Discovery 1 buying advice

[Kentish]

Hi folks;

I've pretty much decided to go for a Disco Diesel & I'm after a little buying advice please.

Budget will be around £2k and for that I'm prob looking at a late 90's model now.

Is rust an issue on them like it was the earlier ones & is it just floors & inner wings?
Anything else an issue on these?

I was considering a RR P38 4.0 HSE but they do have their reliability issues & are costly to fix & run so as nice as they are I think a Disco will be better for me.

All advice much appreciated.

Cheers,
K

[wrighty78]

I'm also on the lookout at the moment for pretty much the same thing. It'll be my first foray into LR ownership, so I'm having to learn fast. This might be a helpful start:

http://www.lro.com/buyingguide.php?page=1&sid=...

And this looks like an excellent source of info, but you have to join before you can get very far:

http://www.discoveryownersclub.org/

Let us know what you end up with. I'm hoping to go and view a couple tomorrow...

[richardxjr]

From my looking about (before settling on a 4.6 P38) I found that rust certainly is an issue on Disco 1's. V8 ones though were cheaper, cleaner, lower mileage and much better spec'd compared to the diesels.

Disco2 (diesel and petrol) can be had for <£3k now. I was happy to go with whichever the nicest one I found was a week before Christmas (D2 or P38)

3000 miles since Christmas in my P38, still really happy with it (particularly in this weather!) no issues (yet) at all.

With all the LandRover products of this vintage, most stuff (outside of cooked V8 engines) is easily fixed youself with plentiful & cheap parts.

[Kentish]

thanks guys

[Kentish]

are the body panels steel on all discos?

I can't say I have ever noticed any really rusty discos other than really early ones.

I've heard the inner wings and the floors are the problems so maybe the rot is not noticable and there are plenty of rotten ones driving around?

The P38 is alloy bodied & the only issues with corrosion on those can be the electrolytic reaction between alloy & steel body parts.

I guess with what I've read the disco is all steel?

Is this rot something that is inevitable with any disco or only neglected ones?

[mwy1964]

Boot floor is the favourite on the Disco 1, lift carpet and check. Rust can also creep up the side panels making the repair more complex. Repair panel is around £70 and a days work to cut out and replace, from memory... Chassis and box sections need checking, inner sills are another favourite as they are hidden behind plastic trim where mud and water collect. Finally as you mentioned inner wings both front and rear

Personally I would look around and find the best, someone I shoot with has a 1994 Disco that is immaculate and was picked up for £1400 quid. Credit crunch and the lack of love for later Discoverys, due to fuel prices etc, has had its effect on price throughout the range.

[jagracer]

Kentish said:

are the body panels steel on all discos?

I can't say I have ever noticed any really rusty discos other than really early ones.

I've heard the inner wings and the floors are the problems so maybe the rot is not noticable and there are plenty of rotten ones driving around?

The P38 is alloy bodied & the only issues with corrosion on those can be the electrolytic reaction between alloy & steel body parts.

I guess with what I've read the disco is all steel?

Is this rot something that is inevitable with any disco or only neglected ones?

They're a mixture of steel and ally. The main rust points are the boot floor, sills, A pillars, the rear wheel arches by the seat belt mounts, the front inner wings and chassis supports.
If you find an older one that needs welding then best walk away because if you can't do it yourself they aren't cheap to weld. It took me a couple of days to do my boot floor and rear arches. The sills have gone and I just can't be arsed to do it and at a price of £500 per side it isn't worth it. In the ed I have put it out to grass, despite recently spending £900 on the gearbox and clutch, and bought a Land Cruiser which is comfortable, fast, goes place the Disco couldn't and has no rust.

[uk_vette]

jagracer said:

Kentish said:

are the body panels steel on all discos?

I can't say I have ever noticed any really rusty discos other than really early ones.

I've heard the inner wings and the floors are the problems so maybe the rot is not noticable and there are plenty of rotten ones driving around?

The P38 is alloy bodied & the only issues with corrosion on those can be the electrolytic reaction between alloy & steel body parts.

I guess with what I've read the disco is all steel?

Is this rot something that is inevitable with any disco or only neglected ones?

They're a mixture of steel and ally. The main rust points are the boot floor, sills, A pillars, the rear wheel arches by the seat belt mounts, the front inner wings and chassis supports.
If you find an older one that needs welding then best walk away because if you can't do it yourself they aren't cheap to weld. It took me a couple of days to do my boot floor and rear arches. The sills have gone and I just can't be arsed to do it and at a price of £500 per side it isn't worth it. In the ed I have put it out to grass, despite recently spending £900 on the gearbox and clutch, and bought a Land Cruiser which is comfortable, fast, goes place the Disco couldn't and has no rust.

.
.
Good advice, thanks

[Kentish]

Many thanks all for the advice.

I've seen so many mid 90's discos this week that you couldn't imagine them being such rot boxes!

I'm rather concerned about the rot issues, no cars should rot these days even ones that are 10 years old.

I think I may go back to looking for something Japanese (HiLux, Shogun, Landcruiser etc). Maybe even a late Frontera

[jagracer]

Kentish said:

Many thanks all for the advice.

I've seen so many mid 90's discos this week that you couldn't imagine them being such rot boxes!

I'm rather concerned about the rot issues, no cars should rot these days even ones that are 10 years old.

I think I may go back to looking for something Japanese (HiLux, Shogun, Landcruiser etc). Maybe even a late Frontera

As far as I know the Disco was designed in the 70s and a lot of bodies were made during the mid 80s and left outside after the project was shelved for a few years in favour of another BL failure.

[Kentish]

jagracer said:

Kentish said:

Many thanks all for the advice.

I've seen so many mid 90's discos this week that you couldn't imagine them being such rot boxes!

I'm rather concerned about the rot issues, no cars should rot these days even ones that are 10 years old.

I think I may go back to looking for something Japanese (HiLux, Shogun, Landcruiser etc). Maybe even a late Frontera

As far as I know the Disco was designed in the 70s and a lot of bodies were made during the mid 80s and left outside after the project was shelved for a few years in favour of another BL failure.

That makes sense