Advise needed on buying a P38 range rover

Hi,

I am new to this forum, although I think I registered before when I had my classic rangy. Now, 4 years on, I am thinking of spending about £6k a P38 and looking for advise. Having read quite a but on this forum I have a couple of questions.

I note from one thread that someone suggested one should reserve £1000 from the budget for future repairs. So would it be wise to buy, say, a c1998/9 rangy for about £5k and reserve the remainder or go ahead and blow the lot on a c2000/1 with the 2000MY improvements to the electronics?

My other question is do any of you run a P38 on Bio-diesel? I ask this as I run my 300 Tdi Disco on home made Bio-diesel and want to continue.

Thanks in advance

Bill (enery8)

Assuming you`re going to be doing all/most of your own work, it`s only parts & time you`ll be spending on your Rangie, and you`ll likely need lots of both!
A 10yr old Rangie will be due new air springs & probably a re-con kit for the air pump. Depending on milage & use it could be due a whole host of other things, or nowt. Try to take an independant pair of eyes when looking at possible purchases, as with Rangies more than most cars, condition counts for a lot.
Veg diesel: I`ve no experience myself, but think that the www.dieselbob site seems to know whats going on. They`ve the experience of repairing many pumps etc, and are going to have a better overview than one owners own opinion. Remember a BMW FIP is more expensive than a Disco one.

Thank you for your swift answer GTLAND. The P38 I am currently looking at is a 2000 (W) with 97000 miles and full service history and a warrantee.(sp?)

I would likely fit coil springs in the short term in any case. I also have access to a very good (and cheap) repairer

I understand form the Bio-Diesel forum that the BMW engine runs well on Bio-Diesel but would still like more info on this.

Coil springs? Try living with the EAS first, then go for test-drive in a P38 fitted with non-adaptive bits of twisted metal holding the axles away from the body. If you`re going totally off-road, and don`t mind going around roundabouts like a dinghy heeling over in a gale, fit coils. Otherwise, don`t bin the EAS. It`s not maintenance free but is worth the trouble. EAS means you`ve a competent off-roader that handles well on the road, in one vehicle.

Don't waste your cash on coils, download the free EAS software from www.rswsolutions.com get yourself a cable and you are ready to go. The cost of coils will buy you a new set of Arnott Gen 2 air bags.
IMO you are better buying year 2000 on if you can, 97K sounds OK, my late 2000 DHSE had 92K on it when I bought for £4850. Private sale no warrenty, it's been very good.
Worth fitting a PSI Power box to give it a bit of poke.
Good luck

Don't buy a P38.
Not as good as the Range Rover classic in just about all aspects.
Buy a 300 TDI Discovery instead.
P38 has a sh*t bmw engine and really stupid annoying warning alarm noises from the dash.
Have a look under the front end of a P38 and you will see the radiator hangs out the bottom of the chassis nearly as low as the centre of the axle.

Having owned a Discovery 300tdi for 5 years and now a P38 I would not want to have a 300tdi Discovery again. Don't get me wrong I liked the Discovery because it is so basic to fix(Like a Defender with a car body). The comfort levels of the P38 are fantastic and I have not looked back. Classics and Discoveries rust badly but they are very cheap to buy. My Discovery was in better condition than many but still rusted between MOTs despite being wax oiled. Buy the best condition P38 you can find not always the newest and have money left for a good service.

spencer1885 said:

Don't buy a P38.
Not as good as the Range Rover classic in just about all aspects.

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Utter bollocks. Last time out I had to pull the Classic out that was following me as it got stuck.

Don't get me wrong, I love Classics but that's just a stupid and innacurate generalisation.

kooky_guy said:

Utter bollocks. Last time out I had to pull the Classic out that was following me as it got stuck.

Don't get me wrong, I love Classics but that's just a stupid and innacurate generalisation.

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not just me who thought that then!

If you own a P38 your going to be up set if some one says they are sh*t even when you know in your hart its true.
As for a P38 being better in the snow than a classic that's just a stupid inaccurate generalisation.

spencer1885 said:

If you own a P38 your going to be up set if some one says they are sh*t even when you know in your hart its true.
As for a P38 being better in the snow than a classic that's just a stupid inaccurate generalisation.

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Depends on tyres and the tit behind the wheel..

Where did snow come into it?

You tell me.
You started it.
Tell me how good your P38 is in comparison to other Land Rovers.

spencer1885 said:

You tell me.
You started it.
Tell me how good your P38 is in comparison to other Land Rovers.

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No I didnt - you did with your silly comment.

What's snow got to do with anything?

F*ck off

spencer1885 said:

You tell me.
You started it.
Tell me how good your P38 is in comparison to other Land Rovers.

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the reliabilty of the p38 is an issue,can't argue with that,it has far too much technology in my opinion,comparing it to a land rover,it has more luxury,not more ability,i think the range rover is more at home on the tarmac,is it a staus thing?
mine rarely goes off road,well not seriously off road,so i cannot comment on how it would perform up against a land rover.
i bought my p38 by default,my daihatsu fourtrak failed it's mot in a big way,so i had to find an alternative,i found this one and it is a bit of a love hate relationship.
what i will say is i followed a 2000 land rover on a very slippery road,the land rover spun a complete 360,my p38 drove on it as if it was a dry surface.
the driver of the land rover was not speeding,and was a mature driver,but needed a clean pair of pants lol

The P38 is seriously underrated in this country - perhaps it is a status thing - they were seriously expensive when new. Perhaps now that they're becoming cheap, more people will use them off road and discover just how good they are. The Americans have been seriously off roading them for years and love them.

The l322 is even more capable off road but how many of those ever venture off the tarmac? I'm sure they'll also get used properly eventually.

As for reliability - you just need to keep on top of the maintenance. Sure, they're not brilliant but most breakdowns could be avoided by preventative maintenance - I know all of mine bar one (failure or a new part) could have been.

I am now on my 4th P38.It's a 1999 4.6 HSE which is the model I would recommend. Personally I don't see the point in having a Rangie if you don't have the pleasure of sitting in a leather armchair and listening to the burble of the fabulous V8 engine.Also all mine have been LPG converted otherwise I couldn't afford to run it.As far as the coil spring versus air bag argument is concerned in my opinion it's a no brainer.
Why would you want to drive a luxury car £50k plus when new and bounce along the road like a demented Kangaroo, not to mention the cornering.Sure the air bags want replacing but on all my previous P38's I've only ever had 1 go (they last about 10 years) and you are lookimg at about £60.00 for a new genuine Dunlop air spring plus 30 minutes labour if you don't fit it yourself.
Yes as you have probably guesssed by now I am a fan without much mechanical knowledge or money , but with the help of the guys on this forum I can't imagine life without my Rangie.I still get a buzz every time I climb into the cabin.As they say with other cars you drive to your destination, with a Range Rover it takes you there.
Hope these thoughts are of some help.

spencer1885 said:

F*ck off

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Lost the argument then often a bit of abuse solves all!

Why even bother coming here? Please feel free to use what ever four letter words in response.

Hi again People, Many thanks for all the info and advise, I am better prepared now to make a decision. I look forward to any more opinions regarding the choice of either a 1998/9 or 2000MY Rangie.