Sanity check please - Buying a P38

I think that I am going to shake hands on the P38 I mentioned earlier
in the week.

I've only had a brief look so far, but the car seems honest and the
seller is a neighbour of a close mate.

So far, I've had a brief check at some of the major known problem
areas (air suspension seems to work properly, blend motors seem to do
their job, no obvious coolant leaks, engine temperature steady on test
drive etc). The car has had a full replacement 4.6l within the past 18
months, which has now done 14000 miles ish.

On a short test run there seemed to be a bit more wind noise from the
sun roof than I would have expected. Anyone come across this before?

I'm going to crawl over and under it tomorrow, and would like a check
list of other specific P38 things I really should be looking at. As a
start:

Damp carpets (heater matrix O rings).
Condition of air springs.
Bubbling or pressurisation of cooling system.

What else?



Finally, 1995 4.0SE with a recent 4.6 fitted by local independent
specialist, nice condition leather interior (even driver seat is good)
94,000. Good service history. The seller seems like a thoroughly nice
bloke and I think has been totally honest and open - the known faults
he has told me about consist of a slightly sticky drivers seatbelt
buckle and a patchy electric front screen heater. Probably can get it
for approx.£5000. Sounds OK doesn't it?

Nervous of Hertfordshire

David

"rads" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
>I think that I am going to shake hands on the P38 I mentioned earlier
> in the week.
>
> I've only had a brief look so far, but the car seems honest and the
> seller is a neighbour of a close mate.
>
> So far, I've had a brief check at some of the major known problem
> areas (air suspension seems to work properly, blend motors seem to do
> their job, no obvious coolant leaks, engine temperature steady on test
> drive etc). The car has had a full replacement 4.6l within the past 18
> months, which has now done 14000 miles ish.
>
> On a short test run there seemed to be a bit more wind noise from the
> sun roof than I would have expected. Anyone come across this before?
>
> I'm going to crawl over and under it tomorrow, and would like a check
> list of other specific P38 things I really should be looking at. As a
> start:
>
> Damp carpets (heater matrix O rings).
> Condition of air springs.
> Bubbling or pressurisation of cooling system.
>
> What else?
>
>
>
> Finally, 1995 4.0SE with a recent 4.6 fitted by local independent
> specialist, nice condition leather interior (even driver seat is good)
> 94,000. Good service history. The seller seems like a thoroughly nice
> bloke and I think has been totally honest and open - the known faults
> he has told me about consist of a slightly sticky drivers seatbelt
> buckle and a patchy electric front screen heater. Probably can get it
> for approx.£5000. Sounds OK doesn't it?
>
> Nervous of Hertfordshire
>
> David

David:

Basically a new engine... Go for it! Good luck.

Jack

Might be worth finding how much of the rubber tubing in the engine
compartment they replaced along with the engine. Look for heat wear,
cracking, etc.

That's most of the work of the 96,000 mile service, and is probably a
couple of days work.
On Fri, 2006-05-26 at 07:52 -0400, Jack wrote:
> "rads" <[email protected]> wrote in
> message news:[email protected]...
> >I think that I am going to shake hands on the P38 I mentioned earlier
> > in the week.
> >
> > I've only had a brief look so far, but the car seems honest and the
> > seller is a neighbour of a close mate.
> >
> > So far, I've had a brief check at some of the major known problem
> > areas (air suspension seems to work properly, blend motors seem to do
> > their job, no obvious coolant leaks, engine temperature steady on test
> > drive etc). The car has had a full replacement 4.6l within the past 18
> > months, which has now done 14000 miles ish.
> >
> > On a short test run there seemed to be a bit more wind noise from the
> > sun roof than I would have expected. Anyone come across this before?
> >
> > I'm going to crawl over and under it tomorrow, and would like a check
> > list of other specific P38 things I really should be looking at. As a
> > start:
> >
> > Damp carpets (heater matrix O rings).
> > Condition of air springs.
> > Bubbling or pressurisation of cooling system.
> >
> > What else?
> >
> >
> >
> > Finally, 1995 4.0SE with a recent 4.6 fitted by local independent
> > specialist, nice condition leather interior (even driver seat is good)
> > 94,000. Good service history. The seller seems like a thoroughly nice
> > bloke and I think has been totally honest and open - the known faults
> > he has told me about consist of a slightly sticky drivers seatbelt
> > buckle and a patchy electric front screen heater. Probably can get it
> > for approx.5000. Sounds OK doesn't it?
> >
> > Nervous of Hertfordshire
> >
> > David
>
> David:
>
> Basically a new engine... Go for it! Good luck.
>
> Jack
>
>

rads wrote:

|| On a short test run there seemed to be a bit more wind noise from the
|| sun roof than I would have expected. Anyone come across this before?

Definitely not. There will be a bit of wind noise from around the window
frames, but I don't recall any from the sunroof. Check it's seated into the
roofline properly when it's shut.

||
|| I'm going to crawl over and under it tomorrow, and would like a check
|| list of other specific P38 things I really should be looking at. As a
|| start:
||
|| Damp carpets (heater matrix O rings).

Could easily be a blocked aircon drain - easily fixed at the cost of an
eyeful of cold water.

|| Condition of air springs.

Try them up and down with the engine idling, several times. It won't react
immediately, but should rise up to highest setting within a minute or so,
and should lower itself to access mode the same. If it won't do it, or is
very slow about it, you're looking at a fair amount to put it right. If you
get a test drive, cruise it at over 50mph for 30+ seconds - the ride height
should lower to low profile (-1") automatically. You won't feel or see it
do this, but the EAS light will flash to let you know. When you drop below
35mph for 30+ seconds, it should return to normal height. Having said all
that, the system can be a bit erratic. Mine worked fine throughout my
ownership, but just now and then it would take 5 minutes and 5 miles to pump
up to normal from a cold start. Never found out why!

|| Bubbling or pressurisation of cooling system.

Definitely, although with a nearly new engine this is less of a concern

|| What else?

Check every electrical system for function. Things don't often go wrong,
but most of the electrickery is pretty complex and if something's amiss it
would be a good bargaining point.

|| Finally, 1995 4.0SE with a recent 4.6 fitted by local independent
|| specialist, nice condition leather interior (even driver seat is
|| good) 94,000. Good service history. The seller seems like a
|| thoroughly nice bloke and I think has been totally honest and open -
|| the known faults he has told me about consist of a slightly sticky
|| drivers seatbelt buckle and a patchy electric front screen heater.
|| Probably can get it for approx.£5000. Sounds OK doesn't it?

Sounds great. Go for it. They are absolutely lovely cars.

--
Rich
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