P38 High Miles, Advice needed.

Hi,

I'm new to this group, I've just been viewing a 96 4.6 HSE with a view to
buy
SWMBO has released the funds after months of nagging...bless her

I liked what I saw except for mileage 133K. How much more life can
I expect from the V8 with this amount of miles on clock?

Motor had slight rattle when started from cold which went after a few
seconds running. It had a full service history & is apparently being offered
with some warranty
(for what they are worth). They do sound nice don't they!

Also the tail gate was starting to show signs on rusting on inside bottom,
Is this normal on P38?


I'll be going back for 2nd look...what else do I need to be looking for?

Thanks in advance

Ged

Ged wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm new to this group, I've just been viewing a 96 4.6 HSE with a
> view to buy
> SWMBO has released the funds after months of nagging...bless her
>
> I liked what I saw except for mileage 133K. How much more life can
> I expect from the V8 with this amount of miles on clock?
>
> Motor had slight rattle when started from cold which went after a few
> seconds running. It had a full service history & is apparently being
> offered with some warranty
> (for what they are worth). They do sound nice don't they!

They do sound nice.

V8's generally need a new cam and followers at around 100k or so - and
if this is rattling from startup it sounds like the cam is past its
best. The only time I get a cold rattle is if it's stood without
starting for a long time (a month or more).

V8's last bloody well, but they have a couple of weaknesses - the cam
is one - especially if the oil has ever been missed or run for too long
between changes. The V8 does dirty it's oil a bit and frequent changes
can more than double the life of the engine (or running on LPG which
doesn't make carbon to dirty the oil).

Unless the price of this one is too good to miss, I'd look at another
one. There are plenty about at decent prices.

> Also the tail gate was starting to show signs on rusting on inside
> bottom, Is this normal on P38?

Standard for RR's. How bad is it? Can you rub it down and repaint
before it gets too bad? Decent tailgates are expensive.

>
> I'll be going back for 2nd look...what else do I need to be looking
> for?

Check the suspension does what it's supposed to. Air suspension is
great - unless it goes wrong, then it's open wallet surgery.

"Mr.Nice." <mr.nice@*nospam*clara.co.uk> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 14:50:41 -0000, "Ged"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Hi,
> >
> >I'm new to this group, I've just been viewing a 96 4.6 HSE with a view to
> >buy
> >SWMBO has released the funds after months of nagging...bless her
> >
> >I liked what I saw except for mileage 133K. How much more life can
> >I expect from the V8 with this amount of miles on clock?
> >
> >Motor had slight rattle when started from cold which went after a few
> >seconds running. It had a full service history & is apparently being
offered
> >with some warranty
> >(for what they are worth). They do sound nice don't they!
> >
> >Also the tail gate was starting to show signs on rusting on inside
bottom,
> >Is this normal on P38?
> >
> >
> >I'll be going back for 2nd look...what else do I need to be looking for?
> >
> >Thanks in advance
> >
> >Ged
>
> I'm not the V8 dude, Austin will be along presently.
> Yea, they sound superb, best sound in the world, second only to "it's
> ok dad, we'll clean the house for you" but V8's are more common than
> that.
>
> Usual things to check, be sure it goes forwards and backwards in all
> gears high and low box, probably an auto - not my area.
>
> I think that V8 has electronic gubbins so listen to the engine warm
> and cold and see if it ticks over smoothly.
>
> check the engine oil and gearbox oil via their dipsticks, atf should
> be pink or red and not smell burnt.
>
> someonw who knows what they are talking about will be along presently.
>
>
> Regards.
> Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)
> --
> _________________________________________
> www.markvarleyphoto.co.uk
> 1984 110 CSW 2.5(na)D
> (3,000 rivets flying in close formation)
> _________________________________________
>
>
>
>
> ................................................................
> Posted via TITANnews - Uncensored Newsgroups Access
> >>>> at http://www.TitanNews.com <<<<
> -=Every Newsgroup - Anonymous, UNCENSORED, BROADBAND Downloads=-
>

Ok my experience 1997 4.0 se auto- 120k, owned for 1 year done 2500 miles
since owned has cost me:-

1 new steering rack - £100 plus
1 new compressor air suspension - £250
2 lambda sensor - £170 + £85 for diagnostics kit
1 battery £50
1 Tornado chip upgrade - £800 ( told would improve mpg - load of sh** made
about 0.5 around town, ok so I pull off a bit quicker for at least 30 yards
until the next set of lights or the next speed camera (Birmingham area).
1 White light conversion £175
not to forget a full service when brought, constant oil leak from sump, high
insurance, result:- costing me a fortune,
my advise: any thing over 90k just a money pit,
owe--- not to forget someone on this news group said engines over 130k need
complete rebuild !!!

"wps" <[email protected]> wrote in message >
> Ok my experience 1997 4.0 se auto- 120k, owned for 1 year done 2500 miles
> since owned has cost me:-
>
> 1 new steering rack - £100 plus
> 1 new compressor air suspension - £250
> 2 lambda sensor - £170 + £85 for diagnostics kit
> 1 battery £50
> 1 Tornado chip upgrade - £800 ( told would improve mpg - load of sh** made
> about 0.5 around town, ok so I pull off a bit quicker for at least 30
> yards
> until the next set of lights or the next speed camera (Birmingham area).
> 1 White light conversion £175
> not to forget a full service when brought, constant oil leak from sump,
> high
> insurance, result:- costing me a fortune,
> my advise: any thing over 90k just a money pit,
> owe--- not to forget someone on this news group said engines over 130k
> need
> complete rebuild !!!
>
>
>

Actually it has cost you about £600 if you dismiss the bits you decided to
spend voluntarily. Surely you did budget around a Grand for unexpected costs
in such a vehicle bought second hand in the first year? It should be less
costly from now on if that is a comfort. At least it should be, depending on
abuse suffered earlier in its life and on that essential with anything
mechanical and complex, luck.

Huw

>
>Ok my experience 1997 4.0 se auto- 120k, owned for 1 year done 2500 miles
>since owned has cost me:-
>
>1 new steering rack - £100 plus
>1 new compressor air suspension - £250
>2 lambda sensor - £170 + £85 for diagnostics kit
>1 battery £50
>1 Tornado chip upgrade - £800 ( told would improve mpg - load of sh** made
>about 0.5 around town, ok so I pull off a bit quicker for at least 30 yards
>until the next set of lights or the next speed camera (Birmingham area).
>1 White light conversion £175
>not to forget a full service when brought, constant oil leak from sump, high
>insurance, result:- costing me a fortune,
>my advise: any thing over 90k just a money pit,
>owe--- not to forget someone on this news group said engines over 130k need
>complete rebuild !!!
>

Of course the guy who buys yours off you will say it's great - nothing
has broken and most of the bits are like new....



--

Tim Hobbs

'58 Series 2 88" aka "Stig"
'77 101FC Ambulance aka "Burrt"
'03 Volvo V70

My Landies? http://www.seriesii.co.uk
Barcoding? http://www.bartec-systems.com
Tony Luckwill web archive at http://www.luckwill.com

You are considering buying an 8 year old vehicle with 133K on the clock.
The vehicle in question is packed full of electronics and other sofisticated
gubbins such as air suspension etc.
1996 was one of the earlier models of this car, it probably hadn't had all
the designs faults ironed out at that point (did it ever!)

Common sense says you will have large bills on this vehicle if you intend to
keep it for a reasonable period of time.

But that would apply if the same vehicle was a Merc or a Jag or an
Audi....you get the idea.

So really you need to ask can I afford (or do I want to) throw money at this
vehicle when it needs it, or would I be better off in the long run doubling
or trebling my budget and buying a newer one altogether that has less miles
and a warranty.

For years I wouldn't buy a new vehicle, I've always had a hang up about
depreciation, but I've recently changed my thought process on this, I tended
to buy vehicles at 3 years old or older and just repaired them whenever they
needed it, safe in the knowledge I'm saving all that depreciation.

My last vehicle broke down three months running, all the times component
failures, items that had just reached the end of their lifespan, each time I
had to repair it, hire a vehicle etc etc....

My accountant pointed out to me at the end of the year that I'd actually
spent more money owning the used car than I would have spent leasing a brand
neew vehicle and being able to claim the VAT back and writing off the rest
to income tax also....made me think, and out I went and bought a nice shiney
new vehicle on an operating lease, with warranty, free loan vehicles etc....

Of course this is different for me because I rely and run my business with a
vehicle.

Any personal car is always a money pit whatever way you look at it. How much
of a money pit depends on your choices when buying and a little bit of luck.

Muddy

In article <[email protected]>,
"Ged" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm new to this group, I've just been viewing a 96 4.6 HSE with a view to
> buy
> SWMBO has released the funds after months of nagging...bless her
>
> I liked what I saw except for mileage 133K. How much more life can
> I expect from the V8 with this amount of miles on clock?

Ack... Although the V8s usually last well, that doesn't generally apply
to 4.6s, which suffer badly from porous blocks and slipping liners.
Look around and see how many 100K 4.6s are being replaced. Personally,
I'd avoid it. A 3.9 in a Classic should be fine, but not a 4.6!

I had a '96 P38 with a 4.6 and about 115K miles, but I only bought it
because it had had a new engine at 96,000. So my engine had only done
20K.

> Also the tail gate was starting to show signs on rusting on inside bottom,
> Is this normal on P38?

Not unusual, but mine (same age) was spotless, so look around.

> I'll be going back for 2nd look...what else do I need to be looking for?

The EAS is another expensive area. Do a search on Google Groups as I
posted something on P38 EAS problem areas a few weeks back.

David