Buying Advice P38

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great sounds like you gote it sorted when you get one put photo on for us and update where you are shame fifer did not ask for help befor he bought his
 
yeah suppose so!! mines was very spur of the monent (wrong) decided to do it there and just went for it whole thing done in around 3 hrs without even setting foot inside one before or even knowing anyone with one!! bad move the perfect buyer for someone with a duff motor!
 
must agree with hammy not easy to find good one loads of crap out there for big money gets frustrating loking i still have bad dreams about overheating
 
there 2 people gonna bid up to 2.5 as they both been on phone offering me already and said they would be going up to around that! so woohoo anything under that i would say is a safe one!! lads!!
 
Funnily enough, the garage i got mine from, the guy was using it for himself while it was up for sale :eek:

Part of the reason it only took me 10 minutes. He wouldnt be using it himself if it wasnt any good.
 
The HSE as a rule will have a much better sound system - important to some. This can be identified by the Harmon Kardon badge on the inside where the wing mirrors are and controls for volume and mode on the steering wheel. The trim is usually better and you are more likely to get electric memory seats, which again to some (like me that has to share with the wife)are a god-send. Steer away from the Gems engines, these are identified by the square plenum on top of the engine with either 4.0 or 4.6 on it. The later Thor engines are much improved and dont have the flat spot commonly found with the Gems or the dodgy fuel map that stresses them to the point of popping gaskets and cracking blocks. These are identified by what looks like a bunch of bannanas instead of the square plenum.

Dont believe anyone that tells you the diesels are less prone to problems. An underpowered car engine in 2.5 tonnes of 4x4 - do the math...

Oh and they smell :D
 
rewmer said:
The HSE as a rule will have a much better sound system - important to some. This can be identified by the Harmon Kardon badge on the inside where the wing mirrors are and controls for volume and mode on the steering wheel. The trim is usually better and you are more likely to get electric memory seats, which again to some (like me that has to share with the wife)are a god-send. Steer away from the Gems engines, these are identified by the square plenum on top of the engine with either 4.0 or 4.6 on it. The later Thor engines are much improved and dont have the flat spot commonly found with the Gems or the dodgy fuel map that stresses them to the point of popping gaskets and cracking blocks. These are identified by what looks like a bunch of bannanas instead of the square plenum.

Dont believe anyone that tells you the diesels are less prone to problems. An underpowered car engine in 2.5 tonnes of 4x4 - do the math...

Oh and they smell :D
Click to expand...

There are a lot more threads for V8's with overheating, slipped liners head gasket failures, exploding radiators and the rest than there are engine failures for diesels:behindsofa: Plenty of power & torque when chipped:D lots of space to work on them as well
 
Waverbridge said:
Hi,


OK I am new here my name is Andy- please be gentle with me:)

So I Took my Disco for an MOT and she has more or less rotten, at 16 years old she has reached the end of the road.

I now fancy a P38 Range Rover and I am not really an expert in these matters and you people are so, I thoght I would ask. I have between £3000 and £3500 to spend but there is a little more in the kitty if there needs to be

I have been offered a 4.0 SE that is a V registration (not sure if it is 99 or 00 as yet) which has 70,000 on the clock, I know the guy thats selling it and he bought the vehicle from a relative who bought it from the dealer so I have a decent knowledge of the history and know its been looked after very well.

I have also been tempted by a 4.6 HSE of similar age (1999/T) with slightly more miles (90,000) at a similar price, although I don't know the history of this vehicle at all.

What I really want to know would be how different is the 4.0SE to the 4.6 HSE, in terms of specification, also is the 4 litre unit a 'better' engine. I know that the P38 petrols are prone to having cracked blocks and head gasket problems so which would be more reliable.

I fancy a 4.6 HSE because of the higher spec but for similar price I can get a 4.0SE from a trusted seller.

What would you guys do?

Is there a 3rd option I haven't yet considered?
Click to expand...

there is a 3rd option ya silly moo fix ya disco.with 3 k its a minter...
 
my advise....dont ****ing do it!!! mine was a spur of the moment decision and had never even driven one beforeshould have come on here first to get some info...and id have found out the ****er i bought the car off IS actually a complete tosser ...ive spent nearly the same fixing as i did buying the car...not impressed, but its a case of fix or loose....itll get there in the end tho.
 
If you are going to get a P38 then make sure its post 1997, they have much more reliable electrics. The 4.6 has a nasty habit of going porous and overheating. If you have a little more then its well worth getting a 2000 model. Watch out for oil in the water and let it run for 20 Min's on idle to be sure that the thermostat opens and all the hoses are hot, and most importantly that it doesn't boil!
 
Thanks for the replies guys, particularly Rewmer- that was exactly what I was looking for.

So just to update the guy has lent me the vehicle for the day, and I can now do all the checks that I need in advance of purchasing it. I guess he's so confident that it is a good un that he is willing to let me do that.

Anyway I have checked and it's one of the later Bosch Engines which is nice, you can also see that he has recently changed the belts, there's some other new stuff in there as well. It really does look like its been very well cared for.

I am no mechanic and am really pretty much inept at this kind of thing but I can see when something has been cared for and the engine looks reassuringly good.

There are one or two tiny niggles with it, namely the air con doesn't seem to be blowing very much cold, the drivers side window 'clicks' twice when it reaches the top (although he said he has the part to fix that) the brake pedal squeeks a bit which I am sure a bit of WD40 will sort, thats the pedal squeeking not the brakes I shoud make clear!!

It looks like a good vehicle to me, and the final thing I guess is that a mate that owns a garage 20 yards from my house, that is going to be working on the vehicle in the future in somewhat unlikely to sell me a lemon. I suspect if it was a nail it would have been sold on Ebay to someone that lived 100 miles away!

On a final note I have been mildly amused by the people with different types and fuel systems of the various land rovers advising me to buy the same as what they have got! So people saying for example buy a Disco instead. I guess I have already had the disco and now I want something different but thanks for all the inputs all the same.

Thanks for all the help guys
 
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