Thread: Advise about buying a used Range Rover

Hi Max,

$5 - 15 k is probably more realistic. Pretty good on sequential gas injection. Biggest probs are slipped liners mostly due to overheating, the three amigos and weird electrical probs that can confound all the wizards.

Friends of mine have them and are happy. Can't depreciate too much more from about $100k new.

cheers.

Wow.

Do a search on here and you will find that doing high mileage in a RR is not the issue, up-keep can cost though.

want reliability than go post 2000 model RR. have better electrics.

May I suggest a 03-04 TD5 Disco.
less to run, 10L/100 and right on the money. Great off-road with acc galore.
you service the well and they will look after you.

that money you may get leather and the full monty.

Do a search on carsales or even the market section on here.
great model the 04. Last of the era.

Good luck.

Pm rangiep38 he took his off road on the weekend and had a few troubles but they can be sorted(we did some pretty hard stuff for a stocker).Have a look at this thread for the vids

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/victorian-...-16th-nov.html

Also i was very impressed with the v8 d2 of LRDV8.It was very capable and in excellent condition.Leather and all,very nice.
Hope this helps Brett

I'm with BigGuy. Think about perhaps a diesel Disco unless you don't mind spending a bomb on fuel.

I love Range Rovers a lot but the p38a's haven't really covered themselves with glory. Electrical gremlins seem to be the order of the day. They were the first really complicated RR and had a pretty bad rep for things breaking or stopping working.

The last of the classics might be of interest to you as they were well sorted by the late 80's. 88-93 are good year models. Quite a bit simpler than the p38 that followed but still very civilised. Personally - I don't like the air suspension. We live on a farm and the damn sensors regularly messed up and it'd be back to the dealer for another $400 so the air suspension would work again. If you live in the city this might not be an issue. They still have appalling mileage though. I would get 350-400Km from a tank. My diesel Disco gets 10L/100 which equates to 750Km from a tank. Big difference.

Not sure if that helps you at all. Just my thoughts on the matter!
Cheers
David

Thankyou everyone who has responded so far.

I mainly use four wheel drive in sand (although it is far from my only use) hence my interest in the V8 rather than the diesel. How do the diesels compare with the petrol in sand?

I get the feeling that a Discovery or an earlier model (classic?) Range Rover would be a more reliable vehicle bearing in mind my $20,000 to $25,000 limit than a P38a

How much better is the air suspension then the coil springs (assuming that the air actually is a better system)? Is it worth the cost (in time and repairs etc.)?

What has impressed me most about Range Rovers (the few trime that I have been in one) is that I could travel down the same track that I had just traversed in my Toyota, Jeep or Ford and the ride was SO MUCH smoother, better and more comfortable and yet we were often actually travelling quicker. They were also quieter to travel in and just seemed to do the job without making any fuss, refined and understated I guess.

I DON'T need or particularliy want, sun roofs, electric windows, mega thumping bass sound systems, lots of carpet and heated leather seats with built in DVD entertainment systems.

I DO want, cruise control, towing ability, decent suspension and good suspension travel with axle articulation (basically good off road ability), remote adjustable mirrors, four doors, airconditioning. (yes, looking at that list it appears that I'm going soft).

This will be a family weekend exploration machine, that I drive to work during the week and we all go away on holidays in once (or if we are lucky twice) a year.

I live in southern suburban Perth in W.A.

Any and all comments are appreciated, as you can see I have very limited experience of Discoveries and Range Rovers but when-ever I have seen them off road or been involved in any way they have impressed me. Hence my research as I am thinking of finally buying one.

Thankyou

max.
maxandcarmel@westnet.com.au

trying to work out how to reply to replies!

Thankyou everyone for your comments so far.

I appreciate that everyone’s requirements and experiences are different and that because one person likes something does not mean that some-one will like the same thing. By asking my questions here I am hoping to gather together a consensus of experience and knowledge from people who have used and lived with Range Rovers (and Discoveries) that I can use as part of my research into my next 4x4. So all comments are appreciated what ever they may be.

I get the feeling that a Discovery or an earlier model Range Rover may be better than a P38a. I was mainly interested in the P38a as they are;

A) Newer and so (hopefully) less likely to require work and be more reliable
Have a better suspension system (air) than the older models and
C) Are more likely to have cruise control, air-conditioning and remote adjustable mirrors (three features that I would like in my next 4x4).

Is the air suspension better than the older style coil springs and if it is, how much better? In your collective experience is the air suspension worth the extra hassles that may come with a P38a?

I was mainly interested in a V8 rather than a diesel as most of my off road work (that really required four wheel drive as opposed to just a bit of clearance for rocks etc.) is on sand and I thought that the added performance of the V8 would be a plus. In your collective experience is the V8 better off road (particularly in sand and sand dunes)?

I DO want; good axle articulation and off road performance, decent towing ability, cruise control, air-conditioning, remote adjustable mirrors, 4 doors, a good suspension and comfortable ride, airbags and safety systems (my wife and children will be in here), some space and room hence my not looking at the smaller vehicles.

I do NOT particularly need or want; sun roof, carpet, heated leather seats, mega bass radio/cassette/CD sound systems that would suit a theatre, DVD entertainment systems, electric windows (although I don’t think I get a choice on that one anymore, they even put them in the current model Defender!)

My budget is about $20,000 to maybe $25,000 and whatever I get will be my daily drive to work car as well as the weekend family exploration machine and the once (or twice if we are lucky) a year go on holidays somewhere interesting tourer, towing a trailer.

I am sure that there are many passionate opinions out there about what is best and what is not best, well this is your chance, tell me what you think is best and what you think I should buy and why I should buy it! And just to really get things going, I’ll confess that I currently drive a ……..Jeep!

Thanks

max.
maxandcarmel@westnet.com.au

Here ya go Max

RANGE ROVER 1997, on Trading Post Used & New Cars for Sale - Find Car Sales, Caravans & Motorbikes ? cars, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Holden, Mercedes, Suzuki, BMW and Ford at low prices.

Try to find something that has had some money put into it ... AS they are all 10 year old rides