P38 MkII upgrade Ordeal or Triumph

[noosa100]

Hi there, first post and all.
Sunshine coast in Queensland resident, gateway to Cooloola NP and Fraser Island, had a RRC for 15 years with little trouble (stock).

Finally thinking of upgrading from 1981 Classic to something with 4 doors and some comfort. Read lots of forums on pros and cons on these bosch upgraded units.
Looking for low Kms and documentated LR servicing.
Is it all too much $ and reliability to ask for?
I have a technical electrical background and quiet fussy on my standard of work, would only be doing <5000km a year.
But some of that will be 20% gravel roads, 70 % highway and must be a able to handle some sand beach track work, I stay off the soft dunes.

Am I expecting too much from these models or better stayiing with a 1994 Classic ( but these are getting big kms on them now).
Cheers

[Hoges]

Before you jump in, have a good read of Range Rovers (http://www.rangerovers.net) which has a section dedicated to the P38 under "4.0/4.6"
Scroll down also to "common Problems and fixes" for the 4.0/4.6 and then to RangeRovers.net &bull; Index page (http://www.rangerovers.net/forum) ...there's stuff on the P38 and also a heap of info on "Diagnostics" . since you are luckily a tech wiz..elec...;) look also at www.blackboxsolutions.com ...if you're going to get serious you'll need one of their "black boxes"
good luck

[LavisLane]

Get in mate, as long as you do the standard pre purchase checks you're as safe as most 4wd's. Don't let the enormous wealth of information online about how-to fixes put you off, it's a positive that there's always a solid resource to go to if something does go wrong, not an indication that there is "always something going wrong".

90% of the the time mine works all the time! ;)

[81stubee]

I agree with all of the above. As with any car purchase you could always buy a lemon. It's just that if people buy a lemon and its made by Landrover they think then that all landrovers are crap.

My mechanic always says to anyone that is thinking about buying any used car, to always allow for $1000-$1500 to be spent in the first twelve months.

The fact that you are, fussy with your work, attention to detail, and an electrical tech, you are more than capable to own a P38. They are not at all unreliable when looked after. The catch is that if they are neglected they will neglect you.

There are lots of things to look for, especially engines, do a search through here and you will find the info needed

Good luck with your search.

Stu

[Coasting]

Hi noosa100
I've had 3 Rangies 76...79...84 and now I have a p38 2002 model HSE 4.6 , the very last of the p38s. I've done just on 10,000k's since I purchased it back in October last year, it had done 72,000 k's when I got it, all service records and it was in excellent condition. I just had my 82,000 service (cost $360) that included a new fan belt, old one was showing signs of wear. The only problem I've had so far is it keeps locking itself, that's electronics for you... they have a mind of their own...lol but no big deal. I purchased mine from Ritters in Melbourne for 35K I reckon it was a good buy seeing the low K's and it was a 110K vechicle.

I pull a 27ft Van of which we live in and had no probs. My average fuel consumption (not towing the Van) is 15.45 Ltrs per 100. I hope you can join the P38 club be nice to see you on here from time to time, these guys are really good with any probs you may encounter, but don't ask me any techie stuff I leave it to these guys.

Good Luck
Coasting

[big guy]

I agree, right year and model, that is after 99 with Bosch upgrades etc.
Full history and with your low mileage it should be a very reliable car and you probably be doing a lot more km's as you will not want to get out of it.

Get it fully checked though and by a Landy mechanic.

The HSE with all the fruit is my pick but it does has more to go wrong though but thats life.

Enjoy.

[PeterH]

It's a funny thing with Range Rovers, once you have owned one it becomes really hard to seriously see yourself driving anything else.
I was in a similar situation to you, I owned an 89 classic for 7 years and never had a breakdown to speak of...that is pretty good going for any car.
I did almost all the maintenance myself and saved myself a small fortune in mechanic bills in the process.
The key to having a reliable vehicle is regular maintainence...at the very least you have less chance of a breakdown than a non maintained vehicle.
The classic has been a great car, but being a 20 year old vehicle it's time has passed and I felt time for me to drive something newwer. After a bit of hunting around and a few questions posted on this forum, I decided on a post 99 update P38.
I found a 2001 HSE 4.6 in really good nick, took it for a spin and I was sold :)
If you have not taken a P38 for a test drive as yet, you are in for a treat, probably the most comfortable vehicle I've ever driven in, the ride on air springs is superb, plently of power, handles well.
If you are thinking about it I'd say if it checks out ok go for it, you won't reget it, the one you are looking at sounds like a good one.
I've had mine since Nov and I am very happy with it.
The first things I have done is new NGK platinum plugs, new set of custom made leads and changed all the filters and oil.
The Thor engine (post 99 update) runs on premium fuel, 95 ron minimum.
Had a one minor issue with a vibration above 80 km/h which turned out to be a uni joint which I fixed last week.
I took it for it's first longish drive last weekend and I had trouble keeping the smile off my face, it drove beautifully, even my lovely lady said how much she enjoyed driving in it.
I have found everyone you ask will have a different opinion, but if it feels right to you that is what counts.
Good luck with it, hope this helps, Cheers, Pete.

[Grumbles]

It's a funny thing with Range Rovers, once you have owned one it becomes really hard to seriously see yourself driving anything else.

Never was a truer word spoken! :D

The right 94 Classic will certainly do the job in style and comfort for you but finding the right one may be frustrating.

A P38 - Find one with a documented history of proper servicing and timely repairs done by a Landy expert and you will be well pleased.

Welcome to the Range Rover owners group - and that is a life time membership...mark my words here.

[noosa100]

Thanks for the informative replies, I am checking out a 2000 Vogue soon.
Quite a inpractical point does anyone know the most common colours in these models, seem to lots of silvers/golds with some greys and dark blues, always liked just plain old white.
Do these P38 Mk II metallics suffer in the australian sun.

Not scared of getting it (P38) dirty ( a little) , but should be OK with it as you guys say, good scheduled maintenance and planning with out tackling impossible tracks I should be OK.

Really grew with Landies (series 3), was driving on the family cattle property at 12 and duly got bogged in the cattle yards (that was when it was wet in the 70s).
But worked out the free wheeling hubs and got my self out.
Driven plenty of early cruisers and a G60 patrol (in fact to Cape York in 88) but seem to come back to LR. Dare to be different...

Thanks again and see what happens.
:cool:

[PaulP38a]

A friendly word of advice... don't drive the P38A until you've got the money to pay for it, 'coz you won't want to give it back ;)

Having driven a variety of other 4WD's over the years, there is nothing quite like a Range Rover... the driver's seating position is brilliant, the air suspension ride is like nothing else, the lovely rumble of the Rover V8... I could go on...

Having said that I haven't driven the new 200 Series Cruiser yet, but I'd still rather spend $10-$30K for a 10yo Range Rover and plan to spend $5-10k a year in maintenance for the next 5-10 years, than $100k for a new Cruiser that I will throw away in 3 years for less than half of the purchase price.

Re colours and fading - my '99 "Oxford Blue" P38A does have a fair bit of fading on the bonnet due to the PO playing funny buggers with the paintwork :) but I don't think it is a common problem.

My previous '95 HSE was black and had near immaculate paintwork, except for the occassional war-wound due to off-road work, up until it was "retired with honours" after an unfortunate encounter with a river.

You will be pleasantly surprised how easy the P38A is to work on yourself once you avail yourself of the excellent resources here and at Rangerovers.net.

Cheers, Paul.

[poleonpom]

A friendly word of advice... don't drive the P38A until you've got the money to pay for it, 'coz you won't want to give it back ;)


Oh, so that's where I went wrong:D

Love my P38; sends a shiver down my spine thinking about all the 'systems' and bits on the car, but if you're up for a challenge, they are the most rewarding cars, plus you get to chat to a load of fellow enthusiasts/sufferers.

Now that I've got one, I couldn't think of anything I'd rather have, which is a blessing because, by all accounts, you can't get rid of them if you want to.:eek:

[parasnoop67]

I have owned a p38 for nearly 3 years and I am very happy with it.
I take it off road regularely and it hasnt let me down yet. Once you get the maintainance sorted (and there can be a bit) they seem reliable and are a pleasure to drive. I agree totally with paul p38a regardig cost of repairs etc as compared to the depreciaton on a cruiser or patrol. Having said that, mine hasn't cost me anything major for a long time.
My son now also drives one and his is the same.
They could cost lot if they were taken to the dealer for all the small jobs that many people can do themselves.
The only off road help mine has is a set of Good Year MRT's 245#75 which are the maximum size with standard air bags. Great off road vehicle.
Love it.