Land Rover owners… (previous owners)

[terryjm1]

I have purchased 5 Land Rover Discovery 1s over the past 12 years.

First one, a 98 LSE, was from Arizona with next to no rust. However, the interior was really dirty and it had a major rod knock at 65,000 miles. I bought it planning to install 300tdi and R380. As I took it apart it was amazing to me how little maintenance was done and the repairs that were done appeared to be carried out by a 10 year old. But again, no rust.

Second one, several years later was 96 with 5 speed. It was a complete rust bucket from Kentucky with 125,000 miles. The interior was completely trashed, like a pack of wild dogs that smoked a pack a day lived in it. It had sat a long time when I got it. I was told it was running when parked but from sitting the engine locked up. I didn’t care as I only really wanted the 5 speed stuff. Initially, I did think the engine was locked up. Nope… the gearbox was locked up. Also, every lame cheap way to “repair it” was the only maintenance I could identify. Why spend a few bucks on valve cover gaskets when you can reuse the old ones and load them with massive amounts of silicone? The exhaust was pieced together (leaks galore) with a generic muffler and cut off just past the rear axle.

Third one was a 96 SD with 5 speed from Kentucky. It has more rust than I would like but it is repairable. This one was a different story. The interior is like new, obviously well tended to. However, I bought it knowing it had a locked up engine, at only 55,412 miles. The window sticker for the oil change (Valvoline quick lube place) showed the oil was changed at 55,200. When I tore down the engine I found a slipped liner had struck the crankshaft. This one didn’t die from lack of maintenance. (It now has a very good running replacement engine and the gearbox is in excellent condition.)

Number 4 goes back to the trend seen on #1 and #2. It is a 98 LSE with 113,000 miles. This one spent most of its time in Texas and is almost rust free. (Just a little on the drivers floor). Again, the interior was extremely dirty (not off road dirty, it was gross people dirty) and almost everything inside was broken. However, it did come with a very good running 4.0 that had been turned into a 4.6. The exhaust had aftermarket generic catalytic converters welded in, with plenty of leaky sloppy welding. The rest of the exhaust was full of holes. After I took it off the trailer I went for a short drive and learned what death wobble was all about. I am fairly confident there had never been any suspension repairs. Also, a previous owner not only sealed the sunroofs closed but took it the extra (unnecessary) step of putting silicone around the sunroof trim. Someone went to a lot of effort to install a stereo head unit that didn’t fit and destroyed the center dash in the process. The wiring to it is scary. I have also never seen such heavy gauge wiring leading to what I guess was an amplifier that was never installed.

Number 5 is a 96 SD (automatic) with 155,000 miles that came from CA and also has nearly no rust. There is just a little around the alpine windows. It also either had no maintence/repairs or very poorly done “repairs.” The power steering hoses were original and leaked so bad I thought the steering gearbox was leaking. Fluid stayed in only for a few hours. The radiator was original as well as most of the hoses. The interior was so bad the previous (interim) owner tore almost all of it out. He said it was disgusting and almost everything was broken. I replaced all the power steering hoses and the leaks are completely gone. The steering gearbox is a little loose for my tastes but it doesn’t leak! It has a home made manifold to downpipe gasket that leaks. (Who is so cheap they can’t spend $10 on a gasket?) Only 1 windshield wiper moved. The nut holding the arm on wasn’t even finger tight.

I currently have 4 of them. (The rust bucket 5 speed was a parts donor.) All of them were purchased from “interim” owners that didn’t have them long. They either lost interest or were in over their heads and decided to let them go. They are not the cheap previous owners that abused them.

i have purchased many used vehicles over the years. I have never seen such a pattern of abuse with other makes and models. What I listed above were examples of the poor maintenance, no repairs, and poorly done repairs. There is/was much more. For example, none of them came with key fobs. All had issues with windows and door locks not working or not working properly. All had broken front grills. All of them had very rotten window seals.

Seems the previous owners viewed them as disposable.

Is this a common thing for the Discovery model?

 

[rover4x4]

When I was looking for my RR almost a decade ago many were in similar condition. I looked at several DIs and RRCs, most were on their fourth or fifth owners at best. I found my RRC in the back of a sketchy used car lot and it had about an inch of pecan tree sap covering it, I am the 3rd owner.... It drove home sideways (rear link bushings) and the stepper motor wiring was cut/chewed. It was very cheap relatively rust free and the interior was perfect, I still have it. Land Rover interiors do not hold up even under the watch of the most caring owners. P38's are a good example, incredibly cheap cost of entry to a bling vehicle but incredibly expensive to maintain and keep alive, I see more NAS Defenders than P38s. Your observations apply to all Land Rovers not just the Discos. Also goes to reason why the remaining trucks continue to appreciate, clean Rovers are rare. Also a Land Rover will rust away even in a complete vacuum filled with silica beads.

 

[Howski]

^ think that sums it up perfectly. Rovers often go to shit with deferred maintenance which tends to be the norm after the 2nd or so owner

 

[terryjm1]

I forgot to mention this, I have Santana that spent most of its life in Spain. It was treated the same. The fluid that came out of the radiator looked like coffee with a little cream. The seat springs were mostly all broken which was remedied with plywood. Seems the Spanish handle maintenance and repairs just like Americans.

 

[Tugela]

My experience may be an exception and hopefully not the only one. My two Range Rovers were sadly neglected and I put a lot of work into them, so they fit with your theory.

My Disco 1 is completely rust free and came with a bunch of work history. Short of a few projects and proactive upgrades, it has been a remarkably reliable vehicle and previous repairs - even the DIY ones - were not complete hack jobs.

I bought my LR3 expressly because it came with a thick folder of receipts detailing extensive maintenance at dealers and indie Rover shops. That decision has played out in my favor - so far at least.

Having a service history is an important factor in the longevity of a used vehicle. If I can't visually ID what work has been done or there's no documentation, my purchase offer will reflect that. I've walked away from a lot of vehicles that were obviously neglected.

 

[p m]

My general observation was two-fold - the Classics were far better built and from better parts bins than Discos of the same time. Since the Classics commanded nearly twice the price of a D1, the Range Rover owners also were less likely to skimp on maintenance, and trashed their vehicles less frequently.

 

[Blue]

It’s pretty simple…people want to drive a fancy car for pennies on the dollar. Miss every other oil change, so what? The rear windows don’t roll down, so what? The sunroofs leak, so what? You have to add a quart of oil and power steering fluid every week, so what? You have 4 bald tires each from a separate manufacturer, so what? You bought it for $5k and are selling it for $3500 two years later (after a wash & wax and underside pressure wash), so what?

 

[discostew]

my first Disco was a lease return that had too many miles on it. Like 67K when your supposed to turn them in at 36K. It had a bad tire on it that straighted out after a few miles so some dope a few stalls down couldn’t figure it out. The valves where sticking and all the intermittent misfire shit that goes with all that. That turned out to be such a great truck for my wife she has never driven anything else since. That one was a ‘96. I fixed every leak, did the valves tires brakes. For a while the springs sagged and she called it Soggy Bottom. She cried tears when I told her it was too rusted out to fix anymore. The old damages exceed the value of the truck. It sat next to the garage for a few years and I took lots of stuff off it to keep the next one going.
Her next truck was a LR3. Pretty sure that one was a couple years old and had about 32K on it when I got that. It was ok for a while but needed about 2500 worth of parts alone when she totaled the thing one ice storm trip home. One of you guys posted a picture of the aftermath, thanks for that. It was a grey truck that came to rest not far from a bunch of gas pumps at 120 and Chappell hill road in McHenry.
After that she went thru a couple LR2’s. One we still drive but I’m loosing interest in throwing 500 bucks at it all the fucking time.
MY second disco was a ‘99 SD painted Rojo Red. It was maintained at a dealership. Needed a lot of stuff but not molested yet. It came out really nice when done and drove great. I knew I nailed it when my wife said” I don’t know what it is about this truck but the kid in me loves driving it” I went thru the whole thing, swivel housings all the cooler pipes rear main cross seals heads and valve job. It was a great truck. Then I hit a big deer going about 75 mph and never touched my brake pedal. He came flying out of a tree line close to the road. At dusk I basically never saw him. I put it back together a second time and it was almost a great truck. Then my kid rolled it into a corn field and fucked it up.
Now I have a ‘96 Disco from Northern California that is really clean. Probably one of the cleaner trucks out there these days. It turned into a long project because of my job. But so far I have gone thru the axles, suspension, swivel housings and have all the stationary glass out of the rear and all the seals ready to go. Dash from my ‘99 ready to go in it and doing the interior complete right now. This truck will be very nice when I’m done. I’ll probably keep it visible around my shop here and let someone buy it from me. I find you get the best price if you don’t seem to be trying to sell it. But rest assured, I’m selling it.

 

[CBiDrive]

It is funny to hear the stories of buying these old trucks. I am on my 3rd D1 and each one has had its issues.

First one I picked up for $1600 after the female wrecked her car. A neighbor that owed me money sold it to me. Very detailed folder with all maint done. Still the drivers door window regulator was broken, rear windows didn't work, not one seam on drivers seat was together, cracked windshield and both exhaust manifolds were broken. It had 118k on the clock and actually drove real nice.

Second one was extensively modified with a lot of the items on my wish list. It had 125K on it and he wanted 5k for it, when I showed up to test drive it he said that it had been overheating. After driving it, it was obvious that the engine was trashed, it had almost no brakes, and would wander about lanes all nimbly-bimbly. Got him down to 3k for it and being the motor was still good in the first I was in good shape. Took a while but got the bugs worked out.

The third one had been towed behind an RV for the last decade and had 225k on it. By far it was in the best condition of the 3. Rear windows don't work, tailgate door latch hardware was removed when they used a prybar to get it open. Interior was clean but headliner is sagging. Motor was OK but has a ticking in it, so the motor from the first is going in it's 3rd truck. Brakes are phenomenal so no complaints there and it drives straight as an arrow. It is now stripped in my garage for a complete makeover. This is going to be fun and easy to do with the engine, trans, transfer case, axles, and suspension out of it.

All of them were ColoRADo trucks with minimal rust so they were all worth the effort. What I love about these is that everything is fixable and/or replaceable. It sucks for you guys in the rust prone climes, while fixable it is extremely labor intensive and never ending.

 

[Eliot]

^ think that sums it up perfectly. Rovers often go to shit with deferred maintenance which tends to be the norm after the 2nd or so owner

I owned three Classics, and I liked them, but those trucks were so badly built.

You had to be crazy to put money into those trucks while they just rusted away in front of you.