P38 Buying Advice

I am after a little adivc, I am looking to buy a P38 in the next few months, at the moment I am veering towards a V8 with an LPG conversion rather than a Diesel.

The car will ne used for towing my caravan and a car trailer, as well as daily driving duties. So which model should I go for, the 4.0 or the 4.6.

Also does anyone have any recomdeations of companies to carry out the LPG conversion.

Thanks,
Jamie.

I own a RR 1997 4.6 v8 and in the last 6 weeks I have spent a total of £4700.00 and counting. this figure includes a reconnditioned engine, four new air suspention bags, rear brake disks and pads, a reconditioned brake master cylinder, a new radiator and some other suff i can't quite recall.

I have been told that the 4.0 litre engine is more reliable but if there is no service history with the vehicle then walk away and save yourself a whole heap of trouble and don't buy the first RR you see.

ian cas said:

I own a RR 1997 4.6 v8 and in the last 6 weeks I have spent a total of £4700.00 and counting.

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I know these things can kind of mount up but surely it would have been cheaper to jyst buy another one that didn;t have these problems.

Mine's a 4.0 '95. Last year she demanded an alternator, a Water pump, viscous fan, fuse box, underseat control unit BECU, abs pressure pump, hevac, 2 calls on RAC and many weekends under the bonnet. not to mention a new set of tyres. (and the water pump is playing up again). Welcome to P38 ownership.

Thanks for the responses so far.

The thing that's getting me so far is the variation in prices of P38s, a 2001 Vogue at a Land Rover dealer for £4.1k and a 2002 Vogue private sale and he wnats £7.3k for it, and there is only 10k difference in mileage of the 2.

the private guys dreaming

goonarmy said:

the private guys dreaming

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Well yeah mind you he reckons somone is going to see it today with the money, which if they fair play to the bloke.

Even the local indendant dealer is sturggling he's got a 2001 Westminster in with 115k on the clock and he want £4995 for it, obviously been there for months and the paper work in shows he originally had it up for £6950. Mind you there is no way it will sell at the minute as it won't start displaying "Key Code Lockout" on the dash

i'd haggle a price on the basis that it can't be heard running, you can just about fully check for the most common faults. you could even aquire the code for it if yr interested after an initial inspection or tell him to get the code and then talk cash!!!

i'm currently in the middle of changing the head gaskets, it's not a hard task but very fiddly and time consuming!!

my advice is to be ready for some spanner work or be prepared to pay a premium to have the car fixed should anything go wrong! that said they are fantastic cars when in good running order!

a p38 is a hobby not just a car!!

Going back to your original question, I have had the dubious pleasure of owning a 1999 P38 2.5 DSE for 15 months, and actually able to drive it for at least 12 months.

I went for the diesel as I have no plans for towing, live in Italy where diesel is quite reasonably cheaper than petrol, and assumed that being a BMW engine would be reliable.

Have had to have cylinder head block replaced (fortunately paid for by a "warranty"), and replaced all four suspension air bags.

My wife almost persuaded me to sell it whilst we were waiting for the "warranty" to cough up, but now we have had the pleasure of riding in the P38 again , she actually admitted it was her favourite car of all those we have owned (including a 250bhp Volvo V70 AWDR) and a Disco,

If you want to tow the V8 with LPG will probably be the better engine choice, but don't forget, the electronics are always tempremental, and the designers obviously didn't think what would happen after 5 years of driving.

When you buy, just accept it will be expensive, frustrating, time consuming, but amongst the best vehicles you will ever own.

gavbriggs said:

i'd haggle a price on the basis that it can't be heard running, you can just about fully check for the most common faults. you could even aquire the code for it if yr interested after an initial inspection or tell him to get the code and then talk cash!!!

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He already has the EKA code for it he just can't make it work, but I think that is a combination of the battery being pretty much knackered and the drivers door handle being in the closed position properly. If it wasn't for the mileage I would probably try and haggle a deal.

I don't mind doing work on it myslef, quite handy with a spanner and also a multimeter. Already have a track day car and fun weekend car that I do all the work on myself so quite happy doing most mechanical and auto electrics.

I have a 2000 4.0 lpg which I have had since about October. I have been warned off the 4.6 by a friends dad (He runs a landrover garage) and by old 4.6 owners. As its a range rover (and british) it will need to be looked after. Look hard and long for the right one. I also considered the 2.5 dse and am so glad I went for the 4.0 v8.
I have put away about £800 to replace the suspension when it goes. Just to be prepared.
I paid just over 4.5K for mine with brand new fitted kit on 87,000 miles - shes mint too.
Keep looking and remember - its a buyers market even more so for these beauties.
If you get the right one, she'll be fantastic.

good luck in your search - took me 4 months

with the eka code, you need to start with the door locked then lock it four times, the input the code. if the battery has enough charge to display then it should be ok to input code. have a look on rangerovers.net for correct procedure!!

gavbriggs said:

with the eka code, you need to start with the door locked then lock it four times, the input the code. if the battery has enough charge to display then it should be ok to input code. have a look on rangerovers.net for correct procedure!!

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Ah ok, just seemed odd that the central locking didn't want to work via either the remote or the key in the drivers door. I'll take a look for the proper process

Jamiehol said:

Ah ok, just seemed odd that the central locking didn't want to work via either the remote or the key in the drivers door. I'll take a look for the proper process

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the fob wont work till eka is in and the fob re-sync'd with car!

it's easy with practice. note also the car may not beep or flash if battery is low(at least mine didnt the other day) so be methodical and precise and you should be fine with the eka

dont let mileage put you off, low mileage ,high mileage, either way your gonna need deep pockets!,welcome to range rover ownership.lol.

Thanks for the advice so far.

I may pop doiwn the local dealer and see try out the EKA code and see if I can get it going

Hi.. im very new to range rover ownership.. 1998 dse (had a few jags recently).. but my advice ..(the same advice is on this forum somewhere) is make sure every thing works!!....twice!!! .. I didn't take this advice.. and im payin for it now !!! .. but insayin that its great!! and when it all works there aint nothin better!! good luck mate and welcome.....

Hi Jamie
The P38 is the ultimate drive, I have the 4.6 and it is awsome. Top tips, make sure the EAS is working properly, use the manual switch and check that it goes to all levels quickly. (Hight) Also check the many luxury facilities; cruise control, heated seats and position memory. Get yourself a diagnostics cable, can pick them up from ebay about £20. So you can unlock the EAS (as you will have problems with this) and read any faults from the ECU. The P38 is a very complex animal and you kneed to do your homework on it, be prepared. The nicest thing is it is a car you can repair and work on. Main dealers will always rip you off!!!!

Thanks for this, glad to know you can get diagnostic cables for them off eBay, bought one for my fleet of VWs and it is the best thing I have bought for them.

on my 4th range rover, latest 2001 4.6 vouge. last one had 4 years only spent about £6-700 on it. latest one had 6 months, done all the right things, took 4 months to buy this one, 1 owner full service all bills etc.72,000mls its been a pain in the ass? spent £2000 on the beast. air suspension, ecu unit abs,radio packed up. now the battery keeps draining flat. doing my head in, but i will not let the bastard beat me, when everything fine best motor on the road, ****es my neighbour off with there toyota yaris? until he asked if i could tow his car home when broke down, keep looking & take a chance on one. and take note of this forum, its a great help.