Landrover - Defender vs. Discovery

armo.

Well-Known Member
I have hit the same clutch problem with my '98 Defender 300 TDi three years in a row now and I think I'm going to call it a day. Much as I like it for its utility - it can carry and tow anything, anywhere without complaint, I'm not happy with this unreliability, so it's going to go.

How does the older style / 2 series Discovery TDi compare? On road there is no comparison - the Discovery is smooth, quiet and comfortable, and I know that off-road it also behaves. Problem is, it just doesn't have the Defenders space for a load of firewood or a couple of fallow.

How do others find it for carrying things? Can the fold up seats be taken out allowing sufficient room? Is there an off the shelf rigid, plastic floor covering for the Discovery, like those available for the Defender?
 
I had a 93 disco till it was stolen and used it for wood collection from the forest often.
I had no 3rd row of seats in mine.
Saab dropped this idea as any children riding there would be the first to die in a rear end shunt as there is no crush zone left.
Disco has the same chassis as Defender except it has a 100 inch wheelbase vs 90 & 110 inch defenders but gives more elbow room and a modern body engineering architecture and ventilation (rusts like an old boat though).
Defender will be gone next year anyway (cannot meet world safety specs anymore)
Martin
 
Old Discos are half the price of similar aged defenders and much more comfortable. A friend uses them for daily towing big feed trailers around his chicken farm - buys them for £1,000 and expects 12 to 18 months use before totally ..........

Why don't Toyota sell the land cruiser pickup in the UK?
 
Someone actually stole a Disco UNBELIEVABLE:stir:

It's a new government scheme to reduce crime - once they've stolen it they have to spend so much time fixing it that they have no more time left to nick other stuff plus they spend all their drug money on spare parts.

It also teaches them that nothing good ever comes to those who steal.

From what I hear it hasn't been too successful as even the vast majority of hoods know not to nick a Land Rover - they know a government plot when the see one. From what I hear this is part of the reason for the recent riots in England - the really stupid ones who were stupid enough to nick a Land Rover are rioting for cheaper spare parts.
 
The fold up seats can be taken out in 15 mins, loadspace protectors cost 40-50 quid, i use two if i fold down the rear seats, carrying capacity - ive had four Red Stags in the back of mine, hope this helps.
 
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Just out of curiosity what has been the clutch problem with the Defender that you have hit every year? Never really heard of clutch problems with 300tdi. Have heard that you can buy cheaper clutch replacement parts that are just not up to the job and will fail.
A good disco 2 will be quite hard to find.
 
Its not often people go from a defender to a discovery because of reliability issues.

A lad I know who is also a member on here would probably PAY YOU to take his discovery off him, hes had a pretty bad run of luck with it. Just off the top of my head hes had 2 new airbags units, 2 ride height sensors, window regulator, aux belt tensioner, ecu issues, leaky sunroofs, stuck rear door... you get the jist of it.

Itl be going soon I think :D
 
Its not often people go from a defender to a discovery because of reliability issues.

A lad I know who is also a member on here would probably PAY YOU to take his discovery off him, hes had a pretty bad run of luck with it. Just off the top of my head hes had 2 new airbags units, 2 ride height sensors, window regulator, aux belt tensioner, ecu issues, leaky sunroofs, stuck rear door... you get the jist of it.

Itl be going soon I think :D

You won't get these niggles with a series2 300tdi because they don't have airbags, sensors, ecu's etc.
I got my disco (1998) 300tdi for £850 , I'd have had to have spent 3 times this for a shed of a defender. mines An ES model with all the leather (easy to wipe blood off) abs electric all round etc . Lovely ride. Just use it for stalking , lamping and ferreting. Much more comfy and practical off road/ lamping . have removed rear sunnroof supperb for lamping. Another unexpected good thing is that its auto which again makes it ace for driving around offroad picking off and up bunnies, reloading magazines, plugging in lamps etc without constantly clutch change neutral etc
 
I had a Defender Puma and Discovery2 and the Discovery can do anything the Defender can but in comfort... two different vehicle but more able than the owners. A '04 Disco 2 would be worth less than half what a '04 Defender would fetch and that one baffles me.
 
The first disco to come to my family needed 3 clutches and a gear box within 3 years old .2nd one everything just fell apart seats ,door handles the lot..And didnt really off road well .I say Defender the way:cool:
 
the problem with the new Defender Pumas is the forward facing fold up rear seats. if you can go for an earlier Defender that doesn't have these stupid seats in it which take up to much room in the back.

Pumas defenders - no thank you, great engines but the load space is restricted
 
I agree, mine have never been folded down other to vaccuum behind them. I have a CAB dog box in the back and there is no room left.
 
Ive had the full shebang , defender tdi 200 ,300, td5 All good workhorses .
Sold my last 90 at 3yrs old and bought a disco 3 , it goes all the places my defenders went , got a massive load space , then i sit the wife in it and it even looks nice , a serious bit of kit for towing or any off road , if you have the boll@@ks to put it there it will go .
 
You won't get these niggles

NIGGLES!! What it would cost to repair that lot at a LR dealer would buy you a decent 4X4, a rifle, a scope and enough ammo to keep you stalking for a decade! LR owners have a different concept of both money and niggles to me and most other folks I know.
 
Clutch

The clutch problem is a fimley? valve, I'm told by the mechanic (ex-REME). The gear change started getting increasingly difficult within the space of a 40 minute journey. It then became was impossible to change gear, with the clutch just being able to be pressed to the floor without having any effect.
 
NIGGLES!! What it would cost to repair that lot at a LR dealer would buy you a decent 4X4, a rifle, a scope and enough ammo to keep you stalking for a decade! LR owners have a different concept of both money and niggles to me and most other folks I know.

Sorry mate I'm an ag engineer so I 'm lucky enough to see these things as a pain in the ass not a hole in the pocket.
 
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