1996 - 2000 P38 Do you trust it?

Just a quick poll...

If you own a 1996 - 2000 Range Rover P38 do you trust it?
I mean, if you lived in Cornwall and someone asked you at a moments notice to jump into it and drive it to Scotland, would you do it without worry? do you think it would get you there trouble free?

The reason I ask is because I've now owned two of them and have lost all faith in them, tho my '94 RRC 200 tdi I would trust to drive anywhere, at anytime!!

i have a 2001 and i would trust it 1000%



i have excellent AA coverage

i have a 1999 and at the moment wouldnot trust it to get me round the block with out throwing up a new problem, LR should be ashamed about these vehicles as they were not build to give a trouble free service, no matter how much you spend on them.

i would have no worries in doin the distance in the 38a. ( I too have breakdoon cover)
I would probly give scottishland a miss cos o the jocks.

only jokin, sounds just the place to take the classic if i could afford the fuel!!.

hmm 16mpg........thats gonna be expensive

1997 2.5 BMW TD .....mechanically I feel my motor is upto the journey especially
as me new clutch slave cylinder, alternator, EAS pump, and service are all pretty recent but I would need someone to just watch the motor if I had to go for a pee cos the bastid c/locking's just packed up

i own a 97 my with 160000 on the clock and i wouldnt think twice about it , its 100% reliable.
rick.

I agree, I would have no problems in doing it, I got mine at 146,000 and ive now got to 186,000. I can put almost 500-600 miles on my P38a some weeks and it has only once left me truly stranded (I have breakdown cover).

<touches all the wood in the house >

-Wills

Hi i bought my 96 p38 with 140k on the clock from some place in wales i cant pronounce and drove it back to aberdeen 780 miles trouble free and would have no worries about going back at any time to get another. i just made sure i had breakdown cover just in case and after years of owning discos i wouldnt change back now.
put mine in for its mot on wednesday sailed throu nothing needed done.
andy

Okay, I'll re-phrase the question, would you trust it Without any breakdown cover to travel a long distance, no worries?
would the boot be full of spares?

I would quite happily take mine to Jockland AND back without any worries about breakdowns. Yes I do have breakdown cover but thats not the issue. I never carry spares and that includes a spare tyre (gas conversion).

Later this month have booked to booze cruise to France with it and reliability never crossed my mind when booking.

Yes there are lots of horror stories about P38s but how many different members are writing on here every day with catastrophic failures - not many. Yes, owners are getting niggles all the time, but that doesn't mean its about to disintegrate into a pile of steaming bits everytime you turn the key.

Geekfreek said:

Okay, I'll re-phrase the question, would you trust it Without any breakdown cover to travel a long distance, no worries?
would the boot be full of spares?

Click to expand...

I don't think I would trust ANY car to go the length of the country without some sort of breakdown cover - for all it costs now it's daft not to
Mind you I have been a member of the AA for about 15 years now and never needed to call them out !
Oh, and yes, I reckon I would trust my P 38 - can't think of any reason not to

Mind you, I always carry at least a basic toolkit in any of my motors, just in case

Geek

Youve hit the nail on the head

with your question trip to scotland without recovery cover

in the last 6 months ive done about 17,000miles and has the RF drained battery problem once whilst away from home & once whilst at home - a jump lead got me on my way in both cases - hence i carry them now.

but the irony of all this is that i recently took out recovery cover! for the first time ever!

its like carrying tools - they are not there to fix anything but rather as a good-luck charm to ward off the voodoo!

in the 6 months i have had the vehicle its had a major service & had both front wheel bearings changed so all in all its been relaiable if not totally economic.

Hi if you travel any distance any day you will see top of the range new cars on the back of AA trucks, breakdown cover is cheap and only there as a stand by. i have done 10k miles in my p38 since i got it ,(this is probely the kiss of death) and i start work at 4am and has never let me down even in the cold north of scotland.after all you buy travel insurance when you go on holiday? would you risk going without it?
andy

until my recent alternator issue I have had trouble free driving to Holland and Devon and Cornwall...

But since then, and my little niggle in my mind about my clock losing time, I am 95% trusting the in old girl (2000 with 110k on clock).

I do have breakdown (and glad of it when it had to be flat bed back home) but would still risk the long drive to Scotland now I know what needs to be done to fix it if it goes wrong

I love my '97 p38 DSE, the bodywork is superb, the interiour, spot on, it has all the toys, a genuine 97k, I love it.......but it hates me!! definatly built on a Friday this one.
The previous owner spent thousands on it, he got to the point where I am now, you just can't trust it, how much money do you throw at something?, I keep saying, just this last couple of hundred and it should be good as new, but something else happens and it needs more spending!!

I've now decided that a '94 '95 RRC 300 tdi Vogue SE is the car to replace this f*&ing whore of a car!. It will have all I want without the complexity and bad temper!!
I don't belive you should have a flat bed taxi on hand every time you attempt a drive in your car.
I've done 60k in my RRC 200 tdi without any problems whatsoever, okay it looks a bit dated now, but it works.
I'm vowing never to touch a p38 again.....anyone have a nice 300 tdi forsale????

I trust my motor 110&#37;. It got me through Holland, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and back this summer without any issues. Only thing I did was carry a basic tool kit and kept an eye on all the fluid levels.

I didn't have any breakdown cover at all.

All in all a very good car for me.

wills said:

I agree, I would have no problems in doing it, I got mine at 146,000 and ive now got to 186,000. I can put almost 500-600 miles on my P38a some weeks and it has only once left me truly stranded (I have breakdown cover).

<touches all the wood in the house >

-Wills

Click to expand...

Do you think the wood in the car is there for a reason?

HI, i bought my 2001 DHSE in Essex and drove it back to Aberdeenshire about 550 miles no problem. I'v been to london and back in it (1000 mile round trip) and covered 15000 miles this year. no problems so far. (touch wood)

I have a 1998 hse running on gas have done the journey from london to north osf Scotland 8 times in the last 2 months 650 each way- not a problem its done 125k