Entertaining a switch from Jeep to Land Rover. Have questions.

[Jeepinaaron]

There is just something about a Land Rover, I'm not sure what it is but every time I see one drive by it catches my eye. I've spent my entire adult life behind the wheel of some sort of Jeep; Wrangler, Unlimited Wrangler, Liberty, Cherokee, and now a 2003 Grand Cherokee for me and 2012 Grand Cherokee for the wife. My use of a 4x4 has changed over the years from primarily rock crawling to more overland travel. Having a family changes things. So back to Land Rovers, I am toying with the idea of switching from my 2003 Grand Cherokee over to a Land Rover Disco I, particularly a 97-99. I've done some research on my own and I think those are the years which attract me the most. This vehicle will be a daily driver, weekend warrior with occasional multi day trips supporting a family of 4 and maybe a dog. I however have a few questions.

Can someone give me the rear cargo dimensions of a Discovery I. I want to compare the cargo area with that of my Grand Cherokee. I know without a doubt the rear of a Disco is higher than my Grand, but I don't think it is as deep.

Does a Discovery I require premium gas?

In looking for a nice Disco I, I'm primarily looking for no rust. I came across a company called "Rover Classic" out of New Jersey. Does anyone have any experience with them? Their Disco's are higher priced but have low miles (under 100K) and seem to be in excellent physical condition. http://www.roverclassic.com/index.php?page=land-rover-stock

I understand that Disco's have questioned reliability. I have no problem with addressing concerns and performing preventative maintenance.

My thoughts for a 97-99 Disco I are: Less electronics, no ABS, has center diff lock, classic look.

 

[johnsoax]

When I was young, I always wanted a green Wrangler. Every time I went to buy a new vehicle, the Wrangler was out of my price range. Every single time. So I bought a well used Disco I for $2500. Put abut $3500 into it, including tires. My 1995 had ABS. I moved from 95 Disco 1 to an LR3 due mainly to reliability, and having 4 kids. Using the jump seats in the Disco 1 left no room for anything else in the trunk. I no longer have it, or I would give you the dimensions you asked for. I bought the LR3 from the dealer at "auction" price due to it having a bunch of issues, all fixable, most by me.

 

[Ray_G]

My D1's rear cargo, based off a hasty run out to the garage (its too cold too soon) is 27" (fore/aft), 48" wide (not counting cubby space) and almost 48" tall depending on where you measure.

Some will say D1's don't 'require' premium gas; I've never put anything but that in mine. In fact I don't put less than premium in anything-when I've had to put 91 or something in her she doesn't run as well, FWIW.

D1 does have ABS; until you pull the fuses. Then it doesn't.

I don't think D1's have questioned reliability; if you maintain them they will get you home. For me reliability is both a facet of resilience and ability to fix encountered problems. They are complicated trucks so they do require maintenance, but if even basically maintained they are very robust-and the problems you run into are frequently things that can be worked through, in the field, to get home. Keep in mind they are not Toyotas so it is likely accurate to say that a Land Rover is never truly fixed, but also never totally broken.

My sig line has build threads for both a 96 D1 and an 06 D3; I'd say that I love my D1 and will never get rid of her-she has performed as a DD for years, and done a lot of wheeling and exploring with my family of 4 (no dog), the truck will be tight on space with that footprint. Can it be done? Sure, but a long weekend of camping will almost certainly require a roof rack to load out stuff and quite likely some serious discipline in packing out.

You may want to drive one and see if it fits your taste in actual driving; and with the money you are looking at spending at Rover Classic I think most of us would also point out the price point for LR3's is approaching your budget range and for your requirements that may be the better truck for the DD role-and the family hauler. Don't let me dissaude you by any means, just adding context.

What you will find is that the Rover community is eclectic but fantastic, it truly is a community and in many ways is the best part of owning these trucks.
r-
Ray

 

[hurstjd]

I put 180,000 miles on my '97 Discovery before I sold it and went to an LR3. It was a GREAT vehicle. The engine and transmission performed flawlessly. My biggest gripes were the little things. I had to replace all the door locks and window motors. The drivers seat was also giving me a fit. Other than that, it rocked!

The LR3 was awesome as well. Just traded it in last June with 160,000 miles on it. It still drove great. Biggest complaint for me was the leaky sun roof and the air suspension was starting to go out. Just got a 2011 Range Rover Sport for fun. Man this thing is nice. It is easily the most luxurious car I have ever owned. It super fast. It feels like a sports car on steroids. Talk about fun to drive!

 

[Colin Hughes]

My D1 had 435,000 kms on it when I sold it. It was towed once. The started died. As it was a 5 speed, I could have bump started it but I needed it to get to the shop so I used CAA. Always ran regular gas, didn't notice any problems. The LR3 however, premium all the way.

 

[AbnMike]

I'll measure the rear of my Disco 1 when I get home, but with a wife, two kids and a dog (maybe) you're going to want to run a roof rack or a rear hitch carrier. With just me and the wife and two dogs I generally run a hitch carrier (but they're only $100). If I forget to measure and you're antsy, figure that the rear will hold two of those rectangle general sized dog beds behind the seats. The Disco 1s are very short wheelbase vehicles so cargo space inside isn't great if you're running with two in the rear seats. With the seats out or folded flat or folded forward you obviously get a lot more room.

I would look on the forums (discoweb, Land rover forums) to find one for sale by a dedicated owner that you can get the maintenance history from, rather than buying from a dealer with unknown maintenance. There are things that should be changed out (driveshafts) and then maintained (greased up) or just maintained (radiator cleaned and flushed regularly) to keep it from becoming something that will cost you a lot of money to get right.

They're also slow (70 mph is about as great as you'll get cruising) and pretty poor MPG (esp the more you put on a roof rack, the bigger tires you put on, etc) but they do go darned near anywhere and I've never gotten as many looks and compliments on any other vehicle as I have on the LR.

Oh and ABS is not a selling point on these things. It's worthless at best.

 

[Jeepinaaron]

Ok so as far as my questions went:

Cargo Dimensions: Thanks for the measurements. For the people who have concerns about the vehicle being loaded down with two kids, I echo your concerns. That is why I have a Fleetwood Neon Off-Road camper that I bring along, it carries a lot of our gear. I do intend to pull a off camper which weights about 1,000 lbs, anyone see an issue with that?

Premium Gas: it seems some say its required and other say regular gas. I'd like more on this I suppose, what does the manual say?

I am not even a little interested in a LR3, solid front axles is a must for my vehicle, I will not have it any other way. My current Grand Cherokee is the last model of Grand's with a solid front.

I'm also used to a vehicle with a V8 that is not very fast, also my Grand. And my grand has crap mileage and requires good maintenance to keep her going.

And like someone mentioned, yes I will be watching forums for well maintained vehicles being sold. I will have to sell my Grand Cherokee first, and will need to be within that budget for purchase of the Land Rover. If I decide to go that way.

Good info, keep it coming.

 

[Ray_G]

Per your query on premium gas and the owner's manual...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mjm10]

I bought a '90 Classic about a year ago and went through a similar decision process. I was originally looking at D1s, but then came across a rust free classic and jumped on it. I can tell you that the truck requires attention - a good mechanic is a must. You must be wiling to get dirty and also accept that there will probably always be something on your punch list. Ownership is rewarding, both due to the fact that the truck is beautiful and the fact that the community of owners is amazing. Hope its helpful.

 

[AbnMike]

Rear cargo area of a 1996 D1 with the rear seats in seating position is about 31" from the back of the seat to the door seal and about 47" from inner wheel well to inner wheel well. That's a guesstimate as I have crap back there I didn't move and just loosely measured with a tape. Behind the wheel wells (closer to door) is a few more inches on either side to stuff something loose in there if you have hard cases sitting in back.

I've also heard regular or medium gas is fine but have always run Premium.

Mine has 170,000 miles. It went through a top end rebuild about 20,000 miles ago (before I bought it). I've only had one electronic problem (the recycle air switch has stopped working). The ABS recently started acting up so I need to check the ABS sensors. I just removed the fuse to take ABS out of the question. I did replace the radiator, and because I'm anal I replaced all the fluids from front to rear. I had the "death wobble" which I rectified with a combination of correct air pressure and removing shims from the swivel pins. These things are very very dependent on correct air pressure. Throwing in extra air because you think it will save a couple mpg has resulted (based on my experience and reading elsewhere) in wobbly steering.

All in all for a 20 year old British built truck using an old Buick motor and questionable electronic doo-dads it has served me well. I've run it multiple times to DC and back (4 hours each way, Interstate) and in Montana it went all over the place on and off road.

 

[XJLI]

Went from this:

To this:

No regrets. Miles above any XJ or ZJ in terms of everyday comfort. WAY more room inside than my XJs. I thought this thing was huge compared to my XJ but externally it's barely bigger, save for the roof height. Huge improvement offroad (stock vs. stock) over any pre-traction control/ELSD Jeep. Anything about reliability seems to be people just not maintaining them, I've never had an issue, my D1 is my DD and only vehicle. They DO need more attention than a Jeep, yota, etc; but that doesn't necessarily mean more money or long weekends. All my buddies were/are Jeep guys and laughed their asses off when I bought it. It constantly defies their low expectations. My only gripe is yes, it does need premium (I run 93 because I bumped my timing like an ******* for another 5 horsepower) and I average 11 MPG, mostly city driving commuting.

 

[Jeepinaaron]

I need to find one locally and go drive it. So far it has less cargo room in the rear than my WJ and takes premium gas, but I still want one.

 

[XJLI]

I need to find one locally and go drive it. So far it has less cargo room in the rear than my WJ and takes premium gas, but I still want one.

Less cargo room in back, sure. But it will still feel much larger inside.

 

[MrWesson]

Ok so as far as my questions went:

Cargo Dimensions: Thanks for the measurements. For the people who have concerns about the vehicle being loaded down with two kids, I echo your concerns. That is why I have a Fleetwood Neon Off-Road camper that I bring along, it carries a lot of our gear. I do intend to pull a off camper which weights about 1,000 lbs, anyone see an issue with that?

Premium Gas: it seems some say its required and other say regular gas. I'd like more on this I suppose, what does the manual say?

I am not even a little interested in a LR3, solid front axles is a must for my vehicle, I will not have it any other way. My current Grand Cherokee is the last model of Grand's with a solid front.

I'm also used to a vehicle with a V8 that is not very fast, also my Grand. And my grand has crap mileage and requires good maintenance to keep her going.

And like someone mentioned, yes I will be watching forums for well maintained vehicles being sold. I will have to sell my Grand Cherokee first, and will need to be within that budget for purchase of the Land Rover. If I decide to go that way.

Good info, keep it coming.

To be fair my LR3 is better in every category than my previous Quadradrive WJ. Without going into details it also has more flex(air suspension pushes down one wheel as another rises simulating solid axles).

IMO it compares more with a Stock Wrangler 4 door Rubicon than my WJ. You also get a bump in reliability as well(big bump in purchase price though).

Is a LR3 twice the truck as a D2(twice the price)? No. The D2 just didn't have that long term drive/forget engine but everything else is pretty stout. I'd buy one and have a engine swap in mind down the road(not rover engine).

Love the early Disco's just figured i'd even things out a bit.

 

[johnsoax]

I will say that my "reliability" issues with my D1 were all little stupid stuff. Engine and drive train was awesome. But other things on the truck were going to pot due to neglect from previous owners. Door locks, radio, tons of rust in the back end, fuel pump issues. I still kick myself for trading it in on my LR3. I should have kept it, and used it as an offroad truck.

I pulled a 3000lb popup with mine, and regularly pulled a 1200lb max load flatbed and a 3500lb max load box trailer all the time with my D1. I had forgotten how slow it was, until others mentioned it. But it would go anywhere.