Am I crazy for wanting to buy a LR?

[Cobra_R]

So quick backstory...I had a built toyota tacoma that I offroaded quite a bit and eventually traded for a more gas efficient car, I regretted it and in my quest to figure out what makes me happy (realized it was offroading), I ended up selling the car and receiving a prerunner tacoma as an inheritance. My plan was to convert it to 4wd and build it but I realized that for the price of a lift kit I could buy a discovery so I started looking. Found one just today actually...it's a 2000 disco with 129k on it. Original owner and in good shape. It has safari - gard front bumper, rear bumper, sliders, a winch, the symbolic disco roof rack with land rover aux lights and limb risers and it's lifted. Has not had the head gaskets done but the oil doesn't show any signs of coolant mixing, it's been used offroad and the oil and rear diff leak but it's a rover... Tires have lots of life on them too but they're just street tires.

He's asking $4k which I think is a damn good price for a practically fully built D2 but maybe I'm wrong? All of my friends are giving me grief about it and telling me not to do it, making fun of the car saying that it leaks and blah blah blah but I'm excited at the prospect of being able to go offroading again and at being able to be a part of the LR community. One of the reasons why I want a LR is for the community, the dealerships are always doing events and trips and I think that's awesome. That's something you'd never see with toyota. I apologize for the quick write up but I'm in a hurry to get to sleep...but am I crazy? I don't expect my friends to understand why I want to do this but maybe they have a point? I don't really care what my friends have to say, they have a fanboy mentality where as I tend to respect any well built vehicle (one of the reasons I love expo so much, this place has everything!) but at the same time I don't want to buy a lemon of a car.

 

[wuntenn]

No not entirely crazy. But. You need to be committed enough to realize that the $4k is just a downpayment, then you keep paying for the life of the vehicle. But the return on your 'investment' should be worth it. Sleep well. Dream safely!

 

[Ray_G]

Are you crazy? Probably.

Most Rover folk are. That said I've owned 3 Tacos (still have one) and several Discos and what you hit on strikes me as the reason why I love my Rovers-the community. Without a doubt the toyotas are great vehicles but even when they are personalized I still find them to lack soul. Rovers on the other hand demand to become part of your family, and can frustrate and madden you like only family can. I still remember my first truck, a 94 D1 5 speed, breaking down one day and as I was pushing it into a gas station parking lot to get it off the road with someone else lending a hand someone else drove in to the gas station and came up to say 'man, I love that truck' Not the best time, but indicative.

With an 02 Dii you are right to be worried about the potential HG issue. Its also worth looking to see if all the bolt ons were there for looks given street tires-a key indicator for me for this would be what's your transfer case's capability to lock-since with many Dii's you can retrofit the linkage to get the CDL into the LT230, that would be good to know (or something for you to do it you are fortunate enough to get one with the nipple).

The other thing I'd throw out is don't be too quick to jump on the truck that is right there-but that's incredibly hard not to do and the aforementioned 94 D1 was exactly that-one seen at the local base lemon lot that we bought because it spoke to us like a puppy at the pound. Suffice it to say I learned a lot from that truck through experience, but I'm also now on my 3rd D1 and that's an indicator of how much I love them (or how dumb/crazy I am).

Good luck!
r-
Ray

 

[A.J.M]

Mad? Yes. Yes you are.

Land Rover's can be great, or terrible. Sometimes this can happen in the same hour, or journey..

They are not a Toyota, accept that fact and you will be half way there.

I got told by a much older LR owner when i got my first one at 21. "Land Rover's love maintenance and hate neglect, they also have character, you may chose the car, but the car may still throw a few problems to test you and see if you will be a good owner"

I will agree with the community spirit. It will open you up to new friends, experiences and places that you otherwise wouldn't have known or found.
Get it checked over, read up on them, learn the weak points and inspect them. Closely.

The temptation to buy the first one is strong, i've done it twice. Got lucky once, got burned badly once.

Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[evilfij]

Always broken, rarely broken down is my experience over 17 years and as many rovers.

 

[Bullsnake]

"Durable enough to be unreliable for several decades" rings true, but I have a hard time owning anything else. I have had a few cruisers, but always come back to the LR's. I'd say go for it - it'll either be the start of a long and wonderful / frustrating relationship or you will find out quickly they aren't for you!

 

[NCLR015]

My first was a 2001 D2, my second a 1996 D1 5-Speed, had about 310k on the odo when retired (only 2 head gasket jobs), my 3rd a 1998 California cream puff with 101k I've had for a couple of years. One of my sons is getting it (only problem I've had is some overheating just solved by a new radiator and fan clutch - I just drove it in 105 degree heat around town and on the freeway, including some long uphills in 3rd gear and it doesn't even look like it wants to overheat now. Just passed smog, clean as a new car.)

I'm kind of bored with Discos so I just picked up a 1999 Range Rover HSE. 105k, most of the work done at Rover SF, probably never off road, immaculate inside and out and had a new 4.6 block put in by SF Rover about 25k ago. It even has springs already so no air bags to nag me and I got the dealer to put in new front hubs because you could hear them - saved at least a grand.

Yes I'm certifiable. But I love Rovers. As long as you can work on them yourself and find the good places to get parts they're not bad. Not Lexus reliable (we have an RX350 with 250k on it) but they're fun.

 

[pugslyyy]

I own several Land Rovers and also an independent garage that services British 4 wheel drive vehicles. Land Rover asked us to not mention that we service Land Rovers any more, and since they spend more on lawyers in a day then we make in a year we tread lightly.

Lots of good quotes in this thread, the one that I use most is "never fully broken but never fully working".

There are many great reasons to own a Land Rover, but total cost of ownership and reliability are not two of those reasons. If the extent of your interest and knowledge in vehicles stops at checking fuel, oil, and tire pressure then a Land Rover can be a tough vehicle to own - emotionally and on your wallet.

That said, there are many great reasons to own a Land Rover - the performance, the history, etc. You find the right one and it has a personality, it speaks to you in a way that other vehicles that are just an amalgamation of soul-less bits of metal won't.

There's also a great community around Land Rovers - maybe because there are just fewer of them around than the all pervasive Jeep, etc - so we are more likely to know one another.

Come over to the dark side - we have warm beer (because Lucas also builds refrigerators). If you get the joke, than you may be a Land Rover owner.

 

[Cobra_R]

Haha yes I get the joke . I'm gonna buy it, i'm just waiting on the guy to get it smogged. I'm pretty excited I'll be honest. I've been talking about buying one for at least a year and have been cataloging parts websites on my phone for just as long. I've got a long list of things I want to do to it. I'm perfectly capable of working on it myself and am very mechanically inclined, one of the reasons why I'm willing to take the plunge, I see the disco as essentially a running ongoing project haha.

First priorities in my mind are to get some 16 inch wheels so I can get some better tires on there, gotta get the cdl linkage from a d1, and I'd like to convert the safari 5000's (ive been doing my research ) he has on there to HID. Should be doable, I believe the bulbs are H3s.

I can't wait!

 

[Lt Dan]

You must have money to burn!

Good luck.

 

[454]

They are not fast. They are not fuel-efficient. They are often a PITA. One must budget a not-insignificant amount of money for steady repairs and incidentals.

But I love them.

 

[mpinco]

The key item with Land Rovers, as with most vehicles, is maintenance. Stay up on maintenance and they are reliable. Ignore maintenance and it will bite you.

As with all pre-owned vehicle purchases your initial new owner experience will be driven by the previous owner's due-diligence. As such, create a maintenance plan thinking "DPO" (dumb previous owner) and work your way through those items based on budget/time.

 

[A.J.M]

Exactly, create a plan and also consider giving it a full service when you get it, with top quality oils and filters.
Also, for whatever reason, ANY car i buy always has terrible window wipers.

I would consider a slush fund for repairs etc. I have one for the Disco3 i have, it's been handy to have. Mine has never failed me, or failed to get me home, it's had to get wear and tear items changed though and to get good quality parts can cost.

I am on good terms with my local main dealer though, i can usually get a nice discount on parts from them so i go back as and when needed.

There is also plenty of guides online and youtube to help with working on the cars. Single make owners clubs can be a bit geeky, but every likely issue is on there, along with the detailed instructions on how to fix it.

 

[UnfrozenCaveman]

Yes, you're knutz.

Me, no...I'm completely normal...that's why three of these infuriating things live at my house and there's another one in pieces with my name on the title too.

Get it...fix it...drive it...fix it some more...hey, a guy's gotta have a hobby

 

[LR Max]

Yes.