should my brother buy a p38?

as title really, i drive a 300tdi discovery and me and my brother are going to view a p38 dse with 60 thou on the clock. its a s plate and the lad wants 4 grand for it. firstly is the price about right and any tips on what to check,look for would be greatly appreciated cheers in advance

no, fault ridden over complicated expensive kak.

look out for coolent thats the bigest problem with them, take no notice of howardo he has a gaylander and would love a classy r/r

i'd consider a classic but definately not a P38.

howardo said:

no, fault ridden over complicated expensive kak.

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that reply made me chuckle!

milage is good.Money is not too bad.Lots of things to check, and lots of things to go wrong

make sure the aircon works properly, suspension, all switches do what they should do, the list goes on and on and on!!

just coz it works when you buy it doesn't me it will still work when you get it home.

j the range said:

look out for coolent thats the bigest problem with them, take no notice of howardo he has a gaylander and would love a classy r/r

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oi thats my line

check coolant!!

tommo138 said:

make sure the aircon works properly, suspension, all switches do what they should do, the list goes on and on and on!!

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Sorry '38 nuts but give me a 3.5 efi Classic anyday. Not the most potent of the V8's & rather rust-prone but at least it knows where it's liners are supposed to be & only one ecu(!) plus a style that never dates. But then when you are nearly an OAP you tend to bond with things that are as simple & frayed around the edges as yourself.

Despite them being pretty temperamental, I love them, my dad has had a few over the years. I'd definitely have one if it wasn't for the ridiculous insurance at my age.

i sold mine on ebay 2 weeks ago..... bloke planned to come 3 times .... now he's in hospital wi swine flu????
gonna be relisted 2mora any takers

i'll buy it, as soon as i get over this ebola :hysterically_laughi

his misses replied to email this morning with that crap... so i said no problem so'long as you send more deposit... heard **** all since

howardo said:

no, fault ridden over complicated expensive kak.

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bollox your just jealous cos you havn't got one aren't you howardo.

I bought mine 7 months ago, replaced the airbags and the aircon condensor, 7000 pretty trouble free miles since, just EAS fault twice, it doesn't like water! A 10 minute fix with the free EAS software.
If you buy, mave sure you have the EKA code, preferably 2 working keys and the radio code.
As others have said make sure that it doesn't blow coolant out and look for oil leaks on the flexible pipes to the oil cooler etc. Make sure it will re-start when hot.
Absolutely NO warning messages on the message centre or HEVAC display and cycle the heater distrubution and temperatures up and down to make sure the blend motors work.

Good luck!

P.S. It's the most comfortable mile eater I have ever driven and pretty economical too.

Hi landy lovers... If you want my ten pennys..yes your bro should buy a 'strange over'.. but at the same time he should buy the most economical , reliable, Japanese car to tool around in while his 'money and time eater' is in the local stealers or up on ramps on ya driveway waitin for some moron on flebay to send him the parts he bought weeks ago..... in sayin all that.. i love them .....

stuxj40 said:

..yes your bro should buy a 'strange over'.. but at the same time he should buy the most economical , reliable, Japanese car to tool around in while his 'money and time eater' is in the local stealers or up on ramps on ya driveway .....

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Sounds like my house! RRC and P38 on driveway with wifeys Toyota Prius always parked in a way it can't be locked in by a broke down rangie

Although in fairness, in 40,000 miles the P38 DSE has never actually stranded me. I've completed a few journeys on the bumpstops and half the fascia plastic is in the back (who needs a fully functional HEVAC anyway ) but it's never failed to get me to work and back home.
The closest I've been to a breakdown was a seal blown on the fuel filter (twice - you'd think I'd have learned after the first one!) and drive shaft UJ's that have juuust gotten me home (I now always keep a spare but I'm still not great on the grease gun).

Once you've driven a P38, especially off road, it's hard to really appreciate anything else. Only problem is you don't get to drive it that much.

As mentioned above, make sure all keys, remotes work, that you have all the codes, cd changer cartridge is in place, suspension not clonking and worn out (try a few speed bumps), no error messages... at all, windows all work etc. etc. Al least start from a good place.

It is an amazingly designed car, just wish Land Rover hadn't built it so badly, and made it so bloody complicated.