1998 2.5 range rover with 160K worth a risk ?
Discussion
HI all. just seen a range rover 2.5 diesel with 160k on the clock. full s/h and a spring conversion ? its up for 2k Ono. looks the part and full of all the goodies you would want. diesel engine so not too bad on the wallet. believe these were BMW units. what you all think. only looking to get 2 years of a barge out of it. 
As with any complex banger I think you can run one successfully (cheaply) if you have access to other vehicles (or can walk to work ) as this will allow you time to fix any problems by sourcing used parts or discounted mail order bits (maybe even doing your own labour on evenings and weekends) instead of being forced to pay through the nose for new and shiny kit to get back on the road asap.
) as this will allow you time to fix any problems by sourcing used parts or discounted mail order bits (maybe even doing your own labour on evenings and weekends) instead of being forced to pay through the nose for new and shiny kit to get back on the road asap.A friend of mine who spanners all sorts of Land Rovers and Range Rovers got rid of his and won't touch another of that vintage. Too many complex electronic systems that like nothing more than to randomly break down and leave you with an unusable PoS. Parts and expertise generally at the FE end unless you're lucky and on first name terms with someone intimate with the electronic parts.
A mate of mine bought P38 cheap!
I lost count of the amount of evenings I spent helping him trying to get it up together. Even with the right tools most Jobs where a complete nightmare! Every time we fixed a fault something else would break or start leaking. Let alone the random immobilizer fault that would disable the vehicle randomly at it's own will (having borrowed a device to sync it he eventually just bought it)!
He sold it 6 months later at a huge loss and neither him nor I would touch one again LOL
I lost count of the amount of evenings I spent helping him trying to get it up together. Even with the right tools most Jobs where a complete nightmare! Every time we fixed a fault something else would break or start leaking. Let alone the random immobilizer fault that would disable the vehicle randomly at it's own will (having borrowed a device to sync it he eventually just bought it)!
He sold it 6 months later at a huge loss and neither him nor I would touch one again LOL
We've all thought about cheap P38's and I'm sure thinking a coiled manual diesel is the simplest has crossed many an outwardly sane mans mind-it certainly has mine.
Here's a simple cure,go to your nearest Land Rover independent specialist. Look out the back,now count how many immaculate P38's there are collapsed in the weeds. Most probably only went there for a warning light to be checked out! I guarantee this will be the case all over the country(I even know a place in Brittany that has half a dozen)
The second part of this exercise involves looking at what a nice RR Classic or Disco £2000 buys.
Here's a simple cure,go to your nearest Land Rover independent specialist. Look out the back,now count how many immaculate P38's there are collapsed in the weeds. Most probably only went there for a warning light to be checked out! I guarantee this will be the case all over the country(I even know a place in Brittany that has half a dozen)
The second part of this exercise involves looking at what a nice RR Classic or Disco £2000 buys.
if you are looking at a 2k car i'm guessing your pockets aren't massively deep
£500 will get sunk like we'd nibble a biscuit before dinner
they are 2k for a reason and it could end up costing you 10k and give you lots of tears
if, however, you earn good money but just want a cheap snotter as you don't like having expensive cars because of various reasons and can just afford to 'bin it' when it goes bang then try it. you may get 2 days out of it, you may get a year out of it.
however, for 2k there are better cars!
£500 will get sunk like we'd nibble a biscuit before dinner
they are 2k for a reason and it could end up costing you 10k and give you lots of tears
if, however, you earn good money but just want a cheap snotter as you don't like having expensive cars because of various reasons and can just afford to 'bin it' when it goes bang then try it. you may get 2 days out of it, you may get a year out of it.
however, for 2k there are better cars!
I would add that whilst I have bought an immaculate (V8) version which has a fantastic history, never been scrimped on work, and only 48,000 miles on it, It just cost me a few quid to have a few minor niggles sorted, and an issue with the rear brakes. If you don't want to spend money keeping on top of it, spend your £2k elsewhere.
Mechanic I know told someone NOT to buy one of these and he bought it anyway.
He then brought it in with an endless list of faults - good earner for the mechanic but the owner got shirtier and shirtier about the size of the bills until the suspension failed and the size of the estimate resulted in a massive argument and some flying spanners...
Next I see of it and it's jacked-up outside his house - he was attempting a DIY spring conversion (working under an RR held-up by 2 trolley jacks!!). Took him over 6 weeks and he got another 2 weeks of use before the engine died.
It cost just under £3K - ate twice that in cash in a year and was sold as a non-runner for £800 - I'd steer WELL clear...
He then brought it in with an endless list of faults - good earner for the mechanic but the owner got shirtier and shirtier about the size of the bills until the suspension failed and the size of the estimate resulted in a massive argument and some flying spanners...
Next I see of it and it's jacked-up outside his house - he was attempting a DIY spring conversion (working under an RR held-up by 2 trolley jacks!!). Took him over 6 weeks and he got another 2 weeks of use before the engine died.
It cost just under £3K - ate twice that in cash in a year and was sold as a non-runner for £800 - I'd steer WELL clear...
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