Thread: How many km's is too many (Discovery)?

Start off with having a read through this thread.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery-...02-2004-a.html

Good luck with the looking too.

Originally Posted by wade1980

Hi all,

First time Landrover buyer here. My parter and I are looking at getting a Discovery, something from around 2002-2005, with a budget of up to 15000. We have found a couple of what look like decent vehicles on carsales.com.au (in South Australia), but my partner is worried that they have too many km's on the clock. Each vehicle has done no more than 200 000km (no more than 170 000 in most cases), but she fears that this is on the high side. Having only had experience to date with sedans, I have no way of knowing whether this range of km readings is good or bad for a Landrover Discovery. Can you help me get to grips on what sort of range is good for a vehicle of the age we're looking at (2002-2005) and the above budget?

Thanks so much,

Wade

Hi Wade,
I don't think that 170,000 km is a lot for a vehicle that is 10 - 14 years old, especially if there is evidence that it has been well maintained. In my own view, this is especially so if you're looking at a TD5 (you didn't give us any idea about that).

At such kilometreage, a properly maintained automatic transmission gearbox should also have plenty of life left.

I purchased a 2004 TD5 / auto with 178,000 on the clock about a year ago, for about the amount that you mention. In hindsight, it may have been a bit much, but it stood out head-and-shoulders above the others that I looked at, in terms of appearing to have been well looked after.
Do you know of a mechanic or workshop familiar with the Disco that you could get to check it over for you? A Land Rover specialist in Perth did that for me for a very reasonable charge (like $100).
Good luck, Andrew Milne

Hi Wade. With that budget you should be able to get a pretty good TD5. There's on on carsales now in NSW with about 90,000 on it.
Do you want a manual or auto? ACE? 5 or 7 seats? There's a lot to consider, as each will have different mechanical bits. Do you intend to do much off roading? If so it will need a CDL.
But you asked about ks. 200,000 is nothing to a well maintained Disco in my view. Like all cars, there are things that need attention, and a Land Rover specialist ( not a dealer, if you can help it, at least that's my opinion )will know what to look for. I'm sure there are some South Aussie members who can point you at someone in Adelaide.
Good luck. I hope you get much enjoyment.

Hi Wade,

In that bracket go the 2004 model - the best of the D2s rather than saving on 10-20k kms here or there with an earlier model. Superior beast to earlier models.

When the oil l/klm starts to match to the fuel l/klm then thats too many .

Originally Posted by wade1980

Hi all,

First time Landrover buyer here. My parter and I are looking at getting a Discovery, something from around 2002-2005, with a budget of up to 15000. We have found a couple of what look like decent vehicles on carsales.com.au (in South Australia), but my partner is worried that they have too many km's on the clock. Each vehicle has done no more than 200 000km (no more than 170 000 in most cases), but she fears that this is on the high side. Having only had experience to date with sedans, I have no way of knowing whether this range of km readings is good or bad for a Landrover Discovery. Can you help me get to grips on what sort of range is good for a vehicle of the age we're looking at (2002-2005) and the above budget?

Thanks so much,

Wade

If you are worried about high mileage and you want to spend top dollar the most important item to look for is Service history.
A complete service history will tell you everything you need to know, you could even contact the previous owner or the company that serviced the vehicle you are considering.
Regular oil changes and servicing is the Key to long life and many miles to come, Good Luck, Regards Frank.

due to fundamental design issues and severely lacking quality control, some have major issues after a few hundred k's so it's the luck of the draw.


I guess with higher mileage, you get into the realms of things which fail/wear out "normally" at high mileage + stuff which normally lasts a long time, but is deemed as a serviceable item (ie defect design) on a LR so can fail early + this stuff that can fail any time from new + stuff that might have lasted if only the owner had serviced every month = how long is a piece of string!!


Can't remember the stats exactly, but something like 80% of LR break down each year in the first 3 years.

Mileage doesn't mean a terrible lot when it comes to buying a 4WD. It's more the type of miles and servicing that's important.