Im a newbie with a problem P38!

Hi! My names Matt, i'm in sunny Northampton!

Land Rover history....I had a FFR Lightweight then a Vogue 3.9 (Classic) then a Freelander (aaHHH to that heap)!

I'm in the process of buying a '97 P Reg p38.
Trouble is it can't pull away in drive, you have to pull away in 1, then drop it into D. Apart from that, it ticks all the right boxes!

For £1800 am I being taken for a ride?

All advice fully taken on board and appreciated!

Thanks in advance...Matt

:welcome2:

Save your money and get a Disco (£1800 will get you a decent one), P38's are nothing but trouble, have a look in the Range Rover section for proof;

its already broken, will only get worse

I have heard all bad and nothing good bout them

Thanks for the replies so quick!
As I said I had a classic (vogue) had no problems with it at all for 4 yrs! Straight through all Mot's bar one for brakes!
After a few Pajero's I decided to go for a freelander!
I heard and listened to all the bad words about them, petrol 1.8, so plumped for a 2.5 v6.
Payed £13,000 and £3,500 in costs as it was in a garage 27 times in 9 months!! 2 head gaskets, water pump, radiator to be told it was cracked pistons!
Sold it for £2500 as spares or repairs! NEVER AGAIN!...
So the story continues...
I went back to Pajero Exceed 2.5. Gutless wonder! On an incline my wife could have pushed it faster! So bought a Shogun v6 3ltr of of fleabay only to have been taken for £600 depoisit and he re-sold truck! (police no involved in fraud case)
So my story ends (yawn) with buying a p38 after rave reviews but with the gear box problem! I've got till Monday to pull out!

HELP!!!
Matt

babyvoguev8 said:

So my story ends (yawn) with buying a p38 after rave reviews but with the gear box problem! I've got till Monday to pull out!

HELP!!!
Matt

Click to expand...

rave reviews? they are ****, pull out before you lose more money

Is that personal view as I heard worse about (rust buckets) Discos! No offense meant! You going to Billing? Love to see your truck.

babyvoguev8 said:

Is that personal view as I heard worse about (rust buckets) Discos! No offense meant! You going to Billing? Love to see your truck.

Click to expand...

well you should check your info if you think a p38 is better than a disco, yes its a personal view, and one held by most people who know anything about landys

Ok point taken! My point now....
I tested a manual disco and didn't get on with it...leaky sun roofs valour seats and then drove the P38. Leather, dvd player ect..all the toys. That swung it!
The question was about the drive/1st issue and I'm sure we can talk all night about 'your trucks better than mine' but I joined the furum for a helping hand, not a bitching match!

seriously, just go to the range rover section, and look at all of the things going wrong. they are totally unreliable, all of them had a factory fitted gremlin, designed to **** up all the time

if you really want something comfy and all that why not get a classic again? a later soft dash model is just as luxurious as the p38 with leather, heated seats, etc etc. even the earlier ones are pretty damn comfy. spend 1800 on a classic and you should be able to get yourself a pretty sorted motor.

babyvoguev8 said:

Hi! My names Matt, i'm in sunny Northampton!

Land Rover history....I had a FFR Lightweight then a Vogue 3.9 (Classic) then a Freelander (aaHHH to that heap)!

I'm in the process of buying a '97 P Reg p38.
Trouble is it can't pull away in drive, you have to pull away in 1, then drop it into D. Apart from that, it ticks all the right boxes!

For £1800 am I being taken for a ride?

All advice fully taken on board and appreciated!

Thanks in advance...Matt

Click to expand...

P38's are the WORST pile of utter mess Landrover ever made.

Ha, and I bet you're missing the Freelander already.

my turn, i got a rangie also got a disco, p38 best drive ever but play up all the time, the one you looking at needs a gear box end of. the disco i got is sorted tis auto doozel not as good to drive as range but never lets me down, range is sitting on my drive now needing a engine.. as for gaylander hahaha..

im not starting a bitching match trying to tell you my truck is better than the one you want, you wanted advice on if you should buy the p38, after all the comments of people saying they are unreliable any puting forward other options if you still want to buy it then go ahead. i look forward to seeing many many posts from you in the rangie section when it breaks down

babyvoguev8 said:

Ok point taken! My point now....
I tested a manual disco and didn't get on with it...leaky sun roofs valour seats and then drove the P38. Leather, dvd player ect..all the toys. That swung it!
The question was about the drive/1st issue and I'm sure we can talk all night about 'your trucks better than mine' but I joined the furum for a helping hand, not a bitching match!

Click to expand...

From the sounds of this post you've already decided to go ahead and buy the P38 ... each to their own an all that, some people forgoe the luxury for the extra reliability of other LR model's. Personally I nearly bought a P38 as I loved it, but having read many review's decided a car with a pretty bad reputation for reliability was not for me.

As for the gearbox issue you have, sound's like it'll need stripping and re-building or another gearbox fitted (there are quite a few on ebay at the moment with varying prices).

Hope it all work's out for you.

I suppose it depends how you look at it, I mean if I had to spend hours stuck in broken-down vehicle then the P38 would be a nice place to be. Personally though I'd prefer not to be broken-down in the first place. P38's are very unreliable.

Thanks all of you! The advice is all on board! Just realised but its a 2.5 DSE. Is this the same as a P38?
Please excuse my ignorance!!!

babyvoguev8 said:

Just realised but its a 2.5 DSE. Is this the same as a P38?

Click to expand...

P38 was the model tag/name, they were fitted with a choice of three engine's :- 4.6 V8, 4.0V8 and a 2.5DSE BMW engine.

From what I was told, the diesel engine's give better performance if they are chipped, as they are a bit gutless as standard especially if mated to an auto box.

Car review: Land Rover Range Rover P38 (1994 - 2002)

Dewin said:

P38 was the model tag/name, they were fitted with a choice of three engine's :- 4.6 V8, 4.0V8 and a 2.5DSE BMW engine.

From what I was told, the diesel engine's give better performance if they are chipped, as they are a bit gutless as standard especially if mated to an auto box.

Car review: Land Rover Range Rover P38 (1994 - 2002)

Click to expand...

I have a P38 diesel/auto that's been chipped. It's done over 150k, 25k of them by me. It's got the stuck heater mixer problem but apart from that is generally a great car to drive. Not the fastest but fast enough, great at distances and leisurely around town.
I'd say it's far from the ****tiest Land rover ever built. Freelander's would win that hands down, and it hammers any other variant of the same age for comfort.

i have a disco 300tdi es. its comfortable and reliable. my dad had a p38 2.5 and i spent atleast evry otherweekend fixing it. it was in very good condition for age (bodywork, interior) with a full service history and only one owner befor him but very very unreliable.
bought for £2000 spent pretty much the same on it in 18 mnths so decided it was to unreliable and had to go. my advice steer well clear and buy a disco.