NPOCP- 2002 Land Rover Discovery II

"hedbutter" (hedbutter) 11/04/2013 at 16:08 • Filed to: NPOCP, TIPS

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I've been thinking about trading in my Liberty on one of the Toybaru twins, and as a result of where I live, the need for a winter beater is also a requirement. I was looking on craigslist today, and found the item in the link below. Obviously, I'm looking for an AWD vehicle, and something cheap/easy to maintain, but the Land Rover has peaked my interest slightly. What does everyone think, NPOCP?

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/4171324414…

List of Options:

- Automatic
- 134,000 Miles
- All Wheel Drive
- Power Locks, Power Windows, Power Doors, Power Mirrors, Power Seats, Power Steering, Tilt Wheel, Cruise Control
- Downhill Assist
- Sport Mode (Performance Package)
- Tan Leather (2-tone)
- Dual Heated Seats
- Dual Climate Control
- Heated Windshield and Rear Window
- 6 Disc CD Changer
- Dual Power Moon Roofs
- Roof Rack
- Towing Package
- Premium Factory Wheels
- New Nitto Terra Grappler Tires

EDIT- I know this is definitely not cheap to maintain, just throwing the idea out there.

HammerheadFistpunch > hedbutter 11/04/2013 at 16:10

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These are cheap for a reason. Just get a warranty and call it good, or spend the same money on a land cruiser 2x the mileage but 2x as reliable.

Party-vi > hedbutter 11/04/2013 at 16:11

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*4WD mate ;)

cazzyodo > hedbutter 11/04/2013 at 16:14

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Wow...that looks to be well taken care of. Or at least they cared enough to pretty it up for the pictures. Better than most CL posts at least.

HammerheadFistpunch > Party-vi 11/04/2013 at 16:26

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full time/permanent 4wd

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

MIATAAAA > hedbutter 11/04/2013 at 16:28

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"Inspection good through 3/2013"?

Not sure if this is a positive feature to highlight.

MIATAAAA > hedbutter 11/04/2013 at 16:30

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Go for it. It'll last you as long as you have

TONS OF CASH.

Party-vi > HammerheadFistpunch 11/04/2013 at 16:34

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Right. It's not all-wheel drive. To my knowledge the Disco doesn't operate in 2WD only to send power to the other end if traction is lost - it's always in 4WD mode (meaning power is at each wheel regardless of traction). Is this incorrect? I'm a Jeep guy and not very familiar with LRs.

HammerheadFistpunch > Party-vi 11/04/2013 at 16:40

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yeah, the Disco 2 uses a center diff and full time 4wd just like my cruiser (though its in 2wd right now because the front drive shaft is off for repair)

The 2002 has a center diff without center lockup, just traction control.

from 2004 on they went back to a CDL lock.

I can't even imagine having to hope for the ESC to manage my front/rear split. Scary.

WhyRovers > hedbutter 11/04/2013 at 17:27

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I have a '98, which was the last year of the Disco I. So, I really can't comment too much on the Disco II. However, I will say that the car has cost me far less than what I was told when I purchased it. I am also fairly comfortable turning a wrench, which has saved me some money. As long as it looks taken care of, I would rarely tell someone to pass one up. I love them, they take upkeep, but parts are not as expensive as you would expect unless your buying original equipment. I'd say go for it.

As a last note, I love mine for snow/ice. It's heavy and the 4WD with locking dif works great. However, the Disco II didn't have the lockable dif for a few years (I don't think they put the lockable dif back in until '03), I would check that out. Wouldn't be a deal breaking in my opinion though.

Textured Soy Protein > hedbutter 11/04/2013 at 17:45

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I'm in the same boat as you. I'm trying to keep it around $5k or less, but I want something with a real center limited-slip diff, be it viscous coupling, clutch pack or torsen, and at least a rear locker or LSD. The more LSDs or locking diffs, the better.

A few Disco IIs popped up in my searches, but I can't bring myself to do more than just look. Too worried about reliability.

Other options I've looked at are:

'95-'97 Land Cruiser / LX 450 w/ front/rear lockers - can be had for relatively cheap if you look for a good example, but they're old and could require work.

'99-'00 4Runner Limited w/ rear locker - these were the only 2 years where you could get the multi-mode 4wd and rear locker; but I'm kinda ehhh on 4Runners—I test drove a 4th gen and they have crap headroom for something that big. I do like the version of the Tacoma on which the 3rd gen 4Runner is based so it could be more to my liking. If I found one.

'98-'00 Mitsubishi Montero w/ Winter Package - viscous coupling center diff, rear locker. The '95-'97 Montero SR has the same 4wd setup, and a more powerful motor, but that motor has a few more potential issues.

'01-'02 Mitsubishi Montero Limited - same viscous coupling center diff, rear torsen diff, they seem to be an overall interesting vehicle and hold up nicely given their age (at least in pics)

'99-'04 Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 Quadra-Drive - this is actually the best (on paper) 4wd system I've found. With Quadra-Drive, the Grand Cherokee has 3 real LSDs. Can be had for cheap, but the build quality seems atrocious. Pretty much all of them have cracked seat leather, a good number have weirdly twisted up steering wheel leather, and a lot of them have rust problems. Reliability seems a bit suspect.

'98-'02 Isuzu Trooper w/ optional rear LSD - '98 is when Isuzu added the Torque-on-Demand electronic 4wd, basically a computer-controlled clutch pack center diff. The rear LSD was a relatively common option but I don't even know where to begin in finding out whether or not a particular truck is equipped with the LSD.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > hedbutter 11/04/2013 at 17:50

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Resident Discovery 2 owner here:
That's a little high for that year truck (I've seen 04's go for that) BUT I will warn you that Land Rover do require more attention than those overweight rust bucket 'Yotas ;) but they're WAAAAY better off road*
Things to check for on this vehicle:

When were the head gaskets replaced? If they weren't check for gasket seal in the coolant (coolant is normally a milky colour).

Does the front prop shaft have greasable u-joints, if not then it's the original prop shaft and is a ticking time bomb.

What happens is that due to the close proximity of the exhaust the ujoints dry out and fail sending the prop shaft into your transmission, although with that high millage I think that it's been rebuilt already.

3 Amigos - common issue that is stupid easy to fix if you know about it

3 Amigos is when the TC ABS and Hill decent lights come on (as yellow not green) indicating that their is a fault in the ABS system and it's switched to manual mode (you also loose traction control). The fix is around $120 and a afternoon of your time. Land Rover tries to make you buy a whole new ABS unit for around $3k.

Check the cassis for rot, probably not an issue however I have seen some pretty badly rotted out chassis on some Discoveries.

My advice is to look for a 2004, they're the best out of the Series 2 Discoveries as they come with the center diff lock. Which is night and day in comparison.

*This is an obvious troll directed at HammerheadFistpunch

Edit: Also it doesn't have a roof rack, those bars on the roof are standard. This is a Discovery with a roof rack (mine):

hedbutter > Party-vi 11/04/2013 at 18:48

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I should have stated AWD/4WD. I actually prefer 4wd, but would settle for a decent AWD

hedbutter > cazzyodo 11/04/2013 at 19:00

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Yeah, thats why I put it up here, it looks extremely nice for a decent price (i also know absolutely nothing about them)

hedbutter > MIATAAAA 11/04/2013 at 19:02

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This is my primary concern

hedbutter > Textured Soy Protein 11/04/2013 at 19:03

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My Current frontrunner is a 97-01 Jeep Cherokee XJ. I had one a few years ago, and liked it a lot (also has the bonus that i know how to work on it already).

I will look into those other suggestions as well though, thanks!

hedbutter > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. 11/04/2013 at 19:06

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Thank you for all of the information! Once i get everything financially figured out (IE, know what i'll be spending on the winter/woods car), i'll be revisiting and possibly looking at this vehicle.

Makoyouidiot > hedbutter 11/04/2013 at 19:09

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Having owned one, maintenence isn't as bad as it could be. I'd love to have another one....but the fuel costs were what forced me out of mine.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > hedbutter 11/04/2013 at 19:28

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Budget for around $2k (worse case scenario) biggest thing you have to worry about is if the truck overheated. Being all aluminium if they over heart the block and heads can warp (basically just throw the engine away and start fresh)

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > hedbutter 11/04/2013 at 19:29

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Budget for around $2k (worse case scenario) biggest thing you have to worry about is if the truck overheated. Being all aluminium if they overheat the block and heads can warp (basically just throw the engine away and start fresh)

cazzyodo > hedbutter 11/05/2013 at 09:00

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Sorry I couldn't contribute any more than that haha. My thoughts basically mirrored your own.