Hi there. Been looking around for some tips, thought I might just jump in with a question.

I finally got a colleague convinced to sell his '96 P38 2.5 manual shift. 205K+ km's logged. He has moved away, and the car is just sitting around.

The price he is asking is not bad at all, but I do not want to buy it "cheap" and end up spending a packet on some hidden faults. I know running a RR is not cheap, that's fine, but there is a difference between running costs, preventive maintenance, and picking up the tab for someone who has not done the necessary maintenance previously!

I will take the car to a specialist for advice, but you never know who to trust..... so your opinions are warranted.

The car drives fine, engine ticks over fine, and is not as slow or heavy-feeling as I thought it would be. Air suspension does what it is supposed to do. I think the pump/compressor has been replaced as have a few of the air-springs/bulbs (you know what I mean)... Clutch is pretty new too. Temp stayed to the left of center, so engine running cool, despite high outside temps and air-con running full blast (see below, air-con faulty).

Now the probs: a/c does not seem to work, and the "book" is lit on the display. Light brake squeal, so hopefully new pads should fix that. Maybe even new discs, I prefer a good/solid upgrade. I like strong brakes. Also, the owner has been told (by whom?) that his MAF-sensor is probably shot. Again, the engine seems to run fine.

Big worry: the engine looks "wet". Looking into the engine bay, the right side has lots of black sludge pretty much everywhere. Could be an old fuel pump problem. The build-up is pretty fierce though, even the front diff is covered, so something has obviously leaked down in large volumes, and may still be doing so.

Any other things I should check out??? Turbo has run 205K+, is that a worry?

Bottom line: I need a dependable family vehicle. High running costs and maintenance are not an issue. I am fairly tech-savvy, but do not have the time or the space/tools to do any work myself. There seems to be a reputable specialist in the vicinity.

Any thoughts welcome.

If he's a mate of your, then he should be up front with you and tell you if anything is wrong with it at the start

ask to borrow it for a week and get it at the start to a cleaning place, where they can use a degreaser to clean the engine and all the gunk off it, only then after a few days you'll see if they are any leaks from the engine )new oil on the engine) the brake sequel could be because it hasn't been used for a while

Dependable? that's a tough one, if you want a Honda buy one, they're dependable, so is a Range Rover, unless you get a lemon (i think the yanks call it that) i have had mine since 1999 (it was 2 when i got it) i have had no REAL issues with it at all, but silly niggley things go wrong with it, but it will cost you to change parts on it, it has a high mileage on it, so you can expect to change things sooner than you expect, i know a gut down the road from me and he fixes alternators and starters, and it cost only £20 to fix them, rather than £200 for a repayment part, these are the people you should source asap if your buying an expensive car and need to replace expensive parts

Cheers, Dopey.

Not really a mate, more a colleague. There is nothing really wrong with the car, as we had desks next to each other for 2 years, and he came to work with the RR every day. Never had a major issue. He said the MAF-sensor is bust, and that's about it.

That said, he's not the type to have the oil changed religiously every 6 months for example....so could be a "lemon" in the long run.