TLC or a Disco? (1 Viewer)

[moralien]

The only thing I can think to say good about a Disco is out of the box they have good articulation. Other then that they strait up suck. Everybody has pretty much hit the head on the nail. Durability, aftermarket support, cost of ownership, the fat Lucas electronics, etc, etc, it all blows...I only see the yuppie types with them down here.

As far as the antenna goes why not just get a cheapy flexy model from the local auto parts store? If that’s not Bling enough for ya just replace it with OEM. C-Dan needs to feed his dogs too ya know. Besides if you put a GPS looking one on the roof what are you going to do with the whole in the fender?

By the way I really dig the driveway flex shot. :

 

[Echo_29]

When the SOR board was still up I posted a link to a thread on www.discoweb.org with a similar subject: Disco or Land Cruiser. Honestly, 80-90% of the Disco owners said get the Land Cruiser. After the thread was a couple of pages long it mysteriously disappeared. POOF! What does that say?

Still, as I’ve said before, to each their own and I’ll hit the trail with one any day ( I also ride with J**Ps so what does that say?  

 

[shocker]

A few points here:

I used to own a 95 disco, bought it used with 20,000 miles on it.  Damn thing already had a slight engine knock.  Owned it for 1 1/2 years, sold it cheap just to get rid of it.  Toooo many mechanical annoyances to list, and rust was starting to develop on alot of the steel hardware (door hinges, factory roof rack, etc.)  
At the same time I owned a '83 FJ60 with 120K that was FAR more reliable, even taking into account the fact that the PO redifined the meaning of the word moron.

Reliability aside, some of the mechanicals (i.e. axles) aren't really comparable to 80 series stuff.  In fact, for the more hardcore and mechanically inclined, sticking 80 series axles under a disco is seen as quite an upgrade.  Stock disco cv's are only 10 spline IIRC, and are prone to easy breakage with anything much larger than stock tire size.

But, if you'd rather wrench than wheel, Land Rovers seem the way to go.  Most Rover owners get some bizarre satisfaction out of the fact that their vehicles require more maintenance than most others, maybe the same way a war veteran likes showing off scars, or your father likes to brag about how bad he had it when he was your age (see monty python thread)http://www.ih8mud.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=80and100;action=display;num=1055944237.

That all being said, it's till kinda hard to deny the coolness factor that some Rovers bring to the table. Maybe one-day I'll buy a D-90 and drop in a Chevy small-block, and throw some D60s underneath. What, am I stupid? I prefer the term sadist.

 

[cary]

I'll throw in my three bits on Rover Products.

First, the price for a new land rover is between $34,000-40,000 U.S. depending on options.

Second, when I bought my landcruiser, the broker I bought it through (a guy I have known for years) had sold a 1999 Series II Disco to a new owner. He said the new owner was happy because everything was working properly. He noted that the old owner had paid for an extended warrantee and had given him $10,000 worth of repair receipts for repairs it had had under warrantee for the last 12 months.

Before I bought my cruiser I briefly looked at a 1996 Range Rover (equivilant of a Cruiser). Knowing their reported reliability issues I asked my mechanic what he thought of the Range Rovers. His comment, "I've had two customers who have had those and they said they were the worst cars they ever had." He also said that the mechanics at the rover dealer hated to work on the Range Rovers because they had so many issues, i.e. air suspension problems and electrical gremlins.

Finally, I have a friend who is independently wealthy who bought a 2 year old disco for his wife back in October. I asked him what he thought and he said it drives great, and is suprisingly compentent off road. I asked about reliability and he said it came with an extended warrantee so he would see how it went and if there were problems he would dump it before the warrantee was up. Forward to last month. My buddy came down to visit with his wife. We took the cruiser to dinner and on the way home he told his wife he was going to buy one when he got home and replace the discovery. He commented that the discovery had already had a lot of problems and the maintence was unreal (specifically, $800 brake jobs because the brake calipers fail regularly).

Discovery's are pretty but there is a reason you can buy a 1999 disco for about $12,000. It is true that land rovers are used world over, but you should realize the ones used in the backcountry are usually stripped. Manual everthing, a diesel engine, nothing to break, and when it does, simple to fix.

Cary :wave:

 

[Jon916996748]

Well I figured that the LR's had the classic English engnieering touch to them, but I didn't realize that it was that bad. Hrm what about the Range Rovers? I assume their problems would still probably lie in the maintainmance. And this is just a comment but man those LR have nice interior, I hate to get it covered in mud or anything. Heh I was camping one at Congree Swamp a year ago and a guy had his FJ60 there with some sort of bumper that allowed for the winch to be taken off, but to the point. I was talking to him and just told him that I had a stock 80 and wanted to get it lifted and some tyres so I could go wheeling and he was like "Man those things are just to pretty to mess up." I laughed .... then punched him in the face! J/K But I disagree with him.

 

[archie]

here's more info on the Landrover http://www.carsurvey.org/manufacturer_Land+Rover.html.

 

[cary]

This was to funny to not pass along.

http://www.angelfire.com/mn/landroversucks/anti_faq.html

 

[thelal]

Checkout Roman (UK) on the 80scool list.
He has run a Disco for several years and done African expeditions in it - fairly beefed up.
He now has a Landcruiser and looking to try that out in anger in same type of terrain.

Lal