G4 or XD Disco's

[Zeero]

How hard is it to find a few used G4 or XD Disco's??

We might be in a position to pick up three in a month or so.....

Or should we stick with a plain model like the SD Series II?

[Z O O R O P A]

My recommendations:

try autotrader, do some research

you would be better off finding a nice 2004 SD for $9 or $10K in my opinion with 30-40K miles on them. If you are really lucky the warranty might still be good

forget the D1, they both are great trucks but the 2004 is a better built truck and there isn't much difference in price to buy a nice D1 unless you want a diesel or are in love with D1s. No swivel balls, no leaky windows, 4.6 power with Bosch components rox my sox and the doors handles open every time without effort. No 5spd however Pick your own colors.

Ask the fellas at EE what it would cost, get a quote, that is why they are in business


forget the G4/XD they were marketing vehicles using the spirit of the Camel Trophy and world adventure, make your money go farther

Most used prepared land rover owners want more than the vehicle is worth. You are better off getting a nice used never beaten SD 2004 (has CDL) then adding NEW accessories per your needs than buying a used beaten truck with used worked accessories

good luck, sounds like fun - oh if it is any help, you should be able to buy a 2004 SD and fully kit it out with everything you might need from communications to suspension and winches, tents for under $20K if you can find someone to tell you where to buy and if you're willing to do a little work. I know money isn't cheap right now with the economy but that is pretty incredible.

On the other hand more used Defender 110s will be coming in, we don't really know how high gas will go either so those might be some considerations...they certainly are for me when considering my purchase

[SMD]

Zeero,

To answer your question, the G4 Edition Disco II isn't too terribly hard to find but certainly isn't as common as a white SD, SE, or HSE DII. An actual G4 DII will be much harder to find. Off the top of my head, I don't recall ever hearing/seeing a G4 DII in the US. G4 Rangies, yes. TReK DIIs, also yes.

The G4 Edition DII will get you slightly different trim (seats, paint) than an SD 04 DII, but functionality will be essentially the same (though IIRC the G4s have sunroofs, which the SDs do not).

The older XD Disco I is also somewhat of a rare find, especially given their age. Seems like I see more D90s and D110s for sale than XDs.

Zooropa,
Perhaps I missed some more details in another thread, in which case I apologize for these comments; but your post seems to make quite a few inferences about Zeero's intentions which are not stated in his questions. Your many other posts have made it clear that you love your DII and think it's the best thing to come along since traction control was invented. I've owned an '04 DII and yep, it was nice. But wait for the other shoe to drop (follow on capability questions, in this case) before trying to make him drink the kool-aid.

[Z O O R O P A]

hah! no apologies required SMD

I didn't mean to presume about any intentions and would happily apologize myself if I came off as such. One has to be careful around Land Rover discussions when using a linear form of communication like the net, people do get sensitive

Having owned both vehicle models for an extended period of time on and off the pave' I feel comfortable talking about certain performance and reliability concerns but know my limitations to complicated mechanical questions/issues

I'm all ears if you would be willing to share with me your insight to the "other show dropping" I'm all for preparation and prevention when possible

[Mike_rupp]

Zooropa, you think not having swivel balls is a good thing? LOL I'd much rather have a massive chunk of metal protecting my CVs than a thin piece of rubber. What's your issue with swivel balls? Are you afraid of trying to set the preload?

The D2s are much less field serviceable than a D1. For example, for less than $200, I could bring a stub axle and a set of bearings and change the whole thing in about 30 minutes. What do you do on a D2 if a wheel bearing goes bad? Call triple A?

[Z O O R O P A]

no Mike I love swivel balls, I always dug them. I just don't like it when they hold water but I think they are a kickn design

certainly not all DIIs either my friend, just the 2004s

no I love the D1, it rocks. I beat mine senseless and it never left me on the trail (left my Xgf stranded in traffic a few times) but we drove it up and down the east coast a few dozen times and it never gave out.

It did cost me $500 a month in repair after 100,000 miles and consistent service - after I fixed a few thousand dollars worth of electrical issues I sold it on ebay to a kid from NC.

I received an interesting email from him a few months after the sale which stated the fate of my beloved 1996 5spd SD had been.

Shortly after the sale he proceeded to get it stuck in a river and had to be recovered by an Isuzu who was a stranger. The head was replaced along with flushing the muffler system out due to all the mud flow when he stalled the truck in the middle of a river crossing.

After sitting for 2 months he replaced the e-brake which had been rusted on from sitting in the same place for so long. He drove it downtown and was hit by a drunk driver (not uncommon in NC). He was ok but the truck would be a loss.

So he pulled all the accessories that I had bought (remember he wrote this to me 3 months after the sale as a random note) off the truck and sold them for $5000 on ebay.

His insurance company gave him twice the price he paid me for the truck lol

The 4.6 in the 04 is much nicer than the 3.9 though.

besides, the stereo plays music after you pull the key out, that's worth it alone! =P

[Zeero]

Yeah G4 D2's do exist here, I know of at least one, and it is real one not one made up by a guy.....as far as XD's goes, there's 250 in Canada....most have been trail beaten very badly, but there a very few that are still on road used.

Hmmm....lots to think about.

[tikicar]

There were two XD's on ebay last week by the same guy. One is still on. His prices seem pretty high. From all of my XD literature and factory press kits there were 250 built for North America for 1997. 200 went to the states and 50 to Canada. Plus the 96 Trek event XDs which were 5 Speeds and The Eco Challenge XDs. The only real difference between the 96-97 are the 97 used the low profile roof rack and did not come with factory roof rails. Most of the 96 XDs had the taller roof rack to clear the rails.

[SMD]

I'm all ears if you would be willing to share with me your insight to the "other show dropping" I'm all for preparation and prevention when possible

I used the wrong phrase there. The point I was trying to get at was that we don't know Zeero's intent for these vehicles, so I think it's a bit premature to debate the relative merits of one over the other.

So Zeero, from your avatar it seems you may run a KJ-based expedition service? Are you looking to replace the KJs with Discos? Are you just looking to buy the Discos and re-sell them for a profit? Big difference in the two, especially in $$ if you start throwing in the modifications and kit which Zooropa mentions.

[R_Lefebvre]

The G4 Edition trucks are really just a sticker job and not worth anything more than a regular truck, unless you really really are a LR Collector and just have to have one because it's "special".

The TReK trucks are similar, though they do come with lots of "kit" which may enable you to pick up an outfitted truck that's only been used on the street, for not much more than a basic truck. Also, they are 03's, but do have CDL.