I am starting to take a shine to the lat 80s RR. I have found one for sale in NSW and it is typical of what I am looking at. My initial questions are; what can they tow and are there any major things that I should be looking for in this year (generally) and model

tks paul

Range Rover Vogue (eBay item 290257600932 end time Sep-09-08 14:21:03 EST)

hi pop058

i've got an '88 highline 5 spd which looks pretty similar in spec to yours (no tilt wheel or extra chairs though). i bought it from ebay with about the same mileage. the only flaw that seem to be common to all of these is the power assisted steering system. look for an oily steering box, especially around the input/output seals. also look for staining around the resevoir and the pump (between the alternator and the water pump) a s/h pump for $80 and a steering box from a wreck i bought solved it. interestingly the donor box WAS leaking a bit as installed in the original car but with the benefit of the newer pump has not leaked since fitting to mine. i suspect the gradual failure of the pump promotes leaking at the box.
my alternator also failed early in my ownership, reco-ed for $150, no probs since.
just recently i treated the car to a brand new genuine dizzy cap and rotor (hilariously expensive from a proper LR dealer) and a set of custom made spiral wound plug leads. a pretty miraculous transformation resulted. i would reccomend the replacing of these items as a matter of course.
good luck if you dive in. i paid $1850 for mine last year on ebay and i'm delighted with it.
1988 was a great vintage for these cars.

Agree.
i had same model.
just watch the towing with the lt77 gear box.
they are the weak link, so you may want to wait for an auto to come along.
They are very strong, all RR's can tow 3.5t braked and 1.4t unbraked from memory.

Buy a cheap one and chuck 5grand at it so you know whats been done.
Get bosch alt, new batt, radiator, shocks, power steer and brakes done.
It will go for long time.

Best of luck.

that's what we're all hoping hyes:" class="inlineimg" />

the one pop058 is eyeing off is an auto so he wont be subjected to the 'joys' of lt77 ownership.
good point about the battery though. don't skimp buying on a good one, especially with an auto !

So did you buy it?

have not bought anything yet, still asking lots of (silly) questions and doing some more homework generally. talking with w.i.f.e. and have expanded the possibilities to include a bit latter model (and even Discos). the RR is the preference because we like the creature comforts. we both run Ghia's (EB & EL) with all the trimmings at the momment and need at least one "get in and go" type vehicle for medical reasons. any info on upto 99 RR or D1/2 (prefer pertol) is very welcome

tks paul

__________________

REMLR mem #256

66 2A w/s 114-149
71 2A w/s 178-045
48 P3
RRC / D1 / County / Defender (still looking)