A year ago I sold my previous car in the quest to find something capable of towing and a bit of off road fun. After some consideration I decided to buy a landrover discovery as it ticked all the boxes for the 4x4 all rounder I required.
My budget was around £3500 so it had to be an older ... Read review
Advantages: very capable, tough off roader with tons of space Disadvantages: costly to run, 300 tdi lacks power
A year ago I sold my previous car in the quest to find something capable of towing and a bit of off road fun. After some consideration I decided to buy a landrover discovery as it ticked all the boxes for the 4x4 all rounder I required.
My budget was around £3500 so it had to be an older model, the one i finaly chose was the 300 tdi ES model which I picked up right on budget , the price at the time being £500 under book price.
... ...short it ended up costing me £2000 more as it turned out the engine and turbo was on its way out.This led to an engine rebuild!
When all repaired I quickly realised it was the vehicle I was after.
Very good on -road manners with light steering and handling thanks to a good, strong chassis design and roll bars.Excellent braking with ABS and very comfortable ride height and seating(ES comes with full leather and the GS comes with ... more
A year ago I sold my previous car in the quest to find something capable of towing and a bit of off road fun. After some consideration I decided to buy a landrover discovery as it ticked all the boxes for the 4x4 all rounder I required.
My budget was around £3500 so it had to be an older model, the one i finaly chose was the 300 tdi ES model which I picked up right on budget , the price at the time being £500 under book price.
To cut a very long series of events short it ended up costing me £2000 more as it turned out the engine and turbo was on its way out.This led to an engine rebuild!
When all repaired I quickly realised it was the vehicle I was after. Very good on -road manners with light steering and handling thanks to a good, strong chassis design and roll bars.Excellent braking with ABS and very comfortable ride height and seating(ES comes with full leather and the GS comes with half leather which I find is easier to keep clean than standard cloth.) Motorway driving can see the discovery reaching a top speed of 95 mph with a comfortable cruise at 75 mph, but with a sudden drop when approaching hills and acceleration taking hours.This is due to the fact that the vehicle does weigh over two tonnes and is as aerodynamic as a porta loo.That said the 300 tdi unit is definately underpowered at 111 bhp.
Dont let that put you off as there are loads of cheap ways of to gain extra power if required, Ive done lots of mods to mine such as an uprated intercooler and you will find a few tweaks will see it producing the extra power you expect.
Those looking to decide between the 200 tdi and 300 tdi here are a few pointers that I considered:
The 300 tdi proceeded its 200 tdi brother in 1995 but engine improvements were trivial, they remain identical in performance despite popular belief, the 300 tdi is just a little more refined and saw the introduction of ECU managed engines later on.
Most people believe the 200 tdi is more reliable and they are cheaper.
The 300 tdi offers a much larger specification package, a better look and a much improved interior which is why I ultimately chose the 300 tdi.
I have used this vehicle for some off road action and if you have never done it before you are missing out. You would not believe the hills you can throw it up or the terrain you can cross, with help from its transfer box providing you with diff lock and extra low gears.
For those of you who just want to tow, this is the vehicle for you. I have towed my boat behind this all year and dont even notice it, the low down torque makes it easy for pulling away on hills etc and you feel reassured with a bit of weight around you when towing at speed.
Fuel consumption as as expected, a little on the high side but ease on the throttle and you can manage 30 mpg at best.
The interior offers massive storage capabilities and comfort with a high roof and little storage cubbies everywhere. Not to mention 7 seats once unfolding the 2 in the boot. Windows everywhere means visibility is at its best for reversing etc.
In summary its a great all rounder if you are prepared to pay high road tax and fuel bills and since the rebuild it has been very reliable, but here is my advice:
There are thousands of landrovers on the market so dont rush to buy the first one you view, I did and paid the price with an engine rebuild. Search around until you find a bargain, because you will!
Advantages: Solid bodywork. Disadvantages: Faults with certain aspects of the vehicle.
We have the Land Rover Discovery Safari Limited Edition. It is 1998 model and has done 98,000 miles. Being a diesel this isn't a lot and we can expect it to go for many more miles yet. Being a limited edition it has a few extras such as bull bar, spot lamps and luggage ladder and special colour of paint. On the whole this has been a good vehicle in that it has not broke down and the body work is generally solid. It has not been kept in a garage and ... ...months. Though it has not been without it's problems. This particular discovery is fitted with twin sun roofs, the front of which was leaking water quite severely. We had taken it to the Landrover dealership only to be told that the only way to fix it was to replace the whole sunroof unit which obviously would have ran into hundreds of pounds. We took it to another mechanic who pointed out that it was something easy to fix and done it for free, it ...
il_cacciatore 07.11.2006
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Ciao members have rated this car review on average: helpful Review of Land Rover Discovery 300TDi
Advantages: go anywhere, load carrying, towing ability Disadvantages: usual land rover stuff
Firstly I have only ever owned landrovers, starting a few years ago with a petrol 110, then two Range Rovers and now a 300tdi automatic Discovery. I have now owned the Discovery now for about fourteen months, bought at auction for about £2,600. Only bought at auction because I had a friendly mechanic to guide me in my purchase. Anyway the car in questionis a high mileage (164,000 at the time of purchase) 300 tdi with automatic transmission. The autobox ... ...to it anyway the advantages of Auto over manual as far as I am concerned more than make up for the supposed lack of power. I was also advised that the high mileage was not really to be worried about, if the vehicle has lasted this long its likely to keep on going without any major problems!
The car is I think a base speck model, cloth seats (7), but does have CD changer and tape head unit, electyric windows all round and electric mirrors, good enough ...
euan.ferguson68 15.05.2007
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Ciao members have rated this car review on average: helpful Review of Land Rover Discovery 300TDi
Advantages: Comfy, Spacious, good load space Disadvantages: Harder to park in car parks as not much of a turning cicrcle on it.
...and looked round at sevaral land rovers and i decided on the one that i bought. I added the usual side steps to allow easier access in to the car, i also added an A bar and added spotlights to this. This was fairly easy to complete and wire up to the circuit. Maintance wise most of it is fairly straightforward with the help of haynes and easy enough for a diy mecanic to do them selves with out the added costs of a garage to keep it up together and ... ...longer journeys on motorways and dual carriageways but in town not so good. I probably get 24 miles per gallon in town using diesel. The seats are comfy to sit on for long journeys and short journeys. There is an added extra 2 seats in the boot which fold up and they too are comfy. The boot space is big and extra space is provided when the rear seats fold forward. You can fit alot of camping gear in including the big tent and cooker and other necessaties.
...
keepsmiling86 15.03.2009
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Ciao members have rated this car review on average: helpful Review of Land Rover Discovery 300TDi
Road Handling
Fuel consumption
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Quick review of Land Rover Discovery 300TDi
This must be the bes 4x4xfar. 295000 miles and still going strong lots and lots of off road work and never lets me down ...
paddock4x4x4x4 28.11.2007
Ciao members have rated this car review on average: helpful Review of Land Rover Discovery 300TDi
Robust, Powerful, and Comfortable, Good Value @ Left Hand drive
Extremely Poor Traction, Poor Braking System, Fickle and easily worn tyres (unless with a purchase of a good set of good years for exmaple) Inconvenient and well, useless differentiation facilities, Radio is fickle and performs poorly over excessive use, (*)
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