opinions on what to buy

[calamaridog]

I would get almost anything except the Discovery. Those things are terrible vehicles. They can't move those things off the used car lots at all.

Towing with a Discovery? That short wheelbase is going to suck bad, with ANY load.

 

[rule303]

Yes, they can't give the Discovery away used. I saw a 99 Discovery with 50k miles go for $7500 on Ebay once. It looked like new too. There's a reason people don't want to own these out of warranty. I have a friend who owns one and he only drives it on weekends. He was shocked when he found out what it was worth now after buying it new 5 years ago. He would have guessed $25,000 or so, but its worth less than $10,000.
Shocking results on the poll. A Land Cruiser forum votes for a Land Cruiser!

 

[Kanab]

With gas prices going where no man has ever gone, no SUV will have any kind of resale value. Give it a month or so and you will be able to get even the LC for cheap.

 

[ndcruiser]

I have to agree with the anti-Rover people. I had a Disco I and II, sweet looking, good off-road, but they had major repair problems.

I was dumb enough to buy a LR3 (thinking that Ford had changed the quality issues). Had it for 250 miles till it broke, and I could see the writing on the wall: this is going to spend a lot of time in the shop. Apparently the dealer agreed, as they took it back without question or charge.

 

[milesstarkey]

she bought the cruiser

all of your advice is true and helpful, to me. she didn't want to hear a word of what i said about them. she wanted the rover. so i happened to find a 2000 cruiser that just came in on trade at the local toyota dealership and took her out there for a test drive. what a difference, between the LC and the disco! softer seats, softer ride, smooth, more power, better handling, everything about it was better. but that one was white, too beat up and too much money. so last weekend we were in chicago for our 7 year anniversary. beforehand i had looked up a few landcruisers that were in town. the one with the lowest miles was a 99, grey, 53,900 or so miles, $23,940. when we got there we test drove it and then started haggling. the saleskid didn't know anything about it, and they had the thing for 3 months! we were there for 5 hours and finally got them down to $19,000 with our trade. she loves it. on the way home she was jumping up and down in the drivers seat, not believing she owned it. it's so nice, so awesome, such a great vehicle. she's happy, i'm happy, here it is:

 

[hoser]

Congratulations! Nice anniversary present.... to yourself!

 

[rule303]

Sounds like a great deal too. Good luck.

 

[milesstarkey]

that grill gaurd vibrates pretty bad on the highway but all the bolts are tight. can anything be done about that? anyone know? and what are the best all season type tires for this all wheel drive beast?

 

[tabraha]

Congrats!

You've been on the board linger than I have so you know what to do with that grille "guard". Most folks are runnung BFG AT's, Dueler Revo AT's, or Nitto AT's in at least a 285/75R16 fitment or larger.

 

[xumFJ40]

Congrats Milesstarkey!

I am glad to hear that this thread payed off.

Like I said...the proof is in the pudding!

Let her drive both and there will be no need to "confince" her.

 

[CTapia]

that grill gaurd vibrates pretty bad on the highway but all the bolts are tight. can anything be done about that? anyone know? and what are the best all season type tires for this all wheel drive beast?

Congrats on the purchase! Great price and the mileage is low. How's the interior? Regarding the vibration on the grill guard, it's a common problem with them. I saw someone fab up some additional brackets to reinforce the top section. This was on a 4Runner and therefore I'm not sure what would work on your Cruiser. Convince the wife that she needs a real bumper.

 

[milesstarkey]

i kind of like the look of the grill gaurd, brush gaurd, cow puncher, whatever you want to call it. the interior, well, the back two rows look like they've never been used. the front two seats show wear on the edges. i need to get some conditioner or mink oil on them to soften them up and see how they look after that.

 

[NMuzj100]

Try this thread for leather seat care info
Leatherique Thread (from 80s Tech)