Buying a Land Rover Disco with high mileage

Sasana Skye

Sasana Skye

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Any LR fanatics on here who know how many miles the average LR Disco does before it's ready for the scrap heap? Assuming it is regularly serviced and well taken care of.

I passed my towing test a year ago and tow my 511 and 2 horses weighing 540kg and 605kg. I've been using my dads Land Rover Discovery which tows like a train but he is so precious about the damn thing and only lets me use it reluctantly even though I pay for the insurance on it and put diesel in and contribute towards repairs and servicing :rolleyes:.
It's causing so many arguments in the house because I'm keen to get the horses out yet he doesn't like taking me but doesn't like me using his car either. I've decided that I need to get my own to prevent WW3 and have an easier life but for my budget (12k), and locally to Bristol, I can only find LR Disco's with high mileage in the range of 110,000 - 150,000 on the clock. I really like towing with the Disco so I'd prefer to have another one of those than something else really even though I know I don't necessarily need a 3.5t capacity. I have a little Mitsubishi at the moment with less than 50k miles which I would need to Part X but cautious about getting rid of a reliable low mileage car which has never given me any grief for a high mileage Disco.
 
Ha, how deep are your pockets? Between 70k and 135k my disco has cost nearly its purchase price to keep it on the road (and it's purchase price was over your budget). Now mine does seem to be an extreme case, but...

On the plus side, it's a delightful beast to tow and I do love it despite its hypochondriac nature.

eta - mine is a disco 3 - unlike LW's which was an old style TD5(?) engine. I have one of those in a Defender, which was always very cheap to run (it's now at the same point in it's life - barely worth repairing financially, but I keep it as a "pet" and it will be SORNed when it's not possible to get it through its MOT). From your budget, I guess you're looking at 3s - they're much "nicer" than 2s inside, but the electrics come with a downside. They all bloody break!
 
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Sorry I can’t answer the question you ask!
However we tow with a Honda CRV. Tows a 500 kg horse in a Bateson trailer beautifully and Honda are very reliable.
I think ours is 2 litre diesel manual - the automatics tow less weight
(I’ve just removed a link to an advert as it was a smaller engine size)
 
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I paid less than a grand for mine and it never gave me a minutes bother until it failed its MOT and it wasnt economical to repair it. It still didnt get scrapped. Someone bought it and spent a fortune on fixing it up and its not driving round in camouflage paint and netting! It was 20+ years old and had done well over 150,000 miles. I drove it for 11 hours one day towing a trailer. I loved that car and would have another in a heart beat. They seem to fall into 2 categories, run forever with no issues, or break continually. Its luck of the draw which you get!
 
You know it’s impossible to say you could be lucky you be unlucky.
My defender is nineteen years old and my Range Rover is 13 I had the defender from new and the RR from a year old.
They have both been super reliable and of course as they age we have had to spend money on them .
There’s a lot to consider not only mechanical reliability but the condition of the chassis and body .
My defender tows a lot it’s had two new crossmembers on the chassis in its life and next year it will get a new chassis that will be expensive .
Discos have variable reputation but do know several old ones doing great service with friends .
Parts are expensive for these big vehicles .
 
True, GS - my Defender's chassis is shot to buggery because the previous owner kept it in Hamburg harbour for towing boats in and out of the sea. It's done bloody well to get to 23 without needing more work done. I love that car and it's earned its retirement with me :D But if I'd owned it from the start, it would be a lot better off now.

(It did tow for years with me, but I obviously don't use it for towing now... Just in case anyone thinks I'm insane!)
 
My Dad always has discos and he will now only have one which is under warranty as unfortunately they generally go wrong a lot and when they do they are expensive to fix.
 
Yes looking at the Disco 3's, we have a 4 now but I can't justify spending £35k on a depreciating asset even if I could afford to.
I was pmed by someone who told me that the higher mileage LR's are the better ones to go for because everything that needs to be replaced - like the cambelt has been done by that stage - I thought that was a valid point but the older ones sound like hard work and their unreliability is massively putting me off. If I bought something that already had 120k on the clock and I did say 15k a year, that doesn't sound like it's going to last me very long.

I want something with a 3-3.5t towing capacity because it's quite hilly around us so another option is a Mitsubishi Shogun?
 
SpringArising said:
If you have a 12k budget could you not get a 3.5 tonne instead? I would have thought you'd be OK with that payload?
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3.5t boxes have a payload of 750 - 1200kg if you're lucky, with two horses weighing 1,145kg plus me and maybe one other friend, fuel, water and tack I'd be well and truly overweight unfortunately. Plus I just spent £525 on my trailer test and lessons and £5,500 on a brand new trailer so a bit committed to towing but thanks anyway.
 
We have an old Disco and it hasn't let us down but we have spent on it. It has had cylinder head gasket, new steering box, water pump, this is what I can remember, I think there have been other things too.

There are so many different models with different engines, only an expert can say what its reliability record is.

There are specialist Land Rover/Discovery garages that know these vehicles inside out, and which engines and gearboxes have had problems, so my advice to you is to find one of these to give your chosen vehicle the once over. My OH was interested in one that was coming up in a farm sale, but the advice from the garage was don't touch with a bargepole. They can be very expensive, or run for years without problems. Our garage prepares Discos for expeditions and can whip a gear box or cylinder head gasket out and back in in a morning - you need someone like that.
 
My parents Disco was well over 250K miles - very reliable and fabulous to tow with - and they sold it to someone as an off-road toy (so it was still going!). It's the luck of the draw - if you can find a good mechanic, they may help assess? Or look at buying further north, and add the travel costs to your budget? Just beware of the ones that have been used to tow boats out of the sea... Our Defender started life that way, and the only reason it is in such good condition now (14 years later) is that the first thing we did was get the chassis and underside treated by Kleentec (which is basically posh waxoil).
 
Which model are you referring too?

I'd stay away from Disco 3's.. some may be lucky but every garage has told me they are a pain and the worst model they made. Just seen your budget.. if you're looking at spending 12k, can assume you mean Disco 4? I'd look about private and wait, your buy one with lower mileage if you're lucky. Baring in mind my farmer has a 3 year old Discovery 4 and its been in the garage already every year a few times with not even 40k on yet.. luckily its covered under warranty but not good.

If you were referring to a Disco 2 (or TD5) I wouldn't worry about the miles, father in laws TD5 is now nearly at 170k. Yes its had things go wrong and isn't 100% reliable, but cheap fixes and it just keeps on going. Used to tow most days and is his daily farm vehicle. A cheap vehicle but they go on and on, know loads of friends who have Disco 2's for towing.

We now own a Shogun for towing.. and I will say it is SO much more reliable than Land Rovers. Have you considered one of those? They're brilliant trucks.
 
ForbiddenHorse said:
Which model are you referring too?
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I'm looking at the 3's I can't afford a 4 they start at about 20k and 2's are a bit old for my liking. Do you know what the difference is between a 3 and a 4 mechanically?
We had a Disco 3 for a few years and it's had a few niggles but nothing too serious or expensive but that had much lower mileage than the one's I'm looking at. I think before I buy one it would be a good idea to ask an independent LR specialist to check it over first and/or get a warranty.

The Shogun is a good shout and yes I am considering them, I have a Mitsubishi Colt now and it's been brilliant over the 4/5 years I've had it. Never driven a Shogun though, does it feel solid? I like towing with the Disco because it does stick to the road.
 
My Discovery 3 is currently sitting on 182,000 miles and still going strong although I've had to replace a fair bit of it over the years. Definitely get someone who knows what they're looking at to give it the once over before committing to buy
 
I'm considering a Ssang Yong Rexton for my next tow car - the older ones had issues, but the newer ones (and you get a lot newer for the same money, cf discos) are supposed to be better.

I love Landies but I love financial solvency more ;)
 
Lol at 2’s being ‘a bit old’ - the whole point about Landrovers is that they retain an insanely high resale value whatever their age, and they go on forever 😊

My TD5 hasn’t cost me a penny other than an MOT test & tyres in the couple of years I’ve had it, but it has 155k on the clock and is a T reg. Other than when I wrote it off of course but that was my fault 🙄

Just do your homework and check out the MOT history- mine cost me £2.5k but had passed its MOT first time every year since it had been made with only a couple of occasional minor advisories. The guy who owned it maintained it fantastically & had a brother who worked for JLR
 
Some years ago I had a Discovery & used it every day & towed a Bateson Trailer. I sold it on before it rotted to pieces. I replaced it with a Mitsubishi Pajero lwb. (An imported long wheel base Shogun). This was infinitely better than the discovery in every aspect, more power, smoother, more reliable, towed so easily but fuel economy was poorer than the Discovery. In short I wouldn't have another Discovery, there are better 4x4 cars out there.
 
Levrier said:
Lol at 2’s being ‘a bit old’ - the whole point about Landrovers is that they retain an insanely high resale value whatever their age, and they go on forever 😊
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The old reference was more in relation to the 2's looks and lack of equipment than age. I like a bit of jazz and modern tech in my cars like a built in sat nav so maybe it would have been more correct if I said they are a bit too behind the times for me.
 
I think you mean that in your opinion there are better towing vehicles out there T_Z as it has been repeatedly proved there is no better 4x4 for off road work than a Landrover.....
 
I have had 2 old discos which had really high mileage, one 200000+, the other 185000. They kept going but they pretty much rusted away!
 
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