nearly bought a disco v8....
Discussion
but I don't know enough about them to know whether this a good deal, so would appreciate your thoughts as I have no idea other than what I've read up on.
requirements are a 4x4 for light offroading, with potential to go a bit more serious if I get into it. Reliable enough to go for weekends away in Wales and exploring the Lake District. Easily available parts and minor bits I can do myself. - Oh and has to make a nice sound - hence V8
Found a Dec97 R plate V8 ES with 77k on the clock. 3 owners. Metallic light blue. Looks good - few scratches, tiny dents. Paintwork generally very good.
No leaks around the gasket, battery knackered but would be replaced. Boot liner soaking, but because the rear sunroof has closing issues and was left open - although I suspect leak elsewhere. Checked boot floor, no rust at all so must be recent. Rear step broken, dented and stays down. Steering out of alignment. Needs new front tyres. Electric seat switches work, but mounting plates broken - fairly cheap to replace those. Light rust near rear door catches on wheel arches - looks superficial. Low ratio engages ok. Engine runs very quite. Rear seems a little bouncy - suspect used for towing. Footwells dry. Rear door window has cracked seal which could be letting water in. Cracked front headlight. No rust on bulkhead, engine very clean (not too clean )
That's pretty much all I've found. However there's no LR service log book. A load of receipts mind. Two of which showed major services at 700 and 1000 quid with various bits replaced like PAS pump. There was a lot of paperwork but in the short time I had I couldn't find anything which shows it was serviced in the last 20k. Of course this doesn't mean it wasn't and I may have missed it.
Anyway, dealer has knocked the price down to 3200 if I sort everything except the battery (was 3700, then 3500) but won't give new MOT at that price (runs out August).
I've seen a few others, more expensive and cheaper and there doesn't seem to be any relationship between cost and condition, mileage and age. Also seen a Jeep Cherokee - clearly not as capable, but they tend not to have the niggly things wrong with them. Not as much support and accessories as far as I can see, but perhaps a little cheaper to run.
With discos, if they're mechanically sound, is it worth going cheaper and fixing bits yourself or spend more money and hope nothing goes wrong for a while? My budget is around 4k, so I hope to correct all the above within that.
Sorry for the long one, but wanted to give all the info I had for your opinions. Also - it's 300 quid for an AA check - would you owners advise it's worth it?
A very aprehensive prospective buyer
Cheers!
requirements are a 4x4 for light offroading, with potential to go a bit more serious if I get into it. Reliable enough to go for weekends away in Wales and exploring the Lake District. Easily available parts and minor bits I can do myself. - Oh and has to make a nice sound - hence V8
Found a Dec97 R plate V8 ES with 77k on the clock. 3 owners. Metallic light blue. Looks good - few scratches, tiny dents. Paintwork generally very good.
No leaks around the gasket, battery knackered but would be replaced. Boot liner soaking, but because the rear sunroof has closing issues and was left open - although I suspect leak elsewhere. Checked boot floor, no rust at all so must be recent. Rear step broken, dented and stays down. Steering out of alignment. Needs new front tyres. Electric seat switches work, but mounting plates broken - fairly cheap to replace those. Light rust near rear door catches on wheel arches - looks superficial. Low ratio engages ok. Engine runs very quite. Rear seems a little bouncy - suspect used for towing. Footwells dry. Rear door window has cracked seal which could be letting water in. Cracked front headlight. No rust on bulkhead, engine very clean (not too clean
) That's pretty much all I've found. However there's no LR service log book. A load of receipts mind. Two of which showed major services at 700 and 1000 quid with various bits replaced like PAS pump. There was a lot of paperwork but in the short time I had I couldn't find anything which shows it was serviced in the last 20k. Of course this doesn't mean it wasn't and I may have missed it.
Anyway, dealer has knocked the price down to 3200 if I sort everything except the battery (was 3700, then 3500) but won't give new MOT at that price (runs out August).
I've seen a few others, more expensive and cheaper and there doesn't seem to be any relationship between cost and condition, mileage and age. Also seen a Jeep Cherokee - clearly not as capable, but they tend not to have the niggly things wrong with them. Not as much support and accessories as far as I can see, but perhaps a little cheaper to run.
With discos, if they're mechanically sound, is it worth going cheaper and fixing bits yourself or spend more money and hope nothing goes wrong for a while? My budget is around 4k, so I hope to correct all the above within that.
Sorry for the long one, but wanted to give all the info I had for your opinions. Also - it's 300 quid for an AA check - would you owners advise it's worth it?
A very aprehensive prospective buyer
Cheers!
Did the gearbox make any clunks etc when you moved away did the swivels look ok. If the engine hasn't had a service for 20k the oil will look FUBAR so check dipstick/filler. if i think of anything else i'll repost.FWIW, I think that the price is too high, but it's only my opinion.... Just bought a 96 V8 ES with 92K, full MOT, four new discs, four good tyres, and a full service history for £2500. I think you could get a better one for that money, but good luck anyway - they're all a bit of a lottery - as you'll see from my other posts I have a leaky rear sunroof and an intermitent misfire.... (the dealer has agreed to fix the misfire on warranty though)
thanks for your thoughts guys.
The oil wasn't whitish. There were no nasty smells or smoke which I would perhaps expect if it hadn't been serviced. I suspect it had been, just either didn't see or couldn't find the evidence. I've heard these V8s need more than regular oil changes so neglect for that long would show. The engine was very quiet and smooth pulling away and through the gears. There were no clunks from the box.
I didn't check the swivels - where should I look for those?
Disco V8 - take your point about the price. I've seen so many advertised in my budget but its hard to tell whether dealers are pricing them properly without going to see each one. I've seen 4 this weekend 2 looked far less looked after and tired at 3k and 4k each both with 100k miles. The other one was at 4750 at 68k miles but had been standing for 4 months (unsold) and whilst it drove ok, something didn't sit right with it for me after talking to the guy.
Is yours a manual or auto?
thanks again for your replies.
The oil wasn't whitish. There were no nasty smells or smoke which I would perhaps expect if it hadn't been serviced. I suspect it had been, just either didn't see or couldn't find the evidence. I've heard these V8s need more than regular oil changes so neglect for that long would show. The engine was very quiet and smooth pulling away and through the gears. There were no clunks from the box.
I didn't check the swivels - where should I look for those?
Disco V8 - take your point about the price. I've seen so many advertised in my budget but its hard to tell whether dealers are pricing them properly without going to see each one. I've seen 4 this weekend 2 looked far less looked after and tired at 3k and 4k each both with 100k miles. The other one was at 4750 at 68k miles but had been standing for 4 months (unsold) and whilst it drove ok, something didn't sit right with it for me after talking to the guy.
Is yours a manual or auto?
thanks again for your replies.
signia said:
I didn't check the swivels - where should I look for those?
The shiny ball thing in this photo. Stick it on full lock both sides and take a gander at the front wheels, make sure they are shiny (not pitted/rusty which is an MOT failure) and not pissing oil out. Expect to see a little oil or gunk though, otherwise they may be empty/dry.
Edited by eliot on Sunday 21st January 21:38
Signia, hi. Mine is an auto, very tidy with everything (apart from the sunroof and the misfire!!) working properly. By contrast I looked at one in London just before this one, that was £500 more and in a very ropey state. I guess I was lucky this time, but I'd want a really tidy one for anything over £3k - not just based on the value 'as-is' but also on the basis that it looks to be easy to spill £1500 on fixing things like leaky head gaskets, dodgy airflow sensors, knackered throtlle pots, pitted swivels, rusty boot floors ets......
On a more postitive note (!) I drove mine today and it was a real delight, smooth, powerful, not a hint of it's years or mileage. And what a great contrast to my 1978 SIII Diesel!!
On a more postitive note (!) I drove mine today and it was a real delight, smooth, powerful, not a hint of it's years or mileage. And what a great contrast to my 1978 SIII Diesel!!
eliot - thanks for the pic. I'll be sure to check them out.
V8 disco - thanks for your input. I think I'm going to keep looking. It seems you can spend 4k and still have the same bills as you might have if you only spent 2k on the car. Did you get an aa/rac check? If you have a series 3 then I guess you're no stranger to landies. I wouldn't normally on this value vehicle, but my knowledge on these is very limited.
If I really get into it, I'll look at getting underside, front, rear and side protection and take it a bit more seriously on BFG ATs and go and pay and play.
cheers guys.
eta-> just realised i got your nick wrong - corrected now
V8 disco - thanks for your input. I think I'm going to keep looking. It seems you can spend 4k and still have the same bills as you might have if you only spent 2k on the car. Did you get an aa/rac check? If you have a series 3 then I guess you're no stranger to landies. I wouldn't normally on this value vehicle, but my knowledge on these is very limited.
If I really get into it, I'll look at getting underside, front, rear and side protection and take it a bit more seriously on BFG ATs and go and pay and play.
cheers guys.
eta-> just realised i got your nick wrong - corrected now
Edited by signia on Sunday 21st January 22:32
ok, I've done it. Having seen all sorts of V8 discos from 2k to 5k and there appearing to be no relation between condition, age, mileage and price I took the plunge and a '96 V8 ES is now sitting on my parents' drive (no room on mine!)
Needs a few things checking over which I'll get done over time. They appear to be quite characteristic of Discos from people I've spoken to but I'm very picky and probably can't afford to be! But if anyone knows of what I might need to check out/do with regard to the following I'd appreciate it.
Steering a little noisy/blamongy(?)
Odd intermittent squeeling noise from the belt after the engine has warmed up.
Cruise control doesn't seem to work - might be a fuse, but I never use it anyway.
Diff lock light doesn't always come on but it does engage.
Boot floor has small rust spots, not all the way through - I'm hoping(!) this can be just rubbed down and then sealed properly.
I made the mistake of taking a karcher to it and then found the footwells were damp (duh!) so as with most LR owners, I'll probably be spending a bit of time trying to find the leaks
Full service history (every 6k). MOT'd on 29th January. But oh that V8! What a sound Very addictive!
I'll work on getting some pics done next weekend.
Cheers guys!
Needs a few things checking over which I'll get done over time. They appear to be quite characteristic of Discos from people I've spoken to but I'm very picky and probably can't afford to be! But if anyone knows of what I might need to check out/do with regard to the following I'd appreciate it.
Steering a little noisy/blamongy(?)
Odd intermittent squeeling noise from the belt after the engine has warmed up.
Cruise control doesn't seem to work - might be a fuse, but I never use it anyway.
Diff lock light doesn't always come on but it does engage.
Boot floor has small rust spots, not all the way through - I'm hoping(!) this can be just rubbed down and then sealed properly.
I made the mistake of taking a karcher to it and then found the footwells were damp (duh!) so as with most LR owners, I'll probably be spending a bit of time trying to find the leaks
Full service history (every 6k). MOT'd on 29th January. But oh that V8! What a sound
Very addictive! I'll work on getting some pics done next weekend.
Cheers guys!
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