I've been looking for a late Disco2, but they are like gold dust due to the recent bad weather. And prices are very high too. So I'm also considering whether to buy an early RR TD6 instead as these are the same sort of money.

Is an early RR with about 80-100k miles any more unreliable than a late Mk2 Discovery? I've read on Parkers that two owners needed new gearboxes (one at 80k miles and the other at 110k miles)!

I can't find any decent buying guides on the net. Anyone have any links to sites that tell you what too look out for?

I'm sorry to ask, as I'm sure you guys have to keep repeating this info all the time, but after doing some searches, I'm still none the wiser. What are the common issues on 2002-03 models with this sort of miles and what should I be looking for?

I've owned a Disco3, RRS, early Defender, Series 3 and now have a Series IIa for playing. Main car is a new Kia Soul. Looking for a big 4x4 to replace our second car, a Saab 9-5 estate, which we only do about 8k miles per annum in (as we use the Kia as much as possible as so cheap to run).

hi miles never bothers me as long as its got full history and very few owners as it means its been used and not sat at the dealers being fixed

as for problems / fixes / warranty work if you find a vehicle you like take a note of the vin no and reg and if you contact a dealer they should be able to tell you whats been done under warranty i.e
-steering columb
-front diff/ prop shaft

make sure everything works and take it for a very good drive

maybe get the AA/RAC to inspect aswell

as for gearbox that can go on any car but if theres no towbar it could have had an easier life onto no6 Range Rover

Everyone needs a hobby

It takes a bit of following links and is geared to the V8 (US models), but this is ok:
http://rangerovers.net/rrbuying.htm 
RRC 2Dr, RRC 4Dr,
P38, and 2 L322s
(wife thinks I'm nuts - prob right, too)

Yeah a few members on here refer to that site

I've got a 2002 TD6 Vogue, which I bought last Feb. It hasn't given me any problems. It had 83k on the clock when I bought it, which at the time was little off-putting, but it drives like new and puts a smile on my face every time I get into it. I wasn't going to keep it at the time, but having run around in it for nearly 12 months, my opinion has changed.
As has been said, get one with history and you'll be fine. You'll know if it's been looked after. 2010 MY Vogue SE TDV8 3.6 Stornoway Grey- fully loaded

I've read about the diff problems. I've also seen that you can buy a diff coupling shaft for £120 which enables you to replace just the propshaft and coupling shaft and leave the differential in place.

However, what is the steering column problem?

Added: I assume know you mean the telescopic & tilt actions freezing. I've now read about these problems on rangerovers.net, but is there a permanent fix for this?

The fix is to motor the steering column as far forward is it will go, adjust the seat so you can reach it, then leave it alone. That's what I do and the column never needs to move.