Thread: D2 v8 Es ready to buy advice

Hi Geoff,

It sounds good to me, especially for as ES.

Cheers,
Ron

It is a good price, well done, hope it all works out for you.

I had a whinge yesterday about poorly advertised LR's, LR Traders and innacurate ads but you seem to know your stuff so wont be pulled in I'm sure.

For some more info on Feb 1999 to Nov 2001 models see this:

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery/...buy-disco.html

All the best.

Maybe I'm mean with my money (why not, I work hard for it!) but I think that's still a touch high.

I know ES is top of the range and worth more, and it's an 02 (no transfer case internals probably, does that matter to you?) but to give you an idea, here in Sydney I just paid $12,500 for a 1999 D2 V8 manual 7-seat no ACE 88,000km, Mondial 18in alloys and towbar. And while I am happy, I think I probably paid $500-$1000 too much for it. FYI, the buyer knew her $17,500 asking price was wrong - when I bought it, she showed me her insurance policy, which had it insured for $12,800! It didn't really matter to me, I got the car I wanted at a fair price, so I was happy.

It has a scrape on the lower left doors that'll cost me $500 to fix, a broken driver's door mirror that's $330, a dodgy but working spare key and a broken clip to hold a folded third-row seat in place. Other than that and a bit of a clean and polish, it's near perfect, hardly any oil leaks, goes well, a bit of pwr steer shudder but a one-owner car, garaged, with a clearly documented history with Land Rover and most of the service receipts to go with the stamped service book.

I walked away from a 2001 5-seat auto, 77,000km that drove well, had been dealer or LRA optioned with leather and sunroof, and the owner was down to $13,900. It sold, don't know how much, but I think $13k would have got it easily. Drove very well with the HC engine but wet carpet in pass footwell and unsightly dent on bonnet (and patchy service history) put it back in the queue for me.

I have noticed that Discos do not age very well if not looked after, so yes you're right, getting a really good car is important. I'm sure you know abt the cosmetic stuff - paint is not fantastic, will age quickly if not looked after (though an '02 should have lasted okay), headlining will sag, leaks from engine, cracked bits of interior and exterior trim here and there seem common, but if you look you will find one that has been looked after and not have these problems. The few 2002s I have looked at still appear reasonably fresh, though the 2001 above had a split headlight washer nozzle and some plastics were quite faded and weathered.

There are lots of these D2s around, and thirsty V8 4WDs are not popular - it really is a buyer's market. I have already been abused driving my D2 by a woman in an Echo this morning for not using my indicator (one lane opening into two). She certainly looked like she had her share of problems, but I think it was partly the anti-4WD thing...

Car valuations on carsales.com.au and redbook.com.au seem to a be a little out sometimes (sellers will be in a hurry to sell, so do end up selling for less, some buyers will just want a particular car, and pay more) but they still serve as a good general benchmark of what people really pay.

Thanks heaps for the advice and will see how I go tomorrow, and let all know.

Unfortunately in this day with fuel costs, unless I fork out heaps more for diesel for the one trip a year towing, worked out that the landy still shines as the camper is the off road model and somehow cannot see myself in the smaller framless ones. talk tomorrow arvo,

That is a valid point - the 2002 probably won't have a Centre Diff-lock at all. No buttons, no internals, nothing.

I believe these days it can be retrofitted but at a respectable cost.

(no transfer case internals probably, does that matter to you?)

Oops, what I meant to say being a 2002 it probably won't have a centre-diff lock mechanism or internals. It will still have a working transfer case.

Okay on that and I saw a pick of what to look for (i.e the nut in the top) but I suspect I'll look for the transfer case serial and it appear to be 3/02.

Must admit, that does worry a tad given the lock was the item of choice and last resort. I take it landrover used the electornics to cater for the lack of ie apply braking force to the spinning one or two.

I also see over in us the 03 model got the 4.6 block and pitty we didn't this.

Land Rover believed that the traction control would be more than sufficient so the Centre Diff Lock was no longer necessary. Hence in late 2000 they started removing the buttons but not the internals and in 2002 they removed the internals.

After some near fatal incidents where the traction control just can't handle it in very specific circumstances (I believe it's reversing backwards down a hill at sharp angles?) Land Rover rapidly put everything back in place (internals AND buttons) for the 2003 model.

If you're just going to use it for towing then you should be fine. If you plan on doing any sort of 4wd'ing then I would recommend purchasing one that either has the Centre Diff Lock or else getting it retro-fitted.