By Butch Liebscher on Friday, April 27, 2001 - 01:44 pm: Edit

Am going to purchase a 94-96 Disco before fall. Wondering if there is anything in particular to Discos, other than compression, that should be checked out by my mechanic before I buy? Have tons of sites booked in terms of reliablity, trade-in/wholesale/retail prices and such, but nothing on what to watch out for. Any information would be truly appreciated.

By buckshot on Friday, April 27, 2001 - 02:02 pm: Edit

the info is dont buy a 94-96 Disco. Buy a 97 or preferebly a 98. The 97s were better trucks than the 96s. the 98s had a 4 yr 50k warranty meaning, you would still have balance of factory warranty. thats the way to go.

By Jon on Friday, April 27, 2001 - 02:06 pm: Edit

I'm sure most of those sites told you to steer clear of Discoverys of those years. '94 model Discos are okay, mostly. Make sure all the driveline bolts and joints are in good condition. The compression check isn't a bad idea, since the cams on Rover V8s are rumored to wear significantly, past about 80,000 miles. '95 was the year supposedly to watch-out for. Orders for Discos exceeded Solihul's production capabilities that year, and a lot of people's gripe was basically poor build quality. My advice is to find a '95 made in late '94. Electrics have never been a Land Rover strong point, but problems seemed more apparent in '95. '96 was after BMW took over (not that it made a great deal of difference) but from what I hear, that's when the Discos started getting better. Overall it's a tough vehicle that generally lasts a long time, and they stay friendly as long as you're willing to cooperate and accept their English quirkiness. I love my '95, and have never had any of the major problems I'm supposed to have experienced, so maybe I got one of the good ones. Oh, and check for significant oil leaks. They leak a little anyway, but something large is an expensive problem. Hope this helps!

By hadaz on Friday, April 27, 2001 - 06:16 pm: Edit

What ever year you decide to buy, get a warranty for as long as you can.

By Cal on Saturday, April 28, 2001 - 12:22 am: Edit

I have had a 94 and now have a 96. The 94 started better and and was more consistant in the way it ran in all outside temperatures. I did however buy the 94 after the previous owner who had an extended warrenty spent thousands of the warrentors money on repairs. When I bought it the bugs and weak spots had been ironed out. If you get a 96, find one that has had all of the factory recalled seals replaced. The 96 has slightly more power due to the change from the 3.9 to the 4.0. If you find a 94 with a 5 speed, make sure the reverse location on the shifter is left and down instead of right and up.

My impressions of all of them is they are a typical brittish car. But they 4wheel great in there stock form.

By JAY P. on Saturday, April 28, 2001 - 10:09 am: Edit

All the years have their quirks etc. I have a 95 and a 98 and have had almost similar incidents with both. If you buy a used vehicle all you can do is take the proper steps to check out the vehicle history. --Carfax, LR records, and have it inspected my an independent mechanic. I would also consider getting a Warranty. I purchased one for both of my Discos off www.roverguy.com and have saved a bundle in repairs.

BEST of luck,

Jay

By nikko on Saturday, April 28, 2001 - 02:29 pm: Edit

what factory recalled seals are you talking about on the '96 ?

By Cal on Tuesday, May 29, 2001 - 12:28 am: Edit

Sorry for taking so long to reply. I missed your post.
There were a number of defective seals. Rear pinion, transfercase input seal, output shaft seal etc. Call a local LR dealer or call Landrover Scottsdale in Arizona. Ask for the service dept and they will know about it.

By Todd Davis on Tuesday, May 29, 2001 - 12:59 am: Edit

I am looking for resources on buying a disco or disco II. I am also looking for websites that discribe the diff between the years.
Thanks
Todd

By garrett on Tuesday, May 29, 2001 - 08:54 am: Edit

Regarding the seals on a '96. According to my local dealer those seals were never recalled.

By Cal on Tuesday, May 29, 2001 - 08:48 pm: Edit

Thats what I was told too. But further research either from a service dept with a dedicated Landrover junky, one who actually drives a rover, working there, or somtimes the parts dept., as in the case of Flatirons Landrover here in Colorado, and you'll find out that there were recalls but they must be fixed under warranty. When shopping for a used one many lease returns did not have these seals replaced or much of the other scheduled maintenance for that matter since the driver just intended on returning it instead of buying it at the end. A Landrover certified Disco will most likely have them all taken care of.
I bought my 96 with all the seals replaced by the previouse owner at his dealer in San Jose at no charge because he was a car nut and was aware of the recalls and had them all replaced weather they leaked or not.
Call Landrover Scottsdale or Landrover San Jose.

By Mike on Tuesday, May 29, 2001 - 10:50 pm: Edit

Go out and drive a late model Discovery 1 to use as a frame of reference. That will help you to spot anything that is out of the ordinary. Focus on the engine/drive train. Most everything else is secondary (i.e. more cheaply repaired).

Check out the drive train. Make sure the Center Diff engages properly and all wheels are pulling. A friend of mine bought a Range Rover and drove around with a broken half-shaft for a long time before he figured it out. Take it out on the highway and take it up to 75. Listen/feel for any vibrations. It's a 4x4, so expect a little. Listen carefully to the motor. It is pretty much a standard V8 motor and should sound like one (run quietly, accelerate and decelerate with no complaints). Valve and exhaust manifold problems are not uncommon if the car has been neglected. Discos are slow, so don't expect a it to be fast.

Check for corrosion on the aluminum skin. It was a problem on a few vehicles in 94 to 96 up north. Check to see if the front of the dash is peeling up. Check the fluid in the diffs and the transfer case. If it was neglected, you will probably see it in the fluid. Check out the frame, door joints, and welds/seams for rust. Check for leaks around the sun roofs and alpine windows. Look at the headliner closely. If it has been replaced, then there was probably a leak. Make sure all leaks are fixed. Check the tires for unusual wear. Drive it over a couple of big bumps to see if the suspension is in good shape. It should not shimmy or pull when going over the bumps. Pull up the black trim strip on footwell on the front passenger side. Look at the pad and under the pad. If it was ever under water, it will show up there. Look closely at the dip stick above the oil line. If the engine was abused (run too hot or oil changed infrequently), you will see evidence of this on the dip stick. Pull off the air intake hose and look inside. If it is excessively dusty/dirty then the previous owner probably neglected to change the air filter on a regular basis. Check the power steering pump closely. The hose clamps were defective on a great number of them. Also, check the seals on the power steering pump. Leaking seals = new (and expensive in my opinion) power steering pump.

Sorry for the long post. Rovers are very well built (overbuilt in a lot of cases). Expect a well maintained Disco to last 20 years or more. Don't expect these things to be perfect - they are basically hand built.

LoL,
Mike

By Moe on Wednesday, May 30, 2001 - 02:33 am: Edit

Lol Mike, what a great list! A bit of a wish list for a 94-96? Start by narrowing the search to Discos with the center diff lever stuck in the disengaged postion--these would have seen little abuse!

Ian

By Greg Braswell on Friday, June 01, 2001 - 01:47 pm: Edit

FYI, for anyone interested in a '96 D1 with a 5 speed, there is one shown on the CarMax website for $15k with 41,000 miles. Looks pretty good as most of the CarMax vehicles tend to be of pretty high quality. This one is in Charlotte, NC.

By CDN RVR on Tuesday, June 05, 2001 - 07:02 pm: Edit

Mike - nice list. Did you happen to read the warranty record on my 95 Disco? Mine was never abused or off-roaded by the previous owner but the factory problems you listed were fixed and she runs great now ... especially off road ... maybe that's what it needed all along???