disco buying advice

[wrecker]

hi all,

im thinking of going from a zook to a discovery

what sort of sum do i need to get a okish disco,

would £1,500, be ok or would i need more :?

also would have to have mot,tax as it would be my every day car too or is that to much to ask for my price range,

thanks for your time :D

[Guardian.]

£1500 theres plenty of good 300tdi's for that money taxed and tested, just look around.

[J B]

the price of disco's has come down alot in recent months, so you will be able to get a m,n,p plate fot that money, but just look out for the usuall faults, especially the boot floor rust

[Iain C]

Agree, £1500 will get you something perfectly decent if you look round.  Mine was just under that and has been totally reliable so fa...just be prepared to run round and change a few fluids, fix a few niggles and perhaps sort the odd propshaft UJ or similar...and yeah, check that boot floor!

I've spent a few quid on mods but as per avatar picture it owes me less than two grand and I absolutely love it!

[Chris Putt]

Having just been through the same a few months ago- heres a reasonably comprehensive lowdown.......Feel free to add to this anyone......

Bodywork:

Extreme front and rear edges of sills are prone to rot
Boot floor is prone to rot
Rear X-member/boot floorsill prone to rot
Rear arch bases/seatbelt mounts prone to rot
Inner wings prone to rot
Front headlight mounting box thingys and bodymounts rot.

(are you seeing  pattern here)

Transmission:
Check difflock works- may not be a major issue but one less thing to worry about
Excess shunt in the gearbox/transmission
Excess Whining
Leaks!

Engine:
Colour of smoke/excess amounts
Check its 'breathing' (put your hand over the filler hole if theres loads of pressure shes a baddun!)
Leaks


Interior:
Water marks, does it leak?
Is most of it there?
do the seats have windey things (mine had vanished and it was a pain to acquire replacements)

Do all the obvious things, drive it and see if it wanders all over the road and if everything feels tired? Does it pull well etc etc.
Does it brake straight (mine didnt because one of the rear calipers had seized solid)

Other things
Have a look at the service history (if there is any) it may give you some indication as to what kind of life it has had, and whether it has been looked after well or abused.

Follow your instinct- or take someone familiar with a discovery with you!

Drive as many as you can- go to dealers and test loads, that way you get a feel for whats good and whats not so good!!

Hope this is some help- Im sure others will be along to add to the list!

Chris

[gee the sparky]

make sure the heater works, i didnt and mine doesnt.
looks like a real pain in the butt to check/replace as well. :(

[redhand]

I think Chris Putt covered everything. Just want to add a friend brought a 98R plate 300tdi auto in VGC for £1600 last month so there are plenty of good discos out there for £1500. There's loads of crap ones as well so make sure you read and act on Chris's post.

[wrecker]

thanks very much for that guys,helps no end :D  :D

will let you know what i end up with,

thanks again
mark :D

[Evilgoat]

thanks very much for that guys,helps no end :D  :D

will let you know what i end up with,

thanks again
mark :D

I'm gonna get flamed, I just know it.

But if you are comming from a Vit you are gonna losse the reasonable reliability and ease of working on it. So many things about the Disco just dont make sense. Be ready for a world of seized things and rust too. I have kept the Vit and I have to say the Disco is a bigger headache for maintainance. This MAY be becasue I've only had experience of vits.

You'll need bigger tools too, I'm glad I got a 15ton jack rather than a puny little thing after all. Yes I could in theory jack the vit right off the deck with a 5 ton but I suspect it's explode jacking the disco :)

Needed a bigger windy gun for all the minor work so far. Heater involves systematically dismantling the dash btw.

Mine is fairly rotten but I didnt pay that much for it tbh so I cant grumble but do take it out for a ride and check all the bits above. Its not as much fun as the vit but it IS nice having a spine that still works after 5 mins of offroading.

[wrecker]

:lol:  :lol:

thanks for the heads up,and your not the first to say it ither,

i dont know what to do now :oops:  :oops:  :oops:

mark :D

[Evilgoat]

Look on it the same way as we have with Bunnie, I'm guessing you arent that old or experirenced.

The Vit is easier to fix, sorry guys, but it is. While you get the knowledge under your belt you ARE going to break bits and the Disco is a completely different animal, its heavier, handles differently (Hello bump-steer) and from experience getting used to it, drives like a barge compared to the Vit.

If you damage or break a Disco its going to be cheaper but its possibly going to break more often as you abuse it more and more. There are also some funny insurance quirks too if you are younger, then again if your vit is a soft-top you'll know about that sort of thing.

We decided to keep the vit as a 'lerner' car for Bunnie to get used to offroading. After all when a vit decides to go sideways/tip up/get high-centered 3 strong blokes can deal with it without needign any ropes etc. When a Disco gets stuck it tends to be really stuck.

I'd say hang fire, get used to offroading, do a few greenlanes and P&P sites. As a guess youre finding the difficulty involved in serious modding a bit trying.

[wrecker]

to put you in the frame a bit,

i am young,21 and yes not long been off roading,about a year and half,

and yep it was a soft top,know hard top,

i pay just under 2k on insurance and getting a disco it would be the same,

i do have loads of spear parts for the zook,and not only that but am getting real good at fixing it now :lol:  :lol:

just thinking of more room,more power,think i might stay with it :oops:  :oops:  :oops:  :oops:

mark :D