reliability?

[saharatj98]

I am new here! I have always liked the disco and respect the heritage of Land Rover. I have always owned Jeeps but want to step up to a 2004 Disco and in a few more years an LR3.... My question is.... EVERYONE I have mentioned this to thinks I am crazy because they have nothing but problems all of the time and the gas mileage horrible. Parts are expensive and difficult to get ect. ect. Jeeps are cheap to fix when they do break and parts are easy to come by. I love the discos storage and off road ability but I don't want to buy a headache either... What are your experiences? I already decided 2003 or newer to get the better engine. Anything else I should know? Are these problems primarily on the older series 1? I will be lifting it 3" on custom Old Man EMU springs which is the limit for the cv joints according to OMEand ARB.... What size tires would wrk the best and finally... What is the best model? The HSE has the self leveling suspension which would come off so I think an SE would be better and in regards to the traction control, How well does it work? I am old school in that a detroit soft locker in back and a tru-trac limited slip in front is my choice..... I appreciate the inputin advance

 

[joey]

A search tool is wonderful... but that aside, you are asking alot of loaded questions.

If comparing to a similar type Jeep i.e. the Grand Cherokee, then you will find the price for parts and repairs very similar. I can't think of any parts that are hard to get, the only issue would be getting to the dealer for warrenty items if you don't have a dealer near by.

3" lift on a 2004, then you might as well forget any warrenty with the entire drivetrain, and you will end up having other issues.. I wouldn't go higher than 2", but I have heard of a few that have gone 3" without issue, it just doesn't happen often.

SE would be a better choice if you lifting. With traction control on the Disco you could almost go Truetrac front and rear since the the traction control uses ABS to stop well spin.

As far a problems with the older models, I wouldn't know. My 1997 Disco 1 has 126k on it and I haven't had any issues other than a dead battery once and upgrades that I have added, but then again I tend to keep the maintenance done on my vehicles.

 

[saharatj98]

Good to hear..... I am very religeous with my maintenance.... I just find it amazing that everyone I have talked to immediately with out skipping a beat says that they are junk. I did talk to one woman who had 118k on her series 2 and would not trade it for anything though. I don't care about having a high maintenance car as I am used to that owning BMW, Porsche and VW products.My Jeeps have always been mostly trouble free and cheap to maintain in comparison. Jeeps have their weak areas too and I accepted them because of what they could do. I look at the Landie similarly. It just scared me that the first thing out of anyone's mouth was how un-reliable and expensive the discos were. I figured a forum would be a great place to search out if these impressions are founded on anything... I can not believe out of 4.6liters though it is only 217hp and sucks about 12mpg in the process while needing premium fuel when only at 9.5 compression....No one else makesa no nonsense off road utility vehicle though....

 

[NHESS81]

they are not junk...people just dont have patience or the ability to stick with something...theyd rather have a no hassle, no think suburban truck than a get dirt on your hands and in your face land rover...

 

[fbrems]

Hey L.Rover Drivers, well, about JUNK..... I'm driving my third discovery (2 from new) and my wife her second R.R. and I think that just everything what can break down on a LR is breaking down. My Disco is a 1998 model which I use in the desert for work (I am the only one with a disco against 140 Land Cruisers, Nissan Patrols and Hummers) as I am living in the Emirates and work on remote Pump Stations. Believe it or not, my disco has to be pulled out on numerous occasions. Or it breaks down or it just digs himself in due to lack of horsepower even it is a big block V8. The shifting from H to L is prehistoric and it tracks only on one wheel if not locked. (catalogue tells you permanent 4 wheel drive > I proved to the dealer that it is not the case and he was astonished to see only one wheel turning if jacked up and the other 3 on the ground) My beauty has just over the 100.000km and replaced the steering pump, fuel pump, water pump, inlet & exhaust collectors got cracket, leaking engine oil, fuel tank is leaking, and last week my gearbox got jammed. (and dont think I go dune bashing) I am regularly humiliated when I have to call in my colleagues with their Toyota Landcruiser to pull me out the ditch. snif!snif! But I am stubborn, I'll drive it untill the wheels are felling off. Fortunately fuel is inexpensive in UAE. 1$/USGallon
I wrote to the UK Factory a mile long complaining letter and they agreed to every point and recommended me to replace it by their new model > that's customer service he! get rid of that junk!!!!!

If the new Disco was not so ugly and soooo expensive I will go for next generation. Although I do most of repairs in my well setup workshop, still I have to dig out 1,400$ for my Gearbox repair. I hope the R.R. remains friendly with me.

Welcome to the Rover Family
Francois Brems

 

[NHESS81]

With the horrible short comings and first hand experience, why do you keep buying them then? Just get yourself a Land Cruiser or Hummer and be done with it? I mean, sorry to hear your issues, but guess what, less than 1000 dollars and you could have locking differentials and be pulling OTHERS out...and your dealer is not very smart if they did not understand four wheel drive...that just means that power is given to all four wheels when they all have traction, THIS does happen. when one loses traction the power goes to it--this is simply a design of differentials, which all vehicles must have to be able to turn correctly, but if you swapped out the stock diffs with locking ones no problem.. I am sure you understand this concept, considering everyone yo uwork with and your 4x4 environment, there is no way you couldnt

how is shifting from H to L prehistoric? Do you have a special way that doesnt involve shifting? Because, i mean, if there is an easier way from point A (high) to point B (low) other than the straight line the land rover takes, then please, explain that to me.

Either way, land rovers is most applications--as i am sure our friend here is not going to the desert of the middle east any time soon--will work out perfectly fine...sorry your land rover life sucks, but ours doesnt, thanks for your input, but seriously get a toyota instead of complaining about it