The Range Rover Classic thread:

[RicksAlfas]

Thanks DKL. I'll have a look there and see what I can see.

A bit of googling suggests it might be to do with the sunblind.

[MrMoonyMan]

Morning folks,

I've been both enjoying this thread and Classic RR ownership for this last 8 months.

So far it has all been much less painful than expected. I seem to have lucked out with mine!

The only items worth mentioning are a now defunct rear wiper and a temp guage that died, then fixed itself twice!

Other than that it has even managed 300 miles to a tank (once!) and almost went straight through its first MOT with me.

Great cars these.

[DKL]

Wiper motor is easy enough to replace. Just don't get the headlining dirty in the process.

[Skyedriver]

So, thinking aloud and hoping for an answer from the PH collective.
The price of the Classic RR is now going beyond my budget for a decent one, I should have bought in a couple of years ago but was/still am into the old RWD Volvos.
With that in mind, is the next model along, the P38 (?) worth buying or is that trouble waiting to happen?
Thanks

[DonkeyApple]

Skyedriver said:

So, thinking aloud and hoping for an answer from the PH collective.
The price of the Classic RR is now going beyond my budget for a decent one, I should have bought in a couple of years ago but was/still am into the old RWD Volvos.
With that in mind, is the next model along, the P38 (?) worth buying or is that trouble waiting to happen?
Thanks

If the classic car market keeps bubbling up then P38s should hold their value. I can't see them ever growing in value like a classic simply because they were only produced over a shortish span so won't, like the Classic, capture the imaginations of at least two and arguably three generations. And they didn't define an era etc.

They have a lot more gadgetry to go wrong and very many have been run on the cheap and are serious trouble.

It's definitely one of those cars that if you buy well then you can have a great car but anything other than buying well and you have an absolute dog.

If you can't or don't have time to fix them yourself then they are costly to run.

The Rangie forums are now pretty much exclusively P38 owners asking what wire goes where and how to fix a computer etc.

When they work they are better cars than a Classic but I would prefer to hold out for a good classic.

[DKL]

I noticed that Graeme Hunt has a P38 for sale. Now granted it's an Holland&Holland version but just the fact that he has one must mean they are a little more desirable. There is a white 630r out there for sale...

[Skyedriver]

DonkeyApple said:

Skyedriver said:

So, thinking aloud and hoping for an answer from the PH collective.
The price of the Classic RR is now going beyond my budget for a decent one, I should have bought in a couple of years ago but was/still am into the old RWD Volvos.
With that in mind, is the next model along, the P38 (?) worth buying or is that trouble waiting to happen?
Thanks

If the classic car market keeps bubbling up then P38s should hold their value. I can't see them ever growing in value like a classic simply because they were only produced over a shortish span so won't, like the Classic, capture the imaginations of at least two and arguably three generations. And they didn't define an era etc.

They have a lot more gadgetry to go wrong and very many have been run on the cheap and are serious trouble.

It's definitely one of those cars that if you buy well then you can have a great car but anything other than buying well and you have an absolute dog.

If you can't or don't have time to fix them yourself then they are costly to run.

The Rangie forums are now pretty much exclusively P38 owners asking what wire goes where and how to fix a computer etc.

When they work they are better cars than a Classic but I would prefer to hold out for a good classic.

Interesting, thanks.

I have to say I like the look of the P38, modern but not over adorned with bling, but anything complex just gets my goat which is why I prefer the old RWD Volvo estates. Simple to understand and work on. Always look back at my old Caterham and Lotus 7 as being user friendly as there was nothing unnecessary on them and everything was accessible.

As an aside, do I ignore the diesels, I seem to remember that they were slow, or unreliable, or something? On both the Classic and the P38, which is the best ones to go for as far as reliability and sensible (but not race car) performance.

[RicksAlfas]

DonkeyApple has hit the nail on the head. If you are content to fiddle and can understand 25 year old electrics you'll be OK with a P38, otherwise they just sound like a world of pain. A pal of mine bought a cheap P38 as a non runner, and got it going, but his explanation of what was wrong might as well have been in ancient Chinese to me. Remember too the new MOT is much more stringent and even a failed driver's electric seat is a fail, let alone any warning lights on the dash.

I would have thought the best simplicity/performance balance would be a steel sprung, manual seat, 3.9 Classic.
e.g. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1991-LAND-ROVER-RANGE-RO...

(I don't know the car, it was just the first example I found).

There are some thoughts that earlier cars were made from stronger (less rust!) steel, but I don't know what the year was when they changed.

[DKL]

Soft dash classics do seem to be more rust prone than the older ones although that is a bit like saying butter is less heat resistant than chocolate. Neither are great.
The vast majority of the things that I have fixed or have to fix are electrical. Seat ecu, heated seats, cruise (ok not all electrical) heated screens etc etc. Oh and the air suspension....
The mechanics are pretty strong and despite just turning 197k miles my 4.2 plods on. It really needs a top end rebuild and new cam but it won't be this year.
So for reliability choose the latest non electrical model - a bit like our own DA has done.
Now its rust free I'll sort mine out and get it resprayed and it will look nice. A relative of a neighbour keeps turning up in a green M plate LSE and it looks and sounds fab. I keep meaning to go and say hi.

[Skyedriver]

RicksAlfas said:

Remember too the new MOT is much more stringent and even a failed driver's electric seat is a fail, let alone any warning lights on the dash.

.

Is that really true, surely not. If a mechanical seat runner is stuck they don't test for that.

[RicksAlfas]

Skyedriver said:

RicksAlfas said:

Remember too the new MOT is much more stringent and even a failed driver's electric seat is a fail, let alone any warning lights on the dash.

.

Is that really true, surely not. If a mechanical seat runner is stuck they don't test for that.

It is true, and it's also true for a mechanical seat. If it's meant to move they will test it.
If it's not meant to move (fixed competition seat bolted to the floor) they won't.

[V8 Fettler]

A P38 is the natural progression from the Classic, quieter at speed, less rust (hopefully!), more power. On the downside, the 3.5 is the sweetest and most reliable RV8, followed by the 3.9; but neither are available in the P38. However, all RV8 engine issues are fixable, time and cost being the only unknowns. If the prospect of resolving electrical issues alarms a prospective purchaser then avoid a P38.

There is P38 somewhere with my name on it, should probably sell the Classic first. Although the concept of a collection of Rangies is of interest to me.

[Rangeroverover]

Hi I have a 91 RRC, its westminster grey with grey leather, the aircon actualy blows cold, I had to get the filler nozzles etc changed to take modern non cfc refrigerent. Strangely everything works, even the heated windscreen which must have been ahead of its time in 1991.

The only thing bothering me, until yeterday was an intemittently working drivers seat switch, it always works to move the seat forward but is less interested in moving the seat backwards. If I keep fiddling with it eventually the seat moves back.

The previous owner put carlos fandango uber loud exhaust system on it with four pipes at the rear, while I quite like the look I hate the noise so not sure if I should go back to factory spec completely or graft a nice quiet factory exhaust onto the existing set up

Yesterdays excitement was brake failure, it felt much as it would if you suddenly lost all power, I had to really stand on the brakes to get any sort of stopping.

So is it a blown servo

Also and I think I have to type this quietly it runs on lpg, which at 60ish pence per litre makes it more usable and makes 12-15mpg almost bearable

[carmadgaz]

I am succumbing to a RRC. Just been to have a look at a '93 RRC in blue. 3.9EFi with LPG and a manual box. Had a new boot floor and bits, main chassis legs and cills appears solid. Engine has a small coolant leak (valley gasket?) but started from cold on all 8 very quickly. I'm seriously considering it but even on LPG I'm worried about the running costs...

...and also which of my fleet it would replace...

...but it appears clean and they won't stay in my budget for long...

...ARGH bloody cars

[DickyC]

Whenever there's a Range Rover thread I dig this out. Self indulgent? Oh, yes.



Taken in 1981: my 1972, 250,000 miles (eventually), A suffix, owned for ten years, bought for £3,000 sold for £1,500, fixed in the drive, quietly biodegrading, wish-I-still-had-it, Range Rover.



I'll have another one, one day.

[carmadgaz]

Dammit I pulled the trigger... Not on a V8 manual in the end but on a 300TDi soft-dash auto.

Ponderously slow but I now have a RRC (when I collect it on Wednesday)

[Harleyboy]

carmadgaz said:

Dammit I pulled the trigger... Not on a V8 manual in the end but on a 300TDi soft-dash auto.

Ponderously slow but I now have a RRC (when I collect it on Wednesday)

Good work!! Years ago we had a Discovery with that engine and an auto box. It was glacially slow but never broke!

Any RRC is good. I cleaned and polished mine and took it to a Polo game locally. It looked just right!

Enjoy it

[carmadgaz]

Harleyboy said:

Good work!! Years ago we had a Discovery with that engine and an auto box. It was glacially slow but never broke!

Any RRC is good. I cleaned and polished mine and took it to a Polo game locally. It looked just right!

Enjoy it

Thanks . Need a top up on the PAS fluid (what's a Landie without a few leaks) but aside from that and a small mark on the drivers seat it appears immaculate. Bloke has had a lot done to it

[goodwoodweirdo]

thats bloody lovely... what a classic collection :-)

DickyC said:

Whenever there's a Range Rover thread I dig this out. Self indulgent? Oh, yes.



Taken in 1981: my 1972, 250,000 miles (eventually), A suffix, owned for ten years, bought for £3,000 sold for £1,500, fixed in the drive, quietly biodegrading, wish-I-still-had-it, Range Rover.



I'll have another one, one day.

[Rangeroverover]

Well done on pulling the trigger, just make sure you keep on top of any niggly bits that stop working or fall off; a catering pack of waxoyl is a worthwhile investment and getting all the bushes done. the handling will be transformed as you can bet nobody has attended to them in recent years.