Shopping time......

Well I sold the Jeep yesterday and now it is time to go shopping. I need an car, has to hold 2 dogs and a baby, pull the boat, and be good in the snow.....so I figure an SUV is my only choice. So which one? Oh and I am only spending $5K.

So I was looking at a Landrover Discovery II. with 120,000 miles. Anyone know anything about these? How long the motor lasts? Also looking at explorers and Grand Cherokees. Any input on any of these would be apprecitated...not really a chevy man.....

thanks:hi:
 
I had a 1991 Ford Explorer and a 1998 Mercury Mountaineer. The explorer had the standard 4 litre v6, and the mountaineer had a 5 litre v8. I had upgraded from the v6 to the v8 thinking it would have more oomph for towing. However, I found that the v8 had not a heck of a lot more power, and, being the same size/wheelbase, there was no improvement in stability of the towing platform. All in all, I think the explorer would make a decent tow vehicle for you.
 
You should have no trouble finding a decent Tahoe, Suburban or Expedition for that price these days, but hurry, gas prices keep dropping. I wouldn't think the Explorer would be much bigger than the Jeep was.

My Uncle had a Land Rover......POS.
 
I agree, friend had a land rover discovery. Getting parts was a pain in the butt, he didn't have to many good things to say about it. He was a do-it-yourselfer.
 
I would stay away from land rovers, total junk,hard to get parts for & if ya can, expensive. Myself I'm partial to ford, just because i've sold ford parts for the past 26 years. But then again they all have their issues.....
 
run ndon't walk from the rover!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You will not be sorry!!

I am thinking of trading soon also, there is so much out there its hard to chose. I am looking at Toyota these would be great and I need a truck so a Tundra is were I am focased.

I would say for you Tahoe or a Highlander would be great! I am not a Ford guy but they have a few in your size that you might be happy with?

Good luck
 
My best friend bought a new LR3...PROBLEMS-A-PLEANTY AND HIS WAS new!!...MJ and the others are right...RUN!!...

If your towing is short, a V-6 Explorer will be fine...if longer, find a good Tahoe...but either way you go, make sure your selection came from the factory w/a TOW PACKAGE!!...:sand:
 
whats up reel? not a fan of the aftermarket tow package????:head: put one on my wrangler and it worked fine. my tow to the ramp is only 8 miles round trip.:sun:
 
Any of the GRAND's will manage a V-20. I'm REALLY anti-ford, so I won't go into details about the EXPLODER(they got that nick name due to there tranny's). In your price range and the room your seeking, you can't go wrong with a TAHOE or YUKON. A 96+ will get almost the same milage as the smaller SUV's, and there is no comparison in towing. The smaller BLAZER's are not high on my list as the 4.3L VORTEC's were pretty gutless towing. I don't know if you could find one for $5K, but a DURANGO would fit the bill as well. My vote goes for a TAHOE or YUKON from 96-99. Nothing wrong with the earlier one's, they just don't get as good of milage. If were talkin diesel, then that's a whole nother ball game. I wouldn't be scared of a GM, they sold a BUNCH of em for a reason.
 
Land rover is an excellent car, i had two range rovers, one in costa rica, one in usa, but they were brand new, no problem, however when these cars get old
repairs and spare parts are very expensive.
 
a freind of mine almost bought a used Land Rover Discovery, teh seller said it need brakes and a new mufler. I called around to the local parts houses. Brake pads were over $100, rotors were $350 each, new muffler was $650. He didn't buy the rover. AS far as Chevy's go, my wife drives a 99 Suburban, its got the 5.7, 2wd. I will handle my V with no problem. Just showed 170,000, I plan to go to at least 200,000 before I start on the spare motor I have in the garage. I drove it Gatlenburg, Tn from Chraleston a few weeks back. I averaged 18 mpg for the trip, keeping it around 80 on the interstate, drove reasonable thru the mountains, had it loaded down with the family and all our junk. Made it up there and back on 1 tank of gas(yes, its a big tank)I've been thinking about replacing it with a newer burb, or tahoe, but the 5.7 motors are so cheap to keep going. The most expensive thing on all of them is the transmission.If you know any of teh saleman, check with local dealers, ones around here won't take a suv in on trade, you might find someone that needs to get rid of one to buy a new car. CHeck around Raleigh/Durham NC, I've heard there are some really good deals in that area,they don't get any snow to speak of so theres not much rust.
 
Looks Ok from the pics. I call MAJOR BS on the 23 MPG though, 21 was the factory rating back when we had GOOD gas at the pumps. 16-18 was about the best I ever heard of them actually getting, with a few that got 20-21 if driven at 55. It looks like from the pics it is a selec-trac 4X4 which if it is is a good thing(2WD, 4WD full time and part time, neutral, and 4WD low). The transmission is the only major thing that would concern me with it. I know they improved there slush boxes in 03, but I don't know if the GRAND's got the improved ones or not. 70K-120K was about the life of most of the CHRYSLER tranny's. Check it over and make sure the fluid is nice and red, unfortunately there is no way to tell if it has the correct fluid in it or not(they use a special ATF+4 in these, but it looks identical to DEXRON III). And also look for oil leaks in the engine, 4.0L's tend to leak when synthetic oil is used in them.
 
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