Any thoughts about '03 Disco SE

[deltguy]

All,

I am looking to replace a car that got wrecked and found an ad for an '03 Disco SE w/ about 60K milles on it. The car is reasonably priced but I had heard that Disco's were notoriously full of problems. Are there any Disco owners, preferably 03, that can let me know what I can expect from this car from a reliability standpoint? Could I get another
100K miles out w/ reasonably no headache of it or should I expect it to be in the shop regulalry? Also, is service for these vehicles typically on the high end? I'm not sure what to expect as I had also heard that parts were ridiculously expensive.

I know this is a subjective question given that neither of us knows how the car was maintained. For arguments sake, let's assume that the car was reasonably maintained as I believe it was a originally a fleet vehicle.

Thanks for your opinons!

-Disco Newbie

 

[joey]

First Welcome to the forum.

Second, let me state this first 99% of all posts on any vehicle forum will either be complaining about something or trying to upgrade not may WOW my car xxxx has 300k miles and all I have done is change the oil.

With that out of the way and assuming (Assume = ASS U ME) that it has been maintained correctly and no current issues you can easily get 100k more out of any Land Rover if you common sense items like check fluids regularly and fix issues as the come up. If you take it to the dealer and are expecting $45 an hour repairs you should stop reading now and run. Most Dealers for LR's charge up to $150 a hour for service, and simple things like break jobs can cost almost $2000.00 if the dealer has their way.

Now with that out of the way.... parts are no more expensive for a Rover then most other modern vehicles on the road. If you are looking at a Rover find a Non-dealer Land Rover repair shop near by, if none are around and you don't work on your own vehicles I would not recommend a Rover.

I would also not buy a rover without having it checked by a dealer or LR service Technician (pay them the $200 or so they want to find all the issues before you buy anything)

 

[Disco Mike]

What are you planning on using the Disco for, have you ever owned a 4wheeler before.
How much are they asking for the truck you are looking at? If you are still interested in it then get the vin. number and call a Rover service dept. and ask them to run the vin to see if that 03 is one of the ones build that may have a bad engine casting/oil pump/engine failure issue.

 

[Rover recovery]

What is the vin? The 03 Discovery has a problem with the oil pump giving out do to a manufacturing defect with the impeller shaft. There is no warning generally before this occurs. Look it up on dweb it's a highly talked about thread. I would get an 04 last of the batch with the CDL and out of the probelmatic vin range. As far as Rover's go a little now in regular service like changing fluids regularly will save you alot when or if a catastrophic failure where to occur. I've had my fair share of them, some good some bad, but overall I love em. Good luck

 

[pjvarc]

i have a 2003 disco se, just brought last december. recently took it in for 80k service at 72k miles. the indie dealer discovered some issues i need to take of it. some big tickets others minor. going to replace the drive belt and replacing the valve cover gaskets, moderate oil leak. he also discovered my radiator having cold spots indicating blockage, going to hold off until summer for this item but looking for a second opinion since the engine is running normal and has not hot so far in los angeles. other minor stuff he found which going to take of needed. happy with my 2003 disco and plan do to use in the city and off road too. i agree as long as you maintain the car, good 93 gas, check fluids wear and tear items will need to be replace. planning to keep it for 2 or 3 yrs.

cheers, pjvarc

 

[Denny Browne]

03 Disco

I'm an original 03 Disco owner with about 85,000 miles. Most of the miles are highway, but there are plenty of modest to severe off-road miles that have been lots of fun. A few scars prove that. It was a late 03, so I think I dodged the bullet on the oil pump/engine casting issue. It has never leaked oil (must be empty then, according to Mike!), has been maintained according to the schedule and I have about $10,000 in it outside of gasoline, but most of that is really upgrades like tires, suspension, roof rack. I replaced one 02 sensor, and I guess the others are getting close. It did get a head gasket job under warranty about 30k, that was detected by a tech at a dealer organized wheels event. I expect, currently, to drive it for another 100k. If I were to do it over, I'd have gotten the 04 with the center diff lock, but I'm really quite happy with this one and I've only had to be pulled out a couple of times. I'll just get the diff lock retrofitted when I have the money.