Discovery 300TDI

[Sparrow Hawker]

I'm looking to get a 4x4 somwthing a little more practical,

This evening I had a look at a Discovery (96) on a P plate, done 96,000 miles, manual, 5 door. Overall it's in pretty good condition for it's age, apart from some scratches on the outside which you'd expect the inside is very very tidy. However the dash board has peeled somewhat and a little bit of water has got in through the one of the rear windows in the back, as the window seals have started to perish. Some water has also got in through the back door via the window seal also. I'm not sure yet if the cambelts been replaced as the vehicle is a friend of a friends. I had a test drive and it seemed to drive very well.

The guy wants £4,000 for it, does this sounds like a good buy and how much would it cost to put right the peeled dash and for new window seals and a cam belt if needed?

Cheers,

SH

[Hacker]

Peeling dashes were a problem with that year and were due to a manufacturing fault with the glue used.
Only way to solve is to replace dash assembly, costly if you cannot do it yourself.
If you buy a s/h disco and do not have s/history then change cambelt as a matter of course, cheaper than a new engine!
As for widow seals you can replace them, buy them from plenty of parts suppliers.

[GosHawking2Day]

4K seems about right, well thats what mines up for:yawinkle: Drive it untill engine gets up to temp, temp guage should not move above middle, notorious for overheating, get cambelt done if not done recently, check under back seats for corrosion, leaking sunroofs and windows can cause havoc. You'll find alot of Discos at that sort of price good and bad, get one with good spec and take your time in deciding, cracking cars though.
ATB

[North East Harris Hawker]

4k is about right but you might be able to chisel a bit more off, keep an eye open for one of those little garages that offer a cheap MOT
try and get the truck booked in and wait for them to fail it. because 9 times out of ten they will at these cheap places.
Usually in the vain hope that they will get some work out of you.

a failure list will give you a bargaining tool, places to look in further detail
inner wings for rust
track rod ends for excessive movement when the steering wheel is being turned back and forth.
rust under the carpet in the4 boot (caused by duff sunroof seals)
rust around the back door hinges.
open the rear doors and have a look where the outer body shell meets the inner (near to the latch that holds the doors shut) is there a massive amount of white electrolysis corrosion?
whilst your here check the back passenger doors along the edge, are they badly corroded? does the outer skin lift away from the inner?
have a look in the radiator expansion tank for brown rad weld.
check around the water pump and around the alternator for any signs of a leak.
put the truck into reverse and back up sharply, select first and set off briskly, do this a few times. any clunking noises? if so walk away (drive shaft splines)
TDI engines are a bit rattley so its difficult to hear a fault if your not used to listening to them, pulley tensioners often make a bit of a noise but are not anything to worry about, a little dob of grease on the fan belt (smooth side) shuts them up.
reach in from the front (whilst the engine is off) and have a tug at the fan viscous coupling any play? a new one is about £100
if the truck appears to be in decent order 96k is about run in (honestly) try and chisel the bloke down a bit and buy it, spend a weekend getting al the bits and bobs sorted out and you will have a great truck. remeber to have the timeing belt done too.
mine now has 205,000 miles on it and it runs sweet as a nut!

[Sparrow Hawker]

Cheers for the replies guys, much appreciated.

SH

[Game & Pursuit Falcon UK]

Before buying also check it pulls up straight from around 20mph. Also check engagement and disengagement of high low and diff locks, dont buy clankers.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

well just my opinion .... they are a load of rubbish .. that for ever go wrong ...
the second hand market is a buyers market

but I am bias I have never had one but know people that have and they have lost a lot of money ...

[GoneHawking]

well just my opinion .... they are a load of rubbish .. that for ever go wrong ...
the second hand market is a buyers market

but I am bias I have never had one but know people that have and they have lost a lot of money ...


Buy a landrover it's the best way to get rid of that hard earned spare cash you were saving.

Mark

[North East Harris Hawker]

Buy a landrover it's the best way to get rid of that hard earned spare cash you were saving.

Mark

remember that prevention is better than cure!

[Harris]

Just wondering if anybody has one! I have just bought one today, M reg 1994, Full Service History by Main Dealer,over 60 invoices to prove it. Cam belt at 70K, 109,000 on the clock. Rust free!! purs and and pulls like a train, gearbox like silk £3800. every thing works on it but could do with new hinges on tail gate. Did I get a good buy?

This was the advert: -

LAND ROVER Discovery 300 Tdi , 5 Doors, Manual, Station Wagon, Diesel, 1994 M Reg , Metallic Burgundy, MOT-04-2007. 109k Miles, Full service history, Alloy wheels, Adjustable Seat Height, Twin Sunroofs, Extra seats, Remote Central Locking, Adjustable Steering Column, Air Bag, Alarm, Immobilizer, In Car Entertainment, Electric windows, Electric mirrors, Manual Transmission, Power Steering, Wood Trim, Cloth upholstery, Front armrest, Towbar. A very clean, well maintained example.

http://www.falconryforum.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=20273&d=1159560839


http://www.falconryforum.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=20274&d=1159560850


http://www.falconryforum.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=20275&d=1159560855

http://www.falconryforum.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=20276&d=1159560861

[Kevin Massey]

Looks a nice clean motor:roll: need to sort that then:supz:

[Blaze]

Disco's have really grown on me i think they look smart!.....

Was hoping to have one myself but work forces a normal car :-|

Adam

[Argee]

yeah i'd be happy at that but i do have a perfectly adequate vehicle but with out the 'street cred '.
(*v*) ...

[Game & Pursuit Falcon UK]

Thats about average for that age, and milage disco. So on the plus side you aint been done!

[North East Harris Hawker]

thats a really clean looking motor, ive got one too, maintenance comes around pretty quick, but the good thing is that its such a simple bit of kit you can do it all yourself, a haynes manual makes the servicing really easy. youve had the cam belt done.. has the modification been done? a photo of the engine just behind the fan will tell all!
great trucks, mine has over 205k miles on it now still runs like a dream!

[SCOOBY]

ive got exactly the same as that and they r cracking motors the 300 s r the best ones ive been told and dont cost as much to maintain as td 5s not to juicy and loads of second hand parts availabile loads of room for bird and dogs 2

[Harris]

Well I am well pleased with mine, I've only had it a couple of weeks, and have done around 1500 miles in it as I use it every day, I'm getting 60 miles to £10 diesel, and got nearly 40MPG when I did the 300 mile round trip to pick my Harris up. It feels indestructible and it's amazing who many other drivers give you right of way as well :supz:

[North East Harris Hawker]

it's amazing who many other drivers give you right of way as well :supz:
ha ha! probbably cos theyre worried that you might drive over them!

[MickeyDredd]

Any thoughts on a 1994 Disco 3.9 V8i with an lpg conversion. 85k miles.

£2,800 ono

[TiercelJim]

Any thoughts on a 1994 Disco 3.9 V8i with an lpg conversion. 85k miles.

£2,800 ono

Bought one couple weeks ago,Nice big motor smooth machine with good ecomics.got two 35 litre sill tanks £28 to fill them geting from 170-200 miles depending how and were im driving it,not too bad for 42p a litre,wouldnt get boot mounted tank takes up too much room!

[MickeyDredd]

Cheers, dont know if the tank is boot-mounted but that is what would put me off.

what age and price was yours if you dont mind me asking?

Mike

[TiercelJim]

no probs,98R reg,80 000miles,fsh,one owner,cercificated,maintianed gas conversion £5000,you get alot of motor for your money!

[MickeyDredd]

Just spoke to the seller.

it is the model with the peeling dash :roll: and has some rust around the boot hinges, other than that it is in good nick.

can have it for £2,500.

Any thoughts?

[TiercelJim]

Just spoke to the seller.

it is the model with the peeling dash :roll: and has some rust around the boot hinges, other than that it is in good nick.

can have it for £2,500.

Any thoughts?

Yeah,if you want it go for it!I hate buying new motors as I know f all about them
unless your a machanic I think I its pot luck what you buy anyway so you may as well buy something you like after all it is a buyers market.
good luck,jim

[MickeyDredd]

Jim

Spoke to a forum member up here who knows his Landys and he reckons its worth the dosh, he's offered to come and have a look at it at the weekend, I'm gonna just view it tomorrow (owner away).

The lpg tank is underneath too so thats a bonus.

[Harris]

My only concern with a gas conversion, is that you are able to get a regular supply of gas, especially when go away somewhere. If you run out and have to switch to the petrol, then that big engine will drink a lot of juice! My only other advice, is make sure it has had a cambelt at around 70k and has a full service history.

[TiercelJim]

Jim

Spoke to a forum member up here who knows his Landys and he reckons its worth the dosh, he's offered to come and have a look at it at the weekend, I'm gonna just view it tomorrow (owner away).

The lpg tank is underneath too so thats a bonus.

Perfecto!!harris's good advice too,you can get a list off the net listing everywere you can get lpg!
jim

[MickeyDredd]

Perfecto!!harris's good advice too,you can get a list off the net listing everywere you can get lpg!
jim

link? :lol:

[Kevin Massey]

Just spoke to the seller.

it is the model with the peeling dash :roll: and has some rust around the boot hinges, other than that it is in good nick.

can have it for £2,500.

Any thoughts?

Karl "K" has a lpg converted turbo nutter landie...may also have some input for you

[Kevin Massey]

mick

http://www.boostlpg.co.uk/

[MickeyDredd]

Cheers Kev

[Jarreth]

It seems to me that rust and transmission are one of the biggest problems with discos. Popular places for rust are under the bonnet on the wings, various bits of engine mounting, chassis, all MOT fails. And where the alloy meets at the doors.

Once you are also at the point that the landrover clunking is no longer harmless, you really are talking money. It is just incredible how once you have replaced one piece of transmission, another bit goes and then another, this does carry on until you have a nice new transmission and no money. lol

In itself the money isn't too bad I think its a bit expensive unless he has a receipt for a reasonably gearbox. With it being a P reg, I would hazzard a guess that the gearbox in it has started to give the odd warning sign that it hasn't got that many miles left in it and hes selling it before it gets any worse.

I don't think I would buy another without having it thouroughly checked over by someone who new Landrovers. Follow K's advice he knows them very well.

[Jarreth]

4k is about right but you might be able to chisel a bit more off, keep an eye open for one of those little garages that offer a cheap MOT
try and get the truck booked in and wait for them to fail it. because 9 times out of ten they will at these cheap places.
Usually in the vain hope that they will get some work out of you.

a failure list will give you a bargaining tool, places to look in further detail
inner wings for rust
track rod ends for excessive movement when the steering wheel is being turned back and forth.
rust under the carpet in the4 boot (caused by duff sunroof seals)
rust around the back door hinges.
open the rear doors and have a look where the outer body shell meets the inner (near to the latch that holds the doors shut) is there a massive amount of white electrolysis corrosion?
whilst your here check the back passenger doors along the edge, are they badly corroded? does the outer skin lift away from the inner?
have a look in the radiator expansion tank for brown rad weld.
check around the water pump and around the alternator for any signs of a leak.
put the truck into reverse and back up sharply, select first and set off briskly, do this a few times. any clunking noises? if so walk away (drive shaft splines)
TDI engines are a bit rattley so its difficult to hear a fault if your not used to listening to them, pulley tensioners often make a bit of a noise but are not anything to worry about, a little dob of grease on the fan belt (smooth side) shuts them up.
reach in from the front (whilst the engine is off) and have a tug at the fan viscous coupling any play? a new one is about £100
if the truck appears to be in decent order 96k is about run in (honestly) try and chisel the bloke down a bit and buy it, spend a weekend getting al the bits and bobs sorted out and you will have a great truck. remeber to have the timeing belt done too.
mine now has 205,000 miles on it and it runs sweet as a nut!

That is all based on pure experience! My Disco seems to be just one thing after another at the moment! lol