Looking to buy an older Land Rover

[Troianii]

So yeah, I'm looking to buy an older Land Rover, probably a later Discovery or Freelander. Any particular tips? I couldn't notice much of a difference when I was looking at Discovery and II, and the only major difference I noticed in the Freelander is that it had less trunk space (and, I assume, was shorter). I've mostly looked at online pics, so don't judge me. My dad use to be really big into Land Rovers (I still to this day use the term "Range Rover" for "Land Rover" because we had so many Ranger Rovers). He was a handy mechanic, and he mostly just bought them with problems, fixed them, and sold them. At one point we had 15.

Also, I've been talking to sellers and found that no one ever goes as low as the Edmund's True Market Value. It seems odd to me, because supposedly Edmund's TMV is drawn from actual sales price and, rather than trying to guess at the worth, it just tells you what the average is that people paid for that model and mileage. I've got one example below

2004 Discovery SE
-heated seats
-cd player
-126,000 miles
-"clean" condition

Dealer TMV: $5,030
Private Party TMV: $3,861


Does that sound right? I've been trying to use the TMV when talking to sellers and haven't gotten anywhere near that. I want to know if the TMV is wrong, or if I've just talked to stiff sellers - or maybe I just suck at negotiating.

 

[joey]

First, huge differences between the Discovery and Discovery II... second a 2004 Disco with 126k on the clock sells at the dealer for close to 9k... so not sure where Edmunds gets their data. I have a 2002 Disco I am trying to sell with rock sliders, heavy duty front bumper and lockers front and rear... I am asking 6k for it if that says anything and I have owned and worked on Rovers for years (at least 15).

Hope that helps.

 

[Troianii]

First, huge differences between the Discovery and Discovery II... second a 2004 Disco with 126k on the clock sells at the dealer for close to 9k... so not sure where Edmunds gets their data. I have a 2002 Disco I am trying to sell with rock sliders, heavy duty front bumper and lockers front and rear... I am asking 6k for it if that says anything and I have owned and worked on Rovers for years (at least 15).

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the tip. Yeah, I figured Edmund's was probably off, and when I contacted them they said it may be off because there's "not many selling and so not a lot of data on them." Didn't seem to me like that'd make a huge difference, there are enough around that have been sold, and their data is supposed to be drawn from actual sale value. There is supposedly some database where dealers enter information on a sale, and some agencies collect that data and Edmund's uses it to calculate the "true market value."

But thanks for the tip, it didn't seem to me that Land Rovers were actually going for the supposed TMV. Maybe they might have before the cash for clunkers, I remember reading that that program ended up making used cars more (since it decreased the supply). Unintended consequences, I guess.

btw, what is the mileage on your 2002? And you said there is a big difference between the Discovery and Discovery II - could you elaborate?

 

[joey]

Mileage on my 02' is 129k just had head gaskets replaced and she is solid. there are like 700 differences between a D1 and D2... way too many for me to list. But basically it is a little wider and little longer and more comfortable. Plus D1's are getting harder to find... 03 and 04 disco's came with the 4.6 vice the 4.0 engine.

 

[beenemac]

We are selling our '04 disco. let me know if you are still interested