Disco 1 advice needed

[Psimpson7]

Looking at buying a Disco 1 at the moment as an everyday car, (needs to complimet my D90)

Found a 1998 3.9 v8 auto with 139k km on the clock... which hasnt been tarted up for sale, hence is a bit grubby, and with a few marks for $6800 dollars with a safety certificate.

What's the general consensus of the disco users on here?

Bad points are one slightly bent radius arm on the rear (and few dings on the brackets), few small marks on the panels (parking dents and so on), no real history to speak of. worn steering wheel

Good points, drove well. felt smooth, no smoke, started straight away, hasnt been tarted up, cold a/c, no rust I could see. (also less than a km from home!)

It seems like a reasonable buy to me.

Pete.

[tdiBrad]

Hi Pete,
I owned a 1198 v8 D1 for about 12 months, which was stolen and I ended up replacing it with a Tdi.

The V8 had a great sound and for a day to day car would be great.

A few things to look out for:

1). Rust around the bottom edge of alpine windows. If its not there, check to see if the window rubbers are starting to bulge, its very common and not cheap to fix professionally

2), Roof lining will likely sag, so check it carefully

3). Fuel economy around town will be 'thirtsy'

4). Windows can sometimes fail due to poor design, open each window a few times and make sure it opens/closes evenly without noises (clunks are never good)

5). Rear door can sag a little, open and close and check for rattles over bumps

That's about all i can think of !
good luck

[Psimpson7]

Thanks Brad.

Few more things to look over!

Pete

[RonMcGr]

Looking at buying a Disco 1 at the moment as an everyday car, (needs to complimet my D90)

Found a 1998 3.9 v8 auto with 139k km on the clock... which hasnt been tarted up for sale, hence is a bit grubby, and with a few marks for $6800 dollars with a safety certificate.

What's the general consensus of the disco users on here?

Bad points are one slightly bent radius arm on the rear (and few dings on the brackets), few small marks on the panels (parking dents and so on), no real history to speak of. worn steering wheel

Good points, drove well. felt smooth, no smoke, started straight away, hasnt been tarted up, cold a/c, no rust I could see. (also less than a km from home!)

It seems like a reasonable buy to me.

Pete.

Good price and Brad is on the money :D

[Hucksta]

G'day mate,

I recently purchased a very similar 98 Disco 3.9 manual. I spoke to a mate of mine who is a disco fanatic and Brad seems to have covered most.

My mate told me to have a bit of a poke around the underside to see if there are any digs or gouges, this will tell you if it has ben flogged off road or not. Also he mentioned that if you drive it and it pulls to one side or the front tyres have uneven wear on them be wary as it may have been in a prang or similar.

My roof lining has a bit of a sag at the moment but aparently it is pretty easy to fix, just a pain in the bot bot.

I get about 520k's to a tank around town if i drive it fairly softly so it's not to bad...

Good luck

[abaddonxi]

How do you bend a rear radius arm? That's a rhetorical question, that sounds to me like someone has given it a caning. I'd be looking more closely, it doesn't sound like a shopping trolley.

Cheers
Simon

[Pedro_The_Swift]

crawl underneath and check the rear floor for rust,,
see how green the coolant is,

(520 around town Hucksta:eek::eek:? you must be towed a lot!!:D)

pull the dipstick and check oil colour,,

[p38arover]

3). Fuel economy around town will be 'thirtsy'

That's always been a problem with them! :D:D

Water leaks = Rust

Water leaks.

Did I mention water leaks?

Remove the plastic trims over the edge of the carpets at the doors and lift the carpet. Expect rust.

Did I mention water leaks?

Like Simon, I wionder about the bent trailing arm. Sounds like it's had off-road use.

[Hucksta]

Hey Pedro,

:D:D:D

I know it sounds crazy mate, but i just drive her nice and soft to and from work along Beach Rd, Melbourne (not to many traffic lights) and she goes ok. The only time I tow it is when it breaks down (which is coming all to often). I should have listened to the cheese and kisses and purchased a corolla.... (never)

cheers :o:);):p:D

[Psimpson7]

Thanks Guys...

I dont think it has been flogged off road too badly.... but it probably has been used a bit!

Will go and have another look over it! (seller will be getting bored of me!)

Pete

[adnic]

something i noticed no one mention is the heaters in the discos suck & more times than not because of a lack of use in australia they corrode in the matrix & supply pipes which are under the dash & run through the firewall.
when this happens it deposits aluminium dist through the engine & ends up in the rad blocking the vanes.
this in turn leads to overheating & although simple enough to fix, alot of people misdiagnose it & spend a fortune doing heads & the like searching for the prob.
one of the simple tests is turn the heater on to full once the motor heats up & see if the drivers floorwell gets wet.
the pipes lead out from the drivers side.
like i said, easy to fix. disconect the pipes at the firewall on the engine side & join them & have the rad cleaned. don't need a heater here anyway!!
good luck.

[DiscoDave]

I dont think it has been flogged off road too badly.... but it probably has been used a bit!


...and what's wrong with that? :D

[mcrover]

something i noticed no one mention is the heaters in the discos suck & more times than not because of a lack of use in australia they corrode in the matrix & supply pipes which are under the dash & run through the firewall.
when this happens it deposits aluminium dist through the engine & ends up in the rad blocking the vanes.
this in turn leads to overheating & although simple enough to fix, alot of people misdiagnose it & spend a fortune doing heads & the like searching for the prob.
one of the simple tests is turn the heater on to full once the motor heats up & see if the drivers floorwell gets wet.
the pipes lead out from the drivers side.
like i said, easy to fix. disconect the pipes at the firewall on the engine side & join them & have the rad cleaned. don't need a heater here anyway!!
good luck.


I can tell you dont live down here in Victoria :D

More a Qld problem I think as we get more leaks from the aircon condenser water over flowing due to the hoses blocking up from not being used often enough :p

Check for rust bubbles in the A pillar just in the door jam as well as the C pillar near the rear door locks in the seam there, if it is just a bit of a rusty colour in the seam you may be able to get away with some penatrating rust converter.

The windscreen seals on the bottom corners can also leak (as Ron said, leaks leaks and more leaks).

I think most of the rest has been covered :cool:

[p38arover]

something i noticed no one mention is the heaters in the discos suck & more times than not because of a lack of use in australia they corrode in the matrix & supply pipes which are under the dash & run through the firewall.

<snip>

easy to fix. disconect the pipes at the firewall on the engine side & join them & have the rad cleaned. don't need a heater here anyway!!
good luck.

I disagree.

I think the V8s might have a water control tap. The Tdi doesn't so water flows all the time. However, if you disconnect the heater, the temperature control on the AC doesn't work - you will only ever get the coldest air. You cannot adjust the temperature. I know this from my daughter's D1.

When I drove the Disco to Derby, the screen fogged up as it condensed the humidity onto the screen - on the outside!

[cucinadio]

the only bad thing that can really give you the sh#ts is this
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery/49472-holy-crap-what.html
other than this, you will and l mean you will fall in love with the bloody thing :D

cheers