2004 HSE are getting CHEAP

I want to wait to buy a new rig until next year to see how high gas gets this summer and fall but, dayum 2004 disco prices are cheap

10-12K$ gets you a 50K mile vehicle in great shape

by the end of the yearI bet you could out fit one completely with a diesel tdi 300 for under 30$

local quotes here for tdi installed are about 15K$
 

MuddyMudskipper

Camp Ninja
FourByLand said:
Diesel is so yesterday... water is the new black.

WHAT!? I thought brown was the new black....or was pink the new brown....oh wait green is the new black. Recycle old Rovers! :shakin:
 

Scott Brady

Founder
I want to buy Stephanie a RR when we get back from South America. It is her dream vehicle and she is my dream girl, so it seems only fair ;)

I am thinking cream with a camel interior. 2006 or 2007. Then again, a business lease for that is pretty attractive now too.
 

MuddyMudskipper

Camp Ninja
expeditionswest said:
I want to buy Stephanie a RR when we get back from South America. It is her dream vehicle and she is my dream girl, so it seems only fair ;)

I am thinking cream with a camel interior. 2006 or 2007. Then again, a business lease for that is pretty attractive now too.

Some guys have all the luck. Which RR? A Sport?
 

R_Lefebvre

Expedition Leader
$10-12 for an HSE? Can you link to that?

I did a lot of shopping recently, and the best I ever saw was $14k for an S with 50+k on it. The best deal on an SE was something like $16-17k with a splash of warranty left. Those were prices in the norther part of the US. I ended up buying in Canada since I was going to have to pay a 6% duty to import a Rover from the US. I ended up with an SE with about 40k for $19k out the door + taxes.

This was the best deal that I could find and I shopped hard. All the cheaper ones had significant issues.
 

FourByLand

Expedition Leader
expeditionswest said:
I want to buy Stephanie a RR when we get back from South America. It is her dream vehicle and she is my dream girl, so it seems only fair ;)

I am thinking cream with a camel interior. 2006 or 2007. Then again, a business lease for that is pretty attractive now too.

She doesn't like white???... aww, that was heart warming Scotty!
 
check ebay or autotrader, plenty

I have a friend who is looking at dealer auctions so hopefully I can acquire one for about 5-8K for a 2004 HSE-7

I sold my HSE 04 last April for 17.5$K with 50K miles

the same truck can be had right now for like 12K$

good news - there are a lot of them

gas is going up! and up and up and up

economy is sinking :snorkel:

I should have a couple of quotes for a diesel swap. I am after WVO and BIOD so maybe a TD5 is a better choice

the whole thing should cost about 20-25K TOPS - purchase of vehicle included

I don't see what is so complicated about the engine swap and why people don't consider it more. I most likely will compare the price of a "specialty" shop that has done the project many times versus a shop that does rebuilding and see how big the difference is

engine cost = 6-10K tranny + all other goodies included

vehicle cost will be under 10K, maybe WELL under

labor = 5-8K?

what to do with a 4.6 V8?

did I mention it will be a 5 spd!!!!!!!!!!

let yall know what I find out this week

what color to get :hehe:
 

R_Lefebvre

Expedition Leader
Those are higher miles... but yeah, darn good prices. I'm skeptical about their true condition, but keep me posted.

I looked at a number of basket cases that were not as advertised.
 
the argument that this isn't cost effective is nonsense at this point. Cars don't have to be disposable like computers and cell phones. In Europe it is nothing for a Mercedes Benz taxi to run a 1,000,000 miles - certainly not on the same parts of course

why it makes sense more now than ever

since prices are falling through the floor ( those prices above are ASKING PRICES! ) putting a TDi in a vehicle like this makes more and more sense.

Not just fuel economy but longevity. gas will continue to go up period. Why not find a vehicle you love and invest in it seriously. It doesn't have to be all at once.

lets face it, if you have a V8 of any kind, it will be worth exactly 0$ dollars in the very near future. If you put a tdi in it, it retains some value to say nothing of fuel mileage.

And you no longer worry about how many miles it has or its condition - this is a long term investment, get your moneys worth!

besides, the 4.6 V8 in rovers isn't that great an engine anyway ....

high milers? I suppose

at 12-15K miles a year a 2004 should have 48-60K miles by 2008

I love that only a Land Rover is considered to have high miles at 70K miles lol

I don't mean that in a mean way Lefebevre :ylsmoke:

I grabbed those 2 auctions off the first page of ebay under the search "2004 discovery"

that is just one day, remember it is SPRING when prices are suppose to be HIGH! and those are asking prices!

you'll be able to get an HSE for under 12K$ with lower miles when July and peak oil prices rolla round to say nothing of this fall year end prices - especially if you know someone that attends auctions

the affordable plan: pay cash for the truck, take a loan out on said vehicle for 15K$ because the blue book will still be high. bingo

15$ thousand should cover used engine replacement, tranny, and fuel related items -

you know how much it cost to replace an engine in a normal car? lol

now how long do tdis last? no idea, but my guess from reading UK websites is 500,000 miles or so - much longer than British aluminum that the body is made form =]

so I guess if you live near the ocean or some place that salts in winter some under coating and a seasonal rust removal/grinding session will be required since LRs rust almost as bad as Yotas if not worse

I wanted a Jeep Jk diesel but that isn't going to happen. Mopar says it will release conversions for Yotoas and Jeeps sometime soon ..... but those vehicles won't come close to the luxury and capability of a stock disco period.

a tdi will get rid of a lot of electrical issues as well, which makes owning a LR almost headache free! :xxrotflma

this seems very viable, what do you all think?
 

SMD

Adventurer
Z O O R O P A said:
I don't see what is so complicated about the engine swap and why people don't consider it more.

Federal and state regs. It's been covered in many, many threads here and elsewhere, but my opinion is that those "issues" are the main reason that more people don't make the diesel switch in the US. Much depends on where you live and your tolerance of risk (as in, possibly losing your vehicle).

As for the TD5, my understanding is that it is nearly as electrically-dependent as the petrol V8s. Hence most discussions centering around the TDi or other older diesels.

All auto dealers I've bought or traded with in the last 10 years (of any make vehicle) consider a vehicle high-mileage after 70k. It's not LR specific, but related to KBB and resale - the American disposable society topic.

What transmission would you plan to use? I've driven D2s overseas with 5-spds, but I don't recall that option in the US. Would an R380 fit?
 
All good points -

from what I understand, the 5spd is the only option

I know that vehicles depreciate every 5 thousand miles ... considerably

I live in Vt which has the same emissions as California.

I don't see where that comes into play in a used vehicle?

If you want to drop a diesel in a vehicle, it doesn't have to pass emissions except to be inspected - if you are using WVO or something emissions are not really a concern are they??

car registration is a legal issue and as far as I remember, it doesn't require information about the engine ......

I don't know anything about TD5s other than they cost more and are very powerful

But for me, I'm leaning to the 300tdi. I don't need speed, in fact I've driven fast all my life and find it a relief to take it easy now that I have more than myself to think about.

I'm prepared for the truck to be unavailable for a week or so time to time when waiting for parts, however, Rovers North is about 40 minutes away and they seem to have a regular supply of diesel parts for rovers

It won't be our only car, but the one most sued and certainly the one used on vacations, out of state trips, or any travel over 20 miles away :smiley_drive:

For me, living very much in a police state ( cops here are amazing! at petty ticketing; inspection, registration, anything with an expiration tag ) and happy about it, driving without an inspection sticker doesn't bother me and I will pay the tickets $100-150 a go until I speak to some legislators. Vermont allows easy access to legislators and is a highly progressive state that thinks outside the box ...... most of the time :elkgrin:
 

R_Lefebvre

Expedition Leader
I'm not sure about the prices dropping just because gas. I dunno...

I mean, ok, this is my first truck, and I'm averaging about 14mpg. So, keeping it full sucks. No doubt. But I think some people lose sight of reality. Let's say I am going to drive 12,000 miles in a year. The average amount.

Fuel costs for me in Canada will work out to about $3500, or $3900 if you figure on premium fuel.

I also have a Ford Focus Wagon with a little 2.0L engine. This thing should be the perfect car. It's compact with a small engine, yet actually has pretty amazing storage capacity inside. Problem is, the damn thing only gets 24mpg! And nothing is wrong with it, that I can find anyway, and I've looked at almost everything. Fuel costs for it are $2100 per year. That's still a lot of money.

So, ok, the Disco is going to use $1800 more of fuel per year. It's a fair amount of money sure. But... compared to the capability I get with the Disco it's actually not that bad. I can carry 4 adults plus the baby seat in relative comfort. Theres more storage space, it can tow, etc...

I can see how the increase in fuel prices can justify the precipitous drop in the value of Rovers. Not economically justified. I think it's more to do with perceptions. Gas guzzlers are falling out of fashion. Also, the idea that you can get a car that REALLY gets 40mpg is a joke.

See, I'm going the other way. I owned small cars all my life. Now I got a truck. I know what cars really get. They don't really get 40mpg. The Disco doesn't even use twice the fuel... it's only 50% more fuel.

Heck, a minivan is going to get 20mpg on a good day. If you need the that much space, it's going to use fuel. Period.
 
I hear you Lefebvre and I agree on your calculations

Americans as you well know are not exactly good at long term perception, planning, the whole "look at the big picture" attitude and many other things lol :D

Today I walked into a high end beautiful gourmet specialty wine & butcher shop right down the road from my house. I've been wanting to go in there for some time. The owner, lovely woman, is selling her 2004 one owner HSE with 48K mile never used anything but premium fuel and she is selling to trade up. Bought and sold right here in my "city". Its Zambezi silver on black YUMMY! I could even get her to buy the xtd-warrnty I would bet as she and I hit it off well.

she wants $17500 which is exactly what I sold my black on black HSE for precisely one year ago. At that time, April 2007, I was offered $12,500 for a dealer auction price. My truck was puuuurrrfect! So is hers :)

fast forward a year the economy slumps, prospects getting worse and worse here. It is going to get BAD that is everyone's prediction outside Bushians.

Now I'm going to think about it becuase the prospect of having a bumper - bumper 100K warranty is very attractive.

But, regardless we can all agree that the 4.6 engine may be the best engine Rover ever offered North America, but it isn't that reliable an engine according to statistics and consumer reports which may not be entirely accurate but they all point in the same direction.

gas went up to $3:43 today, that is about 40 cents since January. I think it's prudent to wait until July when gas hits real records like 4 bucks - maybe it wont?!

but I have time on my side and according to autotrader and ebay people are selling Discos dirt cheap and not a lot of people are bidding or buying

it just isn't gas in America Lefebrve, but unemployment is up in every class, consumer product index is through the roof and only getting more expensive, and people are not just hurting but homeless and jobless for the first time in generations. No one has a plan, we are all in limbo until our *** clown President leaves and the new guy or girl gets in.
 

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