By Travis on Tuesday, March 06, 2001 - 11:58 pm: Edit

I am thinking of purchasing a 96 Disco with 70K miles on it. I have been a fan of these trucks for awhile as well as jeeps (I own a 95 YJ Wrangler). I know the up and down side of jeeps, but I am new to the LR. From what I understand, parts aren't cheap. What I want to know is what to look for in purchaseing one. The one I am looking at is a 96 Disco SE with 70K miles. The dash is starting to curl up at the ends, is this common? The fan switch only works on 2-4 settings. I am curious (no owners manual) what are the buttons on both sides of the drivers dash? I couldn't figure out the ones that weren't obviously marked. I also got the rear wiper to work one time and not since then. The reason why we looked at this, is that we just had a baby boy and the 99 mustang just isn't going to work anymore (at least for a year). Also, the cruise control also boggled me. Thankyou for your time and I am looking forward in hearing from you.

Skip
http://hometown.aol.com/skprb17/myhomepage/profile.html

By garrett on Wednesday, March 07, 2001 - 08:55 am: Edit

Well first off I would look at getting an extended warranty. The best one out there is from Hal Moses.....everyone else here will agree. I am on my second Discovery and my second warranty through Auto Advantage. It will run you about $1700 for 3 or 4 years. As for the dash....yep....that is normal, but there is a fix kit you can get from the dealer. As far as the cruise control; make sure that the button to the right of your driving light switch it turned on. (below and just to the left of your fan speeds) Very well could be one of the hoses that do tend to crack and make the cruise not function.
Yes the parts for these trucks can be very unreasonable.....but that is if you tend to go through the dealer or buy OEM or genuine parts. (i.e a genuine alt. costs about $650 and an aftermarket rebuild it about $250) And if you stick to watching post like these and asking questions before heading to the dealer or your local garage you can save yourself some major headaches and money.
These are great trucks, but they have there problems and you have to love getting under them and fixing them once in a while. Leaking windows, quirky electrical problems and other issues will happen every once in a while. But maybe you will be a lucky one and never have to do this, but most of us enjoy doing this much of the time anyhow.
Also, join a local club. This will help you get more acquainted with your local Rover folks and they will help you better understand your Rover.
But if none of this interests you, buy a Jeep. I have had 3 Jeeps and not that they are not decent trucks, but once you own a Rover you will understand......they get in your blood and your wife will soon think you are possessed.
And for a Rover with that many miles I would not pay over $13,000 or somewhere around that. Check out www.lrx.com for lots of Rovers for sale.

Good luck and have fun.

By mrbieler on Wednesday, March 07, 2001 - 10:46 am: Edit

This past weekend, my wife and I bought a 1997 SD with 36k miles. After doing a lot on on-line price checks, I started looking at anything within a 400 mile radius. I live in LA and the best deal we found was in Phoenix at Land Rover Scotsdale. A $90 one way flight and a 6 hour car ride home and we had a great truck with a 12 month/12k mile warranty. It was someones business car, had all the service records, and probably never left the pavement. If all goes well over the next 10~11 months, we will take a hard look at the aftermarket warranty. This weekend, we're off to the OHV park to get it dirty.

Good luck with your search. With the economy like it is now, dealers are struggling and are dealing. Do your home work and don't settle. There are a lot of good "end of lease" vehicles hitting the lots now.

Jeff

By Jake on Wednesday, March 07, 2001 - 11:23 am: Edit

Keep in mind that 76K is NOT a lot of miles! My Disco I has 219K on it and is still going strong. A well-maintained LR can easily go to the 200K mark with out much real mechanical trouble.

By Bill Gill (Bluegill) on Wednesday, March 07, 2001 - 11:55 am: Edit

Fist of all, buy a Rover!!! I also have a Land Rover Scottsdale Disco ('96 SD). Their tech support has been less than stellar, but that has since changed with a new Service Manager and new philosophy. The old school at the dealer was so crooked and pathetic, however, that I stay away from them as much as possible. I do as much as I can on my own, or take to private mechanic that charges $45/hour, not the dealer's $90/hour.

I purchased a pre-owned with 30K and I now have 65K. Only minor problems with some electrical quirks and steering component damage from heavy off-road abuse. I had the 12month/12K warranty, and that fixed the little electrical things, and I handled the steering. The mechanical side of these trucks is pretty simple, but computer/ electronics is a bit more challenging. Buy yourself the Disco and a good shop manual - you can handle the bolt turning, but let a private mechanic do the electronic/ diagnostic b.s.

Also, the advice about a club is good - you'll also enjoy discounts on parts and labor at a lot of shops (LR Scottsdale gives me 20% off on parts and a $25 break on hourly labor due to club membership). The extended warranty advice is golden, too. The only problem is, you have to shell out $1500-2000 up front, and the temptation to spend that cash on suspension, tires, and other toys was too much for me.

Like the man said, just check this bboard before you go spending money on real or ficticious problems with your Rover, and you can't go wrong.

-my two cents,
BlueGill

By Joshua Bova (Jbova) on Wednesday, March 07, 2001 - 12:03 pm: Edit

A Disco is a great truck. As mentioned, some of the parts are a bit pricey, but there are also a lot of ways to save money on parts. I have a dealer about 500 yds from my house, but unless it is an absolute emergency, I buy elsewhere. These truck require a bit more maintenance that others, but with good rewards. If you enjoy tinkering with your truck, a Disco will provide hours of fun. Take the advice given above regarding an extended warranty, this will help a lot if something big goes wrong. If you have a problem, there are a lot of us here that are knowledgeable and will help you. Chances are if it has happened to a Disco it has happened to someone on this board. Good luck. Oh yeah, one more thing. Have a mechanic that you trust take a good hard look at whatever you buy. There are a lot of Discos out there, make sure you get a good one.

-josh

By Cal on Thursday, March 08, 2001 - 01:33 am: Edit

I bought a discovery for the same reason your thinking of buying one except I have two little ones. I like the room and if it has jump seats in the back you'll have room for an extra person (although not that comfortable) on occasion since car seats take up so much room.

Check the maintenance history. If it doesn't have a manual possibly some of the maintenance may have been neglected. On the two discos I've owned I spoke with the landrover dealer where it was maintained to find out it's history and paid the $95.00 or so to have a complete inspection done at the hands of a landrover mechanic. Thats all they work on, and most other shops aren't familiar with the idiosincrosies of landrovers.

$12 to $13k is a fair price for those miles.

I,ve also owned a grande cherokee. It was much more trouble than both rovers with only 50k on it when I sold it. And when comparing both of the vehicles in stock condition off road the rover is far superior. Wish you the best in your search.

Cal

By Tony Christian on Friday, March 09, 2001 - 09:31 am: Edit

Contrary to other posts I suggest you DO NOT buy a Disco.

Some 8 months ago I purchased a new Disco II. My dealer has spent nearly $ AUS 20,000.00 on the Disco just in warranty repairs.

I have posted on another ng just some of the issues which I have endured. I have had many vehicles over 30 years of driving from the Humble Mini to mutli wheeeled trucks, the Land Rover is the worst. Unreliable, expensive of fuel, poor fit, poor parts backup, maybe comfortable off road but my old land Cruiser 1977 would eat the Disco on overall issues.

Save yourself a whole heap of grief, look elsewhere. I was warned and ignored similar advice even from my local 4X4 Club as well as members of the local Land Rover Club.

Think very long and very hard, this is easy, for after you have it, the worst only starts.

Good Luck

Tony C

By Milan on Friday, March 09, 2001 - 10:36 am: Edit

A lemon is a lemon, regardless of make. That's why people suggest you have a good and reliable mechanic to inspect it.

I also believe one should know why they want a particular vehicle. If you just want room, get a minivan. It'll be cheaper and get you better mileage. If you want a 4x4 with room, I'd take the LR over any other vehicle any day. I bought it because we had a baby and I always wanted one and because I go off-road and want to take my family with me. It's also one of the nicest highway cruisers I know.

While I wish I had gotten a 98 (the dealer got one just after I bought the 96), I love the truck. I wanted the 98 for the heated seats and the already installed fog lights but mostly the seats and because it was newer and with same mileage - 17000 miles. I bought the extended warranty and I think it already paid off somewhat.

I had a leaky exhaust manifold gaskets, valve cover gaskets and the PS pump. While not difficult to fix it only cost me $100 for the deductable (extended warranty) and it does not leak anymore. I may have a front seal leaking now but hope it will get fixed also. This is not bad considering they're things that go on any vehicle and mine was not driven much and when I started using it much more than its previous owner, I expected things to go. With proper maintenance (and all 4x4 need more maintenance than passenger cars), it should give me good long service (knock on wood).

I have a Jeep TJ that I bought new and had axle seals leaking, rear diff problem, scorred crankshaft (due to mud), steering stabilizer replaced, rear pinion seal and bearing replaced, front driveshaft replaced, starter, etc. All within 30K miles and fixed under warranty. I also had the hydraulic clutch go on me and had to replace it myslef. If it was not a TJ, I would have returned it as a lemon. But everything is ok now (knock on wood) and I hope for a long life out of that vehicle as well.

Since yours has 70K on it, all the problems should have been sorted out by now and if it has been maintained properly you should enjoy a good ride for years to come. So think about why you want one and if you decide to get it, enjoy!