Rover buying insomnia

[stacyhayes]

As I said in my intro my POS Amigo died this week (fun little truck... bought super cheap, did the job). Have been considering a major vehicle purchase for this summer, but have been hurried along by the recent death in the family. Wanted a rover forever, but always thought they were too pricy... Have been looking at different non-soccer mom vehicles that seat 7, and the pickings are slim. Low and behold, by some fluke have realized that I actually can afford a rover, it has the seating capacity that I require, and Holy Shit I can still have a fun car!!! I'm looking at newer discos, but am really just getting started. I would LOVE a defender, but I think I'd be better off buying a used one once the new ones are realeased (I figure the yuppies will want the new ones, so the old ones will come down in price).

ANYHOW... I'm psyched that I can get one... I'm estatic that there is a whole rover culture... but I'd really like any advice you can give me.

My BF has an E-30 M3 (BMW) which is a total finicky bitch (I thought I was the only one here??) and I'm concerned that between the 2 (bmw and my rover) my days and nights are going to be spent at the parts store before I even have a chance to get it muddy. HELP!!! I'm so excited that I can't sleep, but I'm stressing.. I have a spare to drive in the meantime but uncertaintly makes me crazy...

damn this is long. SBT

[rmuller]

If you live in the US don't hold your breath for new defenders.

Whats your budget look like? And can you work on it yourself? That'll determine what to get..

[BIRD]

You might want to look at the LR3 If you get the model with the third row seating. You then can carry 7 passengers. And the third row is actually comfortable.

[stacyhayes]

The price isn't so much an issue... I'd like to spend under 20, and attempt to get a deal on something. I'm not in any hurry (have until the end of the summer), so if I found something sweet I'd jump; but otherwise I'm going to shop around. However, I could spend as much as mid 40s.

We haven't worked on a rover before, but pretty much everything else (Ford F250, BMW, SAAB, VW, Jeep, Isuzu, Ford taurus, etc.). Including minor stuff as well as most major.

The issue is that I plan on using it initially for an everyday driver, and I need space (at least 7) for people. I like the rough ride (wink wink LOL), but I'm concerned about being left vehicle-less on a Tuesday when i've got shit to do.

So far it looks like either a 2002 or 2003 disco, what do you think?

What do you think about working on it?? Is it w/in normal capabilities? Do you have trouble getting parts? Do they require a ton of expensive specialty equipment? How miserable is the milage really (I've heard mixed things.. both that it's horrible, and that it's standard for a full sized SUV). AND if I decide to take it off road later on, what kind of an investment am I looking at in after markets?

Thanks for your help...
Stacy

[Funrover]

For 20k you can get a sweet disco........ Personally I wouldn't go newer than 04....... The 02/03's are nice!!!! Go for an 01 and get the CDL(better for off road, CDL = Center Differential Lock) You won't be working on it all the time..If you have fords this will be a break for you(at least in my experience)! As far as parts go I am not sure about where you live...Here I have no problems. Off road accesories there are a few places, but nothing like the aftermarket off road jeep community! MPG's stock won't be to bad...But once modded it drops quick.... I get 12-13 city 15- 18 HWY!!! I used to get 15 - 17 city and 20 - 21 HWY!!!

Good luck!!!

[rmuller]

Originally Posted by stacyhayes

So far it looks like either a 2002 or 2003 disco, what do you think?

What do you think about working on it?? Is it w/in normal capabilities? Do you have trouble getting parts? Do they require a ton of expensive specialty equipment? How miserable is the milage really (I've heard mixed things.. both that it's horrible, and that it's standard for a full sized SUV). AND if I decide to take it off road later on, what kind of an investment am I looking at in after markets?

Thanks for your help...
Stacy

There are two discovery's, D1 and D2.. D1 is 94-99 and D2 are 99-04 .. I think D2 is definitely what you're looking for.. that being said, there are two types of D2s! 99-02 are 4.0 liter V8 engine, 03-04 they moved to 4.6 and did a bunch of other upgrades all around.. difference between the 03/04 is that the 04 has CDL [Center Differential Locking] which GREATLY increases traction while offroading or in snow. Ok, all that being said, the best year for a Discovery is 2004.

Working on it is pretty easy.. everything is pretty much straight forward and nicely accessible. Parts aren't too expensive as long as you don't buy from the dealer.. there are a bunch of aftermarket websites (www.atlanticbritish.com, www.dap-inc.com, www.roversnorth.com, etc..).. There are some parts you can find in NAPA, etc.. but for the most part, you need to special order it.

Mileage varies, I think normal people get around 15-18 on stock... I get about 9 with my truck lifted/armored/etc.. Aftermarket parts are available and a little more expensive then say the jeep world since its more customized.. but like a lift will cost you 500-1500 depending on size, front winch bumper 700-1200, etc..

There are a few 2004s on sale on discoweb.org's forum right now, I know of 2 G4s [Bright Tangiers Orange] and saw another one.. some of them are already modified.

[stacyhayes]

Originally Posted by Funrover

For 20k you can get a sweet disco........ Personally I wouldn't go newer than 04....... The 02/03's are nice!!!! Go for an 01 and get the CDL(better for off road, CDL = Center Differential Lock) You won't be working on it all the time..If you have fords this will be a break for you(at least in my experience)! As far as parts go I am not sure about where you live...Here I have no problems. Off road accesories there are a few places, but nothing like the aftermarket off road jeep community! MPG's stock won't be to bad...But once modded it drops quick.... I get 12-13 city 15- 18 HWY!!! I used to get 15 - 17 city and 20 - 21 HWY!!!

Good luck!!!

Where would you buy it milage wise??? In your opinion, how many miles are they good for as an everyday driver? (my thought process here is drive daily until it gets finicky and then take off road...buy new ride for daily use...god only knows my bf would love nothing more than for us to have 12 cars...) That milage is really good...better than we get on the expedition (maybe 17 highway on a good day). Hell, I'm pretty sure my Amigo (a 4) was only getting 22 hwy. How much do you have into your rover in after market investment for 4x4?


This is not good...Now everyone in this house is obsessed with cars... And I'm never going to study for my exams.

I'm in CT but i"ll be in Boston very soon, there seem to be a lot of resources there for parts and whatnot. How you find the parts to be price-wise?

[01001010]

Oh man, you're near Rovers North, Dap-Inc. and Atlantic British! My vote would go for an 04 Disco...you have a beefy 4.6 V8, and a CDL, and an SE7 (obviously 7 seats) has much more comfortable, foward facing jump seats in the back.

As for MPG, you'll really loose miles when you start adding anything to the exterior that creates more drag. A full roof rack will KILL your MPG.

[stacyhayes]

you're all creating a monster here... so D2 2001 or 2004. possibly do something about the 3rd row as a modificaiton...

THe big question... How impossible is it going to be for me to find a stick???

Should I give up on my dirty fantasies about owning a defender?

How are your insurance rates???? AND if you taco your truck offroad you're insurance co is going to laugh at you right? is there a way around it? for thoseof you you who have invested further, did you end up doing a stated value policy? AND least but probably not even closed to last: what about the warranties? I saw your rec. for warranties4wheels, if I plan on doing the majority of the repairs myself, is it worth it? The only reason I'm even considering it is b/c of the plan that offers a free loaner as part of the package... (we have a spare car, but it's only allowed outside on nice sunny days, when there is no sign of terrorist activity or birds shitting... damn M3, I hate her~jealous I guess)

Thanks for all your help... you guys are the best.

[rmuller]

2001 isn't guaranteed to have CDL... I have a 2001 and it didnt have it, I had to swap transfer case, here is a copy & paste from a FAQ I wrote:

What is it?
Certain years of the Discovery II share the same transfer case (LT230SE) with the Discovery I. This transfer case has the ability to lock the front and rear driveshafts together which will increase off road traction using what is called Center Differential Locking or CDL. On the Discovery I, this is operated by shifting the HIGH-LOW selector to the left, therefore engaging the CDL. The fine folks at Land Rover decided that this was too complicated for average consumer to use, so they decided not to include it with the new range of Discovery IIs, believing that Electronic Traction Control (ETC) would be sufficient enough.


Years that Contain It
As said above, certain years contain the same transfer box, which contains the mechanism needed to lock it, just no easy to use handle to engage it.
1999 & 2000 Have the Transfer Case
Certain models of the early 2001 build year have it
2002 & 2003 does not have it
2004 has the transfer case AND they decided to bring back the in cab lever to operate it.

[rmuller]

Stick -- Non existent on a D2.. only a few of the early year D1s had stick.. 94-96 maybe? If you're feelin' frisky you could probably do the swap yourself.. but I personally like the auto better for wheelin'.

Defender -- You dont have to give up your dream of owning one.. just your plan had a flaw.. the fact that LR will probably never bring back the defender, and if they did, it would be a crappy excuse for a defender clone sitting on an LR3 independent chassis. Plus by that time, most D90s will be way up in mileage... you can find d90s for 18-40k now depending on condition. Just remember though, these are old/used farm/military equipment basically.. you're not going to find good mileage or seating for 7.

When I asked my insurance agent if I'd be covered if I flipped it offroad, she said she didn't see a problem with it.

[CaptainRuss]

Stacy,

I read in the "Introduce Yourself" thread that you were moving back to Boston which is where I live. Since you already went to school here you know the road conditions here are some of the worst among major cities. Therefore you have two things working against you: wear and tear from conditions and poor mileage thanks to awful traffic. The Discovery can certainly handle the wear and tear better than anything I can think of, non-rover that is, but your mileage is going to be devastatingly pathetic.

Although, if it ever decides to snow in New England again you can rest assured that you will be tooling around without any worries while everyone else is digging themselves out.

If you do decide to go with a Disco, or even a Defender, I have an independent Land Rover mechanic up the street from me in South Boston called Boston Roverland who can handle any and all problems you want to throw at him.

If you'd like my opinion on what you should purchase, I'd say either an 03 or 04. If you seriously plan on going off-road on a regular basis definitely get the 04. I made the mistake of getting an 03 and am sorry I hadn't gone with the 04. Don't get me wrong, I love it and it does extemely well off-road, it is just going to take me a few extra bucks to swap over to a CDL to get me to the 15% of places I cannot get to off-road.

As far as insurance goes, again Boston is notoriously bad rate-wise. Let me tell you this though, I had a Subaru previously to my Disco and my insurance actually went down since the Disco is considered a station wagon in MA and my Subaru was an SUV. Plus, Rovers have such a history that even thieves don't want them unless you have some super high-end Range Rover with bling potential.

Hope this helps, keep on asking questions on this board, these folks are an invaluable resource of information and are always down for helping you out.

[cellulararrest]

Originally Posted by stacyhayes

Should I give up on my dirty fantasies about owning a defender?

If you want 7 seats and have a budget of 20k, give up your defender fantasies.

The only way you could fit that many people in a defender would be with a 110, and good luck finding one in good shape for 20k

[stacyhayes]

Originally Posted by cellulararrest

If you want 7 seats and have a budget of 20k, give up your defender fantasies.

The only way you could fit that many people in a defender would be with a 110, and good luck finding one in good shape for 20k

Would it be wrong for me to fantasize about being in a defender, topless while I was I was driving my disco?

[CaptainRuss]

Alright, I'll say it...

No it is not wrong to fantasize, in fact it is encouraged that you fulfill that fantasy.