By Norm Hebert on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 10:06 am: Edit

Being new to the board, and a new Disco owner (2001) I read many horror stories and got a kind of sinking feeling in my stomach. Going into archives read some more negative and some positive, also some from people who got that same sinking feeling as I did from reading postings, but I began to think. A site like this I would think would be more for people who need help with issues, rather than for people to simply write in and say "whoo-hoo I just loooooove my Disco", so normally there would be a disproportionate number of negative stories under the technical section. I don't think this should discourage anyone from buying. Seems to me most of the problems appear to be on second owner vehicles. If anyone knows of big issues regarding new Discos I would appreciate a heads-up. I have heard that they had issues prior to '99. What about 2000 and 2001's?? Thanks.

By Karen Jones on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 10:51 am: Edit

Norm,

I think you've hit it spot on. I just got my new Disco last week, but had read avidly here (and elsewhere) before signing on the dotted line. As a newbie I was sinking and floating depending on what I read and thought worthy of worrying about. In the end I thought the same thing: Log onto any other serious forum on any make and you'd probably find the same sort of asking-for-help posts. This would seem to imply there are loads of problems, but I rather think it simply means they know where to go to get good help and advice. The trouble-free owners maybe just have less to say on this sort of forum(?). As everyone here is a real-world enthusiast (and taking time out of their day at no renumeration) I felt the story was probably as clear and honest as possibly could be. Although everyone seems to love these machines, I don't detect blind brand loyalty. With every choice in life come problems and joys, and it's up to us to choose which set of both we can live with. Ask me in 15 years how I like my Disco.....that's my litmus test.

Karen ;)

By Dr. Rover & Mr. Happy on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 10:57 am: Edit

people are most vocal when they're bitching about a problem. When they're happy, they're too busy enjoying life to write about it...

By John on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 11:06 am: Edit

What you generally read on the discussions are people looking for a solution to their problem, as you said you never read posts of all the satisfied owners or people not having problems. Overall LR'ers are quite the good auto, we as offroaders create most of the problems ourselves to our vehicles in our hard usage and mods. The LR'ers mystic is built on durability over many years of rugged use. Like any truck we take a gamble with what we buy but the lemon law is seen used much more in other brands. The current Discos generally have similar problems or quirks which have been addressed in many past threads on this board by many helpful owners. Dont 2nd guess your purchase, just ask for help here when you need it..

By Steve (Steve2) on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 02:35 pm: Edit

norm - congrats and welcome - i have a 99 disco one i got second hand - it was a trade in on an audi tt (talk about a change!). i was not sure about it either - but i can tell you from experience after 50 weeks of ownership and over 20,000 miles - that for the most part the 'stories' have not occurred. the only warranty problem that required any semi-immediate assistance was a seeping coolant recovery tank. other than noises, and fading trim from being left in the hot california sun - my disco has been considerably less trouble than my yeep cherokee. any car mfg can have problems - one of my clients is a lexus dealer - and you should hear the problems THEY have, the wierdest stuff. and they are supposedly the best. there are also older lexus that no one in the dealership would touch with a 10 foot pole as they such piles of crap! surprise eh?

in my extended family - my sister drives a dodge caravan (lots of problems), mom a honda crv (so far so good, but then again she knows nothing about cars), another sister an isuzu vehicross and (i can say that our cars have had parallel reliability)

best of luck and enjoy your disco - i know i do every time i get in a drive. love it love it love it.

steve

By chuanchen on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 03:35 pm: Edit

Norm,

It's been proved that 70% -75% LR owners who have had LR vehicles once would never switch to other makes. This incredible fact truely tells us how LR vehicles are made and they work.

If you try to understand how a LR is designed and constructed, you'll see how different and much more sophisticated they are from most of the other vhicles. I've been so impressed with its durability and reliability.

you'll see how much you love it if you try to understand it.

chuanchen

By Eric N (Grnrvr) on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 04:31 pm: Edit

If you count all the post on this site I think that a majority of them will be about mods/upgrade ideas, questions, and issues. Not issues with the Disco itself. I for one love my 98 Disco 1 and even though I want a D90 really bad if I had it to do over again I would still buy the Disco. I also wouldn't say that the Disco 2 is more reliable then a 98/99 Disco 1. The Disco 2s are mostly new which means new issues and bugs to work out over time. In my opinion the 98/99 Discos are probably some of the most reliable Discos made. Just my opinion. You know what they say about opinions

By Alex Schubow (Alex) on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 04:34 pm: Edit

At the risk of jinxing myself, my 98 is going on 80K miles with no mechanical failures whatsoever. And believe me, it's been rode hard and put away wet plenty. You may be on to something there

Alex

By Charles A. Neal (Cneal) on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 06:09 pm: Edit

Norm,

Having bought 2 Discovery's in the past 2 years, a 1997 (used) and 2000 series 2 (new), I have only great things to say about both models. I use the 97 primarily for off road use, and while it is still mostly a stock vehicle (modifications are in the works) it performes like not other 4x4 that I have ever owned (IZUSU Trooper, Mitsubishi Montero). I have driven it over 10,000 miles since I bought it last March. I don't get to drive the series 2 that much, I can't get it away from my wife. It also has run like a charm from the 1st day that we purchased it. Keep up on the maintenance and they will give you no problems.

Just remember that Land Rovers are "purpose built", they demand to be taken off road (at least 4 times per month). It's a crying shame to see vehicles like these only taken to the mall or other meaningless places.

I endorse the mark 100% !!!

By jay caragay (Jcaragay) on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 06:50 pm: Edit

Well, Land Rovers without problems are like Hondas with poor gas mileage!

That said, overall, the Landys are fantastic vehicles. But they are vehicles that one should not jump into with blinders on. While the mytique of the Adventuresome Landy Owner lives on, LRNA and LR have cashed in on that franchise by making the Landy a pricey, if not outright expensive, proposition. In positioning the LR as a luxury SUV, they have jacked the prices accordingly.

I've had my 1995 D1 since the day it was imported to the United States in February 1995. I paid a hefty premium of $35K for it. Since that time, there have been a myriad of problems that have left me irritable and downright angry - especially when LRNA decides to take the "we don't know nothing about that" line.

On top of all that, scheduled maintenance at $600 is no Honda Civic, add the price of parts to that and it gets expensive pretty damn quick.

About a year ago, a friend came to me asking about buying a used 1995 D1 with 180K miles on it. Seems the owner was willing to sell it for $8,000 and my friend's brother wanted to buy it.

I told him that while the D1 is a fantastic vehicle, it is not without problems - plus the cost of maintenance and the cost of fuel.

Overall, I do love my 1995 D1 and there's simply no vehicle that can take you as far away from the road surface as a Landy. It's just important to realise and accept that owning a Landy is not the same as owning a Honda.

By Jose A Cabrera (Jcabrera) on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 07:04 pm: Edit

Norm,

Welcome to the LR world. As Dr. Rover & Mr. Happy said, it is easier to write about the problems we are having with our Land Rovers. Keep in mind that a great majority of the LR enthusiast posting here (including me) take their vehicle off-road, exposing them to a greater level of driving conditions; subsequently barking down and needing more maintenance than an everyday commuter. If you buy a Land Rover for a commuter, I am sure it competes with the best cars out there (not in gas consumption). For Off-roading purpose, they are the BEST. I went from Benz, to BMW to Volvo and then to Land Rover and I plan to own one forever!!!!!

Just my sincere opinion!

By Gary on Monday, August 20, 2001 - 08:47 pm: Edit

Steve (Steve2)

You won't believe this but I traded my 2000 Audi TT on my 2001 Disco2! Now, that's really a change. I've wanted some type of LR for 30 years. My wife and I are recent empty nesters and my wife, tired of 23 years of 4 door family cars has ordered a 2 seater convertible. I decided we couldn't both have small sports cars so I stepped up and "sacrificed" my TT for the Disco. Was that clever or what?
Gary

By Norm Hebert on Tuesday, August 21, 2001 - 07:17 am: Edit

Wow!

Thanks to everyone for all of the answers and good wishes on my new D2. I guess I am what some would disdainfully call a "mall-crawler". To be honest, I have never been off-roading other than some 3-wheeling in my youth. I bought my LR because of all of the safety and handling features. I researched it for a year and test drove one (a little unnervingly to be sure) on one of those rocky test tracks at a dealership in New Mexico before buying. While I do alot of traveling, moving to a new state two to three times a year; set out on the occasional forray (sp?) into the Jemez mountains of New Mexico and am facing my first hard winter in my life here in Indiana, for the most part, I was just impressed with the way they are built and how safe they are. I feel infintely better about safety driving my D2 than I did in my Honda CRV. Recently on a busy road, going about 45mph, some psycho kid on a bike shot out in front of me when I was only about 8 feet behind him. The LR handled perfectly and safely and I avoided a near-death situation (for the cyclist). I was really impressed. Don't get me wrong. I SWEAR by Hondas and Toyotas. Have had three new ones (each for 4 years) and never ONCE had any service issues. I am a stickler for maintenance. I am mechanically challenged and therefore rely totally on the dealer service departments to keep my vehicle in good order. Once again, thank you all for replying, and here's to a great future with our LR's.

Norm