Thread: 300Tdi disco 1 as a first car

Welcome.

I can tell you a few things from our experience, buying a 1998 fixer 300tdi manual with 200k km. We bought it for my sone and I to fix up and as his first/learner car. He loves it, I like it too.

First the last the D1s are a very nice vehicle to drive. It’s fairly stock other than a 2” lift and air bags in the back.

We bought it knowing it had some rust in the floor which needed repair and the motor had a fairly substantial oil leak. But the car drove and ran well. I knew the original owner that we bought it from and was happy the motor was regularly serviced.

The floor rust was more widespread than what could be seen. But with some time, effort, basic tools, gal sheet and some prefab pieces from the UK it all came up very good.

The oil lead was from a failed vacuum pump, that cost a bit.

After about 18mths the top of the oil pressure sensor blew and emptied the motor of oil. So we got the motor out and at the shop for a rebuild. Ive bought all the parts. I’m expecting the rebuild to cost between $6-7k, split roughly evenly for parts/labour. We are refitting the motor ourselves. I was quoted $13k for drive in drive out repair. Which now doesn’t surprise me. We could have written off the car and walked away. But could have then picked up another older car which then suffered some catastrophic failure. One thing identified during this rebuild is the injectors were all RS. Ive been told to expect that at around the 200k km mark. So I would have been up for that expense and the expense of a new timing belt anyway. So the cost doesn’t seem too bad taking that into account, and we will have a motor that is at least as good as factory new.

While I dont regret buying the D1 or repairing it, in retrospect I think I would have bought a well looked after prado 90 with a 2.7 petrol manual. These were quite unpopular compared to the v6 and 3.0TD, so sold cheap a few years ago. It wouldn’t have been as nice as the D1 or as economical to run, but they are quite a well regarded unit and also permanent 4WD on coils.

I hope this helps.

both would be a reasonable first 4WD I reckon.

Don't buy into it thinking that this will be 'cheap' motoring tho.
You could purchase the best kept vehicle with fantastic service records ... etc, etc but there is every possibility that some major failure can happen at any time.
My philosophy is to find a vehicle with the least appendages on it to minimise the things that can go wrong. By that I mean, stuff like accessories and or standard gear in the car.
I don't like ABS, as when it fails it costs a lot, and car will drive horrible. I don't particularly thing air bags are an item that was really needed in the world. If people drive sensibly safety devices like that aren't needed. When airbags cause faults they are annoying.
So, not surprising that I waited for my D1 to pop up onto the market with no airbags and no ABS. Because it's a pre OBD vehicle, those faults are harder to diagnose.

What you will find tho is that over a short initial period after you purchase the car(say first 12 months or so) it will have small not overly expensive items fail.
Stuff like, serpentine belt adjuster, or viscous coupling, or leaking waterpump, etc. All things that will majorly halt the ability to drive the vehicle.
It will be a cascade of this stuff that will eventually cost you $ for the first couple of years.
These vehicles are old now, they probably done 300-400K klms or so. Expect that stuff will wear out or has a finite lifetime of use .. and so needs replacing/servicing.

If you do go with a Pajero, I'd recommend 3rd gen(early) petrol (v6), which would be an NM model, rather than the 2nd gen. Earlier models have transfer box issues and are expensive to fix.
Driven sensible, a v6 Pajero will get you close to 10-12l/100.
These can be found for less than $5K in base trim and manual.

When you say budget $5-8K is this the total budget or just the initial purchase budget? Big difference!
You seem to want to accessorise the vehicle .. which seems only natural .. for the purpose of ???? 4WDing/Bushbashing? or Exploring/Overlanding?
Big wheels and lift, sounds like you want to go bush. This will cost you $'s over time in terms of worn bits and pieces and breakages.

yeah I've looked at 3rd gen pajero's but they lack a rear live axle which severely inhibits offroading ability as I want to go more out bush and hard tracks than on beach/touring trips. the 2.7 petrol Prado is a good option, but I may aswell get a Hilux with the same engine. I would imagine the Hilux get better fuel economy than the 2.7 Prado because it's lighter. one of my mates has a perentie and really likes it. ideally I would like the fuel consumption to be under 15L/100km regardless of petrol or diesel. I think if I had a major problem that would cost a LOT to repair I would just 4jj1 swap it as that is really good engine for the price.

My 300tdi has been very reliable and pretty cheap to fix and maintain. I paid 3k for my Disco and have spent a bit of money on it replacing all the suspension and bushes, brakes etc. It's an old car and any 20-30 year old car is going to need some work so expect thing to be worn and budget for some repairs. Look out for rust, I saw plenty of really rusty examples when looking around. Floors, around alpine window and screen, firewall are all places to check. Parts have been reasonable to buy and it is a pretty basic car to work on.
If you plan on towing heavy loads they are not the best as they are no powerhouse.

Originally Posted by Fattima

My 300tdi has been very reliable and pretty cheap to fix and maintain. I paid 3k for my Disco and have spent a bit of money on it replacing all the suspension and bushes, brakes etc. It's an old car and any 20-30 year old car is going to need some work so expect thing to be worn and budget for some repairs. Look out for rust, I saw plenty of really rusty examples when looking around. Floors, around alpine window and screen, firewall are all places to check. Parts have been reasonable to buy and it is a pretty basic car to work on.
If you plan on towing heavy loads they are not the best as they are no powerhouse.

yeah i think im most 'passionate' about disco 1's than any other 4wd. when did you get yours for 3k and off what website. ive been looking around and cant seem to find anything for anywhere near that price.

Originally Posted by patriotic_penguin

yeah I've looked at 3rd gen pajero's but they lack a rear live axle which severely inhibits offroading ability as I want to go more out bush and hard tracks than on beach/touring trips. ....

Ah! common misconception #1 .. that ALL rear live axle systems articulate better than IRS! My mechanic mate has a NM Paj(diesel, but another long story for another day .. in summary ... avoid!) The rear end of the NM articulate much better than any live axle Pajero of previous generation. Their major issue is that the drive shafts dislocate with too much flex! For sand driving having the diffs tucked up on the body helps with more ground clearance too(in rutted sandy situations).
He says(as do others) the biggest gripe with the 3rd gen Pajeros is rear overhang .. way too much/too low.

2.7 Prado is also a excellent first timers 4WD. Parts will be plentiful, as well as accessories for them. And being a 'consumable' type vehicle(ie. usually owned by non enthusiasts) .. many will be wrecked earlier than say a Disco 1 or 2 .. so more secondhand parts will be available for them .. ie. cheaper repairs in the short term.

Given the choice between a Prado and a Hilux .. I'd go Prado any day. I've never had experience with one, but have with a Hilux .. and for the trip to your bush retreat .. err .. yuk! You'd be more comfy in a milk crate on a skateboard!

Where the Disco is good in terms of secondhand parts system is that so many parts commonality between then and RRC's and Defenders.

I agree with Fattima tho on the liveability/cost analysis about the D1 300 Tdi. I've had mine for 5 years now. Very early on it spun a bearing in the transfer case. I thought to get it done/do it myself, but it's my daily. Has been for those 5 years. For the transfer case tho, I thought .. better to just get a reco one fitted which keeps it on the road(to get me to work at least).
Other than that, some leaks(you WILL get leaks in a D1) I fixed with silicone/RTV type stuff, or replaced some hose or clamp or whatever.
Havent' had the chance to replace the leaking rear diff pinion seal, and only because I have two ATB diffs to go into it .. only reason they haven't been installed is 'lockdown'!

What's important is to not have the mindset that this car is reliable due to some urban myth syndrome. ALL vehicles break down/wear out. At your budget range you are looking at a 20 year old vehicle that wil have done a lot of miles. How hard were those miles(towing or offroading) rubber softens and hardens .. needs replacing every so often ..

Brother was convinced by someone that a GU patrol was going to be bulletproof, and for a good 6 months it was .. as said. But one hot day going up north into hotter weather, it blew a coolant hose. fixed and kept going. He thought no worries, except that he didn't understand why it blew it's hose. actual reason it blew the hose was failed viscous coupling. Temp gauge is LR like in that it shows you that coolant is very hot after the fact that it's damaged your engine. Wasnt' coolant hose that blew it was failed headgasket that blew it. he owned it for just over a year and sold it as is. My theory is that if a car is supposedly bullet proof, you may need a artillery shell to put it out your misery.

The way I see the difference between some Jap offroaders and Landrover: the Jap one doesn't need $'s spent immediately, whereas the LR one does. The Jap offroader needs $s spent in the coming years instead.

Originally Posted by AK83

The way I see the difference between some Jap offroaders and Landrover: the Jap one doesn't need $'s spent immediately, whereas the LR one does. The Jap offroader needs $s spent in the coming years instead.

I agree with you here, and since I'm handy on the tools, lots of minor/cheap issues wont be too much of a hassle. It's a 20-30yo vehicle so as any car of that age I expect it to have issues.

Currently my "4wd tier list" is 300tdi D1> 2.7 prado> 2nd gen v6 paj. I think it will come down to what car i can buy and for what price. I've heard that the 2nd gen 2.8td (4m04) pajeros are really good, there is one really close to me so I might have to do a bit of driveway shopping. I really like land rovers because they are different to jap 4wds in a way. And as for the oil leaks, at least you know it has oil in it

Originally Posted by patriotic_penguin

yeah i think im most 'passionate' about disco 1's than any other 4wd. when did you get yours for 3k and off what website. ive been looking around and cant seem to find anything for anywhere near that price.

Sorry should have mentioned that was about 3 years ago, was on FB marketplace.