Discovery lifespan.. considering a high mileage disco

[MrWesson]

I've basically been looking for a disco for about a month and so far mostly junk with a couple of decent buys but no deals to be found.

Anyway I found a 2003 Disco with 165k for 3,000.

I know the asking price is a bit high but this one has not one single issue and the previous owner has owned a couple discoveries over the years. It doesn't hurt that the interior looks new and the guy seems trustworthy(vs all the riff raff in south florida who are selling rebuilt titles without notice).

That being said I only want a 03-04 and would like to spend under 5k. My thinking being that with the 03 for 3k that gives me 2k for a terrafirma bumper,2004 Transfer case and cdl lever, and to do any preventative maintenance(priority 1).

I would prefer a 2004 but finding one under 5k has proven almost impossible.

This will be a car I drive 3-5 days a week moving into a 3rd car in the next year or so. Used as an off roader,camping,hunting,beach days and so on.

I am very mechanical with lots of tools I also just ordered a PC based scan tool to clear abs codes and so forth. I could do a head gasket and have free time.

I come from a WJ V8 4x4 Grand cherokee so I am familiar with 4wd systems,maintaining them and failure points.

So does a discovery with 165k have enough life left to even bother?

 

[listerdiesel]

Yes, but it does depend on the service history and what has been done to the vehicle over that lifespan.

Ours has 153k on the clock now, the original axles are in there, gearbox was swapped with an exchange Ashcroft R380 a year or so back as it had been in water and some time and the oil was like a curry, yellow and yucky, the transfer box is original.

The biggest decider is the engine.

Our youngest son's D2 had 180K+ when he bought it, he has done another 20K but the engine was leaking oil badly so we pulled it to swap for our spare engine. The rest of the mechanicals look fine, just taken the ACE system off it and put solid ARB's on.

I'd say go for it. Our Discovery parts are stupidly cheap over here in the UK, new or used.

Peter

 

[stu454]

Have the head gaskets been done? If not, plan on it.

Offer him $2k cash.

 

[MrWesson]

Yes, but it does depend on the service history and what has been done to the vehicle over that lifespan.

Ours has 153k on the clock now, the original axles are in there, gearbox was swapped with an exchange Ashcroft R380 a year or so back as it had been in water and some time and the oil was like a curry, yellow and yucky, the transfer box is original.

The biggest decider is the engine.

Our youngest son's D2 had 180K+ when he bought it, he has done another 20K but the engine was leaking oil badly so we pulled it to swap for our spare engine. The rest of the mechanicals look fine, just taken the ACE system off it and put solid ARB's on.

I'd say go for it. Our Discovery parts are stupidly cheap over here in the UK, new or used.

Peter

Unfortunately I am in the US..

Parts are still reasonable especially used ones.

Have the head gaskets been done? If not, plan on it.

Offer him $2k cash.

He hasn't done them and doesn't know that they have been done.

My take is since they don't need to be done now that they were probably done before.. It would be very rare for a D2 to make it to 165k without them being replaced... he bought the car with 120k miles.

As for 2k cash.. I wish.. He just lowered the price to 3k and seems very firm there. I plan on trying for 2600 and still undecided on 3k. The car is 3 hours away.

Kbb supports an offer of around 2600 but not one 03-04 within 500 miles is under 3k and the ones under 4k are rebuilt titles and blown motors/headgaskets.

My market is on the high side and the only other option is having one shipped and buying through ebay negating all savings.

 

[pdxrovermech]

i would never buy an '03

 

[jsonova99]

Aren't the 2003's the year with oil pump issues? Are '04s better than earlier years like 99-02? Seems like there are a lit of '04s coming up with blown engines around 60k, just an observation. I guess it's all in how well it was maintained. I hold on to my 2000 since I've had it for 13 years and know everything about it.

 

[MrWesson]

i would never buy an '03

Why?

Aren't the 2003's the year with oil pump issues? Are '04s better than earlier years like 99-02? Seems like there are a lit of '04s coming up with blown engines around 60k, just an observation. I guess it's all in how well it was maintained. I hold on to my 2000 since I've had it for 13 years and know everything about it.

Yes but it reared its head by 60k miles in most cases and was replaced with the updated oil pump. This one has 165k and think most of the early issues have been worked out... It could also be ready to let go any day now.. thus the risk in buying any used car.

The 04 seems more desirable because of having CDL installed and the lever(vs 99-01 internals only),4.6 and the cosmetic updates.

I'm still considering holding out for an 04 later this month.

 

[pjkbrit]

You know what....for this money, condition is more important than worrying about the head gaskets....only REAL drawback is lack of CDL....but if you don't live near snow or intend heavy duty off roading, so what?

A rust free chassis is a MAJOR plus on any Disco.....great leather and evidence of good care is worth paying a few hundred extra for.

There are plenty of lousy 04s around too....and 04 engines seem JUST as cursed as 03s....to me it's ALL about running them cool....180 degree thermostat is a must do.

If you really like the car and it drives really nice I'd say go for it....

 

[MrWesson]

You know what....for this money, condition is more important than worrying about the head gaskets....only REAL drawback is lack of CDL....but if you don't live near snow or intend heavy duty off roading, so what?

A rust free chassis is a MAJOR plus on any Disco.....great leather and evidence of good care is worth paying a few hundred extra for.

There are plenty of lousy 04s around too....and 04 engines seem JUST as cursed as 03s....to me it's ALL about running them cool....180 degree thermostat is a must do.

If you really like the car and it drives really nice I'd say go for it....

CDL will be added.

I will be moving from down here in the next couple months. I still dont know where but I am aiming for denver area.

I hate mud so while i'm down here I would leave it alone until I need it.

 

[jhk07]

I believe the 03's don't have nipple to add CDL. So you are talking about a transfer case swap.... Big drawback for some people. FYI......


Previous poster spot on.......... Crawl underneath and look for RUST. I wouldn't buy any D2 without live data of operating temps....

 

[bri]

CDL will be added.

I will be moving from down here in the next couple months. I still dont know where but I am aiming for denver area.

I hate mud so while i'm down here I would leave it alone until I need it.

Definitely buy it while you are in FL, likely better condition on decent mileage stuff. There does seem to be decent DII available now and again (in DEN area). Definitely NOT on D1.

 

[MrWesson]

I believe the 03's don't have nipple to add CDL. So you are talking about a transfer case swap.... Big drawback for some people. FYI......


Previous poster spot on.......... Crawl underneath and look for RUST. I wouldn't buy any D2 without live data of operating temps....

Not a spec of rust. I will be looking but I base this on pictures taken(from every angle underneath).

I can get a 2004 transfer case locally from LKQ for under $150. I used one of their transfer cases in my jeep and they are reputable. Swapping a transfer case is child's play IMO. That being said its still going to take up half of a saturday to do the swap and linkage so a drawback but not a huge one. I'd rather swap in a 2004 vs adding the mechanicals to the 03. I would also keep the 03 as a spare.

I would wait 30-45 min at idle to allow it to get to temp but as far as diagnostics I only have an obd2 scanner and waiting for my full diagnostic system to get here.

Definitely buy it while you are in FL, likely better condition on decent mileage stuff. There does seem to be decent DII available now and again (in DEN area). Definitely NOT on D1.

They sure do seem to charge a premium for 4x4's up there plus rust is plentiful in colorado.

 

[bri]

4x4/AWD are a requirement for many people in DEN area. Definitely for me.

Rust is not that plentiful on a well maintained vehicle here. Its the fact that they are usually high miles vehicles that are not well maintained. Small rust, well maintained and low mileage are rare. My '00 sub only has rust where the paint has chipped and it has been beat to heck with CO winter drives. It has about 188k miles and 14 cololorado winters. It gets regular washes in winter and occasional undercarriage cleaning as well.

Colorado mostly uses magnesium chloride in the denver area (pretty sure), from what I know it can be as bad as salt. But the more recent vehicles are better against corrosion, which I believe is why rust is not as much of an issue on newer vehicles. YMMV.

 

[pdogg]

Stay away from Disco 4.6 block unless you plan on replacing it... they are famous for dropping sleeves, and other niceties. Many guys in our local AZ club have had issues with them.. go with a 4.0 truck and upgrade the headlights if that's what you're looking for.

 

[pjkbrit]

Stay away from Disco 4.6 block unless you plan on replacing it... they are famous for dropping sleeves, and other niceties. Many guys in our local AZ club have had issues with them.. go with a 4.0 truck and upgrade the headlights if that's what you're looking for.

Frankly 4.0 motors are not much better...same bore...same thin walls behind those infamous liners and plenty of folks have blown gaskets on them too....IMHO it's all about keeping them COOL.....and NA spec cars are set up to run hot for idiot emissions reasoning...easily fixed with a new 180 degree thermostat so the engine runs at 190 degrees instead of 210-220.

By the mid 1990s much of the block casting tooling was well worn out and Rover was not about to spend the $$$ on re-tooling for an old motor.

 

[MrWesson]

Stay away from Disco 4.6 block unless you plan on replacing it... they are famous for dropping sleeves, and other niceties. Many guys in our local AZ club have had issues with them.. go with a 4.0 truck and upgrade the headlights if that's what you're looking for.

I'm after the power,some interior updates,and outside appearance doesn't hurt.

I've decided to just get a 2004.. All the things I want with less spending/work on swapping in CDL to a 2003.

 

[robertf]

These are 10 year old trucks. If it breaks tomorrow its because it is an old car, not a lemon

 

[MrWesson]

The search continues I looked at a 2004 at a low price but needed some work yesterday.

Pros
Price
No leaks
Paint
Options

Cons
Rust(this is the big one)
clunk when on/off throttle... noticed this in a few others generally it means they are low on transfer case fluid
cosmetics all around(broken parking bulb,bumper cracks,missing rear view mirror and headliner starting to give way)

Now on to the rust... Ive dealt with it before and lost and my instincts are telling me to run like hell.. Most of it looks like surface rust with some flaking and a couple spots are intense. I chose the picture of the worst rust spot... What do you guys think?

 

[stu454]

I would not consider a truck with that much rust.

Move on, I say.

 

[MrWesson]

I would not consider a truck with that much rust.

Move one, I say.

Thats the way I feel about it.

Just wanted to make sure I wasn't over reacting.