should i swap?

Hi all.

I've always loved the look of the p38 range rover but have never actually owned one. I have had a 1.8 freelander for the past 4.5 years with(touch wood) not one single problem in 50,000 miles.
Driving past my local car dealer yesterday i spotted a 2001 51 plate p38 dhse in silver with black leather. It was up for £5995. I thought it looked good value so went home, washed the freelander and took it down to see what deal i could get. I took a good look around the P38 and it is a 2 owner car with 104000 on the clock with a full main dealer history with a service being carried out in may this year. Body work and interior all look very clean and it started 1st time and sounded nice. I was offered £4400 for my 2004 50000mile freelander which leaves me £1600 to pay. Do you think thats a good deal or is the p38 overpriced? I have to admit that the way the doors/bonnet close and the feel of quality inside along with the looks is starting to sway me to going down with the cash today and doing the deal. People say the head gasket will go at any time on my car and all other sorts of problems are on the cards and i am fed up with it after 4 years as it is totally guttless and crap on fuel.
What would you do?

Firstly don' expect the dhse to be quick or great on fuel but your right about the quality and the luxury is great. Check what parkers price guide says that model is worth and what yours is worth that way you'll know if your paying over the odds.

sampson 6.5 said:

I have had a 1.8 freelander for the past 4.5 years with(touch wood) not one single problem in 50,000 miles.

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4.5 years with no problems at all from the Freelander ...... I love my 1999 P38 DSE but feel like having a party if it goes for 4.5 weeks without something "odd" happening.

sampson 6.5 said:

Driving past my local car dealer yesterday i spotted a 2001 51 plate p38 dhse in silver with black leather. It was up for £5995.

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Price isn't completely outrageous for one of the last P38's made with a FSH and 104k, a bit higher than you might expect but then again they are taking in your trade-in and paying you close to top price for it.

sampson 6.5 said:

People say the head gasket will go at any time on my car and all other sorts of problems are on the cards and i am fed up with it after 4 years as it is totally guttless and crap on fuel.
What would you do?

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I bought the P38, but then again I have a good sense of humour which is an essential asset for a P38 owner

Thank's for the response.

Are they really that bad? I'm not expecting a quick and economical car but are they as unreliable as you say?
Anyone else have any advice as they open at 10 and was starting to feel like a kid at christmas until i read the posts.

i've had my 2oo1 dhse for 18 months (22,000miles) with no major problems. its slow and averages 25mpg but so comfortable.
being registered after march 2001 means it will be £455/year tax from 2010.
i love my dhse and as long as it stays reliable, i can put up with high tax and fuel bills

sampson 6.5 said:

Thank's for the response.

Are they really that bad? I'm not expecting a quick and economical car but are they as unreliable as you say?
Anyone else have any advice as they open at 10 and was starting to feel like a kid at christmas until i read the posts.

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Don't get me wrong, I love mine to death and wouldn't be without it, it's just that you need to be prepared for some fun times ahead as they do have some interesting "quirks" ......

Mine is a '99 DSE auto and I get apout 27mpg on average. I drive quite gently tho' as I hate paying for diesel .....

Of course, I'd forgotten about the post March 2001 road tax ..... that would discourage me a little and make me negotiate the price down from their asking price as they will have trouble shifting a RR that's just "missed the cut". If they won't drop the price then maybe try to negotiate a warranty.

If you do go ahead (and if you want one then you should), be sure to check that every electrical thing works inside, test absolutely everything including the wipers !

Thank's for all the help and advice.

I've been past the dealers and it's still there on the forecourt even though he told me there were 3 more people coming down to view yesterday(i know he would say that!). My car also falls into the high tax band from april next year at £430!! which is another reason why i want to change it. I can suffer paying it but not for driving around in a 1.8 freelander. Driving a range rover and paying the higher tax well that's completley differerent. My car is lucky to get 25mpg so the fuel costs will be similar.
I am going to leave it today (just had a glass of wine in the garden with my dinner)and go down tomorrow morning and do the deal if he still has it which i expect he will. I'll let you know how it goes. I havn't even driven it yet or checked all the bit's and bobs work.
Thank's again for the advice

Regards

Danny

mine just misses the tax band cut - its 28 days too young and i will be facedwith £450/year from 2010. i think i'll just put up with it because i love the P38.
if i were looking to buy one now i would try and find a DHSE registered just before march 2001.its a real buyers market at the moment so there are good bargains around.

servicing cost me about £350 for an annual service.
there do seem to be a few niggling issues - door locks playing up a bit at the moment - £100 or so to fix.

performance of DHSE is really poor and with diesel costing so much more than petrol i wouldn't rule out a 4.6 HSE with lpg conversion

well hope you dont mind me adding a bit we just got a 3.9 classic 1990 vouge (our 1st rangi) (had lumpy about 4 weeks) allready gas converted with 12 months mot £740 and genuine 40k , (all service and mots back this up) but Ive got to do rear suspension (coiled fortunateualy) some mincer removed the self levler, and must admit it wont be our last the old girl does about 15 miles to gallon (20 if I coast down hill allot lol) I put £25 worth of lpg and get 130miles so gas is worth a thought, so you can still love that v8 growl

Somthing worng with that if you are only getting 15 MPG, mine is doing 210-220 miles on 62 litres costing £33, 1992 Vogue SE 3.9 auto open loop LPG

Stewart

righty forget the deisel and have a look at this!!! looks like a bargain to me but obviously do go check it out first, i'm sure someone in the area(if there is) would be happy to have a look at it with you if you were interested!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1999-Blue-RANGEROVER-4-0-V8_W0QQitemZ280276110791QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item280276110791&_trkparms=39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A7|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

ebay item no: 280276110791

Don't bother looking at it as it don't exist. 0 feedback and just joined ebay means it's a scam. Don't email them. Seen the same type of thing every day on ebay- forget it.

it's a classified ad so no feedback relevant anyway... no harm in going to look at it...or asking someone else to... but worth being careful wherever you buy a motor but especially off ebay

certainly DO be careful as in any used car purchase, but to dismiss a car as a scam just b'cause there is no feedback, the person may have joined just to sell the car. cash on collection would be the only way to transact and a quick check on: https://www.mycarcheck.com/check/S827XAG/ and also on: DVLA Vehicle Licensing Online | Vehicle Enquiry
proves the reg/photo is a genuine car!!!!!!

I'm not saying the car in the picture isn't a genuine car- of course it is. But it doesn't mean it belongs to the person who is advertising it does it. He's probably never even seen the car in the flesh and has just copied the pictures from another site like autotrader or pistonheads. I use the sites you mentioned too, another good one is ASKMID where you can check to see if the vehicle is registered on the government insurance register for free. It may well be a genuine advert but it does seem a bit too good to be true. Lpg conversion, sport alloys, no faults etc etc. Anyway just to see if it is i've gone against my own advice and enquired about the car. I mailed the so called seller last night through the ebay web page and hid my email address so he can only reply through ebay. I have not had a reply as yet. Will let you know what happens, Cheers, Danny

it seems the listing has been removed so it well could have been a scam, just goes to show that things that seem too good to be true usually are!!!

the guy probably saw these posts and decided to to continue with the scam or the car has sold either way i'm gonna email scotland yard and ebay as it's apotentional crime and the genuine owner needs to know his car is bieng used in a scam, that way the local police can visit the guy and let him know and or recover the car to the rightful owner!!!. now can anyone remember the reg number?

tried to email ebay but the item number is invalid so it won't let me report it, bit of a loophole me thinks, now how do we get it closed????

ebay have shut it down.

the loophole that stops people reporting further info on suspected fraudulent behaviour!

they should be reporting all this to scotland yard fraud team not just closing ads/auctions!!

if they do then i apologise to ebay, still i would be annoyed if i seen my car on ebay and i couldnt track the clown who was scamming!

Hi all,

I just checked and your right it's been removed. The registration was-
S 827 XAG. I checked it on the insurance database last night and it is coming up as taxed and insured.
Cheers
Dan