someone in my area is selling this vehicle and informed me that the only serious maintenance cost was the replacement of the Drive Shaft @$1100, though he could’ve repaired it @$300, he knew he’d be selling the vehicle and opt’d to replace it instead. Otherwise, the vehicle has had pampered care. I’ve never owned anything larger than a mini van 6 cyclinder, and this landrover has a v8 engine so fuel cost will be a little more and auto insurance rate jumps up by 20% (due to “luxury class”?), but will overlook those factors AS LONG as someone can convince me that LONG-TERM this will be a good investment and this vehicle could easily take on at least an add’l 100k miles.
I don’t know if it’ll take another 100K, but I’ll share my Disco experience with you (2000 & 2002).
First of all- Land Rovers are expensive to repair. Kinda like certain German sports cars. Know that going in.
Next- the Discovery eats brakes. I mean, like I eat chocolate. You’ll be replacing them almost every 20K.
Good tires are a must, or they will wear unevenly and cup. LR shipped Discos that year with Goodyear tires that sucked (and several other years as well). When we buy a Disco, we immediately replace the tires with four good Michelins.
I would expect things to start going wrong on yours at about 90K, even if it’s been pampered. Little things at first but they will add up.
Gas mileage is not great. We have always run supreme in ours, because we can see the difference with the lower grades of gas. That cost adds up fast.
But having said all that, I love Land Rovers and especially Discoveries. We had a harrowing accident in one, where instead of blood, death and destruction, everyone walked away without a scratch (except for our Disco, of course- it took $20K in damage for the team).
If you can afford it, do it. But be a VERY informed consumer. If not, you’ll regret it later.
The price is not unreasonable. About spot-on, actually. All that remains is…do you want the car and the qwerks EJsGirl mentioned? LR is still in business, that’s a good sign that they’re worth some effort to keep up. Unlike MG which, while tons of fun, should not be mistaken as a thing to be driven as much as a lifelong mechanic’s hobby.
12k is a good deal for an almost 7 year old Disco. EJs summed it up pretty well - If you want a land rover to say you have one then buy it, if you want an SUV that is economical and will serve some utility then there are much better deals out there.
For instance I am looking at purchasing Toyota’s new FJ Crusier… Personally I think this vehicle has the cool charactoristics of a land rover for less than half the price tag.
The off-road characteristics of the Discovery are almost unbeatable, in my limited opinion (owned both Jeeps and LRs and took both off pavement). With practice and a cool head, there is nothing that a Disco can’t get you out of… For example, if we move to Costa Rica, we will either be driving our current Discovery down there, or buying a Disco or a Defender once we get there. There is no substitute. They haul nicely, but the bed is quite high in a Disco.
But if you are only doing street driving, it may be more than you need. There is no sense paying for performance you will never use.
EJsGirl your advice was very useful, as others, and after my own research late last night, I think I’ll consider other SUVs (I know I’ll never utilize the LR’s off-road features).
I don’t get it. My last Pathfinder went over 200,000 miles with hardly more than a burp and a fart. And I went in and out of 4x4 at least 6 months out of the year every day. It was never pampered.
That’s one of the reasons I bought a new one.
Phlosphr- I looked at the specs of the new FJ (I have a soft spot for them from my youth) when I was shopping for a new SUV. It’s a bit less expensive than a Pathfinder, and maybe a little bit more cabable off road, but it just didn’t cut it when it came to the specs. At least for me.
I would expect 200K out of a Nissan, or a Toyota. Land Rovers are a slightly different animal. We are at 118K in our Range Rover and in no way would I characterize our recent maintenance issues as “burps and farts!” We are talking about head gaskets, air ride systems, etc. Big bucks.
When you have a favorite, you love them warts and all, I guess.
Sometimes, cargo space and hauling can be important, too. For example, we breed Newfoundlands, and even if I never took a vehicle off-road, I still need cargo space sufficient to stuff in a couple of 150 lb + dogs!
We had an '00 Discovery. I don’t miss it at all. Yes, there were some major problems (I think we had 60K miles on it…it needed new head gaskets or something? I don’t remember exactly.) One of the sunroofs leaked. Horrible ride, horrible gas mileage. But the cool factor was kind of fun, and you will never, ever, get stuck.
We are talking about head gaskets, air ride systems, etc. Big bucks.
