Discovery Help

[olly_rowland]

Hi there guys, wondering if you would be able to help me out. my girlfriend is currently looking for a new car to two her horse box.

She currently has a Vauxhall Frontera Sport (petrol) which isn't in the best condition and fails miserably at towing a horse box with two horses in it.

It is of my opinion that a Diesel Land Rover Discovery is going to be the car to get, but need a bit of help choosing one.

First off, does the mileage matter of a Discovery, especially if it has a full service history? I have been finding some good looking ones on Auto trader but have high mileage, how long can you expect a Discovery to go on for if it is looked after?

She has £4000 to spend, is she going to be able to get something decent for that? I know a bit about Discoverys as my parents have one which is still going strong with 120,000 miles on the clock, but I feel that you guys are going to be able to enlighten me a lot more.

Cheers, Olly

[charliedaker]

Hi

Realistically to tow 2 horses (at approx 600kgs a piece) you need a car capable of towing abouut 2800kgs+

The disco is a great tool guess you're looking at a TD5. I understand that the manual is more reliable than the auto. I understand that the self levelling rear suspension can be prone to failure on some models.

I guess i'd be looking for the tidiest best maintained version i could find over a fully laden bargain if you know what i mean.

Having said this, other candidates with this twoing capacity are:

Mitsi Shogun
Isuzu Trooper
Daihatsu Fourtrack 2.8
Merc ML
Nissan Patrol

You may want to consider a Disco TDi if all she wants to use it for is towing. They are better on fuel, parts are cheaper and they are easier to maintain just a little more crude. However a couple of grand would land you a nice one.

Look out for:

2nd gear crunch
Head Gasket (you would have liked this to have been replaced considering the age of the vehicles)
Rot: Boot floor, sills, front and rear arches inside and out.

Other than that (and the obvious service items) there's not much to go wrong.

[olly_rowland]

Thankyou for that. What is the difference between the TD5 and the TDI? I had been looking at the TD5 but did not realise there was a different version of the Discovery.

She will not be constantly towing in the car, it will be used to tow the horses no more than two or three times a month, but these infrequent trips will probably be long trips.

The rest of the time she will be using it as her daily run around to work etc.

Basically she needs something that will be as cheap as possible to run, and that is perfectly capable of pulling two horses, all for £4000 or less.

[R60EST]

the tdi is a four cylinder engine and the td5 is five. Completely different altogether , all td5's are discovery 2 , new body , chassis, engine .

Edited by R60EST on Tuesday 20th October 17:23

[olly_rowland]

Cheers for that guys. So out of the TDI and the TD5, which will be most fuel efficient for day to day driving, round town etc. (the fuel efficiency for towing doesn't matter so much), and which out of the two is going to be the strongest for towing?

[R60EST]

I think the TD5 has more power / torque but it seems to be a split decision as to which is best. Some favour the Disco 1 and say less prone to serious (expensive ) problems , whilst most accept the Disco 2 is a better car all round when it's running well but can be significantly more expensive to sort when things start to go wrong. There was quite a long thread on this a few months ago , a quick search may bring up the answers you seek.

[olly_rowland]

What do you guys think of this one?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2009...

[charliedaker]

Looks ok m8.

Could she not sell her trailer and put that together with her 4k and buy a little lorry? Horses travel better in lorries (they are more stable and usually stalled differently to a trailer) particularly over long distances. You may even find the fuel economy better out of a smaller lorry than out of a disco towing that sort of weight.

I just sold a really reilable 6.5ton merc 2 horse with living, ultra reliable and 30mpg too for 5k so they are about. Food for thought anyway...

[cpas]

I would buy a good late 300TDi (R or S reg is the latest available) but for less than £4k and keep some aside in case any problems come up. You will get a much nicer 300TDi than a TD5 for the money, and the earlier TD5s are more likely to have teething troubles.

[olly_rowland]

Hey guys, been thinking about everything you have all said, it looks like the latter 300tdi is the way to go, I've found a few on auto trader with full service history and relatively low mileage. What do you think of this one? It seems very cheap for what it is? Do you reckon I should be cautious about it`?

cheers

Olly

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2009...

[R60EST]

It seems ok to me if you want condition and low miles / service history to be the main priority. Personally I'd hold on for the ES model ( Top of the range with leather ) and I'd have the Auto gearbox , just my personal preference and possibly a better colour . Which ever you buy , open the rear passenger doors and look at the bodywork that's hidden when the door is shut . They seem to be prone to rust in this area , along with the floor in the boot.

If the one you have shown in the ad is not local enough to view prior to buying ask him for photo's of the area's I've mentioned.

Edited by R60EST on Sunday 1st November 19:23

[olly_rowland]

To her, low mileage, service history etc is pretty important, as is a manual transmission. She isn't to fussed about the interior as its very possible its going to be constantly getting muddy/dirty/ruined. One thing I noticed in the photos is a bit of what looks like rust either side of the number plate. If that is the case, is this an easy thing to sort out? Remove the rust and re coat it with some sort of protection?

[R60EST]

Yes the rust on the front bumper is minor surface rust. Cosmetic. You could sort that yourself .

Edited by R60EST on Sunday 1st November 20:10

[olly_rowland]

Cheers for that. Out of interest, if this particular Disco has what appears to have the common occurrence of boot floor rust, is this possible to pay to get fixed/replaced, and if so, how much would that be?

[R60EST]

Costs are something I can't help you with , but the replacement / repair panels are easy to come by for all the affected areas Disco's are prone to rust. Often these panels wont need to be genuine LR so quite cheap , the labour to fit them correctly and spray to a good finish is often why it's not economical to do so and you see so many afflicted ones for sale or converted to off roaders where appearance is less of an issue.

The rust wont appear all at once , look closely at the one your buying , after each MOT you'll have an idea if any rust problems are developing , before it goes too far sell it on , if you get 3 years out of a £2000 Disco and get £1000 back when you sell it you'll have done OK

[gtr-gaz]

R60EST said:

....if you get 3 years out of a £2000 Disco and get £1000 back when you sell it you'll have done OK

That's the way I'm looking at buying one

Early 300Tdi's were prone to cam belt failures. At 77,000 miles it's possible the Disco advertised might not yet have had a replacement or mod?

[olly_rowland]

So, I have just been to see it. But I am still struggling to make a decision! The bad things about it are:

• The Glove Box is held shut by a bungee chord
• The rear door wont open every time you pull the handle, took me five minutes to open, although wd40 could help resolve the contact?
• There is about 5 inches of welding down the rear passenger side door frame (which the garage doing the MOT for the sales garage told them needed to be done)
• The backlight behind the heater/aircon/clock dials doesn't work
• Very light surface rust on drive shaft and chassis (although to be expected as of the age of the car)

How ever, the pros are:

• Starts first time, Engine sounds perfect, no gunk in or around oil tank so head gasket is fine
• had 12 services in 14 years, full service history is there, along with the last 5 MOTs, so genuine 77k mileage
• Clean and comfortable inside
• Diff Lock, High/low ratio all work absolutely fine
• no second gear crunch
• Good tow bar on the back.

What would you guys do? The other half is adamant about getting a car with low mileage (less than 95k), she is now sure she wants a Land Rover. From what you guys have recommended, it seems that the 300TDI is the way to go instead of the TD5. So this car seems to fit the bill, and I think If I could get the dealer down to around £1300 including the part ex on the Frontera, then we have £2700 to take to a Land Rover Specialist to give it a once over and fix anything that may need fixing.

Come on guys, last call, what do you reckon?

Cheers

Olly

[R60EST]

I think it sounds OK. The rust / welding will be creeping in on most Disco's that age, so you'll drive for miles to find one much better , if at all. If it's got a good service history and will come with a full MOT I'd take it to an Indy to have the rear door looked at , the lights in the dash etc . If you find an indy with a good reputation ( search all forums for recommendations ) I'd only spend money on it as and when required in the future.

Would the sales garage sort the minor faults out you've spotted

Edited by R60EST on Monday 2nd November 20:53

[v4jpp]

i agree entirely that the 300tdi is the way to go, having asked the same questions less than 6 months ago for general everyday use and towing a caravan and am now the proud owner of a 96 p reg 300 tdi es with the all the trimmings, most of which work (lol) also leather as well as looking alot nicer is a hell of a lot easier to clean. i wouldn't worry about the mileage as mind has double that and is as sweet as a nut

[gtr-gaz]

olly_rowland said:

Come on guys, last call, what do you reckon?

Put it this way, if it's still for sale at the end of the week, I'm buying it!