Land rover discovery 2 2.5d

thehorse

Hi All,

i'd like opinions on the above. I have seen a really nice one, 7 seater, recently done NCT. 80,000 miles on it. 2003 model.

its in excellent condition, fully loaded.

anyone have one or could someone give me an opinio on them...

thanks.....

101sean

Make sure it's at least got some early service history and hopefully any warranty issues were covered.

The engines are very long lived if properly looked after although at 80k it will be due for the fuel pressure regulator to fail, cheap but PITA fix. If on air suspension check it sits level and the pump isn't running continually. Listen for the fuel pump, you should barely here it whining outside, if it's noisy it's on it's way out. If an auto and it has aircon, make sure it shifts cleanly, the aircon drain drips on the xyz switch :rolleyes:

All the lights on the dash need to go out promptly on starting or after moving off. If it's never been further off road than the kerb outside Tesco, the high/low lever may be seized though lack of use, simple to sort out.

Look at the tyres, need to be reasonably matched with no funny wear patterns. There should be no clonks or bangs from the suspension.

Spares support is plentiful and cheap and there's loads of advice on various forums.

I am of course totally biased when it comes to Land Rover but a D2 is very good value for money.

thehorse

The one I'm looking at is a manual, I wouldn't buy an auto one.

From what I've heard, they seem to be pretty bulletproof. Would that be right ?

101sean

They can be, conversely you get some that are nothing but trouble. If it's been looked after and minor problems fixed before they become big ones it should be OK.

The engines do not give trouble, especially post 02 and are good for starship mileage, very tuneable too
Like many modern vehicles they have a DMF which can make clutch changes pricey. The gearboxes and transfer boxes are tough enough. Diagnostic gear isn't needed for servicing but a Nanocom or Hawkeye is a handy device for fault finding and there are plenty around (I have a Nanocom)

Surprised the usual "don't do it, buy a Landcruiser" posts haven't appeared yet!

thehorse

I wouldn't buy a landcruiser cause they have a 3 litre engine. 2.5 is as high as I want to go and I want something with lost of space, room for dog etc. That's why I thought of a disco 2

101sean

That's true, €948 pa on the Disco is bad enough. A passenger Disco is more likely to have been looked after than a commercial one, sounds like it's worth a serious look.

Fishtits

Disco 5 is a fine machine.

They have their problems, a weak gearbox being one, but all of this class of vehicles will give you grief, toyota included.

If its got some sevice history I'd go with it. They are a serious 4x4 much maligned by many. Somewhat unreasanably IMHO.

Fishtits.

Had many from Lada Niva through Land Rover series 2a, 3, 110, Defender, Toyota, 70, 80, 90 and now happy with an ancient Pajero.

OldGuysRule

Am on my second Discovery 2, my fourth Disco altogether. Never left down by them after a total of about 160k miles, except for blowing off a coolant pipe that had perished with age, although have always looked after them.

Just bought my most recent one lately, was very lucky to find a high spec one with only 40k miles on it with history. Did a lot of checking on the vehicle before I got it as it seemed too good to be true (except the price though!). i have an auto (same as last one) and would not go back to manual. The auto is pretty bullet proof and really suits the character of the Disco td5. Plan to keep it for a few years again.

Like any vehicle, check it out, look at and drive a few so you can detect the good from the bad. Then pick one and look after it, but also enjoy it. They can take a lot of abuse and still deliver you in relative comfort to wherever you want.