Thread: Advice on a circa-10k Rangie or Disco

Know what you mean - I sold my 100,000k disco last week for $9.5K and would have like to have bought a series 1 last week as well as a project.

But the Freelander even with 2 ton tow capacity was unlikely to be able to tow the series 1 on a heavy car trailer all the way from Qld to the ACT.

The Frelander is capable of getting around the local national parks but what if I get down a hill and cannot get back up. The Freelander is always on the margins.

Why not sell the freelander and put the $10k you have for another car together and get a 100,000 - 140,000km TD5 - nice to drive and will keep mum happy. There are cheap (and expensive) TD5s out there to be had if you are patient.

Garry

Originally posted by garrycol
Know what you mean - I sold my 100,000k disco last week for $9.5K and would have like to have bought a series 1 last week as well as a project.

But the Freelander even with 2 ton tow capacity was unlikely to be able to tow the series 1 on a heavy car trailer all the way from Qld to the ACT.

The Frelander is capable of getting around the local national parks but what if I get down a hill and cannot get back up. The Freelander is always on the margins.

Why not sell the freelander and put the $10k you have for another car together and get a 100,000 - 140,000km TD5 - nice to drive and will keep mum happy. There are cheap (and expensive) TD5s out there to be had if you are patient.

Garry,

The Freelander must stay - we need two vehicles so we'll be keeping it regardless of what we buy (I use it to get to work and back). The Project Rangie was originally to be our third car (weekend play thing) but the second car we were going to buy has not materialised due to a change in our personal situation. So the Rangie was suddenly our second car and things looked grim.

I'm also looking at the V8 models. Turbo Diesels don't interest me, I just love that V8 burble 8)

Buy a 95 to 97 Range Rover I have seen some around for under $16000 and that kills the 2 birds with one very comfortable and capable stone.

Originally posted by Steinzy
Buy a 95 to 97 Range Rover I have seen some around for under $16000 and that kills the 2 birds with one very comfortable and capable stone.

Yeah I have seen a few P38As around for very cheap ... but a bit wary of the early P38s ... thought they had a few 'issues' early on?

Firstly here are a few things to look out for in 95 onward Rangies:

Check to see if it has had the heads off, these will blow headgaskets with one cooking, try the old drinking glass over the oil filler see if it mists up also check water in oil and vice versa. At this stage it should have probably had a radiator - check to make sure.

See what tyres it has on it, it should have come with Michelin XPCs - they run at $350 each. I have just upgraded to a set ofg coopers and are very happy.

Make sure the air suspension goes up and comes down, you shouldn't be able to hear the pump operating inside the car with the car running, if you can it needs its mounts replacing ($69 plus fitting). Make sure the air suspension will run up to operating height and stay there - it should cycle in and out by should stop and only come on every now and again - not run all the time - if it runs all the time it has leaks in it that need repairing either the push lock connectors or the air bags themselves - bags and lines are cheap - air bag man in brisbane can supply for less than $200 each and they must be replaced in pairs if you buy them from him.

The ABS/Brake acculumator should operate correctly - start the car and wait till all the pumps stop running, pump the brake pedal until you hear the abs pump come on, you should be able to pump the pedal 5 times before it cuts in - if it is more like 3 the main sphere needs replacing - cheap ish - $300 last time I bought one - don't buy a secondhand unit.

Check the HVAC (heating ventialtion and Air Conditioning) make sure it changes to recirculate without putting up the test book symbol - it should sit on auto and set it at 20 degrees and it should cool the car brilliantly. If it doesn't there is a problem.

Check the display in the middle of the dash for faults - tell us what is there, how many Ks ? at about 250,000 they tend to burn out the low range/high range selector motor, $400 bit of gear that looks like a $40 windscreen wiper motor, normally the gbox ecu is at fault - it will more than likely have dry joints - tv repair man can fix that .

Check all electric windows, check high range and low range, when you select low range it will beap at you until it engages you have to leave it in neutral on the low side till it stops beaping.

Check it has two keys - if the little buttons on the key are stuffed you can buy the replacement buttons and plastic cover for $5 from landrover or $7 on ebay.

Make sure it has the stacker and the sub in it (HSE) and that it has a mag for a spare - make sure the load cover is there for the tail gate - Personally I wouldn't buy one that is missing any original gear - there are too many others out there in good nick.

That is all I can think of now

Two things to keep in mind, this was a $100,000 car - it is going to still cost money to run it - I do nearly everything myself and parts still can cost a bit

The other thing is economy depends heavily on what driving you do, my 4.0 over the last 20,000k has averaged 16L/100K half of all my driving is highway. The 4.6 should be as good as that if not better.

Find a good one of these and they are fantastic car to drive

check out www.rangerovers.net for a heap of usefull info

Thanks Anthony.

I think a 'good one' is still going to be a bit pricey for me. I'd love a P38A but I'm leaning towards the Disco and old Rangies for the simpler servicing.

Shall keep it in mind if a good one pops up for around $15-18k. Could stretch to that, maybe.

G'day steinzy, I'm interested to hear what they're like to drive off road. I push the disco pretty hard, the P38's a pretty large vehicle, what's it like on tracks and over rocks etc.
I realise they're quite capable (it's a RR after all) it's more the durability of the vehicle.

Mate I've taken it everywhere!!!

the only poroblem that I have ever had was getting up a rock shelf where the front wheels just started to bounc e and I couldn't get up. After speaking to Glen from Brothers Offroad (builds competition landrovers) he said it was due to the shocks needing replacement. Other than that I take everywhere that any other vehicle goes and generally walk away with less damage.