Thread: Selling up and buying a cherokee

Have to agree with ramblingboy42, and a few others. The most unreliable car I have owned was a 1985 Toyota 4runner with a 2L diesel, and the two Landcruisers I owned before this rusted out so quickly I couldn't keep up the rust repairs.

The point Stevo68 made was age and mileage, I would like to add previous owners attitude as well.

I traded the fallover for a 85 Rangie and this was a top car a real credit to the previous owner. It did have 235 on the clock but far better than the Tojo all round and it started my love of the brand. I then paid for a low km Disco and again no issues that were caused by the brand of car.
Yes in both of these cars I blew diffs and snapped Cv's or axles but the cost to repair was much cheaper than Toyota charge (why do people think they are cheap to maintain?) $85 for a thermostat for the 2L(1997 price)
I now have a 10 year old D2 TD5 and the previous owner didn't love it but maintained it to a high standard and didn't cut corners on maintenance. Again though I get heaps if something breaks just because it is a Landie. But I love it

I had a Jeep and must say, it was actually pretty good.
The car is ultra basic, rear drums, basic design and interior layout and boxy but was very reliable. A few known issues are head gaskets, auto boxes and that manifold that always cracks, they are stainless steel and warp or crap if water splashes on it, very pricey to fix and mine was sold just as it happened.

The fuel consumption on the ancient 4L is terrible in town. gas is fine on them but tank space can be a problem.

The motor itself ****s all over the Rover V8, they have plenty of power and its linear surge and great for towing.

Now, if buying a similar age Jeep, u will face same problems as with the Landy. Trick is buy one that had a lot of $$ spend on it, only when parts are replaced as they wear will they the car be reliable.
Its that simple, buy a cheap Disco, u will pay somewhere along the way.
I bought a well looked after Disco tdi, spend same money on it of what I paid originally and it was ultra reliable and when I sold it to a fella on here, I know it will proove to be reliable yet again. Its a great car.

I hate to say it but you probably have a dud, not cared for or with a bad history.

Good luck with what ever direction you take.

I'll be looking for a new car in about 6 months already decided on a d2 update model at least an 03 model and I'll be sticking with the v8

You have my sympathy.

The most unreliable vehicle I ever owned was a Commodore.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

You have my sympathy.

The most unreliable vehicle I ever owned was a Commodore.

Got to say, the most reliable car I have ever owned is the Commodore which I still have.

Originally Posted by jazzaD1

as the title says, in the coming months, i am selling both of my discos, and all associated parts, and buying an XJ Jeep Cherokee

I need something i can rely on, and while i would like to believe it, for me, a discovery isn't it

any thoughts?

Hey Jazza! Saw a white tandem where I last bumped in to you. Did you recently use it?
If you need a reliable car, buy a Camry. John (remember that guy in the Territory that night at Wombat) has one that has been very reliable.
On reliable cars.
Not long after I bought my hybrid Series III Stage 1/RRC, I spoke to some people at a Landrover club stand at a 4WD show.
"I got one of them." I said.
"What sort?" they asked.
I described it. "You bought so-and-so's!" they exclaimed.
"Yes." was the answer.
"Do you find something falls off it each week?" they asked.
"No. It's been very reliable."I replied.
"That's funny. Each weekend so-and-so took it out something new would break on it. Come to think of it, each time he takes his Patrol out, something falls off that."

What I am saying is it might not be the vehicle, it might be how it is treated.
Chances are, if you buy another 4WD and not change driving and maintenance patterns, you'll get the same problems. This is why I have the Commodore as a daily drive and other vehicles as hobby cars. If the hobby car is not working it doesn't effect the daily drive.
Good luck with your decision.

Originally Posted by catch-22

It's not a Land Rover problem. It's an age and k's problem.
Just get something with less k's. LR, Jeep, Nissan, whatever. Less K's usually means less wear and tear.

Yep!
I bought my D2 with lots of touring mods, but about 160k's on it (now 240k)and I've been fixing everything the the previous owner got out of it for. My file will tell me how much I've spent, but I'm not going to add it up.

The TJ Wrangler I had until about a year ago also had about 160k's on it but all in the city. Apart from normal servicing it didn't cost me a dime.
After a $17k build up into a rock crawler it was still vastly more reliable (and thirsty!) than the D2, with the exception of a clutch that exploded due to a manufacturing fault and a bit of water in the fuel from a dodgy service station.

Bottom line: the Jeep was reliable enough to let me spend money on improvements not simply keeing it mobile. I've not really been able to do that with the D2.

I love my D2, but in hindsight, I should have kept the Jeep, but two doors was a bit restricting with two kids and two dogs!

If I had the $, a cared for 4 door JK Wrangler, with the CRD would suit me well. Even better with the 3.0td from a WH Grand Chero shoe-horned in!

Open top for summer, easily modded, extra space (over the TJ), separate chassis solid axles front and rear.

Having said that, I blame my Landy's previous owner and it's age, not the car itself, for the issues.

Cheers
Mike

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

Hey Jazza! Saw a white tandem where I last bumped in to you. Did you recently use it?

Yeah, it is a mate's truck, i used it to pick up my diesel disco about 5 months back, but not since then

I initially had plans to turbo my v8, and bought the turbo, intercooler, wastegate and some other bits for it, then decided to rebuild the engine beforehand since on a prior trip to the high country it was overheating a bit, and was down on power, i bought some of the parts needed from paddocks, and while doing the sums for what it was going to cost, i found a diesel disco on ebay, it required a transfer case, it was the right price so i bought it, i am currently in the process of reinstalling the gearbox, and after that was done i was going to get it registered

recently i have had second thoughts, partially being fuelled by the fact that where i am living now, a disco with decent tyres and a lift will not fit under my garage door, and i am sick of working on it at my parents place

i have no idea how the reliability is of the tdi, having only ever driven the v8i, i was really keen to get it up and running, but i think im just a bit sick of discoverys at the moment

but then again.... i keep changing my mind, it will be cheaper to just register the diesel disco and repair what needs fixing, i think i need to go and test drive an XJ cherokee and see what its all about, i might hate it, who knows?