School me on Discoveries

[84FJ60]

just wondering what the pros and cons of a 93 disco are.

a friend of mine wants to get into 4wding and a 93 disco has come up for 3000, owned its entire life by an old lady.
im just doing some research for him.

cheers.

[KillaMav]

The person I work for has one with a 3.9V8. IMO I would run away screaming, but I'm a nissan patrol/ maverick person. Roof linings fell down, motor is on gas and well its just a problem. I have driven it and the power from the V8 is nothing to talk about.

At least it wont rust as it leaks so much oil. Sorry about the land rover joke couldn't resist.

$3000 is cheap. Cannot think of positives, but negatives are..

[84FJ60]

personally im not a rover fan either but my parents have had their TDi disco for 10 years now and it uses almost no fuel, runs beautifully hads ome issues but my parents are 99% happy with it.

oh and the one my friend is lookin at is a diesel.

[whyallacookie]

Great approach, ramp over and departure angles, excellent long travel coil spring suspension, good prices for parts (unless you go in to a dealer LOL)

Very comfortable and come complete with their own anti rust system.

Very capable and comfortable vehicles, not expensive to run unless you pay someone to do everything on it

[Reddo]

sounds like a good price We have one the same, with the 3.5 which is indestructable, but uses heaps of fuel - like all V8s I guess. Don't listen to Nissan or Toyota owners as they can only make their inadequate vehicles look good by trashing superior cars:)

Never regretted buying it - paid 3K too and have spend about half the money needed to make a comparible Yota or Nissan bullet proof and very capable off road, eg., F&R lockers, upgraded axles, 4.11 R&Ps, 35s, upgraded brakes (off Defender), Nissan (yes Nissan) CVs etc etc.

Parts prices are very cheap compared to Yota and Nissan, and plenty around second-hand. They do not leak oil unless the seals are buggered. Too bad most owners treat them like trash and seldom stick to service intervals - just ask any LR service agent, they see them trashed all the time.

Parts from many other models and interchangeable, eg, Series 2 and Defender bits and pieces, and parts from UK arrive faster than from Aus many suppliers and one-third the price usually.

Early model interiors are basic construction, but then again for 3K who cares?

Unlike Toyota and some Nissan the chassis does not twist, tear or rust out and the body is easy to repair or modify for bigger wheels.

For 3K....why would you argue..they are way more capable out of the box that most counterparts, and with a little modification they will match most super-modified Jap trucks and still ride and handle better both off and on road.

[nqgu]

disco or rangie is a great way for someone to get into 4wding. Just need to be prepared to do your own servicing. Great capable vehicles.

[84FJ60]

whats peoples opinion on the amount of room in the back, my mate has a family, and i've noticed the disco's dont have much room in the back of em

[gidget]

We have a 93 disco.... & I couldn't speak highly enough, we have had no real trouble from it, just the usual 250 000 km problems on a 2nd hand car.
$3K is cheap, got any pics if your mate don't want it :p spare parts ;)
As for the room in the back, they are funny, as the rear seat sits higher than the front... sort of like seating at the cinema, so room is deceiving.

[84FJ60]

We have a 93 disco.... & I couldn't speak highly enough, we have had no real trouble from it, just the usual 250 000 km problems on a 2nd hand car.
$3K is cheap, got any pics if your mate don't want it :p spare parts ;)
As for the room in the back, they are funny, as the rear seat sits higher than the front... sort of like seating at the cinema, so room is deceiving.

i was thinkin of the room in the boot, i know the rear seating is roomy, my parent bought a 98 so my ridiculously tall brother wouldnt hit his head.
how do people solve the storage problem? roofrack, trailer?

is the diesel a 2.8l or a 2.5l turbo?

[Frenchie]

The rear cargo area is short but tall. I had a '92 model which would be the same and I used a shelving system with a cargo barrier but with a family they might want to look at a roof rack as well.

The diesel is a 2.5L (turbo, intercooled), they were quite advanced for the time using high pressure direct injection so reasonably grunty for the size if tuned properly and very economical. A '93 is probably a 200Tdi. These were considered more reliable than the early 300Tdi but less refined. Parts for these are getting quite expensive and harder to find. They are also quite expensive to fix. The head gaskets tend to leak at around 150,000-200,000km and you don't want to overheat them - that's new head time.

For the money though it sounds like a bargain.

[mickymud]

g day my names micky mud and ive got a 93 disco apart from the usual probs ie bolt on bits they are ace low range is great and for 3 k its cheap fun i would recomend that if your mate is mechanicaly minded the this might be the forby for him just have a good look for leaks and check the power steering gear if not to bad then go for it if its v8 3.5 then they are actually a good motor no matter what everyone else says(they told me the same thing)so i recken go for it!!:thumb:

[gidget]

I agree with frenchie, a custom made set of drawers with a cargo barrier & it works well.
The series 1 disco is considerablly shorty than the series 2 disco in the rear & I found this a problem when moving from the family D2 back to my toy D1.
But I am overcoming it with some smart planning & a set of custom drawers (to be made by me ;)) well the set in the D2 are still going strong, so I must have made them good :thumb:
I have a roof rack as well but it rarely gets used now we have the camper trailer :thumb:

[2 BRUTAL]

I agree with frenchie, a custom made set of drawers with a cargo barrier & it works well.
The series 1 disco is considerablly shorty than the series 2 disco in the rear & I found this a problem when moving from the family D2 back to my toy D1.
But I am overcoming it with some smart planning & a set of custom drawers (to be made by me ;)) well the set in the D2 are still going strong, so I must have made them good :thumb:
I have a roof rack as well but it rarely gets used now we have the camper trailer :thumb:


They can't be too bad as I haven't had to tow Gidget out of anywhere yet.
On a recent outing his fuel economy wasn't that far behind ours in our 4.2GU, his bbigest problem would be fuel range with only a 65L main, but he has over come that with undersill fuel tanks, to give him about 140L I think it is.
We are due to leave in 2 weeks for a 6000km haul up through the Gulf and back.
For $3k it sounds like good value.

[Disco98]

Go for it, but get it checked, it might be cheap but a poorly maintained car will cost a fortune no matter the brand. If it was owned by an old lady then it could have been maticulously maintained or just driven around with no understanding of maintenance, so check, if it has been maintained snap it up.

The TDi engine is awsome, small, economical, powerful (for its size) and reliable if serviced, if it hasnt been serviced its a time bomb waiting to go off, as is any diesel engine. If it has had regular oil changes it will be fine. If the timing belt hasnt been changed recently of the owner cant tell you when it was done budget about $800 for that to be done, about $350 if your mate can do it himself.

They can be prone to rust around the alpine windows so check that aswell.

Check the wiring, those models had lucas electrics, which some people think is a bad thing, which some times it can, but check the wiring for dodgy repair jobs, they are often more of a problem than the original wiring.

Given its owner i doubt its been of road so the running gear should be fine, both the manual and the auto gearboxs are strong, the Transfer cases can develop back lash (a loud clunk when taking off) with wear, but this can sometimes be a stuffed A-frame ball joint on the read diff aswell.

If all that checks out snap it up, the disco is a top car, many people hang shit on them because a mate of a mates cousin had one that was a piece of crap, some people have had horror stories but so have Nissan owners with the ZD30 models. I have owned mine for 3 yrs (98 model Tdi) and its been great, i have maintained it, probably more so than others because i use it off road but it has been 100% reliable. Matt

[discogirl]

I've got a 93' Disco 3.5L V8 5speed Manual and it is great. I have had it for 6 years now and wouldn't go past a Disco. The room in the back seat is great better than i have seen in a Toyota or Nissan. The back boot is fine i have fitted our camping gear, recovery gear, and kids toys and pram and had no worries when going away. I have found that the back boot area is short but we used to fold down one side of the seat but we can't anymore because of kids too so that is a slight problem.

The low range is fantastic in these vehicles. The manual is good for just using compression braking when going down rock faces in the mountains rather than using brakes constantly.

$3000 is about the going rate these days for one. They are a great first 4by to get into the sport with as they won't let you down.