P38A 2.5 diesel- want one but scared!

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M r 2 red ones lol
Sorry yes 2 red ones
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I'll give it a miss then...it's really too far away to find out it's not as nice as it seems.
Thanks.:)
My advice to you and from my own RECENT experiences is this: WAIT UNITL YOU ARE 100% ready. Look by all means BUT look local or as local as possible. My long long search for a P38 ended miserably after 3 failed attempts so i gave up and bought a 5 year old L405 Autobiography instead.

The web is full of P38's for sale and most of them IMHOP and experience are ready for the scrap yard and MUST be avoided no matter how good they look or sound. The dealers out there too again IMHOP are lying cheating tossers and again should be avoided and they are plain greedy with it. They all seem to think that the P38 market is rocketing and values are massively on the up. IMHOP its all BS. They are only ever worth what someone will pay for them. If you want a excellent P38 that has been looked after then look for a enthusiast owned example instead as you are in a much better chance of finding a good one this way albeit they will NEVER be faultless. Another reason why i gave up in the end.
The 2.5 TD is a peach of a car if you get a well maintained example. Slow yes but 30 plus mpg if driven well and looked after and there are plenty out there on offer.
I thought i had found the right one but it ended in disaster.
Loads of choice out there BUT if your looking at sub £4000 examples then don't expect too much for your money. The cars were trouble when new and are still trouble now so keep a good cash reserve for new parts etc and service items. The 2.5 TD engine is a dream to work on space wise compared to the v8's so that's a plus and you can find them in HSE spec too so it will have all the bits on them albeit SE will have lesser spec which could be a blessing electrics wise. LOL.

We are always here as a collective to offer advice and guidance for FREE which in turn gives you a heads up and prevents you wasting your time and money on rubbish and dodgy sellers/dealers.

Remember this : If they don't or won't answer questions properly and honestly then WALK AWAY. The olde " oh the A/C just needs a regas " is BS and if it don't work its because its most likley knackered = £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££'s needed to put things right.

They are nice looking cars and i would still consider a minter in the future BUT NOT NOW i know what i know about them.
 
I have a beautiful set of fully refurbished Vogue SE wheels with excellent tyres which would look stunning on that mate compared to the wheels you have on it which don't suit the car. LOL.
Looks like you cherish it. Nice and clean.
Don't think they'll fit the MX5:rolleyes::D:rolleyes:
Seriously thanks for complement but the wheels that came with it were fubarbed so got these with tyres for free. Got 3 big family weddings in next year (2 are both my sons) so money a bit tight and the gaffer would kill me as I have spent quite alot so far to get it like that
 
Being that the youngest P38 is near 20yrs old there really is no such thing as a minter.

@DanClarke owns the lowest mileage P38 I think in existence and it had a fair share of issues until Dan pulled her back around. :)
Having owned many many MINTERS in the classic car scene and concours cars i can assure you buddy they do exist and so do the folk who keep them MINT too. All cars develop faults which get fixed. They don't stop a car from being MINT albeit i understand different folk have very different perceptions of the term of which i found this out many times whilst looking at so called mint,excellent and what have you examples which were all piles of crap. LOL. There are indeed some real jokers out there who just waste folks time.
 
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Having owned many many MINTERS in the classic car scene and concours cars i can assure you buddy they do exist and so do the folk who keep them MINT too. All cars develop faults which get fixed. They don't stop a car from being MINT albeit i understand different folk have very different perceptions of the term of which i found this out many times whilst looking at so called mint,excellent and what have you examples which were all piles of crap. LOL. There are indeed some real jokers out there who just waste folks time.
Yes and no the P38 isn't worth half of what most dealers online seem to want.
£12000 for a P38? nah and anyone that thinks the P38 is worth over £8k needs their brain examined, when I bought mine a good one could be bought for £3000 no way have they quadrupled in 4yrs as evident by the fact you can still get a good one for around that price.

To keep a car "mint" or "concourse" would mean you'd have cosset it to an almost insane degree, no drives when wet or in winter, only on warm sunny days...

Are there people out there that are going to buy a P38 and do that?

I don't really think so..

My perception of a good car is it being mechanically sorted, a certain degree of body damage is to be expected, stone chips maybe the occasional dent on its slab sided body sure thats fine..

But expecting to go out and find one completely flawless is near impossible, unless it undergoes a full resto.
 
I am all for what you have done buddy albeit just keep a close eye on things and give her a good service regularly to ensure optimum running. Have you fitted a K&N panel filter too ??Enjoy.


Oh I will. I’ve been through most of the car with a fine tooth comb. She’s serviced every 3k miles and only run on shell fuel, also gets treated to a bottle of sulphur additive every tank too. No k&n filter yet, I just use a standard Bosch paper filter.
 
Yes and no the P38 isn't worth half of what most dealers online seem to want.
£12000 for a P38? nah and anyone that thinks the P38 is worth over £8k needs their brain examined, when I bought mine a good one could be bought for £3000 no way have they quadrupled in 4yrs as evident by the fact you can still get a good one for around that price.

To keep a car "mint" or "concourse" would mean you'd have cosset it to an almost insane degree, no drives when wet or in winter, only on warm sunny days...

Are there people out there that are going to buy a P38 and do that?

I don't really think so..

My perception of a good car is it being mechanically sorted, a certain degree of body damage is to be expected, stone chips maybe the occasional dent on its slab sided body sure thats fine..

But expecting to go out and find one completely flawless is near impossible, unless it undergoes a full resto.
I agree with you 100% regarding P38 values and dealers perceptions of values. Indeed its a joke BUT sadly there are actually folk out there paying daft money for them. Not me though. I can see the light as well as you and many others can. Sadly market trends currently dictate otherwise and sellers and dodgy dealers will indeed list them for what they want. There are a couple currently at 20k and above. THEY WONT SELL i am certain of it or they might who knows. If they do sell then that plays in to the hands of dealers who will mark them up accordingly.

If you want to see concours/mint then just pop round mine for a brew and you will see how i operate and have done for over 40 years now. I still use or used my classics but yes i admit only in dry sunny weather only to conserve there conditions and values. I did plan to create a mint P38 and if things would have gone my way i would have done no matter the cost as its what i do and it makes me happy but sadly it was not meant to be so a mint L405 it was instead which will be getting dirty this weekend on a 500 miles round trip albeit by end of next week she will be mint again. I have the time to do it as i am retired so no excuse at all not to make sure all my cars are maintained to a high standard. Even my missus new cars she has every 3 years are kept in spanking condition all the time. OCD at its best. LOL and each to their own.

Lets also NOT forget that NOT EVERY P38 owner is a member of this forum/club and there will be examples hidden away in air chambers in as new off the line condition no doubt. The only issue is WHERE ARE THEY!! LOL. World wide too i suspect.

I watch the P38 market daily for something to do and it does make you chuckle.
 
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