Thread: Purchasing a P38 - what to look out for?

This must be just about time for a report card on the first 20 000 kms in my 99 P38 4.0.

We have now done more than 20 000 kms in the Green Machine. There have been some issues with the car, but overall I'm pretty happy.

• Purchased December 08. 144 000kms. Now has 165 000 kms.
• On the way to Sydney the front left wheel fell off. The mechanic who had done the roadworthy check hadn't tightened the wheel nuts. And, what is worse, I hadn't checked them. Fixed by insurance. (Thanks to Andy and Erich for making it work for me in Sydney.)
• Aircon wasn't working all the way to Sydney. Found out in Sydney that the problem was the aircon relay (found by Ron Beckett - thanks Ron). The trip back from Sydney was much more pleasant than the trip there. Both were in about 40 degree heat!
• LPG Gas Injection system installed. This has been faultless. Expensive, tho - even after the govt threw a couple of grand at me for doing it.
• EAS has been fiddly. I have had to reset it several using the EAS unlock software (thanks, Paul!). I have replaced the rear airsprings. Cleaning some of the earths in the engine bay has helped enormously. The system has settled down to the extent that it rarely plays up and when it does just switching off the ignition for a few minutes resets it. Still some things to sort out - ride heights in particular. But I love it ... I wouldn't go back to coils.
• Leaking O rings in the heater core. **** of a job to fix, but its done now.
• Front engine seal has a small leak.
• Aircon throws up an error message occasionally. It still works fine, and the message is usually gone by next time.
• The car is (over) due for a service. Tomorrow's job.

That's about it. Many here have said that these cars are cheap to buy and expensive to own. I can vouch for the first, but, so far, the car has been no more expensive to run than other cars I have owned. Certainly cheaper than the VW Kombi Caravelle I sold a few months ago. I don't know how it will go in the future, but if this keeps up I'm not complaining.

This 'report card' might be helpful to those thinking about buying one of these.

Willem

All of my niggling electrical problems have vanished since the Fuse box was replaced.

Airbag fault...fixed
door sometimes wouldnt unlock....fixed
book symbol on AC display...fixed
AC fan not switching to High mode...fixed

P38 is a fantastic machine, but it does need you to be proactive as an owner. Alot of my issues have been me being too lazy to fix stuff before it breaks. Example being - I knew the front air bag was leaking but didnt fix it, so P38 says "right I've warned you now your in trouble" and compressor dies.

I noticed Cruise control vacumm tube was cracked but did FA all about it, then CC stops working until I replaced all the tubes


Next weekend I'm am replacing the following bits:

3x airbags (did one a month ago)
Shockers
front discs & pads (changing too Vented rotors)
Steering dampner