Newbie set on Disco

[georgemason]

Hi there,

I'm pretty much decided on a Disco after much deliberation. Having made that decision, I have a whole load of questions...

I'm going to buy the car in the UK, but it's to be used in Greece, so rust isn't too much of a problem (I've heard that aside from the doors and boot space, it's not too bad on these in any case). Maintenance and reliability are more of a worry, although I'm not at all averse to doing some work myself.

I'm aiming at the cheaper end of the spectrum, so looking at the 200 TDI, probably a '95 - 96. How do these compare with the 300 TDi's ? Is it worth spending the extra money, bearing in mind this is to be a part-time use vehicle? I appreciate that the 300 TDi is smoother but not sure it's going to bother me that much. I'm looking at a budget of £3K or so.

One thing I AM going to need is aircon. I notice that not many cars in the price range I'm looking at seem to have it fitted. I expect it's not economical, but is it possible to have it retro-fitted?

Finally, what kind of fuel consumption can I expect? I understand that the 300's can average as much as 34mpg, but i guess the 200's are not so efficient? How does their output vary - much difference between the two?

Basically I don't have much idea, so anything you could tell me would be a great help. Thanks in advance.

George

[laalmarra]

welcome to the forum
I assume that your are in the UK at present if thats the case get a copy of auto trader and see whats within your budget
It may be worth upping your budget and get a 300TDi thats specced up with air con I guess it would be a pricey venture to retro fit onto an early model

The early models suffered from corrosion on the load space floor so watchout for that
Test drive them and check for transmission clunks and noises put it into low box you may find on some that the selector for lowbox wont engage easily
this could be that it has never been used ....it has been known or that the linkage is stuffed up with crud because it has
make sure all the electrics work as they should
check the service history see when the cam belt was last changed
and if its an early 300 did it have the mod done to the cam belt as well

The major difference between the two is that the 300 is a minor evolution of the 200 the both should put out about 200ft/lb of torque and I think about 120bhp

Fuel consumption will be in the low 30s but I have heard of people getting more tho I have never managed it i seem to get about 450 miles from a tankful

Hope this helps
some one will come along with a buyers guide and their own experiences
hope you find what you want

[JohnW]

....get a copy of auto trader.....

And of course, if you're not currently in the UK, Auto Trader have a website - I think that Carsource also have a website although this seems to, IMHO, have more dealers on it than private cars.