Looking to buy Land Rover for Winter

[IS0LD0UT]

I found a 1999 LandRover Discovery with 80K miles at a honda dealer. Asking price is $7,987. That price sounds good, but here is the bad...

BAD
- Hill Decent, ABS, and Traction Control lights are on. I have heard this could be a couple of grand to fix.
- Drivers door will not unlock / lock with the remote. Locking by hand works fine. (Actuator need replacing???)
- Inside has not been detailed, and headliner fabric is coming detached. Leather is in good condition but dirty.
- A few scrapes and nicks on the outside, but all paint seems good and no broken lights.
- Needs 4 new tires

GOOD
- Engine seems strong
- No visible fluid leaks
- Oil looked clean
- Leather is in good shape
- Florida and North Carolina Vehicle

KKB Prices (fair rating)
Private party - $7425
Trade $5350

So what do you guys think? Could I make an offer of $5500 and fix the problems myself and still have it be a good deal?

Any other thoughts / comments would be appreciated.

[02disco2]

Huh.. I'd be really surprised if they'd accept $5500. If they do, I'd grab it. But one thing you are going to need to know, repairs are not cheap on these vehicles.

The HDC, ABS, and Traction Control lights could be any number of fouled sensors, you'll need to ability to plug into it to pull codes to see what is the issues.

Sounds like a bad actuator on the drivers door.

The headliner.. man.. that sucks.. I have never owned a vehicle that had this issue, and I wonder what causes it. I am VERY surprised that it happened in a 99'. Does it have dual sunroofs? Cold Weather package? Is it an S or an SE? How are the brakes? Does it come with a service history? Owners manual with the scheduled maint. stamped off?

[IS0LD0UT]

Originally Posted by 02disco2

Huh.. I'd be really surprised if they'd accept $5500. If they do, I'd grab it. But one thing you are going to need to know, repairs are not cheap on these vehicles.

The HDC, ABS, and Traction Control lights could be any number of fouled sensors, you'll need to ability to plug into it to pull codes to see what is the issues.

Sounds like a bad actuator on the drivers door.

The headliner.. man.. that sucks.. I have never owned a vehicle that had this issue, and I wonder what causes it. I am VERY surprised that it happened in a 99'. Does it have dual sunroofs? Cold Weather package? Is it an S or an SE? How are the brakes? Does it come with a service history? Owners manual with the scheduled maint. stamped off?

Thanks for the reply...

I know $5500 sounds kina low, but with the shape that the vehicle is in; Im not sure who is going to pay the 7900 they are asking plus spring for the bill to fix whatever is wrong with the ABS. From what I gathered from the LR dealer this could be $800 - $3500 to fix. And since the honda dealer had / has not interest in figuring exactly what is wrong, makes me think they got one hell of a deal on the trade. They have had the vehicle for a month and havent even detailed the inside.

As far as S or SE Im not sure have a look at the autotrader ad.
Autotrader Ad

No sunroofs at all.
No cold weather package.
Brakes seemed a little weak, though I drive a GS430 and the brakes are pretty strong, it might have just been how I felt them.
No service history.
And I didnt look at the manual for stamped service.

[02disco2]

Ahh.. You are in Minneapolis! Nice! Me too. Maybe I'll swing by to take a look at it since my office is in Eden Prairie. It appears to be an S, but with some unique upgrades. The front bumper with the fogs is standard on the SE, but a nice option on the S. The beautiful thing about it, you can add the heated seats for under $50 because they are already wired for it, you just need to install the swtiches. It also looks like it has the Harmon Kardon audio system, which is a nice upgrade.

I recently received a solicitation from a local Indy shop that I am going to check out for my 60K service. LR downtown wants about $1000. I'll grab it tonight and post the info for you.

[plastic]

I'd take it to a shop and get it scanned to see exactly what is wrong with it.

Or ask the honda dealer to fix it.

Is it a DII, or DI?

[plastic]

Oh, and where did they come up with 7,987 ?

that seems like a fair price to me if there weren't any lights on the dash, and the tires were good for at least another year. Have you checked the carfax report?

[IS0LD0UT]

Originally Posted by 02disco2

Ahh.. You are in Minneapolis! Nice! Me too. Maybe I'll swing by to take a look at it since my office is in Eden Prairie. It appears to be an S, but with some unique upgrades. The front bumper with the fogs is standard on the SE, but a nice option on the S. The beautiful thing about it, you can add the heated seats for under $50 because they are already wired for it, you just need to install the swtiches. It also looks like it has the Harmon Kardon audio system, which is a nice upgrade.

I recently received a solicitation from a local Indy shop that I am going to check out for my 60K service. LR downtown wants about $1000. I'll grab it tonight and post the info for you.

That would be sweet if you would take a look at it. I too work in Eden Prairie, right by Home Depot. It does have the Harmon Kardon system.

[IS0LD0UT]

Originally Posted by plastic

Oh, and where did they come up with 7,987 ?

that seems like a fair price to me if there weren't any lights on the dash, and the tires were good for at least another year. Have you checked the carfax report?

I thought the price was fair, without the lights on the dash. I was ready to offer them full asking price until I saw the 3 lights. But I figure that if they dont want to check it out, $2500 worth of repairs brings the price to $5500.

Edit:
The carfax is clean, you can see the report for free through the autotrader ad.

[02disco2]

The indy shop I was talking about is Expedition Autoworks. Located on 7400 Oxford Street, St. Louis Park MN 55426 952.238.1840


Web site is EXTREMELY lacking, but they have done some impressive things to their own Land Rovers not limited to Supercharging. www.expeditionautoworks.com

[Carlos]

I SOLD OUT:
It is still worth consider shootingan offer to the guys.Might consider a bit higher than $5,000.As previously stated by some members this one has the full-leather interior(easily upgradable to heated seats if doesn't have them, and H-K sound system).One other thing to ponder, if there's a bad abs sensor in one of the wheels it can trigger these 3 lights altogether, even a dirty sensor can do that.That is a common happening on Dll's. ther is a thread on that here too.I personally experienced that while hard braking on a wet road.it cleared once after I restarted the engine, it came back after a bit of driving after the restart.Then stopped the Disco for about an hour, sprayed a bit of silicone spray on the calipers, and never happened again.
If you state that the truck is really dirty on the interior, chances are that the brakes/sensors will need a bit of cleaning, if not, then replaced.But just so you know that a more simple thing as an abs sensor can trigger these three lights in the dash.
Just my 2 cents,
Carlos

[keptin]

If you can get it for $5500 or so, id buy it. The ABS, TC and HDC lights could be as little as a sensor failure ($90/wheel), dirty sensor, or old brake fluid.....though it could be worse. I presently have those lights lit up on my dash......

Hey..since the headliner is trash its your chance to rip it all out and herculine the whole top....hehe....that would be fun

[01001010]

About the headliner sag, EVERY D1 and earlyy DIIs down here suffer from this. It has something to do with the adhesive used and the moisture.

[plastic]

Originally Posted by keptin

Hey..since the headliner is trash its your chance to rip it all out and herculine the whole top....hehe....that would be fun

I think he should just cut the whole top off and do a chop like SCSL did. heh

[Badger1]

$5500 doesn't sound unfair if they are not willing to fix the problem, all they can say is no and then work up from there! Just point out all the flaws and how much it will be to repair them....really sell them that you know Land Rovers whether you do or not. I purchased a near mint 97SD D1 with 66K miles for $5300 including tax, title and all the other fees! Original asking price was $8200.

[Carlos]

Please keep us posted on how the deal goes.

Thanks,
Carlos