Information on buying secondhand Land Rover

[bootsnall]

Hello everone
I'm new to the forum. I am looking at buying a secondhand Discovery for general use and to pull a 1700 kg pop-top van 2-3 hrs travel time on good roads every 1-2 months. I do not intend going off road.
Does anyone know what model and configuration would suit my needs. Around the $20k price range. I've looked at a 5 cyl diesel with 90k at around $22k. Is it better to stay with petrol? What years and models have the best reliability. One hears many stories about problems prior to around 2000.
I would value any guidance and what to be wary of.
Barry

[Nero]

I do not intend going off road.

I would value any guidance and what to be wary of.
Barry

If you need a Wagon get a Commodore sport wagon with the direct injected motor and you might have to throw a few bucks at the rear suspension to get it to tow really well.

If you don't need a Wagon a Falcon RTV ute is a good thing.

If you still want a rover you are pushing a big heavy box and the diesels are the ones that won't send you broke though trips to the servo.

[Homestar]

First things first - DON'T buy a Dunny Door or Falcoon - sorry Nero :p - I drive both of these at work regularly, and they are both crap for towing compared to a diesel - especially the Dunny Door - the engine and gearbox do not work well together when towing. I tow 1700Kg light towers around a fair bit, including 4 or 5 hour drives sometimes, and they are PAINFUL with a Commodore, slightly less with a Falcon, but not much.

There is nothing saying you can't own a Disco if you don't take it off road.

A good 2000 + model can be had with the money you want to spend - check out the Disco forums here, there will be plenty there to sway you the right way.

Go the Landy mate - and welcome to the forum! :)

[Jojo]

The Disco in either guise inherently will make a good tug. Diesels are way more frugal, though. The models before 2000 (before 1999, actually) would be my preferred choice if going Diesel as I prefer the Tdi over the Td5, for a variety of reasons. Having said that, the Td5 is not a bad choice either and pulling performance will be better than with a Tdi. No need to take a Disco offroad, but if you do, it will perform.

[big guy]

First things first - DON'T buy a Dunny Door or Falcoon - sorry Nero :p - I drive both of these at work regularly, and they are both crap for towing compared to a diesel - especially the Dunny Door - the engine and gearbox do not work well together when towing. I tow 1700Kg light towers around a fair bit, including 4 or 5 hour drives sometimes, and they are PAINFUL with a Commodore, slightly less with a Falcon, but not much.

There is nothing saying you can't own a Disco if you don't take it off road.

A good 2000 + model can be had with the money you want to spend - check out the Disco forums here, there will be plenty there to sway you the right way.

Go the Landy mate - and welcome to the forum! :)

I thought or should I say was told as recent as today that the commondoore is limited to towing 1500kg even if braked, unbraked to 700kg.

It limited a good mate to buying his boat to a Bayliner 185 which comes in at 1350 kg without fuel.

Almost all the Discos will tow that load, some better than others, I suggest you try and tow with one and see how it feels, if you never go offroad,there are better tow vehicles from my experience.

May I even suggest a P38 rangie, 2000 model onwards. V6 Prado pr a Klueger etc.

Landies excell offroad and are great onroad but for towing only, I feel once again they are somewhat underpowered unless TD5 is chipped and or V8 is a 4.6.
They will tow fine just not a strength and 1.6ton up a hill will present quite a challenge.

[wanglemoose]

if you are looking at towing dont buy a p38 unless you are happy with single handedly keeping the fuel companies in business, constant gear changes and having to drive up a hill with your foot flat to the floor and still not maintain speed. id buy a d2 with ACE and coils all round, that way you only have the three amigos to contend with, but they can be permanently fixed for under a grand, get the td5 and chip it and you should have fairly trouble free motoring. I own a p38 now and used to have a d2, (till a retard wrote it off).
cheers
mick

[bootsnall]

I currently tow with a VY v6 commodore sedan with the rear suspension beefed up. The maximum towable weight is 2100 kg. I get around 12-14L /100 km on most good roads which increase to 20L/100km when in very hilly terrain at 80 - 90 km/hr and up to 100 on freeways but that is dangerous travelling.. Hills are no problem with some loss of power of course. As long as you keep the revs up there are no issues.
I thought a TD5 would be a good substitute but if the hills slow you down to a crawl that is a backward step.
Thanks for the feedback and honest opinions. Looks like the TD5 may not suit my needs unless it is chipped.

[Homestar]

I thought or should I say was told as recent as today that the commondoore is limited to towing 1500kg even if braked, unbraked to 700kg.

Just checked the manual, and you are very close. Thought the towing capacity was 2100Kg - it is for the 3.6 ltr sportswagon, but only 1600Kg for the 3.0ltr version (which I have) Unbraked is 750Kg for all models.

Looks like I shouldn't be towing the 1,762Kg light towers after all... woops...:D

Cheers - Gav

[big guy]

Just checked the manual, and you are very close. Thought the towing capacity was 2100Kg - it is for the 3.6 ltr sportswagon, but only 1600Kg for the 3.0ltr version (which I have) Unbraked is 750Kg for all models.

Looks like I shouldn't be towing the 1,762Kg light towers after all... woops...:D

Cheers - Gav

Yep, he has a 3L SIDI wagon model too.
Would have thought they can tow more than that.

[Homestar]

Yep, he has a 3L SIDI wagon model too.
Would have thought they can tow more than that.

You would think so, but having towed 1700Kg with one, I wouldn't want to tow any more than this... As mentioned before, they are crap at towing. My old VN was heaps better. Have they really progressed since '89? Certainly not in this area...:p

[Blknight.aus]

take your pick of landies...

with the exception of the original freelander they will all do what you need.

we spent $5k on a 300tdi D1 Manual and about $1K on new rubber and bits for it and it'll pull a d1 on a trailer at city speeds quite nicely.

bit sluggish on the highway with that much weight but on the flats it will still wind out to the dollar.

If I was you Id probably be looking at a mid KM 02-03 D2 TD5 manual.

If you need a hand looking at one, drop me a line and IF I can fit it into the schedule Im happy to help

[bootsnall]

The reason for looking at a TD5 or similar is to improve the towing ability. If I am going to have to work harder at maintaining speeds with 1700 kg (actually 1650 kg) behind especially up hills then it does not warrant a changeover. The 3.6 L Commodore is more than up to the job being able to accelerate very well indeed on the highways and even up medium hills. The steeper ones of course slow anything down. The bigger Land Cruisers and Patrols hold me back on hills and I can easily pass them.
Would a chipped TD5 do any better. I would only consider an automatic as the manuals are a pain when maneuvering at van parks and reversing into tighter spaces.
My first question is would a change to a TD5 or similar improve over the Commodore or be a backward step in terms of towing performance only. I think comfort levels would improve but my first need is performance.:cool:

[frantic]

Get the 02-04 disco TD5 flashed/chipped(tombie is supposed to be good), and lash out on a new intercooler and the exhaust manifold gasket, put in some polyairbags at the back so you can have comfort all week and a level ride for towing. Get some GOOD (not cheap crap)highway/AT road bias tyre such as pirelli or yokohama and you will benefit from the AWD grip in the rain and the better ride on our goat tracks, oops country roads.

[Psimpson7]

Dont even consider a v8 for towing unless its a 4.6 or bigger.

The 4 litre manual in our 03 d2a is painful pulling itself around (unless you thrash it) let alone a trailer (and its only done 100k km)

The TD5 is a far far far far far far far far far better option.

I have one of those too, albeit a Defender, but also drive a TD5 manual D2A so have experieced direct comparisons.

Both TD5's have now been chipped and both fly in relative terms. In reality you arent going to get the same performace as the commodore I wouldn't think, but you can get around 170bhp/400Nm easily enough

anymore than that is harder to achieve.

circa 200hp seems to be about the mamximum achievable without massive work

[bootsnall]

The 3.8 L C'dore I have is curb weight of 1543 kg.
Engine power 152 Kw @ 5200 rpm.
Engine torque 305 Nm @ 3600 rpm.

If a chipped Td5 has around 400 Nm then the pulling power up hills should be better that a C'dore if my thinking is correct. But this may depend on the curb weight of the Td5.

Maybe someone out there is able to give a better opinion based on experience etc.

[Psimpson7]

A quick internet search suggests that a D2 weighs somewhere between 2061 and 2250kg as far as I can see.

Rgds
Pete

[Homestar]

Dont even consider a v8 for towing unless its a 4.6 or bigger.

The TD5 is a far far far far far far far far far better option.



Although I agree completly that the TD5 is far better for towing, I don't have an issue towing with my old carby 3.5 in the Rangie. I suppose it is all horses for courses, but the 3.5 - with manual - tows very well. I have towed over 2 tonne on many occations, and apart from the hills slowing it down, it will sit on the freeway easily at 100 or 110. The odd downshift for hills doesn't make it painful by any means. You just have to relax and not be bothered about getting to your destination at a set time...:) - you just need to keep a sharp eye out for servo's is all...:p

Having said that, if I was going to tow very long distances, I would prefer a diesel...