Buying a 1996 Discovery V8, what to look for

[Johan G]

Hello,

My girlfriend is searching for a Land Rover Discovery to use for transporting horses with a horse box/trailer.
We have found a 1996 Discovery V8 with manual gear box.
Since I am a Land Rover newbie I wonder what specific things I should check on the car before buying it. Is there any special weak points we should take a closer look at? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Johan

[zumbruk]

Johan G said:

Hello,

My girlfriend is searching for a Land Rover Discovery to use for transporting horses with a horse box/trailer.
We have found a 1996 Discovery V8 with manual gear box.
Since I am a Land Rover newbie I wonder what specific things I should check on the car before buying it. Is there any special weak points we should take a closer look at? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Johan

I should keep an eye open for an oil well. We got 13mpg out of ours.

Seriously, though; electrics, make sure everything works, corrosion, esp round tops of wings & bottoms of doors, leaks, look for wet carpets or corroded floors, oil leaks, especially from the steering box & transfer box.

[Johan G]

zumbruk said:

I should keep an eye open for an oil well. We got 13mpg out of ours.

Seriously, though; electrics, make sure everything works, corrosion, esp round tops of wings & bottoms of doors, leaks, look for wet carpets or corroded floors, oil leaks, especially from the steering box & transfer box.

Thanks for the advice. We actually had a look at the car yesterday. No oil wells in sight except for the front of the engine being covered with oil, probably from a leak from the hose between the steering box and the reservoir for steering servo oil. Not sure about if the engine itself did leak oil somewhere. Don't know if they usually do?
Corrosion had started in several places, for example around the front damper mounts and on several places around the back door and under the rear wheel arches. So we didn't buy this one even though it seemed ok mechanically.

We are aware of that fuel consumption will be high, but since my GF won't drive it long distances we hope we won't be ruined anyway. The main purpose will be to go back and forth to the stables, sometimes pulling a horse trailer.

Johan

Edited by Johan G on Monday 16th October 08:46