Looked at one at a small lot today. 1998, didn't look too bad, a bit of rust under it , not very clean inside at all. Driver's seat ripped a bit. One of the far back seats was broken.

Wouldn't start so my wife and I had to come back . It was minus 20 celcius so understandable. When we returned it was running, sounded ok, was running smoothly. It has the 4.0 gasoline engine. 200,000 km .

Check engine light was on, and abs light. Turn signals worked but blinked very fast. A bit of an oil leak near the front, maybe power steering. Brakes seemed like you had to push quite hard to get it to stop. When we returned to the car lot and shut it off it wouldn't turn over , battery is shot i assume.

I didn't drive it very far, roads were ice and the low fuel light was on, and gauge showed empty so I was worried about running out on the test drive.

Safety report shows brakes and windshield need doing, and there is hail damage to it.

On the plus side it looks very nice on the outside other than some hail dents , my wife even liked it and she is fussy. Has a roof rack and a few other odds and ends that look like they have been there for a while.

Price on this one is about five thousand Canadian dollars. Seems a bit high with poor brakes and the other issues . Real neat vehicle, and the first rover I have driven. You sure sit up high in it, almost too high for me as I don't think I would ever need to use the sun visor.

I am looking for a.fun vehicle , have been researching rovers, land cruisers for a long time. I loved riding in the land cruisers in Africa, bit they don't sell the 70series models in Canada , and the ones imported are bloody expensive.

​​​​​So I have been narrowing the search down to the lR3 land rover and possibly the discovery 1. Discovery looked very neat today, I just wonder what is a fair price for models needing work before they are safe to drive. lR3 are selling for a little more money here , up to around ten thousand.

1998 Discovery 1

 

Translating that to freedom units: 125k miles at about $3800USD

I'm not sure what the market for D1s is in your area, but that's not something I would take on in my neck of the woods (Northern CA). Miles are OK and price is OK, but condition is rough with a lot of unknown costs. If you have a (heated!) garage and want to wrench on this yourself and it's a 2nd or 3rd car, you're still looking at a lot of money for parts, plus your time. If you need a mechanic, obviously that's more.

ABS light is not a huge deal, and somewhat common. If you don't have road worthiness inspections, you can put this on the back burner.

Check Engine Light could be anything. You'd need to get the code read and assess accordingly. Could be nothing and it could be everything, but you won't pass smog (if that's a thing in Canada) and it could indicate there are serious issues.

Rust in your area is probably pretty par for the course. Rough interior--up to you. fast blink usually indicates a bulb out somewhere. Brakes are easy and not too expensive if you do it yourself. Windshields can be expensive. Roof rack is nice and has some value if in good condition. Power steering leak is good news, it means you still have power steering fluid. They all leak some, if it seems reasonable you can get around to it later.

You're looking at a large amount of work. Honestly, seems like you'd be into it 10k after all is said and done so if you can get yourself into a more modern vehicle that you'd like for that, it seems like it would be a good plan. If your budget it in the $5k range, I'd spend some time doing some research and seeing if you can find one that's been maintained a bit better.

Good luck!

 

I will need a passed safety Inspection for the insurance. Dealer said that just brakes and windshield should be done. I can't remember anything wrong with the windshield from my test drive, but so.much blowing snow.maybe there was. He pulled a Carfax, no accidents , just hail.damage twice. A lot of service at land rover dealership right up to this year.

No smog inspections, emissions here.

My wife loved the truck, which surprised me as she has a 2020 Lexus Rx 350. She said she would.love to get groceries in it, and take it camping.

I do have a heated shop, I haven't had to use it for vehicles other than some service and winter tires changes.

I will see if the price is a bit flexible on Monday. Wife says we should buy it, she thinks it would be a lot of fun.

One other for sale locally, says it runs great but lots of rust. A few lR3 for sale.locally as well. I haven't ever been in a lR3 before.

Love how they look, even the lR3 looks very nice.

Thanks for any input and thanks for your quick reply cantcomplain!

 

Don't listen to the dealer. Period. Full Stop. New paragraph.

He is trying to sell you a vehicle. Take it to a mechanic and have him do a pre-purchase inspection. I guarantee you will get your money back from this investment in discount on purchase price, or maybe forfeit the cost but avoid a money pit, which is a fantastic investment. Figure out what is leaking, where the rust is, what the CEL is, what the suspension looks like, etc. Each of these is possibly multiple thousands of dollars to repair, so going in eye wide open is prudent.

I tend to look at vehicles as investments which is maybe not typical so take it for what it's worth. If it makes you and your wife happy, great, but at least understand how much you need to invest in it to enjoy it. I don't think it'll be zero dollars after you buy it, so factor that in and consider it part of the purchase price.

 

Yes I don't like used car sales tactics at all. We have bought new vehicles since 2000, first new truck I bought was 1989.

The sales guy did say feel free to take it to an independent mechanic,.and he did print off the Carfax for it which was nice.

​​​​​​I will see what they say tomorrow about it, I don't think the sales guy knew anything about the mechanical aspects of the vehicle. I asked if the stone dead battery could cause the check engine light to come on, as even after it running for an hour it wouldn't even turn over immediately after shutting it off. He had no idea.




Looks ok, but man why wouldn't they clean the inside before advertising it for sale.


When you say CEL, what is that ? I am unfamiliar with the term.


Thanks!

 

It looks nice. Tires look good. Roof rack is nice.

CEL is Check Engine Light. It won't come on because the battery is dead, although that's definitely going to need to be replaced. Have it checked out by a mechanic and they'll include that in the assessment that you can take back to the dealer when you make a lowball offer There's some redeeming value there, but you should understand what it'll cost to get it up to snuff.

Good luck!

 

Well they said it could take 8 weeks to get the brake parts, I asked if price was a bit flexible if I did the work myself.they said make an offer, I did , they accepted so now I own a bit of a fixer upper discovery one!!

I was just sick thinking about it. I think it will be a fun project for us.

Very excited to start taking it apart!

Will have many questions I am sure, will post some pics once I get it to my shop in a few days.

Thanks again

 

Not sure if I should start a new thread regarding brakes , will post here first and see what you guys recommend for rotors and pads for the Discovery 1, where to purchase, and if possible places.that ship to Canada ?

​​​​​​Thanks!

Craig

 

Congratulations! I'm sure it'll bring you great joy. I'm also sure you'll get some frustration as well

If you didn't get it checked out my a mechanic, you should get yourself one of the bluetooth or wifi OBD readers that can work with your phone to read the trouble codes that trigger the CEL. They cost <$20 and will work with every car you own. Something is amiss there and that's probably the first thing to focus on before driving it much.

Brakes are straightforward. I used Brembo P44001 pads in the rear and they solved a problem I had with the existing ones and have been solid for me. Not sure the P/N for the front equivalents. That's just one opinion and I'm sure there are others that are cheaper. My goal is to keep the costs down on my rig, so I haven't replaced the rotors-if you don't need to, why bother? Based on the previous post I think your pedal was soft, which sounds like a hydraulic problem. Bleeding them may be a good first step and might be a $10 solution to your problem. It's a good thing to do anyway and should be done every couple years and it never is. But a caveat, there are posts of people struggling to get a firm pedal after doing all of the "regular" stuff. Post your experience in a new thread if that happens to you.

But most importantly, get the snow off and post some pics!!!

 

Thanks @CantComplain ! I hope to bring it home in a few days.

I did plan on picking up a code reader as well.

Really looking forward to start working on it.