im looking at doing a trans africa trip in a 1995 or 1996 landrover discovery diesel, is there something i dont know about these cars, because no-one seems to use them, is there a major problem, or are they just not as generally rugged as the defenders?

they are quite cheap in comparison to defenders to, so this begs the question, where's the catch..


Please enlighten me, because i dont want to buy one and find out they blow up after 200k miles or something!

thanks

Seriously, whatever vehicle you buy with that kind of milage is going to need some detailed going over.

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Chris
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"Never have a stupid argument with an idiot - he gets a lot more practice than you"
there I go again
not too hard really

Massive problems with them:

They run over small cars and crush them into nothing
They totally destroy people on Motorbikes and Pedestrians
They Pollute the environment

But other then that I love em, we had a few and I used to love jumping up and down on the bonnet and not leaving any dents when I was a kid.

I'll go out on a limb: compared to Landcruisers and Safari/Patrols, for example, Diso's tend to, well, fall apart or suffer mechanical problems much sooner and much more often, IMO.

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South of Senegal, west coast, I have only seen toyotas. no land rovers. tonns of spares for toyotas.
orrin

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I think Discos can for many uses be a very good alternative to a Defender. Cheaper, as you say, almost as capable (the thing that limits them a bit off road is the long rear overhang), much more comfortable, more rear leg room.

They have less storage space compared to a 110.

There are the usual land Rover reliability issues, just do a search of the forum. Most things can be dealt with quite easily, apart from the gearbox mainshaft problem. So if you go for one, check this, and consider a rebuilt gearbox if needed.

Pieter

I have a Disco 94 vintage and i agree with what has been said there not the most reliable but a back street garage can repair anything on a Landrover the same can't be said for other 4x4's out there and they are the most comforable/capable 4x4 that Landrover make.

if your looking at some check for rot in the boot floor (Lift up rear carpet) check rear door wheel arch and inner frount wings for rot all this can be repaired but will cost a couple of hundred pounds depending on work. also check chassis to body extensions underneath the vehicle then check chassis. the motors are pretty reliable diesel is king not fast but keep running check for oil leaks there should be loads. electrics are a hit and miss thing on anything Landrover everything will work but only when it wants to. Drive them for a test the engine should smoke but not to much and should drive and stop in a near straight line if not you might have to change bushes another expense. the best thing to do is to look at as many as you can you will eventually notice the dross and if you don't think it's the right vehicle walk away there are loads out there.

Good thing about Disco's is the parts are cheap really cheap and almost everything is lifted straight from the Defender.

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Have just seen this toyota on ebay (120214874077), looks like quite a good alternative to Landy!

Don't allow it to overheat, the head will warp.
If you are going for a 300, which that year will be, then why not go for the last of them, ie a 98, lower miles, less rust, etc. My '93, 200, has 219k on the clock now, I've owned it since 141k, although not constant travelling, it has been to Tunisia three times, 4000 miles round trip each time. Although it has regular servicing most of the preparation work was done before the first trip in 2004, at this time we blew a 5 month old water pump, last 2 trips we not even had a puncture. The first trip was when the car had about 170k on, which means that I've now covered 50k since the re-build work that was done. Details of the prep work are on my website at Home page. The big problem with LR's in Africa is that there are no dealers, but then maybe that is a good thing, lol. When I rang home to my local dealer telling them the pump had blown, they said when I got it back to UK they would replace it. I asked them for details of the nearest dealer, I was in Douz, and they said Dubai.
In most situations the Discovery will cope with much the same as a Defender. My last trip was with a 200 90 and a 110 N/A. The 90 was the only one that didn't get stuck at all. The 110 didn't have the power for some of the dunes. A big bonus with the Discovery is the range from one tank of Diesel. Matt Savage offer a "spares pack" and will be able to tell you what to take.
Only my opinion, I've tried to answer your question rather than just run LR into the ground.
Kevin

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the 200k bit was just an example, i dont think i would think about buying a car with that kind of millage to start with...

thanks for all the replies..

well i am kind of stuck between a toyota hilux and the Disco, the predicament is that i can get a newer LR for around the same price i can get a hilux, but its a few years older... so im not sure sure which outweighs the other..

Parts and general reliablity of the hilux, but older model

or less easy to get parts, some potencial problems, but a newer vehicle...

its a hard decision to make..

any opinons on that...?

Myself being a Toyota man I may be a bit biased or maybe a lot! But as far as I am concerned, on long journeys the only thing that counts is reliability! The Disco is probably better in rough terrain than any Toyota but how many people have perrished because they got stuck in the mud or in the sand! You will always get out again, just a matter of hard work and some tools. Reliability however, or rather lack of it, can kill. But it will for shure spoil the fun! If you have no confidence in your car anymore after the 10th breakdown, you will keep to the main roads and stay away from the remote places, which are actually the best places! I have been there with my Isuzu Trooper in the Australian Outback. At that point I swore that in the future I will only go for the best! So I have a Landcruiser now, done 60.000 km in Africa through 30 countries, ZERO breakdowns appart from the odd leafspring (which were not original Toyota parts by the way

In any discussion, the Toyota will come out as the more reliable car!

Cheers,
Noel
exploreafrica.web-log.nl

Hi Robin,
People do use them, and compared to a defender I don't think there is a catch! Other than being more comfortable... I think the price thing is simply that defenders have a better 'name' and hence resale value. The reality is that a 98 L/R needs very careful checking and you have to be aware they are not as reliable as their rough and tough marketing image will have you believe.

If it was me I would probably go the Hilux but it will obviously be less comfortable. But if I was to go landrover and the choice was Defender or Disco I reckon I would go Disco.
Gil

I did a trip a couple of years ago with friends down to capetown. Our friends drove in a 1992 Hilux commercial (pickup with box on the back) We were travelling in an old Ranger Rover classic which has a very similar drivetrain and suspension setup as the Discovery. - Couple of Observations:
1. A long day of driving on bad roads left our friends shattered from the hard leaf suspension in the hilux whereas we found the coil suspension - far more comfortable in the Range Rover. Driving position, view and internal space better in Range Rover/Discovery
2. The Hilux suffered from 17 punctures during the trip, We had 2 - Both from nails (Tyre choice very important).
3. Hilux had electrical and battery problems. We had a lot more mechanical problems but never broke down or needed to be towed.
4. Range Rover/ Discovery gets a lot more street cred than a hilux in Africa.
5. We were getting 35+ mpg but the Hilux was only achieving 30 mpg

Hey,

I wend down to SA in a disco. Many people envied me for the comfort, and the crew in the big TOY 78 insuated next time they might opt for something like a disco... .

Of the other travelers I met on that trip, I don't think one can say that the disco was more or less reliable then Toyota's, other Landrovers (except the SIII then, they broke down every second pothole) or Nissans (although that patrol did pretty well). Issues I had on the north south trip (+ around algeria...). Fuel cut out valve defect (I had a spare. Can be openend and closed manually if needed). Diff lock linkage shaked loose, 1 flat tyre, worn rear shocks by the end of the trip. (compared to a fried clutch and failing elecric windows (in africa!) on the toys, that's not to bad I think)

I kept it relatively light though, and I drive gently. The 80l tank got me about as far as the Toy 78 with 120 liters on board. You don't really need jerry cans with the disco (although I had one 20l can in the back just in case...).

Along the west coast you'll find spares in almost every country. There are more spares for 300tdi then for 200tdi.

That said, a good Hi-lux can't be bad. They're all over the place in africa. Typical with the NA 2.8 engine though. 2.5 turbo's as we tend to get them here are rare.

;-)

They're a genuine bargain at the moment, I paid silly money last year for a real smart one with all the toys as a runabout for the missus and I really enjoy driving it.
It's not so smart now as I took it out for a weekend of laning in Wales and managed to remove most of the paint, bashed the spoiler and folded up the side steps
I was impressed off road though - it's in totally road going guise with nearly slick tyres but it only got stuck once, and the terrain was like custard after a week of torrential rain. I did have to chicken out of one bit that my 90 would have got through though, but it was some very steep tall rocky steps and I didn't want to fold the tow bar up as well...

Went to Morocco with a mate who took his disco, and the only bit he struggled with was the dunes at Chebbi, but again he was on standard suspension and road tyres fully loaded with a roof tent etc.

Reliability - no reason they would be any different to a 90/110, most parts are the same - just don't start out with a nail in the first place and take sensible spares. There are probably a lot more breakdowns these days due to the massive amount of cheap parts available from suppliers like Britpart - ok to take as spares, but I steer away from anything other than genuine parts these days.

Either a three door with the seats removed or a commercial variant would make a nice project I reckon.

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