buying a 98 discovery questions

[Ian in Tahoe]

So I find myself in an interesting position. For the past 4 months I have been looking for a truck to use strictly as a towing and camping vehicle. Every time I think I find one that fits my needs my mechanic gives it a look over and shoots me down. The other day he came to me with an idea, a friend of his buys cars at auction and came across 98 Discovery LE with the 4.0 and 169k on it. He tells me it will pull as much as any 3/4 ton truck I had been looking at and will be better suited for our thick snow and my growing family.

I have taken quite a shine to the idea of it, but, I am admittedly quite a bit intimidated by the reputation these things have for reliability problems. To aid in my intimidation I have owned two Subarus since 1995. To quote my mechanic, "the Subaru is so reliable its as boring as its interior."

So......what should I know before embarking upon the purchase of the Discovery?

Thanks in advance