Any opinions on Land Rovers?

[Abnormal]

I am looking at a 1999 Discovery SD for my wife. This is not the Series II. I am curious about the reliability of this model. It has only 47,000 miles on it. Thanks. I only ask because I value the members of this boards opinion!

[Super90]

I looked at Disco's pretty hard when I returned to the States after living in South America for a few years. A friend down there had a 1997or 1998 model Disco and we drove it through some really bad stuff in Southern Chile. The suspension was a dream compared to my 1988 Nissan Patrol! It really soaked up the bumps. Long story short, after looking at lots of them and also looking at my other favorite stateside truck, the Toyota Land Cruiser, I bought a 1985 FJ-60 and then a 1994 FZJ-80. I saw Cruisers in South America that had seen lots of abuse and basically zero routine maintenance (because folks just didn't do that down there so much), and they kept right on going.

I am not knocking the Disco, but I would say that it is relatively high maintenance. I know we sent my buddy's truck back to the shop in Chile a couple of times just to have the dealer "nut and bolt" it because after a long trip it would develop lots of squeaks and rattles. They would go all over that truck with the wrenches and get things tight again. After the next long trip on the Panamericana, same problem. Again, this truck was brand new.

Fast-forward to today. Another friend of mine has a 1997 FZJ-80 and a 1995 Disco. He will tell you, both are very good off road vehicles right out of the box, but the Cruiser has had far fewer trips to the shop and it will drive circles around the Disco in the rough stuff, mainly due to it having the factory locking diffs (front, rear, and center), which Rover doesn't sell. As he has said many a time, "The Disco is a great truck, and I really like it, but it isn't a Land Cruiser". We have taken our FZJ's on outings with the Rover club and some of his friends in the Rover Club are seeing how capable and reliable the FZJ is and are having buyer's remorse. The others are "die in the wool" Rover fans and you can't convince them that anything compares.

My FZJ now has 152k on the clock and it doesn't have any of those squeak and rattle issues the Disco in Chile did. I have done nothing but routine service to it and it is going strong. I am fully confident I will put 200k on it without problems. Then I'll find another FZJ-80 with low miles.

Rover's approach seem to be to build trucks that can easily be repaired in the field with simple tools by anyone with reasonable mechanical ability, while Toyota's approach seems to be more akin to "build a truck that doesn't need to be repaired".

I hear that the newer Rovers are said to be better than ever and the 1999 might be a great improvement relative to the previous models.

I like them both, but this is where I ended up.

Oh and FYI, my LC has had far, far fewer repairs than my 5-series! Yes, it's a Toyota, but it has more soul than any Camry out there!

[winfred]

i don't know anything about the newer discos after bmw took over with the m62 bimmer v8 but the late 90's ones seem to suck, it's been said that bmw fixed the rover. the bosses mom has a late 90's disco (i think it's still in warranty, thank god) and it's at the dealer all of the time, i think the heads have been off of it a few times and it's had at least one motor from a dealer screw up. the women is in her 80's it's not like she thrashes it

[Unregistered]

I had an '80 FJ40. Aside from the dismal fuel consumption it was great. Easy enough to work on and you can get parts anywhere. This thing took me everywhere, from trout fishing deep in the woods of West Virginia to surf trips on Hatteras. It never left me stranded.

My former neighbor had a used Rover. The starter puked one day, she managed to get one for a mere 1400.00. Ack.

[Joestancampiano]

I have two friends that had them, aside from theie usual British "everything falls off" quality and bad gas mileage, they were both were rolled over and totaled. One slid sideways on the Alcan Hwy at 15 mph hit a rut and went over. The other rolled on I95 trying to avoid a wreck. Like most utes with soft suspension, they are quite top heavy. The first was a pre BMW-Ford Disco, the other was a BMW one. Both friends bought something else and said adios to Discos

[Daskoff]

I too looked at the Disco. Great riding truck. The thing that turned me off was the reliablity issue. I ended buying a '97 Cruiser. Let's put it this was the LC has a 4.5 liter in-line 6. Just like the 5er except a liter bigger= much more torque. Plus the longetivity is simlar to the 5er M30 with mileage easily going in the high 200K low 300K before teardown.

I joined the local Rover club and went wheeling with them and the torque is very evident where the rovers had to get a running start up a hill where the cruiser would just "walk" up the hill no problem. The only thing the rover has over the cruiser is that they have a shorter wheel base enabling them to crest steep hills better, but that's about it. Bottom line is that the Disco is a very capable truck but the reliablity issue is the over-riding issue. The plus side of the cruiser is also the great support you get via the many web-based forums...my favorite is www.IH8MUD.com. Check it out for more info on the cruiser.

Adrian
Chicago

'90 535im 125K
'97 fj80 73K
'99 K1200RS 13K

[Unregistered]

Mom has a 2000 Disco II. I want to disagree with most everyone here. I've drive the truck in 2 feet of snow and watched it do incredible things. Sure it needs its service, but my moms has never had any problems that were off-routine maintenance. Her particular isn't the off-roading "ideal" because it has 18" wheels with performance tires... but even so, the thing has never ever ever gotten stuck in snow up here in the North East. It also has the active cornering package which unlike BMWs version, actually works. If i had to pick an SUV i think i would choose this one. I don't particularly like the driving position, because I am used to my E34 being low and supportive. But, when i drve the Disco, it feels in control and solid. Her car had been rear ended two weeks by a 2003 Jetta on the way home from work. The prognosis was:

Landrover: Bent rear bumper, scratch on rear fender from bumper.
Jetta: Totalled.

The jetta suffered bent frame railed and the hood is now a veneer on the windshield. I got to see the car when picking up my moms car from repair for the bumper, it wasn't pretty. No one was hurt as it was a low speed collision, but the jetta did not like hitting the Rovers solid body.

I recommend the car for safety and that its a great driver (as great as any SUV can be..). I am not sure about early 90's ones as my moms is 2000. I imagine the earlier ones have the typical Jaguar electrical problems, etc. Give them a test drive, go to LR and have them take you on the demo drive, you won't be let down!

[Unregistered]

I have two friends that had them, aside from theie usual British "everything falls off" quality and bad gas mileage, they were both were rolled over and totaled. One slid sideways on the Alcan Hwy at 15 mph hit a rut and went over. The other rolled on I95 trying to avoid a wreck. Like most utes with soft suspension, they are quite top heavy. The first was a pre BMW-Ford Disco, the other was a BMW one. Both friends bought something else and said adios to Discos

Roll-over was notorious in the Series 1. Having driven a Series II for thousands of miles, I think it comes down to knowing how to drive the car. The ACE package levels the chassis SO MUCH... i notice no "roll" like was notorious of Series I

[Super90]

Good point, my buddy's wife rolled theirs too while on a trip in Argentina. That was the first Disco they had. Admittedly, the solid construction of the truck let her walk away without a scratch. They bought another Disco after that as the first was totalled. All my experience with that couple was riding in their second Disco as the accident happened before I met them.

[Super90]

I can confidently say the LC with keeps up with or outperforms even the Disco II, especially if the Cruiser has the lockers. I have seen them both in action. If that Disco II didn't get stuck, the Land Cruiser won't either.

Oh and I don't think you have to worry about getting hurt in the LC if you get hit by little econo cars either!

Go drive a TLC and a Disco and choose for yourself.

Again, both good offroad vehicles, but you have to decide what you want, Rover's brit heritage or Toyota's reliability.