What to buy?

[v8will]

Don't have a pile of money to spend but I'm after a Landrover for commuting to work and some off road fun.

Obviously I can't stretch to a Defender (seems to take 6-7 grand for anything) so i was thinking either Series 3 2.25 petrol (meccano build quality, upgrade through time etc), Disco 300 TDi or V8. Discos seem to be cheap now - is this the way forward? Capable off road yet still useable?

What would you buy? Pros, cons etc.

I love the shape of the series 3 but can't help thinking that i'll hate it for light daily use. Also it may be needed to tow a car transporter now and then.

A stage 1 would be ideal but seem to be scarce these days...

[JensenA]

Sorry for Hi-jacking the thread.
I'm looking at getting a Range Rover P38, a V8 with an LPG conversion, with a budget of £4k maximum should I be afraid of a 150k mile example?

[C Lee Farquar]

It's probably no worse than any other 10 year old 4x4, but it should be available for throw away money

From Brightwells:

1998 R Land Rover Range Rover Estate 4.6 Hse 4dr Auto
166000 miles warranted, Red, V5 here, MoT 25 Sep'09, Tax Mar'10, New Engine, New Catalytic Converter, Invoices of work held, Old MOTs, Sold As Seen, No VAT. £1,150

[Meeja]

C Lee Farquar said:

It's probably no worse than any other 10 year old 4x4, but it should be available for throw away money

From Brightwells:

1998 R Land Rover Range Rover Estate 4.6 Hse 4dr Auto
166000 miles warranted, Red, V5 here, MoT 25 Sep'09, Tax Mar'10, New Engine, New Catalytic Converter, Invoices of work held, Old MOTs, Sold As Seen, No VAT. £1,150

For this kind of money, that is the important bit.

Most other faults on a 98 RR *can* be fixed without ruining you (too much!) - particularly if you are handy with the spanners, and I realise I am generalising here, but a 4.6 of that age and mileage will probably be a victim of the overheating and the pourous engine block (which is why I presume this one has had a replacement engine) - which would effectively write off the car.

Have a good read of RangeRovers.net, and look carefully.

[D5ACT]

Obviously I can't stretch to a Defender (seems to take 6-7 grand for anything)

Wow, 6-7k. I'm selling mine for £3,450. Might have to put my price up?????

Well if you fancy knowing more let me know.

Chris

[BLUETHUNDER]

Meeja said:

C Lee Farquar said:

It's probably no worse than any other 10 year old 4x4, but it should be available for throw away money

From Brightwells:

1998 R Land Rover Range Rover Estate 4.6 Hse 4dr Auto
166000 miles warranted, Red, V5 here, MoT 25 Sep'09, Tax Mar'10, New Engine, New Catalytic Converter, Invoices of work held, Old MOTs, Sold As Seen, No VAT. £1,150

For this kind of money, that is the important bit.

Most other faults on a 98 RR *can* be fixed without ruining you (too much!) - particularly if you are handy with the spanners, and I realise I am generalising here, but a 4.6 of that age and mileage will probably be a victim of the overheating and the pourous engine block (which is why I presume this one has had a replacement engine) - which would effectively write off the car.

Have a good read of RangeRovers.net, and look carefully.

With his budget. he is best off going for reliability. I would give the P38 a miss.

[agent006]

C Lee Farquar said:

It's probably no worse than any other 10 year old 4x4, but it should be available for throw away money

From Brightwells:

1998 R Land Rover Range Rover Estate 4.6 Hse 4dr Auto
166000 miles warranted, Red, V5 here, MoT 25 Sep'09, Tax Mar'10, New Engine, New Catalytic Converter, Invoices of work held, Old MOTs, Sold As Seen, No VAT. £1,150

Speaking as someone who sold a P38 needing around £6k of repairs at Brightwells last year, i'd give any P38 at auction a very wide berth. Porous block, cracked flexplate, leaking heater pipes, overheating and all the other P38 problems will not show themselves in the short run into the auction hall.

[robgee1964]

v8will said:

Don't have a pile of money to spend but I'm after a Landrover for commuting to work and some off road fun.

Obviously I can't stretch to a Defender (seems to take 6-7 grand for anything) so i was thinking either Series 3 2.25 petrol (meccano build quality, upgrade through time etc), Disco 300 TDi or V8. Discos seem to be cheap now - is this the way forward? Capable off road yet still useable?

What would you buy? Pros, cons etc.

I love the shape of the series 3 but can't help thinking that i'll hate it for light daily use. Also it may be needed to tow a car transporter now and then.

A stage 1 would be ideal but seem to be scarce these days...

Series landroves are pretty unusable for commuting, and aren't as good offroad as a disco or defender. They are very thirsty and chassis/bulkhead rot like hell.

You can get quite reasonable defenders for 3000-3500, but for on-road comfort, I'd get a 300Tdi disco or *possibly* a TD5, although a 300Tdi would be a lot simpler/cheaper to fix if/when you damage it offroad (eg wheel bearings, etc). Also not all TD5's have diff lock, so I've heard. You need difflock or you are wasting your time offroad. With a 2" lift and some mud terrain tyres (fit biggest diameter you can) the disco is a formidable off-roader, whilst still being quite acceptable on-road.

I like diesels for offroad as no electrics to drown (maybe less true for td5). And they still work out cheaper to run than a LPG converted V8. I also agree with the other poster, P38 is probably too complex to fix if it breaks, also the the 6 cyl BMW diesel gives quite a bit of trouble, in that car.

If you are going to do a lot of wading then be prepared to strip down and regrease hubs often. Also water gets in the gearboxes and axles, so these can need draining also, after wading.

[mechsympathy]

robgee1964 said:

Also water gets in the gearboxes and axles, so these can need draining also, after wading.

Extending the axle and gearbox breathers is very easy and cheap and infinitely preferable to allowing mud in.