Hi all,
Long time lurker, first time poster. My wife and I are looking for a vehicle to take camping and use for overlanding trips. Our goal is to tackle the North American portion of the Pan-American Highway in the next few years.
I come from a background in sports cars, currently driving a '13 Subaru WRX hatchback. I'd like to add a 2nd vehicle for taking off-roading and going places my WRX can't quite get to and both my wife and I have fallen in love with the looks, space, and unique charm of Land Rover Discoveries. Being our first foray into off-roading, we're not looking to spend a ton of money, but we've stumbled across two options and we're torn on which to choose.
First off, we found a somewhat rare '95 Discovery with a 5spd manual that is located about 90 min from us. After talking with the owner all day, it sounds to be well taken care of and being somewhat mechanically inclined, the current owner claims to have checked into all of the common problems and found a really solid D1 that he's used for the last 6 months as a winter car in WI. If everything checks out, it's hard to imagine going wrong for $2,500 for a starting point of an expedition build.
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/wsh/cto/5049206046.html
On the other end of the spectrum, I just had a lovely chat with the owner of a '01 Land Rover Disco II that has already been well-prepped to tackle the hardest roads imaginable on the Pan-American Highway. Obviously, being newer and having a bunch of work done to it already, it's more expensive, but $6,900 doesn't seem out of line for what is closer to being a turn-key solution to what we want to use it for. The biggest downside is that it's located much farther away in OH and we'd have to fly out, buy it sight unseen and drive it back.
http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/cto/5043446412.html
So, my question is, do I start with the simpler and arguably more characterful D1 and save money on the front end to put towards maintenance and building it my way down the road, or am I better off going with a newer, tried and true DII that is more expensive up front but might not need as much later.
Also, are there any inherent advantages to choosing one generation over the other that I should be aware of? I realize neither is going to be particularly reliable without lots of preventive maintenance but is one a better starting point than the other?
Thanks,
Alex
Long time lurker, first time poster. My wife and I are looking for a vehicle to take camping and use for overlanding trips. Our goal is to tackle the North American portion of the Pan-American Highway in the next few years.
I come from a background in sports cars, currently driving a '13 Subaru WRX hatchback. I'd like to add a 2nd vehicle for taking off-roading and going places my WRX can't quite get to and both my wife and I have fallen in love with the looks, space, and unique charm of Land Rover Discoveries. Being our first foray into off-roading, we're not looking to spend a ton of money, but we've stumbled across two options and we're torn on which to choose.
First off, we found a somewhat rare '95 Discovery with a 5spd manual that is located about 90 min from us. After talking with the owner all day, it sounds to be well taken care of and being somewhat mechanically inclined, the current owner claims to have checked into all of the common problems and found a really solid D1 that he's used for the last 6 months as a winter car in WI. If everything checks out, it's hard to imagine going wrong for $2,500 for a starting point of an expedition build.
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/wsh/cto/5049206046.html
On the other end of the spectrum, I just had a lovely chat with the owner of a '01 Land Rover Disco II that has already been well-prepped to tackle the hardest roads imaginable on the Pan-American Highway. Obviously, being newer and having a bunch of work done to it already, it's more expensive, but $6,900 doesn't seem out of line for what is closer to being a turn-key solution to what we want to use it for. The biggest downside is that it's located much farther away in OH and we'd have to fly out, buy it sight unseen and drive it back.
http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/cto/5043446412.html
So, my question is, do I start with the simpler and arguably more characterful D1 and save money on the front end to put towards maintenance and building it my way down the road, or am I better off going with a newer, tried and true DII that is more expensive up front but might not need as much later.
Also, are there any inherent advantages to choosing one generation over the other that I should be aware of? I realize neither is going to be particularly reliable without lots of preventive maintenance but is one a better starting point than the other?
Thanks,
Alex