Buying a disco

[Blade boy]

Hi,
i am wanting to buy a discovery. We already have a series 3 and a defender.
What should i be looking for on these. I know the engine and transmisson need to be checked, belt changes, noises etc.
I had a look at one yesterdayand noticed the rear quarters had corroded from the stay/mudflap brackets and had a fair bit of corrosion in the rear door shuts at top of rear arch area. The bit that i was concerned about was at the rear tailgate area, on the drivers side below the light panel i could put my fingers through and was lots of rust/metal..is this a hard n serious problem to sort. The doors had the usual corrosion at the bottom. Chassis and sills looked n felt ok. For now i have just walked away. It was around 800 pound, had full tax n test, engine was good n had a belt change about 2000 miles ago. i am looking to pay up to around 2500 for the right tdi disco.

any pointers/advice in right direction would greatly be appreciated.

Cheers,
Paul

[disco12]

Hello things u should look for with a discovery

1. RECORDS RECORDS RECORDS
2. check the CDL if a D2 check the gear shifter sometimes they lock up if not use.
3. she how the truck drives look for sounds rattles just making sure the truck is in a safe running condition.
4. check the fluids

I'm going to stop here but there are other rover guiness who can really help u out good luck with ur disco shopping.

[bluemax09]

I agree. the CDL is a sticky point on all discos. If it doesn't work it probably because it's froze from not being used. It's just a matter of pulling the console and getting in there to break up the corrosion that you will see on the linkage. There's a few links to pages that will walk you through that process in this forum.
I would make sure I turn on everything that has a motor and runs on electricity. The electrical systems that the Brits designed for this is less than remarkable but it's one of those things you deal with owning a disco. do this to make sure there are no shorts in any of the lines or worse in the wiring harness itself. It seems with the electrical system on the disco when one thing goes wrong it snowballs and before you know it you find out that the reason your key won't turn in the ignition is because the sunroof motor shorted causing "disruptive current" which will not allow your left blinker to work, which happens to be connected to your throttle position sensor which has gone bad becasue you have bad O2 sensors becasue when you got stuck wheeling you sprayed a bunch of carb cleaner in the throttle body to get the engine turned over which in turn cycled through your catalytic converter ruining it. You get the point......
They can be complicated. I also own a series III, and don't get me wrong I love my disco, but I just adore the rugged simplicity of my series III. Unfortunatly you need a glossary of acronyms, which I have partially memorized, to trouble shoot a disco.
Also, depending on the year there should not be too much rust on the carriage. those soft spots your talking about you shouldn't find on a disco if it's newer than a 97-98, unless it was driven exclusively up north. I have a 97 with nearly zero rust. It spent time in california, and minnesota.
Which goes back to what disco12 said. check the records. find out where it came from. I even gave the old owner a call and we chatted for a few minutes about the truck. She let me know pretty much everything about the truck and what was good and bad. She was a suburban housewife (which quickly explained why my CDL was froze) and She also faxed me a maintenance report that detailed everything she had done to the truck prior to her selling it. It turned out that she had alot of new stuff put on it, to make it safe for her son, then she traded it in and got him a volvo wagon for safety reasons. (If you have teenagers then you'll understand why that was a very smart move)
All and every disco is "wet" underneath. When I decided to buy a disco I asked alot of the same questions that you are and a guy told me that it's time to worry about your disco when it's not leaking something. I have found that to be so true. check for the usual problem areas for leaks as you would on any other engine, but if it's a little wet or if it's just a dribble here and there I would consider that normal for a disco.
What I did to make myself more comforatable about the leaking was I cut a piece of cardboard about the width of the truck and cut two notches in the top of it so when it's under the truck it fits snugly right up under the tires (for consistency). When the splotches land I just trace the trail up to the part that's leaking. Then just put a mark around the splotch and mark it (gearbox). Easy way to keep trak of what's leaking and from where. if your comforatable with what's leaking then no sweat. If you see a new "splotch" that isn't marked then just trace it up, mark it, and prioritize accordingly.
I think one guy here on the forum calls leaks "undercarriage rust inhibitor"
It all comes back to basic maintenance. If you have a passion for Land Rovers then you'll appreciate the disco. If you're looking for something that will not require your time and patience then maybe a disco isn't what you're looking for. With that said I have never had another vehicle that when it encountered a problem and I was able to "find and fix" gave me more personal reward.
That's my 2 cents.
Let me know if I can help in any other way.

[pavel]

Blade boy: take bluemax's advice - these are not vehicles for everyman. One of the best reasons to own a Disco, in my opinion as it keep it largely as a toy. By that I mean, don't use it for commuting/shopping - it uses too much fuel anyway. Use it more for what it was designed for and you'll be happy.
If you must have one, find an example that is almost rustfree and super low mileage (we still have many around the Vancouver area although the supply is decreasing) Get one with the newer ignition system. Check that the dashboard isn't delaminating. Have the cylinder heads been off(decoke); if so, who did the work? As has been stated, get records and the original owner's manual.
Expect to put plenty of money into the vehicle for the first few years even if you do most of the work yourself.
Do a really serious soul search before you buy and best of luck if you do take the plunge.