1998–2006
I didn’t set out to buy another Discovery. I set out to buy an FJ Cruiser.
I’d been following the FJ forums for months before they came out. I put a deposit at Longo Toyota. When my FJ finally showed up, the salesman who met me in the darkened parking garage had two models available — black and bruise-purple, both automatics, neither with the manual transmission in yellow or blue I’d specifically ordered. He could only start them and move them in and out of the parking space. Sitting in that dark cave of a vehicle, I discovered the visibility was awful, the back seat was like the black hole of Calcutta, and the rear cargo area was tiny and ugly.
I asked for my deposit back. Got it two days later. Gave that dealership one star and I sneer every time I see an FJ.
Then I drove down to Land Rover and bought a preowned Discovery for about two-thirds of what the FJ would have cost. They treated me professionally. I got a decent deal. It was still a Discovery, but at least I didn’t buy it from Salesjerk.
“Never again” began here.