either way, it's got a wet windows, which means a shagged boot floor.

[300bhp/ton]

The major mechanical bits are all fairly robust and pretty much anything is fixable should you want too. Most of the body is Birmabright (an aluminium alloy) so won't rust (although can corrode). The boot floor is the most likely area, however it's a relatively simple fix and shouldn't be an MOT failure as the 2nd row seat belts don't attach to the floor but pass through it and are directly attached to the chassis.

[camel_landy]

Corrosion is the main problem for old Discos... As others have mentioned; Boot floor, sills, chassis, brake lines, roof, etc... but if kept properly maintained, those things chug on forever!!

Also be aware that your spare is a completely different style of alloy. The spare is probably one of the originals, where as your 4x main ones probably came as a set of take-offs from a Defender.

M

[anonymous-user]

camel_landy said:

Also be aware that your spare is a completely different style of alloy. The spare is probably one of the originals, where as your 4x main ones probably came as a set of take-offs from a Defender.

Good spot!
Looks like Boosts on the car and a Freestyle or whatever they're called for the spare. Difference appears to be the profile of the spokes.
A 2" lift and massive tyres would sort it though.

[300bhp/ton]

Crossflow Kid said:

300bhp/ton said:

Crossflow Kid said:

car crazy said:

yes rear windows are condensated

Your rear sunroof is leaking (sorry) and/or the boot floor is probably corroded as a result.
ETA. just seen the no sunroof thing, but the boot floor bit remains the same. It's getting damp somehow. Which is bad.

Edited by Crossflow Kid on Monday 10th December 12:24

The boot floor rust IMO comes from some cheapy braces under the floor that are exposed to the elements, these rust causing the floor to the rust as a result. Water from inside could be an issue I agree, but from the floors I've seen it wouldn't appear to be the primary cause.

I knew you'd have the real answer where thousands of others have been fed a red herring.
Either way, it's got a wet windows, which means a shagged boot floor.

No wet windows don't mean a shagged boot floor, that's my entire point. There's a large rubber/foam insulating mat under the carpet, most water from the windows/sunroof will sit between it and the carpet, rather than on the metal section of floor.

As for the windows, well lets face it, the door and window seals on any Landy are hardly anything to write home about and it looks like the Disco has been parked outside on a lot, if it'd been there for a week or so then condensation at this time of year in any vehicle wouldn't really be a shocker. And hardly proof of anything more than it's been cold outside.

These are the main failure points on the floor:



As you can see it's due to an under vehicle brace that has rusted first, therefore rusted outside in, not inside out.

[car crazy]

300bhp/ton said:

The major mechanical bits are all fairly robust and pretty much anything is fixable should you want too. Most of the body is Birmabright (an aluminium alloy) so won't rust (although can corrode). The boot floor is the most likely area, however it's a relatively simple fix and shouldn't be an MOT failure as the 2nd row seat belts don't attach to the floor but pass through it and are directly attached to the chassis.

Thanks mate, passed mot less than 3000 miles ago, thought the battery was a bit flat but the chief mechanic where I work tested it and is fine. Not too worried about mileage as today I am driving an 11 month old 44 ton merc with 323000 on the clock. The guy I bought it off has 15 discos in stock so asked him to sell me the most solid one that would make me want to go back to him in 3 years time.
When I told him I only do 2500 miles a year he said he definitely wants it back in 3 years, says he should be able to get me a Discovery 3 then

[car crazy]

Could do with a handbook for it as well can you still get them from the dealers?

[car crazy]

Crossflow Kid said:

car crazy said:

special edition alloys.

Is that what the salesman told you? Hate to be the bearer of bad news but they're standard Boost alloys.

My bad, 50 badges below indicators denote special edition not alloys