The time is here, folks. My Land Rover Discovery, which generated hundreds of comments, opinions, and laughs from all of you after it (predictably) broke down is up for sale. It was an extremely difficult decision. I love this truck even though it did spend a total of a month and a half at the shop. We had some great memories. I was stranded not once, not twice, but on three separate occasions. I recently took it out to the North Fork of Long Island and saw other old Landys, probably maintained by real adults with real incomes. Maybe that’s why it died five weeks later; it thinks it deserves better.
I Don’t Drive It
Why am I selling it, you may ask? Well to start, I just don’t drive it as often as I would like to. I am a full-time college student. I’m in three orchestras (music content coming soon!) and clubs, and taking 18.5 credits. I’m gone from 7:45 AM-8:30 PM nearly every day in classes. I come home, shower, and collapse in my bed to the sounds of Christopher Cross playing from my Yacht Rock playlist. On the weekends, I am a waiter/manager at a local seafood restaurant, Friday through Sunday nights. During the weekend day, I write silly articles for all of you and entertain a few of you (Hi Thad). My Disco sits in the street, collecting dust. Occasionally, I will hop in it to pick up my sister or run an errand, which is usually 2 minutes from home. All in case, you know, the inevitable happens.
It’s a Land Rover…
Oh, also it’s perhaps the most unreliable POS Land Rover has put out in modern history. The 4.0 V8 Bosch engine is atrocious. It is almost a rite of passage for all Disco IIs to blow a head gasket — though it’s just among the many, many other issues that plague this machine. You all yelled at me and told me everything that went wrong was my fault for not doing preventative maintenance. Folks, “preventative maintenance” doesn’t exist on a Land Rover. It’s just “maintenance.” You’re not truly preventing anything, you’re maybe just slighly prolonging the inevitable. Everything is a never-ending project. Everything is a breaking project.
After sharing my decision with my coworkers there was chatter about my decision, of course. But mostly recommendations on what to get next, that’s what we car people tend to focus on. There are many amazing cars out there, you see.
I Have No Time To Work On It
I promise you all I’m not making excuses. If I don’t even have time to drive this thing what makes you think I can muster up the time to work on it? Stephen, I know you really wanted to see some wrenching from me, and so very graciously offered your help. Perhaps I can put a new cabin air filter in my 4Runner. Will that suffice for wrenching?
I Want To Buy A Car With A Stick To Learn
You read that right. Learn. I, a writer for the greatest automotive publication of all time, The Autopian, do not know how to shift gears. Get this kid off this site! I have to admit, I’m embarrassed. However, in my defense, I grew up in a family where our car, a Honda Odyssey was simply a means of transportation. [Editor’s Note: It is unacceptable for a writer at The Autopian to not know how to drive a stick. Unacceptable! Just kidding; you just turned 20! I’ll teach you, young man. Gladly. -DT]. My ‘rents couldn’t tell a CR-V from a Diablo. I had no cool uncle who had a pristine Miata or 911 in a garage. Heck, not a single family member of mine can drive a stick. Moving on to my friends, the ones who like cars that is, we’ve never had the time to practice. I also do not want to destroy their clutches. I think I would have no friends after that.
Due to this reason, I believe it would be fun to buy a cheap, little, fun car to learn stick. I have no idea what yet, so I’m open to suggestions. Ideally, I’d love to find a Saab 9-2X, with a five-speed. I may or may not have picked the 9-2x just because I want the vanity plate, “IKEA WRX.”
I Want Something New
I’ve had my fun with my Rover, but it’s also a big, giant, boxy SUV that gets horrendous gas mileage. I already have a 4-Wheel drive SUV, my Toyota 4Runner, which I’ve had for four years; it’s my first car. I never plan on selling that, so I’ll continue to daily drive it and use it as a 4WD beach rig.
We’ve all got to switch it up once in a while, right? I could randomly decide to go bald one day and sure I’d miss my hair, but I’d get used to having a shiny head. [Ed note: This is such a random analogy. -DT]. I’ll sell my Disco and I’ll be upset sure, but I might also have a great sigh of relief releasing that ticking time bomb off my shoulders.
What do you all think? Am I foolish for selling it? Am I justified? Are my reasons not valid? Whatever you think, however, I’m still selling it. If you’re interested, please shoot me an email @robs3547@icloud.com. I still want a NAS Defender, so I am open to trades! Someone would do a one-for-one for this steaming pile, right?
Once the vehicle disappears over the horizon, you will immediately feel a huge weight lifted off of your back and wallet.
I honestly cannot wait for that feeling. If only someone would buy this damn thing already!
You bought the worst possible Land Rover, totally blame BMW for taking a car with a solid unreliability reputation and make it far worse. However, you can kill two birds with one stone. The 96, 97 Mark 1 Discoveries were actually quite well sorted and you can get them with a stick, even in the US of A! They are a paragon of virtue compared to the dog awful teutonic bodged 2. I had one and absolutely loved it, I had very few problems with it. Compared to an X5 I once owned it was rock solid. Paint like a Camel Trophy vehicle and you will be the talk of the town.
A manual Discovery 1 is on my possible replacement list! They don’t have a lot of the complicated electronics and mechanical issues that plagued the Discovery 2s. I think that I would be MUCH better off with one of those
Something else to consider: swap a newer engine (4.4 or later) and a manual transmission into your existing Disco.
You get a better Land Rover, wrenching fodder for content*, and a decent platform on which to learn to drive a manual. It’s really the ideal solution. 🙂
* With the understanding that you would definitely be enlisting some help in the swap.
I’m not made of money or time!
No shame in it, I didn’t learn how to drive a stick until I bought my first manual transmission car (a 2003 BMW 540i/6) at 23 years old. I also came from a completely non-car family where it was just several generations of Toyota Camrys over and over. Not sure exactly how I got into cars or old BMW’s, but here I am in 2023 running a BMW repair shop as my full-time shop (which I’ve done for several years now). Life is funny sometimes.
@Rob I’m amazed that you even think about spending time adding content here with your schedule.
And as others have said, sell the Disco and finish your studies before thinking about a second vintage vehicle. You have plenty of time ahead of you to throw piles of money into a hole in your driveway (and dare I say it, your own not your parents).
I love cars, I love writing, and I love writing weird things about cars. I’ll always find the time for it!
And where do mom and dad stand on that….
Well for starters, the bank of Rob is financially independent from the bank of Mr. and Mrs. Spiteri. Second, as long as I don’t get any oil stains on the driveway pavers, they’re chill!
It needs a new home and you need to be the ex-caretaker.
Get a motorcycle not too big, with a clutch and shifter, take the local safety course that gets you a license and cheaper insurance. Have inexpensive motorized fun, be safe, wear clothes.
+1! Once you get on two wheels, you’ll forget that Land Rover ever existed.
Also +1 on the gear, and a backwards trucker hat and shades do not count as a helmet. Looking at you, most of the riders I saw in Illinois yesterday…
On Long Island?!? Did you take out a life insurance policy on Rob or something? That’s the land of 0-70-0 while texting. Not a place I’d want to ride a motorcycle.
I’ve never ridden there, probably safe enough if you have your wits about you.
There are definitely some nice spots.
https://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/comments/ovk7zo/some_long_island_ny_backroads/
Truth! And I am far from being a motorcycle guy. I think the second I’d get on one it would fall over. Again, not for me!
I hate to disrupt your plan to buy cars that are all about projecting some kind of status (Land Rover, Saab, WRX, etc), but what you really need is a CHEAP reliable car.
Go buy an old Toyota, Honda Fit, Ford Focus, Mazda 3, etc. All can be found in manual.
In fact, searching car sales sites for ANY car, used, manual, < $20k, <100k miles, and you will find many, many great options.
Besides, thrashing one of those around with a manual is far more fun; i.e. “slow car fast” as has been said elsewhere. I started on a bare bones Saturn SL with a manual. It doesn’t get any more basic, and while I have more refined cars now, I can’t say that they are any more fun.
EDIT: And those small cheap cars are pretty easy to work on, and easy to learn to wrench.
Hey… I’m not projecting any status- just what I like! No shame in that, unless I’m buying G-Wagens and RR Phantoms. Then we’d have a problem.
I agree- basic is better. That’s exactly what I need AND want.
Appologies. Sounds like a good plan.
You might pay attention to whether your learner has a hydraulic clutch. No vast experience here, but the one car I’ve driven so-equipped (2003 PT) felt like absolute mush. (I MUCH prefer my ’90 Dakota 5-speed!)
For certain types of cars (like the ones you list), manuals are often cheaper at this stage in their depreciation curve. In another ten years, that will have changed. I know, because I was looking for something like that (but automatic, for my wife) and there were so many well-priced, well-specced manuals available that I was considering buying one and forcing her to learn… I snapped out of it.
How about one of the toybaru twins? They are relatively inexpensive and seem to have a decent reputation as fun cars. I’ve never driven one, but would like to.
Great suggestion- they’re supposedly fun, easy to drive, and very reliable. I want to drive one too. They must be inexpensive these days- haven’t seen the market on them
You’re busy af boy! I think a cheaper to maintain fun small car to cruise around in with good mpg would be a better way to spend your time and money. I’ve often considered a little Mazda but I am sure there are a lot of good choices. The commenter who said driving a slow car fast is more fun is right I believe as I get older. Less chance of a ticket or dumb accident. Lower insurance bill I’d assume as well.
Good luck, and don’t forget to sleep!
Thanks for the advice! Sleep is for the weak! I’m just kidding…
A little Miata would be a sweet ride. Hard to find them stock nowadays which is ideally what I want and need
Sounds like you need a nice classic MG…
Honestly… yes. A man lives in the middle of my college campus- he has THREE old MGs rotting away in his driveway. I walk past them every day. They have 10+ years of expired registration stickers on them. Such a shame…
Having an MG (B GT)myself I biasedly agree they are good examples of the ‘slow car driven fast = fun’ as MG’s give an excellent ‘feeling’of speed while not actually going that fast…
That said the newest examples (unless imported) found in the US are from what 1980? While certainly they are very fun & simple vehicles, that IS an awfully long time ago.
To put myself in your shoes Rob…
if I had bought a 40 yr. old 2nd ‘fun car’ in college, I would be buying something from the late 1950s!
I fully support the decision to learn stick. Personally, I learn things visually. The most confusing part about driving a stick, in my opinion, is the clutch and how it works. Check out this animation. It might be helpful.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lqo0_StXf4M
Thanks!
Rule of the road #6 (5? maybe 7?) is that it is a lot more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.
The ideal car for your purpose of learning stick while having fun used to be a VW Beetle.. You could slam through the gears and throw it sideways into corners and never reach 60 MPH. There’s nothing on a Bug that can’t be repaired, in your parking space, using pliers and a socket set while spending no more than $100.
However, they’re too old to be cheap toys nowadays, so I agree with ADDvanced that an old Honda with a stick is the best current equivalent. I don’t know if many aftermarket parts are available, but a Fit is a hoot to drive.
Oh, the SAAB? Dammit man, you’re just trading one heartbreak for another. They’re too old with too limited parts availability at this point. Sure, you can get brake shoes et al but any broken esoteric part means searching junkyards and hoarder’s stashes across the country.
I don’t think WRX parts from that era are THAT hard to find. I still see them floating around from time to time. But agree, an old Honda would be much more well suited.
A Honda Fit with a stick is a great car. Loads of room inside, the Magic Seat rear seats are amazing, the L15 is dead nuts reliable and there’s enough room for a 5’8″ person to comfortably lay out in the back.
The manual Fit will be running about 3000-3500 rpm on the highway. The L15 has actual usable torque down that low.
You clearly love a refined 4×4, but if you want something more reliable and something with a manual, how is a Holy Grail-spec ZJ not the answer. Shame you’re a few months late to get the one David was selling, but I assume wait long enough and someone will reach out to him with another.
I was so mad that I was too late! I would have rocked a HG ZJ.
Also, defined “refined” 4×4. My Disco is certainly NOT refined and my 4Runner, well, it’s “fine.”
At home in front of upper-middle class homes when new?
Dude forget your friends they just want to laugh at you. The fact that you can maintain a car passion while in college is impressive. As a college kid without a trustfund get a stick corolla to learn. If you are daring pick up an old 2 seater convertible, jensen, mg, fiat with parts availability to work on and drive.
I hardly have time, it’s tough, but wouldn’t trade it for the world
Imma throw my suggestion into the ring for a good fun first stick shift car, and that’s a recent-ish Mazda 2.
It’s basically a light, tossable 90’s car, but in the 2010’s. Weighs less than a same-year Miata, not a lot of horsepower but that means it should be harder to kill the clutch. And you’ll get lots of full-pedal fun in the way driving slow cars quick usually is!
The shifter feels very good, and the clutch feel is decent (if a little vague on the engagement point). Mine’s been very reliable drivetrain-wise (with 235000kms on it now on the original clutch). About the only complaint I have is it’s tendency to eat shocks and struts – apparently common across a lot of small Mazda’s those years – but if you’re planning to have fun with it you might be running aftermarket anyways.
I’m only at ~120k kms (and 9 years) on my Mazda2, but so far I’ve only had to replace the rear shocks (well, and the springs as well, I cracked one a year or two out of warranty, which became the perfect excuse to lower it when I could get the factory-supported Eibach kit cheaper than just the rear OEM spec). I think I’ve been rougher on my clutch though (lots of city driving), as it’s pretty cranky when cold. But yes, despite sporadic access to newer and nicer cars, I don’t feel like I’m missing out on much until I have to take an extended highway trip.
I bought mine about 5 and a half years ago with 115000kms – I’ve done the front shocks once, and the rears twice (the last time about 2 months ago). It seems what happens on the rears is they get damp/dirty, then freeze up in the winters we have here, then you hit a good bump and it snaps the mounts. I have a mostly rural commute so I am probably a bit kinder on the clutch than most, to be fair.
An alternative is its cousin the Ford Fiesta, I have a 1600 120hp, 5 speed one with the Ford handling package. Cheap fun, for less cheap, more fun there is the Fiesta ST with the 6 speed and considerably more punch.
As a broke college student (you), I can’t think of a worse vehicle to own. It will always be emptying your pockets and leaving you stranded.
And so I support your decision to sell it.
Besides, after you graduate college and the money is once again flowing in you will be better suited to incur the British Car Tax. 😉
Now, go to your room and think about what you’ve done! 🙂
British Car Tax… man. What is with those people and TAX? I should throw my Discovery into the Boston Harbor and call it quits once and for all
I hate to break this to you, but those are not your friends 🙂
call me old-fashioned, but I couldn’t call the people who’d wish me suffering and financial ruin “friends”
Yep! Perhaps he can send them the Disco repair bills! ʅ(́ ◡◝ )ʃ
Good point!
Hi Rob! Thank you for the shout out. I confess I woke up looking forward to reading what you might have written today and am touched you thought of me.
You are making the right choice to release that beast into the wild where someone else can lovingly adopt it (or strip it for parts :(). Someday, after you’re making those big sweet English Major Dollars and dating a gorgeous Russian Cellist (alas, only second chair), you can acquire a vintage Landy, afford all the parts, and maybe even find time to wrench it right. Until then, wait 18.5 credits? You are a maniac. Props!
I’m going to offer you a crazy suggestion. I first learned stick on lawn mowers. It was a great way to get started, as belt and pulley clutches are pretty resilient so there’s virtually no risk of damage. It’s a very safe way to gain the basic operational skills and coordination required in a safe environment. Then you can move onto a Honda (as good as Porsche at clutch feel, but without the crippling fear of damage). I should also say that I think learning to shift on a motorcycle also enhances stick shift feel. Something about switching it up really trains the brain. Finally, being a musician fairly guarantees you’ll be a natural, as you clearly have the required ‘feel’ already built in.
Learning to drive stick is best done by test driving cars you pretend you might by at different dealerships and different sales life forms.
Hello, my friend! Such a nice, thoughtful, comment as always. You see, I live in a suburban NY area and have only about 30 sq. ft of lawn. Maybe I’ll buy a farm in Pennsylvania and a lawn mower and ride around mowing the lawn dodging broken Land Rovers with blow engines. That’s the life of a farmer, right?
I should have specified, I grew up with the same lawn. It was other peoples lawn tractors I learned upon while trying to make enough quarters for quality arcade time (cause I’m old AF). So I’m just saying that if you happen to know someone with one and the opportunity arises, give it a whirl.
A wise decision has been made. These are like a person’s first wife, the one that turns out to be a huge mistake. It’s disagreeable, unreliable and unworthy, not to mention a huge money pit. Better to pass it onto some other poor unsuspecting sucker. At least you don’t have to hire a lawyer to get rid of it. Or give it half of your shit when it finally goes away. Good luck son. Being young can be tough. Life is a never ending Master Class.
Yes like the 2nd and 3rd wives are so affordable. Best choice a man can make? A vasectomy at 18 and a bachelors life.
Also if your rich or well known dont let the women in your life know about the vasectomy before she sues for child support.
Dunno if it’s a true story but it’s relevant:
https://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sea/274495936.html
After reading that, thank god I am only 20 years old
Hey Rob, really enjoy your stuff here. And your work/life ethic. Wish you luck. Just to clarify, I was married for almost 40 years to the finest woman ever. I lost her last Labor Day.
But I have seen the others who were not as fortunate in their lives as I was. (2nd, 3rd, 4th wife. (Some folks don’t know when to quit?) So sometimes we do get blessed and lucky.
Thanks again, and keep up the great work amigo.
Thanks for the kind words. Comments like these are inspiring
It’s such a shame these things are so dodgy, I have always loved the look of them, the interiors, the features… everything but the reliability! Even here in the UK, where parts are easier to find and garages are more used to them it still doesn’t feel worth it.
It really is a shame. I get why people like to LS swap them, but that just enters you into another entire loophole of issues. At least in the UK, you got the diesel and parts are more available. In the land of the free, we only got the 4.0/4.4. Terrible motors.
Absolutely great call to sell it! Even more so when you consider that you already have a 4WD 4Runner.
Yeah I never understood having two of the same style of car; I want one of every ‘type’ of vehicle.
Although I agree, the two of them, 4Runner and Disco, could not be more different. That’s the charm I feel in owning the two of them.
You should buy a Honda from the golden era, my man. It sounds like you don’t know how to wrench, or drive stick, and any of those cars are perfect to learn how to do both, the aftermarket is incredible, and a light peppering of mods has a huge payoff on those chassis. Look for anything Honda with a stick made from about 1988-1999.
This is the correct take, along with selling the Disco.
Great idea. I also probably sound like I don’t make smart financial decisions. You’d be right. An old Prelude would be a nice score.
I’d suggest just a civic, parts are a LOT easier to find than prelude parts. I had an 89 Prelude Si 4ws for years, and aftermarket was basically non existent compared to any generation of civic or integra.
Good point. Perhaps an old Element would be fun too. I think they came with a 5 Speed
From my pov, at the end of the day, vehicles are really about the activity, not the possession.
It’s the activity (and what it aims at) that makes this website as good as it is. Otherwise, David just owned a junkyard, Stephen Gossin runs a used car dealership, and Torch, well, he’s like one of those internet obsessives on a given thing who frequently use all caps and unusual punctuation placement and whatever you do don’t give them your personal contact info…
Roman philosopher Epictetus offered a first century version of this…that if you’re happy you posses a great horse, what you’re happy about has nothing to do with you, it’s all about the horse. Be happy that you’re a great rider, or breeder, or whatever, instead.
So if you’re not able to get the activity you want out of a given vehicle, time to let it go I’d say.
Epictetus could have had nice dialogues with both David Tracy and Jason Torchinsky
And you can do the same set of activities with a 4Runner. The Aussies have a saying – “A Land Rover will take you anyplace you might conceivably need or want to go. A Toyota will bring you back.”
You speak the truth!
I was waiting for your response!
I’m definitely stealing that for something. lol
I’ve been saying it for years! Why do you think I own a Land Rover AND a Toyota 4Runner?!
Sell. As you said, it’s a toy that needs more than you can currently provide. Let it find a home with someone who can look after it and enjoy the old school Britishness.
These Brits need a lot of attention
It’d look really good in my driveway right next to the one I already own. That way they could keep each other company while waiting to be fixed.
A fellow disco owner… any advice?
Mine was in much worse state when I got it. It had 192kmi on it and quickly became too expensive to maintain. It was actually donated to the Boy Scout camp near me, but after they got an estimate for what it would cost just to be able to cruise around the camp they passed it on to me for next to nothing.
I’ve since replaced every aspect of the cooling system, including head gaskets, done calipers, rotors, pads, brake lines, abs sensors, and the whole abs control module. Also the starter, front wheel bearings, full exhaust with four new o2 sensors, and the list goes on. I also lifted it, put a winch on it, and ran the cable to engage the center diff lock.
Was all that worth it? Absolutely not. It’s not worth a whole lot more than I originally paid for it to anyone but me. On the plus side, I don’t rely on it for daily transportation, which means I can slowly do all the maintenance myself, and Atlantic British is only about 25 minutes from my house (and due to ordering through a buddy’s garage account I enjoy a healthy parts discount).
In the end I guess I sort of enjoy the pain of owning such a needy vehicle, and I feel like Ace Ventura driving through the jungle any time I get in it.
Man, you are so lucky you live near AB. I guess you’re up north, near ‘Toga? I’m glad you enjoy your Disco. I am in a similar boat; I do not daily drive it. But as I mentioned in the post, I can’t spend time maintaining it as much as it needs. One day I’ll make millions of dollars and spend it all on an old D2. That’s my American dream
Sell it and don’t look back.
Buy it and you’ll never hear from me again
No, but you’d hear from him again! “Curse you Rob!!! that damn Disco left me stranded again” 😉
That’s why I’m so afraid of selling it to a family member or friend- I’d be down one!
Yep!!!!!