P38 Worst range Rover to own?

Judging by the posts on the Range Rover pages the P38 is the worst Range Rover ever to own. Or do other Range Rover owners just not post?

edorc said:

Judging by the posts on the Range Rover pages the P38 is the worst Range Rover ever to own. Or do other Range Rover owners just not post?

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No P38 is the worst, but more modern range rovers are still use less as they all breakdown and you have to take them to land rover for them to put onto a computer which costs a fortune

edorc said:

Judging by the posts on the Range Rover pages the P38 is the worst Range Rover ever to own. Or do other Range Rover owners just not post?

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dont think so , i think its well known what the worst ever landrover is

I think the number of posts regarding the P38 are mainly down to the fact that they're getting to the age where they're becoming owned by people who want to fix them themselves, hence all the useful posts on there.

I'm sure Classics went through the same phase but there weren't these sorts of forums available then.

Just my 2p worth (not that I'm biased !).

Guy

I think the value for money is kicking in now, they're getting older and the posers in Chelsea are losing interest, so more people are getting them now and actually using them properly, as a result more people are finding and flagging up faults, plus people are asking for help on forums, that's part of what they're for, and some people are very quick to moan about how crap something is when it goes wrong, but don't sing its praises when it works. At the end of the day, they're a 14 year old car now, with lots of electronic witchcraft, which is old and needs tlc now, they're not all bad, people seem to pre judge them without having ever seen one in action, I know people do when I turn up in mine, I'll go anywhere your 110 will, and my feet don't get wet!

crazyjase said:

...and my feet don't get wet!

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where's the fun in that?

IMO.. if Land Rover had stuck simpler electricary in the P38, then just going from what I've heard about them as I've not owned one, they'd be as reliable as any other model in comparison!

my brother was driving a P38 for a while.. air sus broke, as did most of the other electrics! but he's not as careful with cars as me so doesn't really hold much weight there... so that last bits totally pointless

I think the eas tends to fail due to neglect by previous owners, if maintained properly, its fantastic
when you think about how much work the pump is doing, and the stresses on the system, its amazing they last as long as they do!

My p38 is my first 4x4 of any kind and i wasn't expecting a perfect car given its 12 years old and was a cat d write off.
Having said that apart from a few EAS probs which i sorted myself its been no worse than any other car i've owned in the past 22 years of motoring. Parts are no prob to get and on par with the costs of bits for my Omega.
Maybe a bit more greedy on fuel but i make biodiesel so not too bad.

And what other vehicle could you drive that gives you a#the feeling that your annoying Bill oddie with evey turn of the large alloy wheels!!:rofl:

edorc said:

Judging by the posts on the Range Rover pages the P38 is the worst Range Rover ever to own. Or do other Range Rover owners just not post?

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As its been said many times before forums are usually frequented by people with problems to get answers to those problem... how many people post to say their motor is running sweet and problem free? p38's are like any other car they av their problems and more so as they get older

Depends what you mean by "worst". Worst to drive? Worst for maintenance? Worst for problems? Yes, it does have a lot of problems, but as someone said before, they're getting old. Most problems crop up because people are selling them on with these problems, cos they have a nice shiny L322. Thing is, put ANYBODY in a P38 thats fully working, it's the best car EVER.

hammy2909 said:

Depends what you mean by "worst". Worst to drive? Worst for maintenance? Worst for problems? Yes, it does have a lot of problems, but as someone said before, they're getting old. Most problems crop up because people are selling them on with these problems. Thing is, put ANYBODY in a Freelander thats fully working, it's the best car EVER.

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Took the missus out in the classic last night (no its not halloween)glad to get back to p38 cos the owld buggers got square wheels !!!!!!!!!!!

I had a P38 they are sh*t, i had a 4.6 hse LPG and had nothing but problems, firstly on the way home from where i bought it all the electrics failed, few weeks l8er the engine had lost all power and had to have it replaced which cost £4000, about a month later the LPG tank had burst/Fu***d up, just left the tank and used petrol and then the head gasket blew 3 times which made the car feel like a 1litre and constantly breakin down due to water loss.

Stay well away from them, their trouble ££

That sounds really bad! I think the problem is trying not to tar them all with the same brush, just coz one is bad doesnt mean they all are

just want to say owned my 1998 p38 for 3 years now 150000 miles, lpg, and (touch wood ) its been bloody brill , no more probs than any other car i've owned and thats a lot,in fact this is the longest i've ever kept a car,

I think with frequent maintenance they are made to last,i personally prefer the classic, i have one classic with 350,000 milles and still going strong.

Hi all

Had my P38 now for a year. Just did a 6000km trip with no mayor problems. I'm NOT a mechanic, but am able to do all the work myself. I even linked it up to my pc to reset the ECU. I also find that everybody who owns one love it. It is a bit disappointing off road, so I will buy a Disco later on. It is the perfect car for long over landing trips. Much better that any Toyota ! ! !

For my money if it had been possible to buy a 3.5 classic vogue on either carb or EFI on the same year as a p38 -the classic was a better tool.

My view on P38's is they were poorly engineered in numerous ways.
For instance putting bcem plugs with no damp/water ingress protection.


What I would like to know is if you were in the middle of nowhere and the bcem superlocked WTF would you do.

Other than that the Gaylander 1.8i is a pos

No worse really than any other landrover , or come to that , any other car .
The more complex you make something the more chances you have for a problem . Its just the type of problem that is changing , early landrovers had problem areas , eg halfshafts but were a simple mechanical fix, metallurgy, design has advanced and such problems are much less frequent , now its electronics , and software (airbus) and are much more technical to fix. Before long youll need to be an electrician not a mechanic . Another area is where the vehicle has been modded eg lpg and the original vehicle still gets the blame , also crap mechanics who dont do the original rectification properly , there is a saga in expedition section that illustrates this point perfectly .