Does anyone have experiance with old Range Rovers, especially a 95 p38 4.0.
I've got my eye on this truck http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/885078333.html and wondering if it was a good deal. I can turn a wrench somewhat and would be doing any work or maint. myself, so I'm not concerned with $ as much as overall reliability. Every RR I have seen seems to have a lot of miles, but is 140k about the turning point?
Your input is apreciated...
My best friend in high school had a 80. that thing was a tank.
The engine itself is not that big, but the gearbox is where all the power comes from. That thing was held together by rust and duct tape but it was still more reliable than any other car in the lot. And for mudding, it would outpull almost any modern vehicle.
It died when an 18 wheeler plowed into it and bent the chassis beyond repair. The damn thing still turned on.
I think it had about 250k miles on it when it died. I don't think he ever so much as changed the oil in it...
At $3,500 its a resonable deal, but be prepared to look after it. They got considerably better in around 2000.
There are a number of websites for this vehicle
A lot of the image of poor reliability is due to expensive parts, difficulty in finding parts, a poor dealer network and hesitance of private shops to work on them. Sound familiar, Alpha Ducati guy? As with any used vehicle, the how good the one you are looking at is largely dependant on the previous owner(s) and those who worked on it. Bring a third party with you to look no matter how much you know.
They are awesome off road and are just friggin cool BUT, beware.. there are a LOT of problematic areas on either the Classic or the newer models...
On the 4.0 watch out for head gasket problems, powersteering box (ALL models have this heap o shite leaking box), leaky sunroofs, crazy electrics and most expensive of all is the neumatic suspension. Although this last item is very desirable I'd stick to conventional springs.
In Europe these cars are very cheap second hand but they are very high maintenance.
I had a Classic 4.2LSE (long wheel base) with all the options you could want, it did run quite well but consumed something like 20litres/100km of 95OCT gasoline. That car stayed with me for 1 month, I sold it on very quickly as it was a money pit, apart from being a gas guzzler.
I'd go Toyota LandCruiser.
High Maintenance!!! And this is coming from a Porsche guy.