Thread: Dealer lieing about selecting Low Range on Disco2?

I can understand feeling ****ed... Can't help you about the auto - but I can offer these soothing words : When in doubt - DON'T. If you are shelling out for a Disco 2, time is on your side. All the stealers (dealers) want to do is shift it out. Calmly put it to them what you have learnt. And if you can't get $1000 off, politely walk away. It's better to say not than to be stuck with a lemon.

Langy

Depends whether he's signed anything regarding purchasing the vehicle. If he has (signed something) and walks out on the contract some dealers use that to get part of the money anyway without selling the vehicle, ie. they sue you for lost earnings, abandoning the contract or something similar.

If he hasn't then you normally can play the dealer a bit to get what you want. Don't let them lead you or you might end up with that lemon suggested.

Mechanically it sounds right about shifting into neutral with the auto before it will go into low range. I wouldn't be sure about the second opinion, seems a fair bit of shuffling to get it into low range, perhaps the mechanic doesn't know how it works ? I would think it should be with the dealer on this one as not all mechanics are knowledgable about every vehicle system on FWDs. That's why there are specialised four wheel drive mechanics and there's your general tuneup/change the oil mechanics. The earlier should be the one you take it to if there's a problem or query.

Did you take it to a specialised four wheel drive mechanic ?

From my point of view if it engages low range then there can't be too much wrong with it, could just be a little stiff from lack of use. Take it for another drive before you hand over the cash and fiddle with stuff especially the low range stick making sure everything does (still) work then make the decision from there. Remember if you miss this one there are plenty of others so shop with your head not you heart and you should come out on top. :wink:

DiscoStew,

The operation described by the stealer is too convoluted and the mechanic is right. If you need to prove a point then the owner's manual will describe the procedure.

In any event as Hellspawn suggests lack of regular use can lead to the H to L being difficult to engage. So take it for another drive and try it again and again. If the dealer was worth his commission he would have a mechanic climb under and lubricate the linkage as well.

Good luck?

Thanks for the responses.

I admit I was having a bit of a panic attack and not thinking clearly. I have since decided to jump into other cars when I get there and compare how the levers feel.

The RACQ mechanic assured me that once he got it into low range everything was fine. There were no other problems besides a bit of oil. It has no rust and only 52000Km and the price appears to be fair compared to others so unless it is very bad I'll probably get it anyway and hope it is all cable related and cheap to remedy.

The Mechanic is right , the dealers work around is just that a work around for a problem.

I also suggest you dont settle for splitting the difference either, why should you be out of pocket by $500. Your already spending your hard earned cash.

Get them to fix it so it operates as per the owners manual.

I dont know what transfer case is in the D2 but in my Rangie Auto, I shift the auto to neutral, then move the transfer case from high neutral low then place it into drive. you need to be either stoper or travling no more than about 5-8 klm/h to do this.

As for any vehical sale in Victoria there is a cooling off period which allows you to walk away ?

Good luck.

Discostew,
i hope your disco isnt coming from anywhere near
boundry and beaudesert rds????
if so walk away, ive been taught a big lesson from these STEALERS!
by law all cars sold by stealers have a 30 day warrenty!
they have to fix it what ever the problem is!!!!!

DW

I assume the Disco II is the same as the Disco I in this regard:

From the owner's manual:

USING THE TRANSFER GEARBOX

There are two ways of operating the transfer gearbox lever; the 'normal'
method -recommended for inexperienced drivers - and the 'advanced' method for experienced drivers.

Automatic models:

With the vehicle stationary and the engine running, apply both foot brake
and handbrake and then move the automatic gearbox selector to the 'N'
(neutral) position before moving the transfer lever fully forward or
backwards to the required position.

Advanced method

Changing from high to low on the move:

On automatic models, reduce (or increase) the speed of the vehicle to 8 km/h and release the accelerator. Select 'N' and move the transfer lever quickly to the required 'H' or 'L' position.

Finally, reselect 'D' with the main gear selector and continue driving as
normal.


If it doesn't do that, get the dealer to fix it. If you fix it, you have no comeback if it fails.

Ron

Thanks for all the advice. The dealer was Austral LR at Newstead Brisbane.

When I turned up he was a step ahead as he must have realised the stupidity of the advice he had received, and passed on, and the problem was rectified before I got there. It is still stiff but does get in there, and works easily when rolling slowly. It seems to be getting less stiff with more use. All this supports the theory that zero use is the root cause rather than anything more serious.

I will have to find out how to lubricate it myself when I speak to the mechanic about setting up the centre difflock, which I think is installed in these models but with no mechanism for activating them.

Anyway I am now a proud Disco owner trying to ignore all the LR bashing on other forums. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]