Buying advice for Range Rover
Discussion
Hi Bill, do a search of this and a few other Land Rover forums and you'll learn the basics just like I did.
There is a problem that seems to be mainly with 4.6l engines where they end up overheating and require replacing (The technical explanations are out there on the net!).
This is the reason I went for a 4.0 in the end, but I think if you keep an eye on the coolant levels you might be ok.
Personally I think once it has had a new engine it should be good as gold for thousands more miles as the later engines appear not to suffer the same problems (2000 onwards i think) but you should be able to pick up a bargain as most owners just want to ship them on and recoup some of the £5k they shell out for the work.
In terms of other problems just check every electrical bit of kit (although the heated seats will almost certianly stop working at some point
) and make sure the air suspension is healthy and quick to level itself. The a/c can be a problem on some of them so make sure that's working nicely too.
But in general it is a lot of car for the money and importantly a V8 too.
There is a problem that seems to be mainly with 4.6l engines where they end up overheating and require replacing (The technical explanations are out there on the net!).
This is the reason I went for a 4.0 in the end, but I think if you keep an eye on the coolant levels you might be ok.
Personally I think once it has had a new engine it should be good as gold for thousands more miles as the later engines appear not to suffer the same problems (2000 onwards i think) but you should be able to pick up a bargain as most owners just want to ship them on and recoup some of the £5k they shell out for the work.
In terms of other problems just check every electrical bit of kit (although the heated seats will almost certianly stop working at some point
) and make sure the air suspension is healthy and quick to level itself. The a/c can be a problem on some of them so make sure that's working nicely too. But in general it is a lot of car for the money and importantly a V8 too.
Edited by pontypool on Saturday 21st October 11:16
The overheating problem is as overstated as the blown engine problem on 996's. However it does happen and the reason engines after 2000 are not so at risk is because of the later Bosch ECU mapping. It runs cooler in the mid range and does not cause the problems of the original GEMs system.
Take a look here
http://rangerovers.net/forum/viewforu
for anything you need to know about the P38.
Persevere, get a good one and you won't be disappointed. They are brilliant cars and if you can handle 16mpg then you are OK. 4.6 is better than the 4.0 not only in terms of power/torque but they are much better spec'd as well.
Take a look here
http://rangerovers.net/forum/viewforu
for anything you need to know about the P38.
Persevere, get a good one and you won't be disappointed. They are brilliant cars and if you can handle 16mpg then you are OK. 4.6 is better than the 4.0 not only in terms of power/torque but they are much better spec'd as well.
Denis O said:
engines after 2000 are not so at risk is because of the later Bosch ECU mapping. It runs cooler in the mid range and does not cause the problems of the original GEMs system
If you believe thats the cause then you can chip a gems car with the mark adams tornados.
If you intend to maintain the car yourself then a gems P38 is preferable, even changing the plugs on a bosch is a nightmare
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