Trouble free P38a's ?

OK Peeps
All the forums with Range Rover sections, this one included, only seem to be full of "woe is me"stories and pleas for help to fix 'em
What I would like to hear are stories from owners who don't have any (or very little ) trouble with their Rangies - they can't ALL be bad can they ?
Lets have some good stories for prospective owners to read before they all get chased orf !
I'll start :-
Bought my '96 4.6 HSE on ebay almost exactly a year ago - it was imported from Japan and I am the first registered owner here
It is mint in every way and only done 100,000 km (about 62,000 miles )
What service history came with it was in Japanese so not much use really !
In my time I have changed the oil/filter twice, fitted a K&N air filter and changed the plugs and pollen filter
Everything works as it should and it has never let me down (typing this and clutching a large bit of wood at the same time )
I love it to bits and don't regret for one second buying it - there, a good tale about a P38..............................................let's hear yours !

BTW - I am not new to land rovers having owned two classics, acouple of V8 110's and a 90 in the past (and a TD5 Disco, but I don't like talking about that ) - anyone bought a Rangie without previous land rover ownership and what were your impressions ?

v8kenny said:

anyone bought a Rangie without previous land rover ownership and what were your impressions ?

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This time tomorrow that will be me. Picking up my 1998 4.6 Limited Edition in the morning. I've never had any 4x4 before. I hope my ownership goes as smooth as yours.

Mud Flap said:

This time tomorrow that will be me. Picking up my 1998 4.6 Limited Edition in the morning. I've never had any 4x4 before. I hope my ownership goes as smooth as yours.

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Now to me that sounds like a big adventure ! - be very careful though, land rovers are addictive and it probably won't be long before you have more than one !
Out of interest, do you intend trying to maintain it yourself or use a garage - I hope to do anything might need in the future myself cos a,- I enjoy tinkering and b,- I'm a tight git that doesn't like giving garages my money
I appreciate that due to the complexities of the car that it may throw a wobbly some time that I can't sort, but then again maybe it won't

Don't forget some pictures when you get it and welcome to land rover ownership

I've owned a Volvo T5 for two years and never felt inclined to take a spanner to it. It just didn't feel like I would get any satisfaction from it, so I let others do it.

I am hoping to do as much to the RR myself as I can. I can imagine getting actual pleasure from getting my hands dirty. (like you I am a tight git also) I'm not one for upgrading or trying to make a better off-roader. I just want to keep it running nicely.

Once I get her washed and polished I shall post photos in the gallery and here. I never tire of looking at other peoples' Range Rovers. I'm getting very excited. One of the main reasons for choosing a RR was for towing. I hate towing caravans in "ordinary" cars. I'm hoping the RR will be a dream. I know the consumption will be a nightmare.

Originally I was considering a Defender 110. Defenders seem classless. You can be the lowest of the low or royalty and still drive one, but I need my little luxuries so the RR won out. I think I made the right choice.

This is also my first landy, Yes i know i have had a few probs but I'm just trying to get the old girl back to how she should be.I hate it when people disrespect such a beautiful machine like the p38 (smitten i think) so I'm trying to get her back to her glory.I don't think i have ever owned a car with no faults (even a 6 month old mondy). I agree with you these forums are full of problems, but thats the only time people look for a place like this .More trouble free motoring wanted, Come on lads and lasses

I reckon the majority of P38 owners will be new to land rovers - well at least when they were new !
I would never have considered one before, not because I never liked them, but simply because they were waaaaay out of my price range until fairly recently
Now I reckon they are a lot of car for the money and a bargain
As they get older a lot of spare parts are appearing on ebay and in the landy mags so not nearly as expensive to maintain as they used to be
I recently changed all 4 air suspension bags on my brother in laws diesel P38 at a cost of £65 a corner - pretty reasonable I thought
Even if you cant do much yourself then a lot of independant garages help negate the need to go anywhere near a main dealer with their ridiculous charges
I must admit I'm amazed no one else has any good tales to tell - have I just been lucky ?

I am picking up my 1997 Vogue 4.6 HSE on Monday and I am fervently hoping it will be a trouble-free ownership. I am completely new to LR specifically and 4x4's in general and my other car is a BMW 740.

I do a lot of work on our cars myself and like to keep them running smoothly with a particular interest in handling. The very worst bits I do leave to independent garages though. I am already casting my beady eyes on Koni shock absorbers, PowerFlex bushes and EBC Brakes brake pads as near imminent upgrades.

I plan to use the RR for motorway crusing mainly and have no intention nor desire to take it off-road at this sage. But then, who knows...

i got one, trouble free P38 that is, well little niggles now and then but aren't all motors like that?
its my second landy, my first was a 1990 3.9vouge se that was in exseptional condition, ended up going end over end, not so good then!
any how my P38, i love it to bits, i got me supra in pieces and when i jump into me r/rover the hole world is a piecefull and smooth place to be.
brilliant motors and it nice to have something to do as well.......
"maintain it before you have to repair it"

and as far as koni's are concerned (mentioned in previous post) there brilliant!!

Well abit like V8Kenny, I'm writing this holding onto a lump of 4x2 but my ranger is excellent. Its a '99 4.6 Vogue SE with LPG, all bells and whistles so plenty that could bite me in the ass. There are a couple of little niggles but don't you get that with all used motors. Have got plenty of time to sort those out. I have previously owned a '94 300tdi Disco and a '94 300tdi soft dash Classic. This one though is head and shoulders above either of those. I'm sure most rangers are fairly trouble free, they would'nt have kept making them if they were that bad!! Happy motoring to all on the forum, for those that like fixing them heres to your next breakdown, and for those that don't heres to thousands of miles of superb troublefree motoring.

Well nice to hear there are other trouble free Rangies !
Niggles don't really count - just keep you on your toes
Thinking back, I have had to change the gas struts on the tail gate and one fog lamp bulb but they really don't count in my eyes
There is a strong land rover community up here and when I said I was going to get a P38 there was much oooing and aaaghing and sharp intakes of breath - "you dont want one o' them, dead unreliable etc. etc. but as Dorset said they wouldn't have made so many if they were THAT bad
Nice to be proving the scaremongers wrong, and long may it continue
Got to agree with Redrange though - maintenance is everything and I have always maintained my landies to a very high standard - this one will get an oil and filter change every 5000km (3000miles) as I have done for every V8 I have owned and never had any engine problems - costs less than £20 a time so why not ? - oils cheaper than metal !

v8kenny said:

Well nice to hear there are other trouble free Rangies !
Niggles don't really count - just keep you on your toes
Thinking back, I have had to change the gas struts on the tail gate and one fog lamp bulb but they really don't count in my eyes
There is a strong land rover community up here and when I said I was going to get a P38 there was much oooing and aaaghing and sharp intakes of breath - "you dont want one o' them, dead unreliable etc. etc. but as Dorset said they wouldn't have made so many if they were THAT bad
Nice to be proving the scaremongers wrong, and long may it continue
Got to agree with Redrange though - maintenance is everything and I have always maintained my landies to a very high standard - this one will get an oil and filter change every 5000km (3000miles) as I have done for every V8 I have owned and never had any engine problems - costs less than £20 a time so why not ? - oils cheaper than metal !

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thats the answer to running a trouble free v8 rangerover i believe preventative maintainance , its the same for most vehicles , trouble is a lot of people buy these cars and just run them and run them giving scant regard to their requirements .............big mistake !! .
the rover v8 requires regular oil changes as most of the guys know on here and , by carrying out this and other procedures all goes to make a great , and reliable p38a as most replies in this topic seem to be saying my 97 4.6 is also reliable , with the exception of a couple of niggles , and like most i accept the niggles as pat of owning a rangerover the fun bit is sorting them out ........................it gives you a sense of achievement .
rick.

Got mine this morning and not long after getting home I noticed I have an intermittent tailgate solenoid/switch. The previous owner must have known about it as there is a bit of string coming out of the left side of the lower tailgate. As I have an electrical background I am quite looking forward to tracking the problem down. It's working fine again at the moment.

It seems in good condition for the age/price. I am pleased overall and feel like a king driving it. I love the privacy glass.

It doesn't quite have the same sportiness as the T5 I part exchanged

Nice one mud flap. You've done the best thing you could've done already- join landyzone. I hope all you have to do is enjoy the read and the banter. You've already received priceless advice. Wait till you want the cavalry ! Stay tuned and keep out of "anything goes". regards P.S

I have had a Range Rover 4.6 for 3 weeks now had it converted to Lpg and it is brilliant, the ride is very smooth it comes with everything and they all work I have got a discovery too and that had a few niggles but still most jobs easily done by myself. These vehicles are really a pleasure to drive and once you start driving them its like the company say "Its a Land Rover thing you wouldn't understand" I think this sums it up in a nutshell. This forum is the best, the people here are very good and friendly and with everyones help and support I managed to get all the advice in looking for a nice Range Rover, what to look for and check etc. If you experience any problems there are always people with plenty of good advice. If you want to do any modifications or alterations to your car there are again plenty of people with advice and support

I would like to say to a big thank you to everyone who has helped me in the last few weeks and the good thing is that you always want to pass on the experiences or advice or any great deals for parts or accessories that are going around for everyone else to share, it makes you want to give as much help as you can to anyone so they experience as much trouble free motoring as possible

I just Love these cars!!

Matt

I got shot of my V6 Alfa Spider end of March for a 1998 4.6 HSE with LPG conversion - talk about a difference in cars!! Love the Rangie, as does my fiancee who enjoys driving it (wouldn't let her behind the wheel of the Alfa!). Love the car and it's commanding driving position, although I'm just starting to see some big costs (front diff, heater matrix, full set of tyres) which is taking the fun out of it and hammering the credit card (just when I'd paid it all off as well, curse you Land Rover). Don't think I'd ever want ot be without a Rangie now though

Me and my good lady wife bought a 1996 p38 2.5DSE 2 weeks ago to replace her Renault Espace and quite frankly is bloody superb ,its in Willow Green metallic with saddle leather, 18"hurricanes , and hardly a mark on the body work .We decided on the diesel because I had heard lots of horror stories about LPG on range rovers so we made our choice plus it has the BMW engine which is one of the reasons we went for it as Iam a huge fan of beemers ,my own car being a 1996 E38 7 series 165,000 miles and as sweet as the day it was made .
We also have acouple of small issues like bulbs gone on the dash and a badly vibrating air suspension pump ,new bubber mounts sorted that one out ,a small leak when it rains inthe front passenger footwell and thats about it so we are very happy people at the moment .
These machines are also very good value for money at the moment ,hell of alot of car for your money ,my wife and I worked out we have approximately £80,000 worth of cars in our garage when they were new, we bought both of them for £9,000 need I say more .

Ok i bought a 2001 2.5 dhse auto 6 months ago full service history cost me £8,000 and apart from 5 new tyres and full service this RR is mint i had a 200tdi and a 300 3.9cc disco's and this knocks them in to the next millenium it is faultless. And i love it

When i changed the gear box oil i put lucas stop slip in with the new oil and wot a difference much smoother on gear changing on the auto box have a look at the web site [url=http://www.lucasoil.co.uk]Lucas Oil Products (UK) - Heavy Duty & High Performance Lubricants[/url]

I bought my first Range Rover in 1981 it was a 79 model did 460.000K without any trouble in Qatar Middle East.
next one was an 86 model again second hand (bought in 98) it had had a hard previous life, was a bit rough but never gave me any problems.
Third was a 91 3.9 again bought second hand in 99, had also suffered from missuse but after some TLC it also never let me down.
Bought new P38 HSE 4.6 in 2001 just completed 200K service never let me down, drives like new and has had only normal service on time by main dealer - only replacement parts have been normal service consumables and 1 battery.
2 years ago I bought a 93 3.9 vogue for use in UK - had it checked out by Deeside 4X4 who declared it a "gudun" in remarkably good condition. Converted to LPG and never had a problem so far.
Bought a 2001 4.0 HSE from Deeside July of this year in pristine condition ran faultlesly for two weeks prior to returning to work in Middle East. Currently being converted to LPG for use alonside the 3.9 vogue when we are in UK.
I love Range Rovers, have never had any major problems but I am fastidius in my maintenance programmes.

SuperPete said:

I love Range Rovers, have never had any major problems but I am fastidius in my maintenance programmes.

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Anyone notice a recurring theme here ?..............................................

When i got my P38 DSE the anti P38 gang all said what have you bought one of those it cost you an arm and a leg to fix, well the buggers have never floated on a cushion of air ,in a leather arm chair, at 70mph down the m62 .