HELP. Bought p38 2 Days ago, TODAY its sitting in garage! Any advice

i bought a 1995 p38 range rover 4.0 lpg converted AUTO, of ebay on friday, looked nice, sounded great, being happily driving for 2 days, and then out of the blue, the engine stalled, after about 2 minutes of constant turning over it started.

didnt sound good at all, oil was very low, so topped up to correct amount,

then got to garage to ask for help, (30 second drive away) and he lifted bonnet, steam/smoke escaping, and he topped up the expansion tank, and just as soon as he topped tank up, it was coming out of the bottom of radiator,

so had it towed to a local garage, managed to have it looked at today,

got the phone call about hour ago, he said it has blown out of the bottom radiator, and is split,

THEN he mentioned that the radiator wasnt that old and signs of it being replaced recently,

he said that then system is pressurizing,

in the description to buying it he said it had a new head gasket fitted,

by landrover solutions in canterbury??? have receipts for other work but none for head gaskets,

tried ringing and contacting company but seems like every number is disconnected.

great.

so is there any ideas to what/where/how to figure this.

chris

try to get a sniff test done on whats left of the coolant if you can, at least that will identify if the head gasket is shot and go from there.

It's a shame you cant get hold of the garage that is supposed to have done the work as it should be garanteed.

Did you purchase from a trader with a warranty? It sounds like you have a major engine fault and your first step is to contact the seller and start to discuss whether your car was sold as fit for purpose.

I'm sure others will diagnose the fault could be slipped liners causing coolant pressurization, which is major job...

it was bought privately, and i paid 3500 for it,

i havent any knowledge on these??

stuck and have no ideas now,

chris

Sounds at first sight as if you have been stitched up with an iffy motor. As far as getting your money back, it could be difficult if not impossible from a private seller. if you paid through paypal they may be able to help get your money back if you can show the car is "not as described". I'm afraid it seems to be another case of buyer beware and getting carried away with auction fever.

There are lots of threads on here regarding V8s with overheating problems, most of which result in a replacement engine costing the thick end of 2K. You wont know whats the matter for certain without spending either time, money or both getting the engine stripped and checked.

Sorry but thats the breaks

caveat emptor - unfortunately, unless you want to gamble at the SCC

Landrover Solutions doesnt look like the sort of place that would vanish overnight - you might be best off going there and having a word

Are you in touch with the seller? Though buying from private seller doesn't give you as much protection, he can't sell you a car with known faults that he did not inform you about.

How long had he owned it before you? How many owners before him? This would give you some idea as to its history and whether he knew about any faults.

It depends on how far you want to take it, but there are many legal options open to you.

Hi Duggie, I had quite a lot of experience in these problems, normally associated with 4.6 slipped liner on pot no 7, but............sometimes these things are tohught of as a lost cause when the solution can be quite inexpensive, try changing your expansion cap, new ones are only about £15.00, it has worked for me in the past, fortunatley i now have a L322 TD6 so no overheating issues. Also if the fault is a slipped liner/porous block then you may fine Irontite will sort the problem out, it is the best on the market. Let me know how you get on, Regards, Andy

lanmjdun said:

.......... but there are many legal options open to you.

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such as ?

Duggie, have you got a link to the ebay item, or ebay item No. looking at whats been written to describe teh car may help with getting your money back. Did you complete the transaction on ebay, or arrange a private deal with the seller??

Sean said:

such as ?

Click to expand...

Like I said, depends on how far you want to take it, demand money back, Citizens Advice Bureau, letter from solicitor, County Court... for £3.5k anything is worth a try.

lanmjdun said:

Like I said, depends on how far you want to take it, demand money back, Citizens Advice Bureau, letter from solicitor, County Court... for £3.5k anything is worth a try.

Click to expand...

pointless the lot of them - the sellers excuse would be "it was fine when i sold he must have been abusing it"

a comprehensive expert witness statement from a qualified motor engineer combined with a solicitors letter may yield fruit in the event the engineer is able to prove it was faulty when purchased however that would be a lengthy process

i suppose claiming via ebay/paypal may be an option

a visit to the seller with a couple of large mates who are about to go for their weekly game of baseball might be a better bet

The only one I can find on flea bay which matches what hes said so far is this one 1995 Range Rover 4.0 AUTO WITH LPG CONVERSION(NEW SHAPE on eBay, also, Land Rover Range Rover, Cars, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 16-Jan-08 15:57:33 GMT)


If it is this one the "private seller" seems to be a trader hiding the fact

......took it in PX

............Only got the green slip etc etc

If it is the car then he may be able to get some come back as it appears to be sold by the trade and as such must be warranted. if the guy denies the fact, I'm sure the tax office etc would be interested in his details.

Was it this one ?
1995 LAND ROVER RANGEROVER 4.0 SE AUTO GREEN L.P.G on eBay, also, Land Rover Range Rover, Cars, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 19-Jan-08 13:00:02 GMT)
Can't find any that went for £3.5k unless you did a private deal on this one, in which case you are stuffed unless you paid via paypal

Dorset VogueSE said:

The only one I can find on flea bay which matches what hes said so far is this one 1995 Range Rover 4.0 AUTO WITH LPG CONVERSION(NEW SHAPE on eBay, also, Land Rover Range Rover, Cars, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 16-Jan-08 15:57:33 GMT)


If it is this one the "private seller" seems to be a trader hiding the fact

......took it in PX

............Only got the green slip etc etc

If it is the car then he may be able to get some come back as it appears to be sold by the trade and as such must be warranted. if the guy denies the fact, I'm sure the tax office etc would be interested in his details.

Click to expand...

based on the name of the winning bidder and the location of the vehicle i suspect that's not the one

here is the link, i dint complete the transaction via ebay, just saw the car on there

1996 LAND ROVER RANGEROVER 4.0 SE AUTO RED on eBay, also, Land Rover Range Rover, Cars, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 08-Jan-08 17:38:39 GMT)

regards
chris

i'd say you have been done, a word of warning to people who buy things from ebay - dont assume that because the seller has some positive feedbacks that they are trustworthy, if you work out the total value of items the seller has purchased it's about a tenner - it's a common method of building up what looks like a good feedback record, and then they sell a pile of poo for lots of your hard earnt

please tell me that you didnt meet him half way and do the in a carpark somewhere - hopefully you'll know where he lives ?

P38Spares said:

Hi Duggie, I had quite a lot of experience in these problems, normally associated with 4.6 slipped liner on pot no 7, but............sometimes these things are tohught of as a lost cause when the solution can be quite inexpensive, try changing your expansion cap, new ones are only about £15.00, it has worked for me in the past, fortunatley i now have a L322 TD6 so no overheating issues. Also if the fault is a slipped liner/porous block then you may fine Irontite will sort the problem out, it is the best on the market. Let me know how you get on, Regards, Andy

Click to expand...

I back this guy 100%, Irontite works, what more can I say?

nope i belive the guy was genuine, iv got every detail i need, i picked up from his house, test drove etc, he bought it of one of his employees just before xmas to help him out of a sticky situation,

and wants his money back etc,

iv done alot of phoning and research this after noon, and i think iv got to conclusion with the old owner that he will pay halve toward the expense of repairs

good settlement??

chris