newb with a few questions before purchase

Hey Guys,
 
I am looking at a 2003 Discovery SE7 and have a couple of questions.  Do all of them have locking differentials?  The truck has about 65000 miles on it and seems to be in excellent shape. The truck ran perfect during the test drive but I did notice about half way through the check engine light came on and stayed on for the duration of the test drive.  The dealer told me this was common with disco's and not to worry.  Also the breaks were pretty squeeky and the dealer said this was common as well.  I am sure he is just trying to make a sale but with his salesman greasyness, not knowing if it had locking differentials and the other little things I decided to get more info first...
 
Thanks!!! 

Normal?
 
Ask if he thinks that failing oil pumps are normal, too.  The '03 models, and I recently bought one, have a problem with oil pump failures.  There's a VIN range floating around on this board somewhere.  Make sure you check to see if yours is affected.
 
And I'm not sure about center locking differentials, but I think that was only standard on the '04s.
 
Do you have access to the maintanence history?  Have you ran a Carfax report?
 
Out of curiousity, how much are they asking?

03 don't have either diff lockers or a center diff lock in the t/case. Are you planning on doing some seriouse 4wheeling?
Do not buy the truck, until the service department reads the codes and repairs, make sure they tell you wahat it was.
As for the oil pump issue, get the vin and contact your local Rover dealer, ask if this vehicle falls into the list of potential pump problems.

Stay away from this trk. '94-'00? had the center locking diffs, then it came back in '04.
'03's have bad oil pumps and when they go out you can gernade the engine. The check engine light coming on is never normal nor is brake noise.
With the miles that are on that trk the oil pump is probally fine, it usually fails between 40-50k, but why risk it. It is a $7500 fix.
Keep looking.

Thanks for letting me know about the oil pump ussues.  I checked the VIN and luckily it appears to be not in the affected range.  They are asking 14k for the truck but I don't think I am willing to pay more than 12 for it.  I really want a 7 pax version so I am looking for on with less than 70k 7 pax in that range... 
 
The truck itself looks like it was taken good care of and living where I live it has probably never even been off road (knowing the people I usually see driving them around here).   I will be using it mainly over flat terrain in loose sand and maybe a little mud now and then. No really serious off roading

It really doesnt matter if it was ever taken off road or not, these trks were born in the deepest darkest places on earth. That is what they were desighned for and is their sole puprpose in life.
Go to youtube.com and search for land rover camel throphy commercial and you will see what I am talking about.
What is important is if the previous owner used premium gas, these trks require premium. Why is the CEL on, have the dealer read the codes, dont buy it unless they correct the problem. Make them document that they fixed the problem with the CEL and the brakes, you want it on paper that it was properly fixed.
A seven pass will cut down on your cargo room and the rear most seats are only good for kids.
If it has the 18" wheels you cant take it beyond dirt roads.
Watch out for the air ride suspension, the air ride goes bad around 100k.
 

Spike, Thanks again for the info.  I will not be buying it if they do not fix the problems I noted.  I may also take it over to LR and pay for a once over just to be sure.  I don't want to spend that much on it and have something major go bad on me. 

How can I tell if the previous owner used premium fuel?  With the price of fuel these days I wouldn't be surprised if that is the first thing people would do to save a few extra bucks.  Will using regular fuel cause some tell tale engine damage that I can easily identify and steer clear of? 

This truck does have 18 inch wheels which I was a little worried about.  I did see that I could get some BF goodrich AT's to fit it and give it a little better off road traction.  Do you agree?

Again, maybe a little mud and mostly just sugar sand with no hills rocks or really deep mud.

Not using premium will blow up the engine. If you run a tank of regular 2-3 times a year it wont hurt anything, but these are high compression engines and require a min of 91 octane or it will reduce MPG and shorten engine life.
There is no way to tell if they used it or not.
You will be hard pressed to find a good AT tire in the 18" size. You can buy 16" rims and sell the 18"s.
 

"Blow up the engine", where di yoiu get that information?
Worse case, it will carbon up the engine pretty badily, on older D1's and the early D2's, you could suffer a valve failure but not on an 03.
If you can buy it for $12,000 go for it, after all is fixed. Then get back to me and I'll walk you thru cleaning out the engine and heads so you won't have any problems. Also, there is no way to tell what the old owner ran for gas, so don't worry about that.

I guess what I meant by blow up the engine is valve damage and excessive carbon build up. I didnt mean literaly, sorry.
Is this the first LR that you have driven? If so you need to drive more than one.

Yea, this is the first one I have found for my price range.  I wanted an 03 or newer due to the traction control and the engine improvement I have read about over the 4 liter.  Plus I like the styling a little better as well.  Anyway, I am not in any hurry and if this one sells, I will just keep looking.  I am glad to know a few things to look for and I am sure I will be talking to you guys again...

Take your time, drive 6 or so, dont just jump on the first one that comes along. Buying any car is a long process if you dont want to get taken.
Call your insurance agent, do you know how much it will cost you to insure each month?
Find a 7 pass and look it over, if that is what you really want then hold out for that.
If you think you might do any off-roading try and stay away from the 18" rims.
Once you narrow it down to two or three, run a Carfax report on each.
Just take your time, there are plenty out there, find the one that is right for you, took me 9 months.