Buying a Land Rover Discovery, previously Cat C write off

[Terah]

Am looking for a bit of perspective / advice.

I've been hunting for a while for a Series 1 or 2 Land Rover Discovery to use primarily for work but also for private use by the family in bad weather, or just if there's a random opportunity to off road or tow something.

I'm on a budget so looking at the lower end of the scale, around the £2k mark. Every one I've seen so far has had a problem, mostly rust or leak related, and unsurprising given the age of the cars. I finally found one today that, aside from a few scratches and a tiny hole in the chassis, is in very good order - the chassis in particular is immaculate and only looks a couple of years old.

We're about to do a deal so I run an online car check and it comes back as having been a Cat C write off in Dec 2011. The current owner seems surprised at this, and says he's only had it a few weeks. He also hasn't sent in the V5 yet which still shows the previous owner who bought it in Aug 2012 (the previous owner has signed the V5 though).

Should a previous Cat C (with no history behind what was done after the write-off) be avoided? And is it odd that the V5 hasn't been sent in?

[dizzyblonde]

There's a whiff of a fishy story, if he's only had it a few weeks

[unclepoo]

Disco`s of this age usually die of rust, so are not worth much at best...only a 200/300tdi is really worth looking at as the v8 petrol will drink like a fish...but if its a cat-c it will be worth about 1/2 to 2/3 the value of a straight one. offer him £1000 if you`re feeling brave...or just walk away.

[SIII]

Sounds like he bought it and then found a major fault and selling on quick!

Check the floor under the boot and the rear seat belt mounts. That is where the series 1 disco's rot away.

They all leak., especialy one's with sunroofs. Disco 2's rot along the top of the screen, body is alloy but roof is steel. I have had a disco 2 for 6 years now and can tell you most of the things to look out for, as they have all gone on mine. but 160k is a fair few miles and at the moment is ok!

They are great at what they do but compared to any 'car' they are crap. Reliability and rust wise - very poor. Find a good forum to answer all your fault finding questions.

[Biker Biggles]

Id avoid this on every level.Firstly its a dodgy story and not registered to the seller.Then you say you are on a budget.Just avoid Discos as they are nothing but trouble and will cost you loads of money you havnt got.
Did I say avoid it????????

[disco2]

Mate im a landy nut love em had loads http://s282.beta.photobucket.com/user/burny1965/media/PICT0542.jpg.html?sort=3&o=43

that was one of my favs.
Anyway don't that one seem a bit sus get a 200tdi 300s are ok but don't last aswell check the loom at the back of the head if its hard and crusty between the head and the bulk head the head gasket is on its way out puffs hot air out that cooks the loom.
Check the boot floor carpet up job as they rot well there other than that mate don't worry the engines are ni on bullet proof.You can get everything for them google paddock spares and they are great to work on.
I love them I have had loads of landys and they have all been great love em.

[dizzyblonde]

^^^I'd hazard a guess you love Discos!

A landy will keep going even when its broke. I love Landys too
BUT they are money pits.



I feel like burning one on a regular basis, but it always saves the day.

[andrewsmith]

PM stretchy

He's had and has got several

[Terah]

OK, for starters, there's no sane reason for this, but I really want a Discovery.

Second, this is a 300tdi and by far the tidiest I've seen, and has 91k on it.

Lastly, I've done a bit more digging and I've managed to get the following:


Current owner bought it 3 weeks ago but his wife doesn't like driving it so he wants to sell it
Previous Owner buys and sells cars and bought it from Last Registered Keeper just over 3 weeks ago
Last Registered Keeper (who I've just phoned) bought it at auction in August as Cat C write off and fixed: bonnet, headlight and grill.
Previous Registered Keeper was St John's ambulance who used it at race course down south


TBH the current owner's reason for selling still seems a little odd, but plausible. I feel a lot better about it knowing the history, and having spoken to the last registered keeper. I've asked a mechanic to go and look it over tomorrow and see what they think.

Still not sure if Cat C in itself is grounds to leave it. Also not sure if it really would have been Cat C for such minor damage.

[carelesschucca]

Neil Please Please stay away from this... If its anything like your bike only thing its gonna look good on is the back of the recovery lorry!!!

[Terah]

Neil Please Please stay away from this... If its anything like your bike only thing its gonna look good on is the back of the recovery lorry!!!

OK fair enough. I'll pass on it. :)

[dizzyblonde]

The wife not liking driving it is plausible. Believe it or not some ladies are overwhelmed by the size.

I'm different in that respect, I learnt to drive in a Landy and passed my test, going straight to 2.5l V6 poofwaggon. My mother wouldnt drive mine.....but she's weird, she wont drive my dads Audi A6 either!

[Terah]

After sleeping on it have decided to go with advice from cooler heads.

Still think this is the best condition landy I've seen but a) can't be sure there wasn't any structural damage that has been missed, and b) suspect insurance could be a real pain.

Shame, as its snowing today.

[disco2]

You made the right choice mate.
You can find good ones for cheap money theres no need to get one with a hazzy past.

[Richie]

Believe it or not some ladies are overwhelmed by the size.


=D> :smt045 Hello Ladies....

[yorkie_chris]

Landies are horrible things, they're all thirsty money pits.

Great and very characterful hobby, however if you can't do all the work yourself then don't bother. And for the love of god stay away from anything with electrics on it.

[SIII]

We have 4"+ of snow today - God I love my Discovery!!!

Best car in the world when the weather turns nasty.

In the last 2 years spent £3k + on gearbox, cylinder head / injector problem, fuel pressure regulator and abs sensor problems plus 28 mpg hurts at the current price of diesel.

Worth it today to get my kids to school and myself and a colleague to work safely.

[_Stretchie_]

I don't blame you, I love mine to bits however....


Great and very characterful hobby, however if you can't do all the work yourself then don't bother.

This is quite true.

My 1998 300tdi was £2,200 over 4 years ago and I've still got it and it's still working, it's only got 150k on it and pulls well.

You can fiddle with the fuel pump, blank the egr valve off and other such things to make then a bit nicer to drive around town and it's well worth doing these things but you will end up spendoing money on it. If I weren't a tight northern b'stard and do pretty much all the work on it myself I would not have been able to afford to keep it.

Rust is the worst thing, everything else on the Disco 1 just requires lying in various uncomfortable positions with hammers of varying size as it's just a big mechanno set, it's when you get on to Rangies or Disco 2 and later that things might start getting more involved with resetting tools and error readers and air bags and ECU's.

So far the only rust issues I have is in the rear door arches but then I took my rear seats out so have no seat belts in there so it passes the MOT despite the massive hole in there

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j11/Stretchie_/Stuff%20for%20posting%20KEEPERS/IMAG0469.jpg

I need to buy a replacement panel and weld it in

These Disco's really are amazing things, I don't care what people say it's a Defender in more comfortable clothing, same engine, same gear box they are just put together with the wrong glue and I would say built to a budget.

For example, I have my Disco 300TDI 1998 150k and had to replace the water pump, vacuum pump for the brakes (twice), valve cover gasket (twice) belt tensioner, sump, alternator, engine fan (now lives in side the rear door card with spanner so I can put it back if required but it hasnb't seen the engine bay for probably 2.5 - 3 years), fuel sedimentor, clean the intercooler due to crap from the blocked EGR valve (hence blanking off the EGR vale), varios UJ's in the propshafts, wheel bearings, soon the swivel hubs will need replacing.

Compare this to my 1997 Honda Civic 1.5ls, 179k replaced a coupe of drive gators, catalytic converter and O2 sensor.

Many of the things for the Disco regarding the running gear could have been avoided by fitting wading kits and checking wheel bearings more often.

However you have to think about what you do with the vehicle, I've never gone swimming in the Civic, I've never dunked it though 3 feet of mud, never towed vans or big trucks with the Civic or used it to throw SV650's into or driven it up or down steep rocky paths and obsticles (here's looking at you Drew Carey ha haa :) )

:)

Above all else I have to say it's worth it JUST for when servicing you don't have to jack it up or put it on ramps, I just slide under it.. but if you want reliabe, buy Japanese

[Fordward]

theres only one thing you can do to help yourself if your tempted by an old land rover

http://tinyurl.com/bp6mb79

[Terah]

You made the right choice mate.
You can find good ones for cheap money theres no need to get one with a hazzy past.

Have finally managed to pick one up, a 300 tdi, and for less than I had budgeted. We suspected the head gasket was on it's way out when we looked it over, and that's turned out to be true. Aside from that it's in really good condition.

Great and very characterful hobby, however if you can't do all the work yourself then don't bother. And for the love of god stay away from anything with electrics on it.

My brother is restoring a Range Rover classic so he keeps me right, and I'm happy to do the work. As for electrics, it's an ES so it has too much, though as it stands the only thing that doesn't work is the cruise control. Still a better option than the TD5's we were looking at.

Rust is the worst thing, everything else on the Disco 1 just requires lying in various uncomfortable positions with hammers of varying size as it's just a big mechanno set, it's when you get on to Rangies or Disco 2 and later that things might start getting more involved with resetting tools and error readers and air bags and ECU's.

So far the only rust issues I have is in the rear door arches but then I took my rear seats out so have no seat belts in there so it passes the MOT despite the massive hole in there


Rear door arches seem pretty common, and have been sorted on this one. It's also had the sills and rear cross member done. The only bit of rust we've found is a small hole in the back of one of the headlight housings, and some surface rust on the rear bumper - other than that it's pretty tidy.

theres only one thing you can do to help yourself if your tempted by an old land rover
http://tinyurl.com/bp6mb79

:)


This is how it currently is:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/10861049/sv650.org/IMG_20130217_161650.jpg

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/10861049/sv650.org/IMG_20130217_161715.jpg

Will post some more pictures up once we get the new head gasket in.

Cheers!

[_Stretchie_]

theres only one thing you can do to help yourself if your tempted by an old land rover

http://tinyurl.com/bp6mb79

Yeah, only if you want reliability and comfort... Oh wait... :-k

(glad that wasn't a meatspin link)


My brother is restoring a Range Rover classic so he keeps me right, and I'm happy to do the work. As for electrics, it's an ES so it has too much, though as it stands the only thing that doesn't work is the cruise control. Still a better option than the TD5's we were looking at.

Very nice, what year is it?

[Terah]

Very nice, what year is it?

He's got an '88 3.9L V8

[andrewsmith]

He's got an '88 3.9L V8

CHUG CHUG CHUG

You a shareholder in BP? ;)

[Pete7]

This is how it currently is:

Looks like an automatic diesel, so should give about 26mpg. Watch no fuel injector as it controls the rest of the injection system and will chug if it starts to fail.

Pete

[Rocketeer]

Think I'd be covering them pots over blooming sharp ish

[_Stretchie_]

He's got an '88 3.9L V8

A very quick an accurate answer to my question, I thank you.

Unfortunatley I have no idea why I quoted the bit about the Rangie, I meant to ask what year yours is #-o I'm a doofus (on the plus side there are MANY exchangable parts as the classic and the Disco 1 are pretty much the same vehicle, dependant on the year)

So, what year is your Disco? :p

[Terah]

Ah, right :)

Mine's a '96, 2.5 TDI ES Auto, Epsom Green.

Still hoping to get it back together on Sat, and then out for a run on Sunday. Might have solved the cruise control too - the vacuum hose ends were in a pretty sorry state.

[suzukigt380paul]

as to any thing that landrover has made in the past,i was unawear that they have ever made anything reliable,there more recent range may be better,but having lived with older discovery's freelanders and defenders at work in the past have come to the conclusion that apart from engines gearbox's axles suspension and electric's,and rust on older models they are fairly reliable!!,as my old bose will agree with when the fire brigade were called out to put his discovery out when the engine drank all the oil from the sump through the turbo and he couldnt stop the engine from running flat out,or when a rod went through the block on his olderstyle defender,then there was the v8 discovery that even being a millionaire drank to much petrol,was told after he sold it he was lucky to get 12mpg,and he never kept anything longer then the first MOT

[_Stretchie_]

as my old bose will agree with when the fire brigade were called out to put his discovery out when the engine drank all the oil from the sump through the turbo and he couldnt stop the engine from running flat out

Ahhh, a TD5 eh?

[suzukigt380paul]

Ahhh, a TD5 eh?a td three and a half by the time they stopped the engine,

[_Stretchie_]

Ha haa