Land Rover Discovery question and tow car suggestions

Troggy

Troggy

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Hi

I have an M reg Disco with 183,000 miles on the clock and it's been brilliant for the 5 years I have owned it however things may be about to change...The battery warning light came on yesterday so I took it to a local garage today who confirmed the alternator and battery where fubar'd so would need replacing (£450 ish quoted??
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will ring around) but they were concerned about the noise the engine was making so took it round the corner to a LR specialist (I trust these people, have used before). They said it could be the alternator but they said it sounded like a bottom end knock and if that's the case, it doesn't have that many miles left in the engine
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Does anyone know if this is likely? How many miles would I get? The other problem is it needs about £650-700 work doing from MOT advisories....so is it worth the cost if the engine is going to pack up? The body work is very good for it's age so should be able to get an ok price if someone can maybe change engine? It has 12m tax/mot and new tyres.
Anyway, should I decide not to get the work done and replace, what would be a good reliable car? I do love Discoverys so would be tempted with another but have also heard good things abotu Kia Sorentos? Any opinions?

Thanks
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have a look at brightwells.co.uk and see current values (trade not retail) to get an idea of what yours is worth and therefore if it's worth spending the money on.
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there are loads of Discos and other 4x4s in every monthly sale there so you should be able to see what's selling and what's sensible money.

I think it's about £1200-1500 to change an engine (recon)
 
My OH is the chairman of a 4x4 club and a bit of an expert on old Discoveries having fixed quite a few so I asked his advice for you. He said if it was him he would sort out the alternator but otherwise continue to drive it as he has known discos with a bottom end knock go on for up to 2 years.

In his experience you can pick up a pretty good discovery with less miles than yours for £1200 ish so may not be worth doing all the work.

Hope that helps.

With regard to the towing we use a LR Defender its brilliant!
 
We've got a 96N disco with 208k on the clock. It needed some welding for the last MOT and will need bootfloor and drivers foot well welded for the next but so far the engine is going strong. Had a long list of advisories when MOTed but none urgent.

We're going to sell it soon though and upgrade as I don't see the point in spending a lot of money on a car of low value. Were told by the garage (Landrover specialists) that it's worth about £1200 as is.

If the bodywork is good then I'd be tempted to cost up a replacement engine. Ours is the opposite, it's had a tough life but the engine's been well cared for so it's the bodywork that's letting it down!
 
Thanks for all the replies
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Think will get the alternator done and keep running until it dies and not get the work done, well maybe the brakes....
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Would rather not get rid of it and the longer it runs, the more I can save for it's replacement.
Hopefully got a bit more in it left!
Thanks again
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I would definitely put the Disco out of its (and your misery) as when dealers quote that much to repair, and it usually ends up being double what they quote.

Toyota Hilux or Nissan Navara. The japanese pickups get used by the likes of the Taleban, so you know they are reliable (RAC not yet covering Afghanistan).
 
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