Michael Slade
Untitled
TeriAnn said:And when you get rid of that ikky green & gold stuff and start bleeding black and silver you will be welcomed into the union of true Land-Rover owners.
Fixed it for you. I'm surprised you missed the hyphen.
What's wth those Disco's anyways?
- Thread starter WhereTheHellIsJames?
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Fixed it for you. I'm surprised you missed the hyphen.
overlander
Expedition Leader
TeriAnn said:I DO have an image to uphold
Here we go again down an all too familiary trail....
ROFSheriffHL:
Spikepretorius
Explorer
A Disco is a lot lighter than your average Cruiser which is a big plus.
WhereTheHellIsJames?
Explorer
This forum rocks! Where else could I possibly get as much unbiased information on a particular vehicle? Well, I guess unbiased isn’t quite the right word, but you get the point. So are all of the Disco’s V8’s? I’ve noticed that there were several references to premium fuel… is that a requirement for these vehicles? Also, what are the major differences between a Disco I and a Disco II- Is one better than the other? Why?
Here’s my deal… I want a “toy truck” that could also double as a DD if I chose to use it as one. I was looking for an FJ40 or maybe a 60, but as a true car geek, an engineer, an artist, an industrial designer, and an ex vehicle designer/builder, I appreciate and see the beauty in just about everything that rolls down the road weather it be a Honda Spree scooter, a Chevy Citation, an EarthRoamer, a Ferrari 430, a Land Rover, a Tacoma, or a 100% custom built Thermophotovoltaic Electric Hybrid sponsored by your tax dollars (that was a fun project). Everything out there with wheels has a purpose. They all have a unique history and/or background that make it beautiful and a Land Rover is no different.
Defenders are sweet; there is no doubt about that. If the budget that I have allotted for a toy truck was padded a bit more, I’d probably be all over a D90. But alas, 20+k is a bit much for a rig that will be used primarily for a couple of weekends per month and the occasional drive to work. So along the road to finding that toy truck that will fulfill its intended application with only slight modifications, as well as fit within the budget allotted for said toy truck, the Discovery has come up a few times.
As a Toyota-Type, I’ve never really paid too much attention to the Rovers before... unless I see them rolling full of gear, ladders and cans strapped to the rack, and longing to be the driver of that vehicle which is surely on its way to some beautiful and remote destination for an extended adventure that I could barely even comprehend while stuck in the morning gridlock. …Sigh.
I’ve known some folks who’ve had Disco’s, and some say they’re great, while others say stay away- don’t even think about it! The folks from both sides are car-folks, and I’d trust all of the individuals that I have solicited advice from to properly maintain their vehicles. This is where I get a bit disoriented. Since there are a couple folks from either side of the fence, I’m wondering if the ailed parties were merely a coincidence, or perhaps had Disco’s built on a Friday afternoon. On the other side, maybe the folks that have nothing but good things to say about them got lucky and have not yet had the catastrophes that the others have experienced? Then there’s the even more disturbing thought that the folks who say that a Disco is all that and a bag of chips, are just telling you that so that you’ll get one and they’ll not be alone in their woes… hmmm.
Either way, thank you all for your input! I know little of the Disco, and am stoked to be a part of a community that is willing to share their knowledge openly.
:camping:
Here’s my deal… I want a “toy truck” that could also double as a DD if I chose to use it as one. I was looking for an FJ40 or maybe a 60, but as a true car geek, an engineer, an artist, an industrial designer, and an ex vehicle designer/builder, I appreciate and see the beauty in just about everything that rolls down the road weather it be a Honda Spree scooter, a Chevy Citation, an EarthRoamer, a Ferrari 430, a Land Rover, a Tacoma, or a 100% custom built Thermophotovoltaic Electric Hybrid sponsored by your tax dollars (that was a fun project). Everything out there with wheels has a purpose. They all have a unique history and/or background that make it beautiful and a Land Rover is no different.
Defenders are sweet; there is no doubt about that. If the budget that I have allotted for a toy truck was padded a bit more, I’d probably be all over a D90. But alas, 20+k is a bit much for a rig that will be used primarily for a couple of weekends per month and the occasional drive to work. So along the road to finding that toy truck that will fulfill its intended application with only slight modifications, as well as fit within the budget allotted for said toy truck, the Discovery has come up a few times.
As a Toyota-Type, I’ve never really paid too much attention to the Rovers before... unless I see them rolling full of gear, ladders and cans strapped to the rack, and longing to be the driver of that vehicle which is surely on its way to some beautiful and remote destination for an extended adventure that I could barely even comprehend while stuck in the morning gridlock. …Sigh.
I’ve known some folks who’ve had Disco’s, and some say they’re great, while others say stay away- don’t even think about it! The folks from both sides are car-folks, and I’d trust all of the individuals that I have solicited advice from to properly maintain their vehicles. This is where I get a bit disoriented. Since there are a couple folks from either side of the fence, I’m wondering if the ailed parties were merely a coincidence, or perhaps had Disco’s built on a Friday afternoon. On the other side, maybe the folks that have nothing but good things to say about them got lucky and have not yet had the catastrophes that the others have experienced? Then there’s the even more disturbing thought that the folks who say that a Disco is all that and a bag of chips, are just telling you that so that you’ll get one and they’ll not be alone in their woes… hmmm.
Either way, thank you all for your input! I know little of the Disco, and am stoked to be a part of a community that is willing to share their knowledge openly.
:camping:
overlander
Expedition Leader
I drove a 95' Disco I before getting my 110, and my wife has an 03' Disco II. Between the 2, based on your requirements, I would choose a Disco I over a Disco II. The Disco I shares many, many drivetrain components with the Defenders. The ZF is a rock solid autobox, and it is an OBD I system, which controls much less of the car systems. The Disco II has many more engineering dependencies, and the emissions compliance makes my head hurt.
My friend bought my Disco from me, when I got my Defender, he dropped a 2.8 TGV in it, and it rocks. The systems are still simple and rugged enough for field servicing, (particularly the main powertrain/drivetrain components). The bugs in the Disco I's are mainly in the non-essential components like cabin switches. A classic kind of Disco I scenario to demonstrate the lucas issues: You're off roading, and one of your power windows stop working, or a dash warning light comes on. Most electrical lucas issues are due to grounding or poor quality switches. Most issues likely to be encountered won't leave you stranded; they are just annoying. This said, the Disco I is a great platform to "expeditionize". convert the windows to manual cranks, replace the switches with Carlings, and you will eliminated 90% of the complaints people have. When the V8 dies drop in a 300tdi, and you will have a world class platform rig that can go anywhere.
I was living in Phoenix when I bought my Disco in 97', and I took it off road all the time (rock crawls in Sedona, mountain trails, open desert wadi's, wading in the verde river..) Having come from a CJ7 (talk about electrical issues...) I was amazed and impressed with it's out of the box performance. What a great rig it was.
My friend bought my Disco from me, when I got my Defender, he dropped a 2.8 TGV in it, and it rocks. The systems are still simple and rugged enough for field servicing, (particularly the main powertrain/drivetrain components). The bugs in the Disco I's are mainly in the non-essential components like cabin switches. A classic kind of Disco I scenario to demonstrate the lucas issues: You're off roading, and one of your power windows stop working, or a dash warning light comes on. Most electrical lucas issues are due to grounding or poor quality switches. Most issues likely to be encountered won't leave you stranded; they are just annoying. This said, the Disco I is a great platform to "expeditionize". convert the windows to manual cranks, replace the switches with Carlings, and you will eliminated 90% of the complaints people have. When the V8 dies drop in a 300tdi, and you will have a world class platform rig that can go anywhere.
I was living in Phoenix when I bought my Disco in 97', and I took it off road all the time (rock crawls in Sedona, mountain trails, open desert wadi's, wading in the verde river..) Having come from a CJ7 (talk about electrical issues...) I was amazed and impressed with it's out of the box performance. What a great rig it was.
R_Lefebvre
Expedition Leader
Basically, if you want a more mechanically simple and rugged truck, as well as cheaper to purchase so you don't have to worry about damaging it, that will be primarily used for trails, find a nice D1.
If you want a luxury truck, something you will use as a daily driver, long distance highway traveller, as well as being able to go off-road, don't mind slightly more mechanical complexity, get a D2. Those are the differences.
One somewhat ironic twist of fate I have observed... the D2's have more electrickery, yet seem to have less electrical problems than the D1's. The biggest electrical problem with the D2's is the traction control system. Yet, when it fails, it leaves you no worse off than if you had a D1 without the system. As mentioned above, the D1's are constantly suffering switch, sensor and actuator problems. The D2's, seemingly not so much.
In any case, it's rare that ANY Discovery leave a person stranded.
If you want a luxury truck, something you will use as a daily driver, long distance highway traveller, as well as being able to go off-road, don't mind slightly more mechanical complexity, get a D2. Those are the differences.
One somewhat ironic twist of fate I have observed... the D2's have more electrickery, yet seem to have less electrical problems than the D1's. The biggest electrical problem with the D2's is the traction control system. Yet, when it fails, it leaves you no worse off than if you had a D1 without the system. As mentioned above, the D1's are constantly suffering switch, sensor and actuator problems. The D2's, seemingly not so much.
In any case, it's rare that ANY Discovery leave a person stranded.
gjackson
FRGS
I think you've hit it. In my experience the build quality problems with Land Rover tend to show themselves pretty early. Once you have those sorted out (if there are any) you have a very reliable and capable vehicle. My D90 I got at 34,000 miles. It gave me no problems at all except for a pinion seal leaking and the coil wire coming off on corrugations. Very reliable and very dependable. I got my D110 with under 500 miles on it. At 11,000 miles the transmission gave up due to a missing drive key for the oil pump (built on Friday afternoon I expect). Since then it has ben bulletproof over some very strenuous miles.
That's for the major systems. The small electronic issues with D1s seem to come with age to a certain extent. But they are small and often easy to fix; not something that will leave you stranded.
RRCs are another very viable option, and cheap like D1s.
cheers
dieselcruiserhead
16 Years on ExPo. Whoa!!
havn't read the responses but for about 10 years (and probably still so) they required the most items repaired (over 400 in a 10 year period) of any vehicle made. Second worst was Saab, surprizingly. Anyway, I think with maintenance of the aging rovers, and gas prices just the way it is. Great time to buy a disco
RonL
Adventurer
Anwsers to your questions....
Are all Disco v-8? Yes.
Do they req premium fuel? The owner's manual says yes, but I use 87or89 and it runs fine.
I own two, a 1997 Disco(mine) and a 1999 Series1(hers). I have 130,000 on one and 120,000 on the hers and they have been great trucks. I have been lucky and must have got two build in the middle of the week.
Disco Series 1 are the same axles, engines and trans as Defenders. You will have the same issues with a Defender as a Disco. They are not worth the extra money in my mind.
Are all Disco v-8? Yes.
Do they req premium fuel? The owner's manual says yes, but I use 87or89 and it runs fine.
I own two, a 1997 Disco(mine) and a 1999 Series1(hers). I have 130,000 on one and 120,000 on the hers and they have been great trucks. I have been lucky and must have got two build in the middle of the week.
Disco Series 1 are the same axles, engines and trans as Defenders. You will have the same issues with a Defender as a Disco. They are not worth the extra money in my mind.
After having my 95 5 speed for awhile I have really learned to like this truck. I do not doubt the reason Land Rover is still around (kind of) is because of how well this truck did for them.
The first generation Discos have always struck me as the natural progression of vehicles for Land Rover. Not to much electronics, 100 inch wheel base, carries people and for the most part can be serviced easily. After the first generation of Discos is when it seemed to go pear shaped.
I still love my Series and my 110 . I will drive my 110 or series before driving the Disco because I love driving them. However,their is something to be said for a Land rover that cruises at 65, has A/C ,carries 5 people, stops well, and can tow all for what most people spend on trying to make an older truck do something it was never designed to do.
For day to day living the Disco is a great truck.
Blair
The first generation Discos have always struck me as the natural progression of vehicles for Land Rover. Not to much electronics, 100 inch wheel base, carries people and for the most part can be serviced easily. After the first generation of Discos is when it seemed to go pear shaped.
I still love my Series and my 110 . I will drive my 110 or series before driving the Disco because I love driving them. However,their is something to be said for a Land rover that cruises at 65, has A/C ,carries 5 people, stops well, and can tow all for what most people spend on trying to make an older truck do something it was never designed to do.
For day to day living the Disco is a great truck.
Blair
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R_Lefebvre
Expedition Leader
dieselcruiserhead said:havn't read the responses but for about 10 years (and probably still so) they required the most items repaired (over 400 in a 10 year period) of any vehicle made. Second worst was Saab, surprizingly. Anyway, I think with maintenance of the aging rovers, and gas prices just the way it is. Great time to buy a disco
Are you quoting JD Powers initial quality ratings? Sounds like it from those numbers. If so, JDP is junk science at best.
The 400 number is actually 400 problems per 100 vehicles, so it's really on 4 problems each. That's measured over 3 months for the IQS, and IIRC, 3 years for the vehicle dependability study.
Furthermore, all problems are rated equally, and some really aren't "quality" problems but rather design problems that should have been discovered in the showroom, before the custom bought the car.
For example, the Mini Cooper used to score really badly. Why? When they first came out, everybody complained about the cupholders. That's an instant 100 score. Cupholders? Yeah, too small. Why didn't they see that in the showroom? Why did JD Powers allow them to complain about it? Why was that "Problem" given the same weighting as another vehicle which might have had a complete engine or transmission failure?
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overlander
Expedition Leader
R_Lefebvre said:
DING, DING, DING!! Someone hit the nail on the head.
LRNAD90
Adventurer
Get one, No Don't, Yes Do, Oh my head hurts..
Many of the points I’m about to make just serve to reinforce what other have said, and some is new information, but..
Discovery’s are great trucks, if you get a good one, nightmares if you don’t. I’ve literally talked to dozens of owners over the years, with 100, 150, even 200 thousand miles on their Discovery and think it is the best thing ever, and had very few issues. But I have also talked to an equal number that have had 30, 40, 50,60, etc. thousand miles on their trucks and think they are the biggest, most unreliable hunks of crap on the planet.
Most of the prominent Discovery I issues will not strand you, at least not without significant warning. Though there are some (like the tendency to burn up fuel pumps, and or fuel pump contacts will without warning). There are a lot of ‘problem areas’ that are quite costly to rectify though (significantly more than the value of the trucks these days), like the carbon build up on the valves (top end rebuild) and the spline wear issue on the input shaft, input gear of the transmission/transfer case (really expensive to fix with the manuals, fairly bad with the autos).
I got hooked on Land Rovers when I bought my Defender 90, and eventually had to have a Discovery as an everyday driver. I bought a ’96 back in 2000 when they were still pretty pricey trucks (mid to upper teens). I searched for a long time because I wanted a manual transmission (available ’94 thru ’97, but they imported pretty limited numbers of them) and found a low mileage (30K) truck in pristine condition, and brought it home. The first year was pretty uneventful (though the fuel pump did go out), but close to the end of year two the spline wear issue got me (at about 61K miles). It required a new (or completely rebuilt) transmission, and a new input gear in the transfer case (minimum, though I was worried about damage to the bearings from all the metal shavings living in the oil for god knows how long so I replaced it as well). I bit the bullet and figured I’d be good with the new cross drilled input gear (suppose to rectify the spline wear issue). Unfortunately the shop who did the install damaged the rear oil seal, causing a slow leak, and lack of lubrication meant I ended up with the same issue again, now at 77K miles.
I was so attached I almost spent the money on it again, but the wife made it clear that if I did she was leaving (she was right, I was being too emotional about it), so it went for a steal to someone willing to sink the money into it. So be warned, there are several possible issues, and once you own it, it will likely get under your skin. You may end up bleeding Green, not just Land Rover Green, but cash Green as well.. But who am I to talk, if my wife didn’t keep me on track, I probably would have bought another Disco for daily driver duty..
Many of the points I’m about to make just serve to reinforce what other have said, and some is new information, but..
Discovery’s are great trucks, if you get a good one, nightmares if you don’t. I’ve literally talked to dozens of owners over the years, with 100, 150, even 200 thousand miles on their Discovery and think it is the best thing ever, and had very few issues. But I have also talked to an equal number that have had 30, 40, 50,60, etc. thousand miles on their trucks and think they are the biggest, most unreliable hunks of crap on the planet.
Most of the prominent Discovery I issues will not strand you, at least not without significant warning. Though there are some (like the tendency to burn up fuel pumps, and or fuel pump contacts will without warning). There are a lot of ‘problem areas’ that are quite costly to rectify though (significantly more than the value of the trucks these days), like the carbon build up on the valves (top end rebuild) and the spline wear issue on the input shaft, input gear of the transmission/transfer case (really expensive to fix with the manuals, fairly bad with the autos).
I got hooked on Land Rovers when I bought my Defender 90, and eventually had to have a Discovery as an everyday driver. I bought a ’96 back in 2000 when they were still pretty pricey trucks (mid to upper teens). I searched for a long time because I wanted a manual transmission (available ’94 thru ’97, but they imported pretty limited numbers of them) and found a low mileage (30K) truck in pristine condition, and brought it home. The first year was pretty uneventful (though the fuel pump did go out), but close to the end of year two the spline wear issue got me (at about 61K miles). It required a new (or completely rebuilt) transmission, and a new input gear in the transfer case (minimum, though I was worried about damage to the bearings from all the metal shavings living in the oil for god knows how long so I replaced it as well). I bit the bullet and figured I’d be good with the new cross drilled input gear (suppose to rectify the spline wear issue). Unfortunately the shop who did the install damaged the rear oil seal, causing a slow leak, and lack of lubrication meant I ended up with the same issue again, now at 77K miles.
I was so attached I almost spent the money on it again, but the wife made it clear that if I did she was leaving (she was right, I was being too emotional about it), so it went for a steal to someone willing to sink the money into it. So be warned, there are several possible issues, and once you own it, it will likely get under your skin. You may end up bleeding Green, not just Land Rover Green, but cash Green as well.. But who am I to talk, if my wife didn’t keep me on track, I probably would have bought another Disco for daily driver duty..
R_Lefebvre
Expedition Leader
Some pretty important points there.
One of them, is that yes, the trucks do have some issues. Seems there are some problems which afflict virtually ALL trucks. The good news, is that because of this, and the enthusiast following, the fixes are well documented. And in many cases, are cheap and easy.
For example, last weekend, I found my carpet soaked. Initially I thought my windshield was leaking again (aftermarket job, not LR's fault), but I decided to try crawling underneath first and "tweaking my nipples" and sure enough, water poured out the AC drain. I kinda consider that a non-issue. To me, it's just character.
The other important point, is that for ANY car, you will find people who love them, and other people who hate them. I had a Subaru WRX, and it was a perfect car. Virtually trouble free. I also saw people online who hated theirs, and said they were nothing but trouble. There are lots of people who say Subarus are junk, despite the fact the Imprezza was actually ranked as THE most reliable car of ANY make, even Toyota.
For the record, my Discovery has been a fair amount of trouble, but I love it anyway.
One of them, is that yes, the trucks do have some issues. Seems there are some problems which afflict virtually ALL trucks. The good news, is that because of this, and the enthusiast following, the fixes are well documented. And in many cases, are cheap and easy.
For example, last weekend, I found my carpet soaked. Initially I thought my windshield was leaking again (aftermarket job, not LR's fault), but I decided to try crawling underneath first and "tweaking my nipples" and sure enough, water poured out the AC drain. I kinda consider that a non-issue. To me, it's just character.
The other important point, is that for ANY car, you will find people who love them, and other people who hate them. I had a Subaru WRX, and it was a perfect car. Virtually trouble free. I also saw people online who hated theirs, and said they were nothing but trouble. There are lots of people who say Subarus are junk, despite the fact the Imprezza was actually ranked as THE most reliable car of ANY make, even Toyota.
For the record, my Discovery has been a fair amount of trouble, but I love it anyway.
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