Rangie Purchasing Dilemma

[Grumbles]

Dilemma.

I have 24 hours to make a Range Rover decision. Do I go with my heart or my head?

Do I buy a mates 2001 P38 Vogue ? extremely cheaply...give-away pricing actually ? it is being traded in. It has close to 200,000 kms on the clock and is in fantastic condition with a great maintenance history...but..... it did have an over heating incident a couple of months ago. New water pump fitted and all is good with no signs of needing the heads off........yet. It also needs an alternator right now and tyres will be up for replacement in around six months. The door locks some times spontaneously lock and unlock when driving too.

I can't keep three fourbies so I will have to sell my three year old Grand Vitara 4WD with 26,000 kms on it. It also has two years of factory warranty and capped price servicing remaining.

I loathe unexpected buying decisions which have a short time limit on them which makes for a pressure situation.


So do I go with my head or my heart? Do I buy the Rangie and move my Suzi on? Or..........?

[jonesfam]

Go with your Heart!
Who needs sensible?
Jonesfam

[Milton477]

Realistically, keep the Suzi. I had a P38 that overheated once. For a while all seemed ok but then....BIG bucks. This is not about being realistic though is it?

[superquag]

Keep Suzy...the money she'll save you over the next 10 years will pay for another RR heap of rubbish.... :wasntme:

[Rextheute]

How about this ...... If it's genuinely cheap buy it !
What could go wrong ? If it works out okay then sell one of the other cars , realistically Ol mate is selling it as it could go either way .

There is more than enough in the knowledge base here to keep it going .

My advice is a bit rubbish as I have 5 cars .... and a truck , and a work ute amongst other towables !

But if it is cheap , you will spend more on beer and skittles in a year , this will keep you entertained and off the streets .

Good luck with decision

[PAT303]

The Suzuki will only depreciate more and more,it's worth solid money if you sell it now,a reco exchange 4.6 isn't exxy so more vehicle for a lot less money invested. Pat

[rar110]

The P38 sounds a very capable and comfortable vehicle. However, they do seem to continue the LR tradition of making mechanics out of owners. You will probably need to have the time and capability to do much of the work yourself. Being an older vehicle ownership could be very expensive.

You will have no repair cost with the vitara. They are a light weight capable reliable vehicle. They are both petrol. Both have a 4 speed auto assuming the vitara is auto. They will have similar power to weight ratio. The P38 while going well will be more comfortable and luxurious. It will be probably more capable off road, depending on the criteria.

I would stay with the Vitara.

[justinc]

Vitara.

Jc

[PLR]

G`day ,

i think money would be better spent on painting the other one which is worth twice what most P38a are and people look out for them , not so much for a P38a .

Keep the Suzuki untill you decide if a jag powered one is the go and bypass the P38a .

I think the main thing a P38a has going for it is they are now turning up in the pick a parts type wreckers for parts or if you have the room , whole vehicles can be bought for almost nothing so they can be cheaper to keep on the road but that reflects on the price the good ones go for .

I`m not anti P38a before we lost our LSE , i was thinking of replacing our old 85 with a P38a .

I have had many opportunities to buy cheap ones but when push came to shove i didn`t so even though i have a rear wheel carrier and some comet wheels , there`s a 4.6 in one of the others and other stuff for when i bought one , i think i must like the older ones better and seeing an older one beside an L322 seems to work .

The wife has taken the L322 as hers so it doesn`t come into it , i need special permission .

[DoubleChevron]

It's too modern ... In Victoria you need to buy cars that can go onto a club permit .... that way you don't need to worry about running costs as you can drive it 45days a year for about $75 bucks :)

seeya,
Shane L.

[DiscoMick]

My heart says Rangie but my wallet says Suzi.

[rangieman]

My heart says Rangie but my wallet says Suzi.

Commonsence say`s the Suzi;)

[LandyAndy]

I would keep the Suzi,a no brainer.
If that P38a is as cheap as you say,buy it,why not?????
Keep it as a project/restorer/tare your hair out toy:):):):):):):)
Andrew

[banarcus]

Don't buy the P38 unless you can use spanners and get your hands greasy. Mine is a daily driver and has had a few dramas along my 18 months of ownership. If I had to rely on a mechanic I would've sold it within 2 months of ownership.

[ramblingboy42]

how much is the RR?

I could probably come down , take it off your hands and there's no drama for anyone.

[LandyAndy]

how much is the RR?

I could probably come down , take it off your hands and there's no drama for anyone.

There is a neat one on farcebook over here,will see if I can copy it.
Andrew

[superquag]

Slightly off one side of the topic....

Regarding the P38 that was GIVEN away from side of a freeway some years ago, wonder how the New Owner feels about it now.... - Is it still a Bargain ?:eek:

[LandyAndy]

Slightly off one side of the topic....

Regarding the P38 that was GIVEN away from side of a freeway some years ago, wonder how the New Owner feels about it now.... - Is it still a Bargain ?:eek:

Sold at a profit?????
Andrew

[Grumbles]

A bit of an update and response to comments. To clarity some matters raised ? and thanks for raising them guys ? it is really appreciated, this is a much valued resource for all things Land Rover on AULRO.


My old body is long past working on cars, all spannering is left to the mechanics.


As much as I like the L322s there won't be one for me. They never crop up locally for sale in fact I never even see them on the road. I could count on one hand the number I have seen over the years and I no longer travel to the big smoke for any reason so none for me.


As for club rego, it's not for me ? I no longer have much patience and couldn't tolerate the restrictions on use or the record keeping needed. Good idea though.


The car itself. I've been and had another look at it and reviewed its history to refresh my memory. To recap it is a car I found for the current owner some 5 years ago ? I should have bought it then and there.....lol. It is as fussily maintained as are my cars and has 198 thou on the clock and had no accidents. The blend motors and heater core have been replaced. Tranny was serviced at 120 thou. It has only towed a camper trailer to Perth and back twice and with no issues at all. It has no oil leaks but a couple of light weeps and the odd drip from behind the timing cover. All fluid levels never change. It has a coolant monitor and is serviced every 10 thou and does not do short distance running, all have been highway trips. Everything works - even the original Sat Nav is still working.


The tyres are at 5mm tread depth so will need replacing as does the alternator - and maybe battery. The viability of the engines head gaskets are an unknown because of the previous, 5 thousand kms ago, overheating incident which was caused by a failed water pump. Rego is due next month too.


As to the price - I can't give this out but a GM tranny replacement on a diesel L322 would likely cost more.


So! I am still dithering and only because my mates new replacement fourby was not quite ready for hand over on Friday. This could probably happen tomorrow though, we both forgot about the holiday long weekend. Please don't ask for contact details to buy it, he won't sell it privately, doesn't want the hassle of doing this.


Cheers all.

[DiscoMick]

Sounds pretty good then.

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app

[Grumbles]

I agree DiscoMick but......doing the sums we came up with this.....

$1500 for an alternator, $3G for head gaskets replacement and that assumes no slipped liners etc then whilst it is dismantled maybe a new cam at unknown cost, it would be silly not to have the radiator refurbished whilst doing the heads or buying a new one and either option at an unknown cost. $1300 for tyres, $150 for a battery. So all up say a general spend of a minimum of some $6.5 G before any unknown issues raise their head including rego which is due next month.
Sobering figures!

[Grumbles]

In the end I elected not to acquire this P38. Though sorely tempted, it was immaculate, it was the earlier overheating incident which caused me to chicken out. Without that it would have been mine....sigh....oh what could have been......

[PLR]

G`day .

If you think it worth it .

If its been traded at a factory dealership and they are not going to sell it out of their doors .

It will go to the wholesales if they offer the dealer more than 3 to 3.5 , i`d be surprised .

I think you have over estimated the cost of an alternator .

It would depend on the overheat but it doesn`t sound as if it would have been driven till it had steam etc coming out .

If it was only the gauge/alarm ect and not kept driven , i think they are a bit more robust than the general consensus .

Head gaskets don`t always need an overheat , they also seem to have a time limit , having had a few of these engines i have a number of failed head gaskets in the shed and the majority of fails have been the end cylinders .

So if you know the dealership you may know who deals with the wholesaler and you will know if it`s worth while or not .

Of coarse if you are set on not disregard the above .

Cheers