1996 Land Rover Discovery review from North America

I’m 19 years old and I went through some bad luck with a few vehicle accidents one month, and after escaping death 2 times I wanted something that was pretty beefy. I saw my Discovery on a car lot in Washington State, so I bought it.

On the test drive it sounded great. I took corners and almost crapped my self with how much sway there was, but I thought the car looked good, so I bought it.

When I bought the car it had 95,000 miles on it. Once I got back into Portland, Oregon I had found out that its front left CV joint was going out, and it made a loud clicking sound when I turned. Being the cheap guy I am I bypassed the Land Rover dealership altogether, and went straight for my back yard mechanic. I ordered the CV join from roversnorth. com for around $100 including shipping.

In Oregon you have to pass DEQ, and it failed the first time I brought it in. the guy that did the test told me to contact Land Rover to find out what it might be. I called them up and they told me it would cost $125 to simply plug into my computer and tell me what was wrong, another $50 to reset the computer, and they had no idea how much the actual repair would cost. I brought it to my mechanic. He plugged his computer into my OBDII, and within 30 seconds my computer was re-set. It passed DEQ with no problem, and it didn’t cost me a cent.

Once winter set in I realized that everything I set in the back of my rover got damp and I noticed after a night of rain there was a stream of water running out of my right rear speaker. I ripped the head molding apart, and I still can’t find the leak. Apparently it had been doing it for some time because rust almost completely ate through the floor boards. I sprayed some naval jelly on, and put on a hefty coat of bed liner. I really need to get that fixed.

And now I have the problem of my car eating rear flex couplers. My drive line is perfectly balanced, but I go through an $85 generic brand coupler about every 20,000 miles, when they should last at least 100,000. Go figure…

The vehicle is a little heavy, and its little 4.0 V8 just doesn’t cut it. It produces around 185 hp, and my vehicle (including me) weighs about 5,500 lbs. I’ve never tried to pull a trailer with it, and I have no intention of doing so in the future. If you’re looking for a vehicle to haul stuff, buy your self a Dodge. But that being said, it will do alright up to about 70, and after that just plan on accelerating at granny speed.

I have done my fair share of off roading, and yes, I have got stuck. Damn highway tires. But it will out perform my friends with their Jeep Grand Cherokees and Toyotas.

Everyone that has sat in the vehicle comments on how scary it is when I turn, but after driving it for a few days I became totally used to it, and its second nature to me. If the speed advisory says 30 mph for a turn, you should go 30.

My friends also tell me how great the car rides, and how cool it is. Keep in mind most of my friends are college students that live off Top Ramen.

Now the car squeaks all the time, so I need to replace the shocks, and its rear right coil spring sags, so I need to spend more money.

I also put a new Magnaflow exhaust system on the car, which brought the car from 16 mpg average to about 18 mpg average, which isn’t bad for $200. And it sounds awesome – like a super sized ricer.

I was parallel parking and after a few switches from forward to reverse, my gear selector stopped in reverse. After a little freaking out, I had my rover towed to… no other than my backyard mechanic. He pulled off the shift selector handle cover, and crimped a clamp back down. Land rover told me it would cost about $400 to have the diagnostics done on the transmission.

I’m not trying to bash the authorized center here. I’ve had it taken in on a gas tank recall, and they are very nice people. I’ve done a few fixes on my vehicle my self, and I can call up the Land Rover dealership, and they are more than willing to help me over the phone. When my flex coupler split in half I wanted to put on the old one until I could get around to buying another new one, and the Land Rover dealership stayed on the phone and guided me through exactly what to do to remove it. I have never seen such devotion to customers as I have with Land Rover.

The driver’s seat has a huge rip in it now, so I figure I should have that fixed soon. All the seats in the vehicle seem to wear badly, or at least look that way.

Everything on this car that has the ability to leak… does and usually will. When I brought it to Oil Can Henry’s to get an oil change they did a drive train inspection, and everything had visible leaks – minus the radiator (knock on wood).

I have rambled on enough about my problems. The vehicle is great. I love it. If you have any further questions, or want to consult an owner before you spend several thousand dollars message me on AIM: powdermonkey753.