Wife wants us to buy a Range-Rover...

I owned a 1998 4.6 HSE for many years, worked it VERY hard regular towing 3.5 and occasionally up to 5 tons, great workhorse and a lovely place to be.

They do have their fair share of problems but most are solvable

UJ's are underspecced (like every LR)

The active alarm/immobilizer needs to be turned off otherwise you get battery drain issues.

Thermostat need changing every couple of years with a genuine part

Heater feed O rings can leak (£3 part but a days work)

Heater blend motors can go which is annoying but a few quid on ebay and an afternoon usually sorts them

Porus blocks are an issue, top hat liners sort it, though mine did 60k+ of hard work once it had been ceramic sealed and when i used to work for a LR specialist we cured hundreds this way.

Make sure it doesn't wander or tranmline as this means front balljoints which are a pig of a job and need a specialist press

Good sequential lpg is a must, they are very picky engines about LPG systems and it needs setting up correctly to run nicely..


Cats can break down and rattle and block a bank and are expensive to put right

Coils on GEMS (rover) injection engine can die and give running problems..

On the plus side, they are lovely to drive, the 4.6 is the only engine worth bothering with, (plus you get the better back axle) make sure you get an HSE or a Vogue to get all the toys, they tow amazingly well, bits are peanuts now as so many are being broken..

Most importantly unlike every other LR product THEY don't RUST, not at all, it's lovely.


i'd reccomend one every day of the week, i currently drive a TD5 disco as i needed the three proper rear seat belts that the P38 lacks but it's horrid compared to the P38, get one that's been loved and enthusiast owned and you'll love it.

My Dad's always been a Landrover Guy, and bought himself a tidy P38 V8 a few years ago.
One night, the battery went flat. Swapped the battery, then the BCM decided it was going to open the sunroof and change the immobiliser code. Couldn't shut the sunroof. Couldn't re-pair the key. Not even a local specialist could manage it.

Got for a Disco instead - you won't regret it. I've had quite a few Land Rovers, including 3 RR Classics & 2 Discos (got a 300TDi auto at present) but whilst fancying a P38 know they are a massive money pit. Neighbour bought one (diesel manual)and I joked about it to which he basically said that anything is repairable and I was talking rubbish. Guess who has now got 2 tons of metal sitting in their drive that hasn't moved for maybe a year due to too many problems that make it not viable to repair ! Even neighbour has changed his tune and says it'll probably go for scrap as so fed up of it.

i've owned two disco's and they're not even in the same league gutless, slow, noisy, cramped and they all rust horribly, Dicso 2's rot out the chassis and the front inner arches Disco 1's rot out everywhere on the body tub.

I'd take repairing the Air suspension on a P38 anyday over the nightare Hydraulic ACE system on a D2, I converted my P38 and my Disco 2 to coils though in hindsight I wish I had persevered with the air, especially as bits a cheap as chips now. Even D1's have their expenive gremlins look at the EDC electronic throttle on the late 300tdi ES's awful bloody thing.....

disco 2's are every bit as complicated as a p38, and have just as many gremlins and like i said they rust, the only thing I prefer on my Td5 over my P38 is the boot space, P38's are a bit pathetic considering their bulk, and Disco 2's are cavernous in the boot, but then they are hugely cramped in the passenger cabin so still a bit of a fail really..


I'm not a fan of the diesel P38's it's nowhere near enough engine for 2 tons of permenent 4x4 they can crack heads and ofetn have hot start problems.. It's a nice lump in a saloon car but underspecced for a p38 (still miles better that a horrid old stinky and rattly 200/300tdi though..)

Most of the elctrical problems can be sold by a decent independent specialist (if you're near reading Rovertune are awesome) In all my time owning and working on them i've only come across one completely duff BECM and that had been soaked by water ingress, so only to be expected.

I'd not worry about it being a moneypit anymore than any other large 20 year old executive car, if you wouldnt buy an old S class or Jag XJ then don't buy a p38, expecting it to be easilly 'fixed' with a large hammer and large helping of ignorance like an old series is just unrealistic.. Buy with your head from an enthusiast and you'll most likely be fine..

If you want to know about running a P38 - albeit in a different country - check out the readers ride thread by georgeb

Smiler , just do it!



If you've read my thread, as you say, then one thing will have become apparent and that is in the two and a bit years of ownership, apart from the two days spent reinstating the EAS from coils, it has never either failed to start or let me down when driving. She lives in +30 degrees, sits for hours in Manila traffic, yet carts me off whenever I want and performs fantastically off-road. Actually technically this is on-road, but during a monsoon washout outside of Manila, it's difficult to tell! 

In that respect though it's been the perfect rolling project. Yes, I pay through the nose for parts, but you won't.

In terms of major parts I've fitted:-

Stainless front pipes with sport cats. Think the originals were still on there.
Steel centre and rear pipe (that had to be done ASAP after purchase and was sourced locally)
Front prop (and rear UJs - keep these well greased)
All alloy radiator - made locally for me. This was more precautionary than vital and I can now get repairs done anywhere. Obviously changed hoses and stat whilst I was at it.
Return to EAS; bags, height sensors, new compressor and valve block rebuild. Best single job done!
Fuse box.
Air-con condenser and drier
Wheels/tyres
Drivers door latch

In addition I've got a cupboard full of filters, belts and tensioner, water pump (genuine), TREs etc. Nice to have stock 

Everything else has been what you would expect to replace as part of operating a twenty plus year old vehicle anyway and, apart from the initial EAS bag/sensor fitting, all work has been carried out by myself, in a dark, gloomy parking area.

Many of the points 10mpg makes are valid and I recommend you get onto RangeRover.net as there's guys showing how to do things like heater o-rings in a couple of hours or a fit and forget Audi heater element replacement, so all the info you require is there. It's a huge resource for any job. There's also a guy on there (MartyUK) based in Swindon with all the kit for unlocking and synchronising the BECM, although they're not as prone to fail as some will make out.

RR.net is very US-centric but some of the Brit guys have just started a UK based forum, found here; rrpub.gjcp.net/category/1-range-rover-p38

For other things:-
 
The P38 is VERY power hungry and even a slightly down battery or lazy alternator will throw all sorts of faults onto the message centre (Gearbox Overheat being a favourite). Many of these faults disappear, or can be cleared, with a good battery/alternator and clean fuses/earths. Makes good bargaining point.

The air suspension is really a very simple system and faults easily traced/fixed, solenoid driver packs, which rarely fail, being the only really expensive bit.

Apart from balljoints, another cause of tramlining are big silly wheels, which they don't seem to like at all. Mine had 19s and was a pig to drive until I changed to 16s and A/T tyres. Function over form. Sick with stock sizes of 16" or 18" and she'll be right.

Get yourself some specialist LR diagnostics - generics can't talk to EAS, transfer box, etc. I have the Nanocom from Black Box Solutions and it's paid for itself over and again. Invaluable, can access and read all the systems, reset and clear faults and small enough to live in the centre cubby. Also download the RAVE factory manual.  gjcp.net/rave.zip

Interior plastics can degrade but a) that's probably more of an issue in the sort of climate mine operates in and b) there should be a plentiful supply off breakers over there.

Agree on the 4.0 v 4.6 argument. I ran a 4.0 in the UK and the 4.6 is light years different. Diesel? Can't comment.

If going high end, check all the toys work. All fixable, but a pain initially. Again, RR.net is your friend.

If the gearchange is less than perfect and sometimes hangs, set up the throttle cable exactly as per factory manual and chances are you've got a fix. The boxes in themselves give little trouble.

Remember, from the chassis down, it's pure Land Rover, drips and all, so hammers and big spanners are still the norm.

As has been said, buy the best you can, with as much recent history as possible from an enthusiast and many of the 'typical' faults will probably have been dealt with. Treat it right with frequent quality oil changes and you should be fine. These vehicles got a bad reputation, normally from those owners/"specialists" who either can't or won't understand them. It's mainly pretty unjustified and a well sorted one will reliably waft you around, on or off-road, in sheer comfort and style.

Bear in mind that you have fantastic parts availability and pretty reasonable prices, something I'd kill for! Avoid Britpart for critical items. 

Saying all that, I got mine from a shady used car dealer up in Quezon City who wouldn't know a P38 from the hole in his , no service history of any kind, every alarm and warning known to man, flat battery and on coils, so what do I know?

Normally an 80l ovoid tank in the spare wheel well. Leave the spare at home when you need the space.

having spent a few years working on them in an independent landy garage, i would never have one tbh, sure ive considered it, but i remember the headaches they caused me. They are cheep now and most will have had the nasty expensive bits done to them by now as well. If i were to advise some one who came directly to me asking my advice on what to buy, then i would have to say the 4L auto base model with a good service history, reciepts and no LPG. I have yet to see a decent LPG system, the sequential ones come close to good, but are still not good enough for me.

What makes you think you have missed the Classic bubble? I bought a 200 tdi Range Rover Classic and ran it over a winter I bought it for £700 sold for the same in a years time.
There is still plenty of Classics out there but it seems garages want so much, I'd happily pay more for a nice 3.9 LSE Classic over a P38 but then am a Discovery owner and disagree about how much better the Range Rover is over the Td5. Yeah the Classic is a million times better than the D1 but the D2 is so much better although if they had fitted the Td5 and 7 seats in the P38 then it might interest me more.

I have a D1 and D2 had 2 Classics and was very close to buying a P38 but I wanted the rare manual V8 which was only available in the 4l form and I'd have liked the 4.6 Autobiography but there was no manual option. I ended up buying a Japanese import 3.9 Discovery as it didn't have the rust of the other Discoverys and it had a low mileage well maintained V8 with LPG.