Great question……….because it’s cool. That’s probably not a good enough reason. Well, here was how I got to this decision.
We decided that to take full advantage of our recent move to Denver, we needed a 4X4 SUV. My last SUV was a 1998 Grand Cherokee Ltd that we bought new and sold in 2005. That was a capable and no fuss vehicle, well suited to shuttling around our young family during the worst that Milwaukee winters could throw at us.
This time, I wanted something more interesting that I could work on. So why this 2004 Discovery SE? Here goes….
- Nowadays, these are unique on the road and I love the boxy, utilitarian shape.
- I have a thing for British vehicles. OK, technically the facelifted Discovery 2 was designed under BMW ownership and this one was built under Ford ownership, but it definitely has British heritage and the quirks that go along with it.
- I like the facelifted look and larger 4.6L engine (but its still no speed demon)
- 2004’s avoided the oil pump issue (although most issues were resolved within the first 10k miles) and also saw the return of the diff lock.
- Has true off road cred. Who knows, I might even put this to the test in the Colorado mountains.
- It is old enough that it is still mechanically straightforward to work on, while new enough to be a comfortable place to spend time in. Even replacing the dreaded head gasket on these looks like some fun wrenching as this is an old school and simpler pushrod engine.
- Large Disco 2 community and many forums to learn from and get support
- Readily available parts. My initial sense is that Atlantic British will be my online parts go to.
- Awesome (and freely available) RAVE documentation set with the workshop manual .
Why this specific Disco:
- Color combo of dark blue with black interior. The black interiors seem to wear better than the tan interiors I saw.
- This SE model had good options and passed on the more troublesome ones (air rear suspension and ACE seem to increase the chance of things going wrong). Options that would have been nice to have are heated front windshield and heated seats (I may be able to add/connect the seat heaters so stay tuned).
- I was amazed that the underside was rust free. It made more sense when I saw on the carfax that it had spent all but the last year in Southern states.
- Had the area’s largest independent Land Rover specialist perform a PPI, and the only items of concern were oil leaking at the rear main seal and at the oil filter adapter.
- The dealer, Unlimited Auto Sales were awesome. The owner, Sam is an auto enthusiast and as he also has a body shop and service shop, I had him take care of some dings and replace the rear main seal. (I’ll get to the oil filter adapter seal at the next oil change)
I have had the disco 4 days now, and yes, have already run into a hard starting issue. My next post should describe some initial cosmetic repairs and the resolution to the starting issue.