Buying a Discovery

[EJB90]

Hi Everyone,

I am 16, looking for a car, and my neighbor is moving to Cali and she's selling her Avalon Blue Land Rover Discovery SE. It has the beige leather, jump seats, no sunroofs, and all the basic stuff- No CD player. My dad and I checked it out last weekend. I thought it was pretty fun to drive despite its weight and lack of power. Its a pretty unique vehicle. It has 14x,xxx miles on it- mostly highway. I drove it and the steering seemed fine for a truck and it drove straight. I checked for rust around the alpine windows, underneath, in the door jambs, and under the carpet and there wasn't any. Its dirty as heck but their are no rips or stains or major dents/scratches.

Here are the known issues:
- Needs new front brakes
- Rear windows work intermittently- I am assuming this is the window ECU because its either they work at the same time or they don't work at the same time.
- A/C Does not blow cold (Freon?)
- It needs a new antenna & the wire fell down the hole
- Check engine light is on (car's engine runs fine)

What I am most concerned about is the A/C. The Check Engine obviously has to be read and I don't have an OBD II reader (if I buy this rover I'll be sure to get one). The antenna and ECU is something my dad and I could do.

My questions are
1) What is the most common cause of the A/C not working
2) How pricey can a CEL situation get to be?
3) What other things should I look out for
4) Is it normal for the trailer light to blink 1x when you turn on the turn signal
5) If this car was in full mechanical working condition and in otherwise "good" in physical appearance what would be a good price for this car? Edmunds said $2,300, KBB said like 4,3000

I am taking it to a very reputable repair shop for them to check it out.


Thanks Everyone,
Eric


Edit: I forgot to say its a 1996

 

[Chris-St Louis]

My questions are
1) What is the most common cause of the A/C not working

In my experiance, Discovery AC is pretty Sturdy... No silver bullets here.

2) How pricey can a CEL situation get to be?

To infinity and beyond... We need the code first.

3) What other things should I look out for

Lots... I'll let others jump in on this.

4) Is it normal for the trailer light to blink 1x when you turn on the turn signal

Yes

 

[BaldEagle]

My questions are
1) What is the most common cause of the A/C not working
2) How pricey can a CEL situation get to be?
3) What other things should I look out for
4) Is it normal for the trailer light to blink 1x when you turn on the turn signal
5) If this car was in full mechanical working condition and in otherwise "good" in physical appearance what would be a good price for this car? Edmunds said $2,300, KBB said like 4,3000



Edit: I forgot to say its a 1996

1) a leak, bad condenser fans (do a search, theres a cheap fix), or simply needs a recharge from age

2) depends on why the CEL is on. if it runs fine, its probably something like an O2 sensor, a random ocassional misfire, or something simple. but its impossible to tell until you get it read.

3) leaks, transfercase leak is "normal" if it isnt excessive (do a search). others will require attention.

4) yes

5) $2000 to $4000. discos, especially dI's, are priced very low compared to there utility (IMO).

 

[EJB90]

How would one check the T-Case fluid levels?

 

[hywy61]

you are 16?

Do you have a trust fund or alot of cash sitting around? Don't want to sound harsh here man but with that many miles....... these vehicles are very expensive to fix.
The problems your listed are the least of your worries. Even if you only pay 2K for the vehicle one major repair can cost several thousand.

Service records for the vehicle ?

If you do your own repairs its not as bad.

do a search on this board -

my opinion, buy something more reliable and spend your money on chicks.

 

[EJB90]

you are 16?

Do you have a trust fund or alot of cash sitting around? Don't want to sound harsh here man but with that many miles....... these vehicles are very expensive to fix.
The problems your listed are the least of your worries. Even if you only pay 2K for the vehicle one major repair can cost several thousand.

Service records for the vehicle ?

If you do your own repairs its not as bad.

do a search on this board -

my opinion, buy something more reliable and spend your money on chicks.

Yes I am 16.
Hahahah- money- thats what my parents are for. The lady has had the vehicle serviced at Mitchell Land Rover (Land Rover of Farmington Valley (Canton)/LR of Simsbury) so I assume they would have all the records. I don't mind doing some repairs, and my dad is pretty handy with cars. He had a Land Rover Series IIa and an MG MGB that he worked on.

 

[BaldEagle]

dude a 144k miles is nothing these days. i have 233k on my daily driver disco

 

[jasonjj]

you are 16?

The problems your listed are the least of your worries. Even if you only pay 2K for the vehicle one major repair can cost several thousand.


You guys keep freaking me out! I'm also hopefully about to buy my first Disco 1, something will less than 75K. I'm twice the age of our friend here and i make decent money and am willing to spend some on a truck, but "several thousand" on a repair! What are we talking here a new engine! Is the several thousand assume you are taking to the stealership as you guys often refer to it as? Man O man, ive been driving a 95 mits montero with 139K since 2001 and the most expensive job i had done was a complete brake job including calipers which cost around 900 bucks. What are the big repairs that cost so much? And how frequent are they? Thanks

 

[EJB90]

you are 16?

The problems your listed are the least of your worries. Even if you only pay 2K for the vehicle one major repair can cost several thousand.


You guys keep freaking me out! I'm also hopefully about to buy my first Disco 1, something will less than 75K. I'm twice the age of our friend here and i make decent money and am willing to spend some on a truck, but "several thousand" on a repair! What are we talking here a new engine! Is the several thousand assume you are taking to the stealership as you guys often refer to it as? Man O man, ive been driving a 95 mits montero with 139K since 2001 and the most expensive job i had done was a complete brake job including calipers which cost around 900 bucks. What are the big repairs that cost so much? And how frequent are they? Thanks

Hah. The 80,000 mile tuneup on my moms Passat was over $3,000.

 

[xmustang420]

my opinion, buy something more reliable and spend your money on chicks.

Haha nice.... I do feel that my disco doubles as a mistress :smilelol:

 

[flyfisher11]

Just learn to do your own repairs and befriend Will Tillery, put him in your address book! Oh yeah stay tuned to discoweb and use the search feature.

Cheers,

Mike
atriot:

 

[David Despain]

I'm twice the age of our friend here and i make decent money and am willing to spend some on a truck, but "several thousand" on a repair! What are we talking here a new engine! quote

HAHA!! you can barely even get a head job for that. an engine swap, stock for stock, would cost at least 3X that much. that is if you paid some one to do the work

 

[David Despain]

Haha nice.... I do feel that my disco doubles as a mistress :smilelol:

my wife says disco web is my mistress:bunny2:

 

[Rocky]

You don't say what year.The ac is most likely the condenser, www.roverparts.com for a new one. Thats about the mileage mine croaked

If looked after then its got a long life, if not then things could get expensive.

Sounds like she just wants to dump it = cheap cheap

 

[darkalian]

All cars are expensive to fix lets be honest - of course my first car was a 74 beetle - 4 spark plugs and some gas and she runs forever.

My short answer - do it - but pay close attention to the truck and give her some TLC.

 

[PolarG]

"my opinion, buy something more reliable and spend your money on chicks."
--hywy61

Lets be honest at the age of 16 buying a cool car IS the first step in spending money on chicks. Taking her out in your 86 ford escort with a different colored hatchback will get you stopped short every time. Well it did me:banghead:
There are some pricey problems that may come up (as with any vehicle) but if your dads got the tools and experience (and the money wouldn't hurt either) then go for it and learn as much as you can.
The fathers on this board will tell you not to do it because they are afraid you might be their son getting ready to take the money out of their wallet. If you were my kid i'd kill you for getting one. OK, time for me to go take mine apart again (rover, not son)

 

[jgdisco2]

i would get it man. i got my first disco when i was 17(almost 20 now) and ive on my 2nd one now the first one ive decided to modify. from my experience ive yet to meet a chick who didnt like it. and my dad loves that i have my disco and that im wanting to learn to fix and add stuff myself like he used to when he was my age on his old '76 blazer that he had with 4 in lift corvette exhaust just to name a few of the mods for him. so do it, it will give u a chance to drive a pimpin ride and get to spend some quality time with ur dad wrenchin it

 

[BaldEagle]

if this is about getting ass then get it. of course you need more than a cool truck to get ass.

unless alot of things go wrong you will not spend 3k on any repair. a head job should be around $1000 by the way, if you can remachine them. its no worse than any other vehicle these days. you will love everything about this truck. learn how to be a shadetree mechanic as things break, like on every vehicle. for whats it worth, i can do nearly anything on my disco but can't do as much on my girfriends explorer. discos are easy to work on anyway

 

[eliaschristeas]

see what the shop says, but 2k sounds about right given the can of worms this thing might be. Good Luck

 

[NHESS81]

Id still say no....I bought mine at 19...and while its fun as hell, ONLY the one or two trips I make off road a month makes me want to keep it.

Its a beast to drive on road, it sucks at acceleration, it sucks at turning, it is ok at braking. Parts wear out, and yes, every vehicle needs repairs, but most are not built like a Rover. There are suspension components, engine components, and just more bits that need attention than say a blah blah front wheel drive car is going to need. How many poly bushes do people put in a sedan? How many Hondas shred rotoflexes? How many Corolla's need to be their drive components greased on a regular basis? Besides it eats gas constantly.

Now, if you were getting it to be a daily driver AND do off-roading, absolutely go for it. If its just to drive to and from school/look cool cause of the 'Land Rover' factor, then I would say no. Look for a used Range Rover in that case, Discos (no experience with Disco2's, but I am guessing they are a little more fun to drive around town...) to me are a pain, but despite what I have said, I love mine and am totally happy I got it, but there are days when I curse it to hell and wish I just 'had a normal car' again....thats my opinion...