Can somebody give me the rundown on Land Rover Discovery IIs?

No worries. I'm quite fond of the earlier 200TDi, even 300TDi Discoveries, and they're reasonably bulletproof. Slow, but reliable and frugal. Wish I could tell you more about the later Disco 2 V8 and TD5 but then I'd too be regurgitating other folk's anecdotes.

tell me about the 2 and 300?

Just a solid old fashioned mechanically injected diesel. They're by no means as refined as the later TD5, but a lot more bushproof. As I said slow, but you can manually adjust the boost compensator pin on the fuel pump and bleed a bit of pressure away from the waste gate for more power (like any other mechanically injected turbo diesel with a compensated pump), but I wouldn't recommend that unless you have an EGT monitor. Increasing EGT through over fuelling on these is a sure fire way to catastrophic failure.

For me I'm happy living with a slow diesel, I just drive for economy on the road and keep it maintained, where as I found the turbo gave it enough (only just) to climb long, power sapping, low traction hills.

I'll add, I've never owned an LR, but have friends who love theirs, and are happy having a hand lent to turn spanners. While I was looking for a 4x4 I ended up with a 2.8L turbo diesel Montero for a steal, of which I like for similar reasons to the Discovery.

Decent ones can be had for ~$1,500+

Fuck it dude. You've always wanted one, go buy it. Everyone is going to tell you they're a lot to maintain and they're right, but that doesn't mean they're impossible to keep running. There are loads of resources online for almost every problem you'll run in to so just be prepared to learn how to work on it.

pre crysler g wagon will do better, and ricemobile will do even better.
they are comfy af to drive but break like shit and expensive to fix

yota prado or whatever is better
if u want muhh status symbol buy used g class

with less than 150k miles that don't need a ton of work (or won't in the next 10k miles)?

any specific years to look at? g wagon ((wagen)) is another lusty 4x4.

Go check it out in person. With that mileage and the price it might actually be in good shape. Run away if it has rust though. Come to terms with becoming your own mechanic. Do it. You won't regret it.

any year literally before crysler
magna steyr or nothing my man

also older ones seem to be better offroaders, 463 or whatever the fuck these small engined fuckers are called

Are you this much of a newfag to automotive?
RUN AWAY AS FAST ASYLU CAN FROM ANYTHING LANDROVER OR JAGUAR...unless you have more than $10,000 on hand to handle repairs for a year or two.

care to explain?

thank you for all of your help.

carcoast.net/2002-LandRover-Discovery/Used-SUV/Charleston-SC/9787704/Details.aspx

just look at it. isn't it beautiful, Veeky Forums?

I want one but I'm on the wrong coast.

eastie problems

...

they're hunks of shit, if your after a cheapie serious 4x4 get a cherokee

>accuses others of being new
>gets his auto info from doug demuro
>autistic meltdown when challenged to support his argument

Ok sir, don't listen to all the clueless anons.

The Discovery II is somewhat of a reliable car, depending on the configuration.
This car does have its fault, but nothing will brake on it that will leave you stranded.
Things you want to buy on your Discovery :
>coil suspension as the air suspension is the real issues with Land Rover, especially from that era. Sure, air suspension got a whole lot cheaper in 2017, but you are still looking at 1000 euros for the entire system. But usually the problems arise in the form of a broken compressor.
>The engines. Sturdy engines but many electric gremlins. The 2.5TD is from BMW and it is a bulletproof engine, but it is far from fast. The 4.0 V8 is nice, but thirsty and full of electrical issues
>The gearbox : The manual gearbox is pretty terrible. The 4 speed auto is from ZF, also borrowed from BMW, and is a thing of beauty and reliability.
Other weak points to consider:
>mainly electrical stuff and the A/C crapping out. However, unlike the Ranger Rover, the Discovery has less technology on it, therefore less stuff to break down.

This is just about the most reliable Land Rover you can get, if you follow the specifications which I told you about above.
That being said, the general impression of Land Rover from this era is that yes many small things will not work, but never will you be left stranded. Nothing major breaks on this car ( except for the listed things above ).

Ah yeah, one more thing : They do tend to eat batteries, but nothing too horror.

Also, don't take advice from Doug's videos, as he has an LR322 Range Rover, which is a completely different animal from the previous P38 Range Roger, let alone the Discovery.
The LR322 is notorious for being a massive heap of shit and as the first Land Rover which had air suspension only.

Btw, don't think that the Land Rover air suspension was bad. They were all bad back in the day. The W220 S Class suffers from this especially. Ever wondered why the W220 S Class is so damn cheap? Here's your answer.

What makes you think a Cherokee is any better?

The 2.5TD is not from BMW at all...

Which 2.5TD are you talking about anyway? I only know of the early 4 cylinder 200/300TDi based on a decades old LR design, and the TD5 which at the time was a ground up modular design. Niether of these are remotely related to any BMW...

Im sorry senpaitachi, the 2.5TD from the Discovery is actually an Rover design, the 2.5TD from the P38 Ranger Rover is actually the BMW one,.

thanks, user. I don't mind wrenching a bit, but how is electrical on things like windows, locks, radio, moonroofs, etc.?

Also not looking at diesels, just the V8. And you've reiterated lots of what I've read: small issues that won't leave one stranded.
Also, I don't watch youtube auto or /k/ channels.

no. just getting done with my trusty Jimmy; would like something more of a new flavor.

this guy gets it

It's reliable and will take a beating off road. Aftermarket is massive and largely inexpensive.

I don't know much about the Disco, but on the P38 Ranger Rover ( same period ) all the electricals are bolted to one huge panel, so when something fails you're gonna have a good time finding which circuit is operating what.
The biggest problem on this generation Land Rover is the A/C which tends to crap out and tends to eat electricy like a black person in a Walmart parking lot from a taser. Just make sure you buy the correct battery.
Also, it's a fucking classic Land Rover, it's easy to work on but you will have to work constantly if you want to keep yours pristine.

All in all the Discovery 2 is hailed as a great off-roader in the off-road community. Just that is abit rare due to it being very long and very, very heavy, which are bad when it comes to off-roading.

But for forest roads, farms and everything that is not competitive off-road, the Disco II is a great car. Not very reliable, but great.

If you want to go all out on reliability and off-road abilities but to hell with any sorts of comfort, then the Defender is for you.

I used to have a P38, and it sure was a damn good tractor. The last Ranger Rover with which you could actually go do some hektik rock-climbing. Not like the frail, luxury stuff of today.

anybody care to comment on pricing?

Way overpriced. I'm assuming you live in the US and a lot of the diesel recommendations on here will not apply to you. You're stuck with the V8 petrol with the automatic gearbox.

Things to look for:
>rust
the frames tend to rust on the D2
>head gasket
terrible over heating problems on the D2 if not properly maintained
>front propshaft
they tend to disintegrate if not lubed

I like the 2004 because of the more powerful 4.6 V8 (but sensitive as well with the head gaskets) and locking center diff. If you can find a 2004 that isn't a complete clusterfuck, you should go for it.

2004 $6k

discoweb.org/showthread.php?t=95868

> 173k miles

overpriced 15 year old money-sink that get like 9mpg..... WHY? you could lease something new -- Jeep wrangler unlimited or jeep GC -- for the same amount you'd be paying in maintenance, gas, insurance, car payment on one of these shit boxes

nobody is going to think you're rch or cool with a 15yo land rover parked outside of your apartment complex

>childhood dream
Did you miss that part of op's plea or are you willfully ignoring it to be contrarian?

It's a 100" wheelbase and marginally over 2 tonnes. It's niether long nor heavy.

More so with the LR. Not to mention there's a shit load more options with the factory LR drivetrain, where as the diffs in the Cherokee are junk.

I was reffering to competitive off-roading, where the wheelbase and the weight should be as low as possible.

In terms of competitive offroading, you might have a point on weight, but wheelbase is near perfect. Even then, compared to other fullsize SUVs they're weighted quite reasonably and make a good basis for a winching challenge truck.
If you're comparing it to a tube frame rock crawling buggy though, that's just stupid.

parts are hard to come by tee bee aytch

Hey OP I'll give you a few pointers. I DD an 03 D2.
>what to look out for
Headgasket problems, the "three amigos" (look it up), and undercarriage rust. That's about it. What will go wrong is the small stupid stuff. Oh and UJ's
>tips
Don't buy a shitty one and think you can fix it. Just don't. Better off spending more initially than spending the same amount on a pos over a period of time (it will happen). Trust me I have 5 Rovers
>things to look for
03/04 "facelifted" versions. (4.6L and better headlights and CDL on 04) there is a very noticeable difference between the 4.0 and the 4.6 believe me.
>my experience
Bought mine at 90k has 125k now. No major issues at all. Like I said earlier it's the little shit that gets you. Parts aren't really expensive as people say they are, most can be swapped between GM parts. I love this truck. So unique and if your TC system works literally unstoppable. I go up power line trails every weekend and have yet to get stuck. Pull the trigger if you find a good one. I'd check the Land Rover groups on FB. One thing I love about LR's is we're all a family. Might sound queer but we are. Lots of very helpful people.

How would you check for headgasket problems?

OP, I'm a mechanic by trade and I specialize in British vehicles. The most common problems I've seen with Disco I and IIs are blown head gaskets and owners not keeping up with tune ups. They will run fine with blown head gaskets as they usually leak coolant out the back of the head and down the rear of the block, almost never into the cylinders. And crappy old plugs are just crappy old plugs, people waiting +100k miles before changing plugs. And I found that for some reason Land Rovers don't like Autolite plugs. Not really too much besides that.

The Disco II specifically though is a little weird. The CV joint on the front driveshaft can go bad so look at that. And for several years they made the Disco II with the older transfer case that has a diff lock position but never hooked it up, so all you could shift was high or low. You can get a new transfer case shifter that allows you to access that though, and the combination of the mechanical center lock and electronic 4x4 aids make a vehicle that is nigh impossible to get stuck.

if you're asking this it will be too hard for you, just take it to a mechanic for an inspection and ask for a compression test

Not op, just asking out of curiosity. How's anyone supposed to learn things like this if the answer is "have someone else do it for you"?

I got a Cherokee 4.0 4x4 at about the same time my friend got a disco. In my ownership of the Cherokee it's only major failure was a water pump at 220k miles.
My friend d sold his disco at 60k miles after countless repairs.

They have a reputation for a reason, if you want a large comfy suv get a land cruiser or lx

The best way to learn is buy an absolute piece of shit unreliable car like a Land Rover Discovery, wait a few weeks until it breaks down, then have no money to fix it, forcing you to learn how to diagnose and repair the vehicle. You will almost assuredly misdiagnose the vehicle multiple times, install the wrong parts or install the right parts in the wrong fashion, allowing you to learn even more systems as you go along.

thanks everybody. lots of good info here.

also, I just bought a 2011 Tacoma.

Most of them are pretty obvious. Look on the very back of the block between Cyl 7-8. That's the most common spot. Also an exhaust leak sound.

Pretty much how it goes but hey I'm satisfied with my unreliable pos. Lemme guess you drive a 2005 V6 Mustang

Can confirm Disco II is a POS. AC, radio, air suspension, third brake light, starter, crank position sensor and more all broke in a few months. In fairness it only cost about $2k.

Don't think we had any electrical problems with ours but the turbo broke and had to be replaced which was about a grand I believe and then apparently metal got into the engine and we ended up selling it and getting an xtrail lmao. It was nice enough, rubbish turning circle and SLOW XD We had the TD5 and with a bunch of camping gear in the back we did a 0-60 and it was something like 20 - 25 seconds sooo keep that in mind. But I think it would probably be alright for it. That's just my 2¢ though.