[OhLaLa]

....... but be careful as some there rear seat are not legal anymore........

Ohwa, not heard of this - which Discovery model, which type of rear seat - and why?

[bazzais]

Side facing seats are not legal anymore to manufacture, just as bumper bars are not plus a whole lot of other stuff under eu law

I wouldnt be surprised if they ban anything on a chassis in the next few years because or 'health and safety' fears.

I'd personally buy anything that has a 'utility' vehicle stamp on it as its less road tax and you can completely write off the initial expense against your taxes.

Disco's are not normally classed as work vehicles whereas the majority of defenders are depending on the window layout.

You could however charge 'the business' 40p a mile for owning something personally rather than on the business side - I think the upper limit is around 5 grand a year now.

I only have another 2 months to wait for my land rover 110 double cab in black - I cant wait  - I am buying from new as the trade in value after 3 years is roughly only going to loose me about the same as it would servicing and MOT'ing a second hand one - land rovers keep their value.

Baz

[poppajohn]

Its summat to do with carrying more than 7 passengers. You need a PSV license as its classed as a minibus. If you have a big family of course, you have to shuttle them six at a time or face ten years in the Health and Safety gulag facing an EU re education programme. Your kids are taken into care because you are a bad parent, never to be seen again until adulthood when you find them on Facebook.

Piggy, you are right about the Pajero, A guy on our shoot has run one for 7 years and never a problem!

[Fergie]

What a can of worms you opened! Well, my two pennorth worth. I have had Series Landies for years, last was a 110. Dont touch petrol, early Discos are a waste of money, unreliable and spares are silly money and yes, I dont think they are proper Landies. Two many gizmoes. Try a surplus site for an ex military Wolf, avoid army machines, they are trashed, go for an ex air force one, it will have been on an airfield doing "light duties".
I dont touch 4x4s now, but if I were to get another it would be a Landcruiser, Shogun or Jeep. Some older Jeeps are well worth the money, spares cheap and they have only been used in north London climbing kerbs on school runs. Jeeps tend to have good diesel consumption too, something thats a joke with a Disco. 

I've also had Series Landies for 24 years now, and still have a couple.  However for my daily transport and tow vehicle I went for a Jeep Grand Cherokee, with the 2.7 Mercedes diesel engine.  It's fast, comfortable, pulls 3.5 tons, and doesn't suffer from premature rusting.  It was also much cheaper than an equivalent Disco.

I think they're only automatics however, which is fine with me since I prefer them.  However, it's only a five seater.

John

[plumseverywhere]

Its summat to do with carrying more than 7 passengers. You need a PSV license as its classed as a minibus. If you have a big family of course, you have to shuttle them six at a time or face ten years in the Health and Safety gulag facing an EU re education programme. Your kids are taken into care because you are a bad parent, never to be seen again until adulthood when you find them on Facebook.

lol, yep we had a recent run-in as we got a speeding ticket for driving our VW caravelle, 7 seats, at 70mph (we were told as its a 'minibus' we had to stick to 60mph) anyway, hubby ( a health and safety specialist but a no-nonsense one) got written proof from VW specifying its a people carrier, yay! so we got a written apology from west mercia police and its pinned on our office wall now 

[poppajohn]

lol at Plums! Plod really are pathetic, they dont even know traffic law eh? Trouble is, multiply this incompetence into the rest of the country and we are surrounded by it. I regularly get pulled on my compact for "lighting infringements" I have had four apologies from Norfolk Police and now carry them in the toolbox in case I am pulled again. I also carry a copy of tractor lighting regulations as well. Havnt been pulled for a year now as they must think I am a clever dick.
Dont forget folks, WE are paying their wages!

[Womble]

Piggy, you are right about the Pajero, A guy on our shoot has run one for 7 years and never a problem!

Yes, the Pajero's solid enough. Don't buy one if you're planning to drive to Spain though - the name translates as "Nissan W*nker"!

Somebody said on another thread that you have to really want to own a landy to make it worthwhile, and I think that's right. I love ours to bits...... which is exactly what it is currently in!  

[old bird]

Ok, I'm a girlie and have/had both. Both TDi's and TD5's. They both have power steering, both tow well, I'd say there isn't much difference in space inside (ok, possibly the Defender 110  has more). If you are using it for the school run and family car, it has to be the Disco. They have more comforts than the Defender and much smoother ride. 

I moved my smallholding in the snow, towing a trailer full of sheep no problem. Don't reckon there is much in it for fuel consumption either - they are both thirsty with a capital T. I have a love/hate relationship with my Disco - hate the fuel consumption and cost of maintenance, but love how useful it is. Mine has been reliable by and large (not the same for lots of Landy owners) - I keep threatening to sell it but somehow always need it and it's still here.

ALL Discos leak (get the sunroof sealed) but it is more comfortable than the Defender. So in summary, not quite as cool as a Defender but I'd go for the Discovery....

[poppajohn]

Old bird, thank you for your honesty, I know folk all have a view which is why I call this a can of worms. I made the mistake of marrying a softy Londoner and she made me make a choice......... to lose a Series 2 for a woman still hurts. Work saved the day though and she was bought off with her own hatchback for girls, complete with no leaks or draughts. A succession of 110s and Series later I felt renewed.....

The Disco has its merits, but the newer Japanese 4 x4s and particularly Jeeps really are good, then I am a biased un objective old farmer sadly now driving a Ford Fusion and getting 72 mpg. The power of having money in my wallet is what drives this old Tyke nowadays!  

[plumseverywhere]

Just been for a wander down the lane to a small car dealership, he's got all his car's parked outside so despite being a sunday we can still have a nose.

well, he's got a Red P reg Disco TDi (187000 on clock) wants £2695 and he's got a Blue disco TD5 on a T plate wants just under another grand for that. both manual transmission, rust not obvious, alarmed etc. couldtn' tell milage on 2nd as it was electrical by the looks so would need engine on.
on his website there is a defender too so have emailed and asked for a test drive in one of each to get a feel.
fingers crossed, I'm terrible at making decisions so will be jumping back and forth methinks. colour will probably be the decider (oh, that sounds really shallow now!)

[robert waddell]

the p reg check the rear wheel arches when you open the door if it has been repaired or very rusty walk lift the rear carpet if sodden and the floor rusty walk      td5 they are even more prone to rust (thinner metal) and the engines are expencive to repair injectors and injector loom defenders also rust  the rear crossmembers on all three rot  and that is where the towbar fits on  if they were all good why did the previous owners part with them

[plumseverywhere]

thanks for the tips Lillian    will deffo check under mats etc and will be taking Tony with me because he'll be sensible, I am too impulsive (hence having an MGF that needs selling, a project house that needs re-doing, and too much else to mention LOL)
am hoping that old owners have sold so they can buy newer models?! eek.
oh and can anyone explain difference between 'tdi' and 'td5' please? i know the turbo diesel bit (and i is injection) but how do they differ? can't find any info on google at the moment to differentiate.

[robert waddell]

tdi is 4 cyl td5 is 5 cyl the more modern the more expensive to repair      you get tdi200 and tdi 300 they all have problems some are easy fix others not so even concider the range rover classic cheaper they are all just big mecano kits and dont be affraid to get them up on ramps and poke with screwdriver they all rot from the gearbox back some more than others southeren cars dont rust the same as northern cars they are brilliant motors i have had 6 classic range rovers 2 td5 autos 3disco v8 autos 2 freelanders petrol 1disco tdv6 and 1 range rover sport tdv8 the last 2 were new and have crap electronics suspension and tyre wear are also crap the second range rover we owned was the best one of them all have fun testing them and get the best that you can afford they were dear in the winter but they cant shift them now with increased cost of ownership

[plumseverywhere]

hadn't thought of a range rover, was assuming that landies were the way forward as we need a 7 seater. if range rovers do a 7 seat one though that sounds interesting. thanks. not sure if cars here are southern or northern as we are midlands so i suppose some of each   

[robert waddell]

you can make it into a 7 seater two baby seats bolted together and fixed into the back tight against the back seats perfectly legal when i done mine it was checked out by traffic plod and accepted only you dont have any boot space there are some proffesional conversions out there but few and far betwean beware of scottish ones they are usually crash repaired and vice versa with english ones in scotland