Checking before buying!

[montaggio]

Hi Guys. Back again;

I was hoping you might be able to shed some light on the Disco II that I am looking at buying. I had a full search of the maintenance history done and it came up with a very thorough report.

A couple of items are a bit more of a concern and was wondering if these were one off issues or more wide spread:

1) The rear main was replaced at 59km during the pre delivery inspection. One of the mechanics noted a small drip at the rear main and they replaced it. I have looked an all appears to be dry at the back of the engine, but thought it odd that this was replaced when new.

2) All four wheel brake pads and rotors were replaced at about 35000 km (now has 45.7). This seems awfully early for brake replacement. Complaint in the service history says that the customer complains brakes feel soft. Should they last longer or is this typical (was a $1000 Canadian bill for the repair).

3) A number of issues with the electric seat switches and motors, but early in the repair history, nothing lately.

4) Misc leaks, resulting in replacement of radiator and inlet manifold gasket (twice).

Are these common issues that I can anticipate recurring, or are they more one off issues?

Appreciate anybody's comments.

[CDNrover]

These are heavy trucks so they do tend to go through brakes quicker than other vehicles but having said that 35,000 kms seems rather quick. I got 70,000 kms out of mine so it could be the way the other owner drove the vehicle. Probably a bit hard on them or rode them all the time. But if they were done not that long ago, I wouldn't worry about it.

$1000 CDN sounds like a dealer job though. You can purchase the full set of brake pads for all wheels for about $100 USD (maybe even less if you happen upon a good sale). Rotors shouldn't be that expensive and if they were replaced at 35,000 kms, that kinda tells me this previous driver was quite hard to have warped the rotors so much they needed replacing. Mine are still original and it has 122,000 kms on it and this is with wheeling involved besides the regular daily driving.

My truck has a rear main seal leak that I just keep an eye on the oil level. I have the little drip here and there but so far nothing I'm super concerned about. If the records say it's been done already though, then you should be ok. It's not a cheap repair as they have to lift the engine out to do so be glad it's not on your dime.

As for the electric seats, etc. if they were fixed that's good but these problems will most likely come back laterwards in this vehicle. It isn't specific to just yours. Just about every Series I or Series II Discovery that I've ever seen has shakey power seats and such. These things just don't seem to last.

The other leaks, pretty normal to be honest. I've had head gasket leaks (fixed), rear main seal leak (the original leak, haven't fixed yet), rear pinion seal leak (fixed), replaced my rockers (had them do it while they did the heads), oil pan leaks (fixed, sort of), power steering hose leak (not fixed yet), replaced right exhaust manifold, intake gasket leaks (fixed) so it's certainly not uncommon.

Anything that was fixed though has never reoccured for your info.

If this vehicle has warranty on it or you can purchase extended warranty, then I would strongly recommend getting it. You will get it back for sure.

[montaggio]

Thanks for the information. I'm not sure if the brakes were ridden that hard or really needed replacing to be honest. The customer complaint in the service history was that they were feeling soft. I belive the dealer changed out all four cornerns under warranty! Thanks for your thoughts on the brakes. Makes me feel a little bit better about them.

Miscellaneous leaks have been addressed, but I suspect they will reoccur. They changed out the rad, misc gaskets and the water pump at one time. Any future small repairs of this nature I can take care of myself.

The electric seats and windows (replaced a power window motor as well) may be recurring issues and from the bills, won't be cheap repairs.

It is coming up on its 48000 km service as well, so need to negotiate that into the price.

There is no warranty right now, but I believe I can purchase an aftermarket warranty. Just not sure yet how much it will cost and what it will cover in the end.

Thanks for your comments.