Buying P38

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H

hxsw

New Member
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68
Location
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Hi. Ive always wanted a Range Rover and as im coming up my 40th i might get one. Its gonna be a P38, have about 4k to spend, what do i need to look for, usual faults ect, or should i not bother. It will be a 3rd car for use at weekends ect, any help or advice would be great Cheers!
 
hxsw said:
Hi. Ive always wanted a Range Rover and as im coming up my 40th i might get one. Its gonna be a P38, have about 4k to spend, what do i need to look for, usual faults ect, or should i not bother. It will be a 3rd car for use at weekends ect, any help or advice would be great Cheers!
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i would buy a push bike there easier to repair and dont cost so much money....:D:D
 
i have a p38 2.5 bmw diesel straight 6,but i have only owned it for 3 weeks,just make sure it starts ok from hot,although they can be chipped to get round this issue,service history,be prepared to work on the vehicle yourself,try to find the best example for your money.
i love mine so far,hope it will give me many years of service,if you are going to use it infrequently,go for the model with few toys,no aircon,no cruise control,keep it basic,that way it should give less trouble,hope this helps,just make sure of the service history.
 
Hi, I bought a 1996 4.6 P38 last year as a second car. I won't say it was cheap to own to start with, but it was well worth it! I was lucky enough to get quite a low mileage one (74k at the time). Within the first few months I needed to get the suspension air bags replaced and then the head gasket went. But since then, nothing has gone wrong and she drives beautifully and reliably! You need to watch out for things like worn suspension air bags - this is quite easy to spot (in hindsight!) just take a look at them and watch out for worn rubber where the steel braid can show through - much like a very worn car tyre. Check all the electrics - every window, sunroof, etc. Check the aircon - does the book symbol appear on the climate control display? The original radios can be expensive to repair - and replacing it can be tricky if you have a Harmon Kardon system (mainly due to the ISO connector leads). My main advice would be to source parts from eBay if you need to - much cheaper than most retailers. Also, it might be worth waiting for a really good one - mine came with a lot of extra bits for no more cost (body colour bumpers and wing mirrors, tow hook & electrics, body colour grill, updated lights all round, Vogue alloys (including 3 new spare alloys still in their box) and DVD headrest screens. All for £3500. As yet, it is not LPG'd, but as a second car this is not a problem and I get around 17mpg from the 4.6.
I hope this helps you with your decision, but I must say my P38 is a joy to drive and I'd only change it to get a newer Range Rover Sport some day!

Karl.
 
I had a nice p38 -an autobiography v8. some of these look awesome, some lesser models look a bit plasticy inside. there are so many problems with these cars, you have to be prepared to read a lot of these pages. the battery will go flat, (modify-able) the suspension will play up, (again not too hard to remedy) the alarm will lock you out, (they just do it for attention) there are some quite easy fixes, and ways of avoiding problems. The biggest problem with the v8 models, is the design flaw that makes the engine block very prone to cracking. read up on this, many are sold needing head gaskets, most will have a crack. if you are gonna buy a nice one, try and find one that has had a replacement block, made by, or modified by an outside company, like RPI, coscast, or turner engineering. they know what you will find out. the land rover block is bad. -the v8 engine in the discovery2 is the same! -same flaw too. a new LR block will be the same!
Other than the engine, the BECM electrical brain will give you a few problems, most can be sorted out with the right (carefull) proceedures.. plenty of cheap spare parts on ebay, and specialist breakers. they dont rust, they look smart, they polish up well. -in and out. some colours are to be avoided, but that's your choice. you can change the bumpers for coloured ones, and put nicer wheels on easily. even add wood parts. these cars are a labour of love, something that women just DON'T seem to understand. though they will enjoy driving it, just as much as you. -as long as there is fuel in the tank!
If you have'nt got a toolbox, and a jack, avoid this range rover idea, immediately.
 
With respect to the 12V Solar panel, I understand that it plugs in to the cigarette lighter socket. If the ignition is switched off will it still charge the battery? I am sure mine doesn't work with the ignition off.
 
Nik_B said:
With respect to the 12V Solar panel, I understand that it plugs in to the cigarette lighter socket. If the ignition is switched off will it still charge the battery? I am sure mine doesn't work with the ignition off.
Click to expand...


No it will not charge through the cigarette lighter socket. On my P38, there is an accessory socket in the boot. I re-wired this with a wire direct to the battery (fused at the battery) so that it is always live. I leave the solar panel on the rear parcel shelf plugged into the accessory socket via a charge regulator.:D
 
Datatek said:
No it will not charge through the cigarette lighter socket. On my P38, there is an accessory socket in the boot. I re-wired this with a wire direct to the battery (fused at the battery) so that it is always live. I leave the solar panel on the rear parcel shelf plugged into the accessory socket via a charge regulator.:D
Click to expand...

Sounds a bit complicated for me ;)

Might buy one that comes with crocadile clips
 
Hi

My solar panel is a 20w unit. I have 2x 105 amp batteries. 1 in the normal place and the other in the place where the spare used to be. I have it on a roof rack. Never have a flat battery ! ! ! ! I ran the wire next to the windscreen behind that plastic thingy. On the roof the wire goes next to the plastic strip.
 
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