Should I buy a 1997 P38 Autobiography?

Toecutter · Nov 16, 2018

Hi, I'm a new member so please be gentle.
I'm thinking of buying a 1997 petrol P38 Autobiography from a dealer for £3,990 but am concerned about all the blogs and forums I've read saying they are rubbish and drink fuel like an alcoholic at a free pub lock-in. It's done 91,000 miles and has a full service history and looks good online although I've not seen it in the flesh yet.

What advice would you give someone who's never owned one before and also is it worth converting it to LPG and if so how much does this cost and can you recommend someone in the Surrey area to do it?

Thanks in advance!

kurtjohnson10 · Nov 16, 2018

Hi
If its any good just offer him £2500 for it.
He will probably snatch your hand off as i bet he paid about £1500 for it

Great vehicle when running right BUT you MUST keep it regularly serviced to keep it running efficiently.
Plenty of advice and tips on here mate

Henry_b · Nov 16, 2018

They drink like a MOFO and cost the earth to maintain, and break all the time.

Thats the good bits.. ^^

The P38 is a car that has outgrown its troublesome past and is rising in value, all the good ones are disappearing!

Snatch a sought after autobiography while you can!

Hippo · Nov 16, 2018

Welcome to the forum

If yer buy the P38 heap will yer maintain it yerself or get a garage to do it?

Toecutter · Nov 16, 2018

Thanks for the replies so far. I'd have to get a garage to maintain it as I'm not gifted in that area.

What about the LPG conversion, is that with doing?

Henry_b · Nov 16, 2018

Toecutter said:
Thanks for the replies so far. I'd have to get a garage to maintain it as I'm not gifted in that area.

What about the LPG conversion, is that with doing?

LPG is good for economy but expensive to fit.

lpg is around 70p a litre.

Maintenance isn't an issue, the issues arise when they throw hissy fits..

Which they do often

Disco1BFG · Nov 16, 2018

Toecutter said:
Thanks for the replies so far. I'd have to get a garage to maintain it as I'm not gifted in that area.

What about the LPG conversion, is that with doing?

IMHO, garage "maintenance" is likely to be your problem, unless you have a very trustworthy independent specialist in your area - these are complex vehicles, brilliant when they are running right, but a complete PITA when they are not.

IMHO, you need to do the bulk of the work yourself, and also have your own diagnostics.... I wouldn't go near one without including proper diagnostics in the purchase.

I agree completely with KurtJohnson10, above, post #2, it's overpriced. you can always increase your offer ....

IF you buy it, do so with your eyes open ... search on here for the common problems ... sadly there are a few, and some of them can be costly to fix, especially at "garage" prices

.

That said, the support you'll probably get on here, and the knowledge on here is second to none

gold rover · Nov 18, 2018

+1 on all of above.
I suggest popping over to the Range Rover forum and having a read through all the ins and out of ownership of the model. Then make an informed decision, based on the knowledge gained and your personal thoughts.
As stated above, if you can't do the maintenance yourself, make sure you have a near(ish) , friendly, knowledgeable, specialist, independent garage, that you can trust to do the work. Helpful advice is always available on here but it comes with a cost, that being a bit of banter, a bit of attitude and sometimes differences of opinion. It's worth it though

Should I buy a 1997 P38 Autobiography?

Toecutter

New Member

kurtjohnson10

Well-Known Member

Henry_b

Think outside, no box required.

Hippo

Lord Hippo

Toecutter

New Member

Henry_b

Think outside, no box required.

Disco1BFG

Well-Known Member

gold rover

Well-Known Member

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