1996 Land Rover Discovery from North America - Comments

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.

I hate to be a spoilsport, but it sounds like you have gotten yourself into a real money/labor pit. No 1996 automobile with only 100,000 miles on it should have all of the problems that you have listed. My BMW is two years older and has over 140,000 miles on it. No leaks, no visible wear, and it runs and drives perfectly. I used to want a Land Rover, but I don't have the time to fool around with one.

The leak from the rear speaker area is from the join in the water chanel or gutter in the roof. there is a piece of aluminium foil across the join that is tucked in side before the panels are glued on. when the sealant gets old the tape lifts and chanels in water from the gutter,. dig ahole in the sealant remove the foil. cut it of flush and reseal the guter just with sealant, no more leak.

Hey his review has made my decision. I'm definitely buying a land rover. If a 19 year old college student whose friends eat ramen noodles (I've been there) can't kill a car with over 100 thousand on it, I know I'll never kill it. Car companies should let college students who happen to miss their morning classes test cars.

Getting hooked on my new (to me) “96 Red Rover Discovery.

I recently flew to Toronto from Nova Scotia to pick up this Rover, really without any idea what I was getting into. Mainly, I was doing a brother-in –law living in LA a favour. The vehicle looked to be in relatively good shape, and had ~160,000 km on it. It was badly in need of a waxing!

I hit the highway and headed north, as I had a +2,000 km trip ahead of me. I noticed that the “check engine”, “SRS”, and “ABS” lights were on, so soon stopped and checked fluids. Other than the power steering fluid being low, everything else seemed fine, so I continued. I checked the mileage after the first tank, and found I was getting 17mpg…not too bad, considering the heavy vehicle, and what appeared to be a slightly underpowered engine. It drove wonderfully on the highway, but would slow down some what on long hills.

Arriving back in NS 1 ½ days later, I had a mechanic check it out, and little was found in need of repairing, other than the rear brakes. He could not, however, get his computer to analyze the “check engine” light, and indicated I would have to go to the dealer. He also could not do much about the “SRS” light. Perhaps I’ll leave that one alone.

I have found that the transfer gearbox is totally frozen…it does not move a fraction. This Rover was used in Toronto, where I guess the gear was never used. Does anyone know if there is a “back-yard” fix for this, and if so, how do you get into the box?

I just waxed the Rover, and it looks fabulous, considering the age. I am used to doing most minor mechanical repairs, and this vehicle appears to be fairly easy to work on. I may be in for unpleasant surprises, but at this point I already love this car. On my small farm, it appears to really fit a need. Now I only wish there was some snow to really test it out. With the weather at 10-13 C, it feels like spring!

Wow, a frozen transfer case lever sounds bad. First, I would try the obvious. Get some Liquid Wrench/WD-40 and hose down all the linkages in case the lever is just corroded in place. Then find the filler plug in the transfer case and check the fluid level just to make sure it isn't dry. If this car was really never placed into low range in it's entire life, and the gears are sludged up, you might consider pouring in a few cans of something called "Marvel Mystery Oil" to loosen up the sludge. See if you can run it long enough to get the gear selector to move, and once you do, drain out the fluid and refill it with new fluid of the type recommended by the manufacturer. I don't know what Rover uses, but most 4x4's use automatic transmission fluid in their transfer cases, rather than the heavy weight gear oil that you might at first expect.

Hi, My check engine light is ON how can I turn it off. Could you let me know where is the computer socket, thks!

Every body's check engine light is on. Every body with a 1996 Discovery, that is.

My 96 Discovery is just as glitchy, but I took it out yesterday - it is the best toy ever. I drive a Mercedes E350 and gosh I didn't realize how happy I was when my Discovery was my everyday car. Now that I can afford to drive it again - I get 9-10 miles per gallon ouch. Well I am sitting high - I love how our seats sit so high that you could be side by side to any other 4X4/SUV or truck and you feel taller than them haha.

My husband hates my Landrover Discovery (96) - because he likes old Chevy engines that are never complicated and Landrovers tend to have glitches as have already been mentioned here. But you either love this vehicle or you don't.

Your local Landrover dealers have offroading clubs - stop by and check out the pictures. These people meet up for breakfast every so often and plan off roading trips. At our local dealer I've seen muddy pictures of huge caravans of old Discoverys; they look like they know how to live life. Too bad most of us are enslaved by daily routines and forget that there's more to life than driving a quiet compact car that we can stash in a car garage and well you know.

Oh and the paint on my discovery is awful - the clear gloss has turned white. I think there is a factory problem with the hunter green (forest green) paint, it is not nice.

I just scored a 1996 3.9i Discovery for work as a contractor (digger driver).

So far the only problem is the engine dies occasionally for no apparent reason, not totally though, it still idles whilst at speed, there just doesn't seem to be enough gas to keep the motor running normally. This can happen at any time in any conditions and can be quite dangerous. One time I had just passed a big truck on a passing lane up a hill. I pulled back in front of the truck and the bloody engine cut out. I looked behind me to see a big Kenworth slightly sideways with smoke pouring off the back tyres (she was empty), and thought how stupid I looked. I also thought, "a Landrover would not look good as a hood ornament". The truck passed, the driver gave me a friendly wave and a few short blasts on the horn (yeah right), and thankfully there was no injury. I replaced the fuel filter, ran through some fuel injector cleaner stuff but it still does it.

I have not, touch wood, had any other problems with the vehicle. She has 160000 km's on her, everything electrical works, there are no warning lights of any sort that stay on, it doesn't leak, the brakes had just been done and they are great, it is great on the road. I haven't given it a hard out burst in the mud yet, but from what I have read and heard, I can't wait. Of course, the fuel consumption ain't the greatest, but with the mileage and the fact she's a V8, I can live with it. The exhaust has been enlarged, and one (or more) of the mufflers has been removed or replaced. It's hard case when you gas it around a corner and people look expecting to see an old schooler V8 and there is this big 4wd.

I have always been a Landcruiser guy, having owned two and my old man also had a couple. This thing compares well, it is more comfortable than any Landcruiser I have been in, is great to drive, sounds choice, and don't look half bad with the bigger tyres and aftermarket alloys it currently rolls on. Best of all was the price, 3000 bucks (NZ). I can't even get an early eighty's Landcruiser (which was what I was looking for at the time I scored the rover) for that price. What a great vehicle.

Go Holden.