Would I be crazy to buy a P38 rangie?

[chimpboy]

I am looking at TD5 Discoveries but I keep getting tempted by P38 rangies. The 4.6 litre V8 has the "I want one" factor.

Are they as unreliable and thirsty as they are made out to be?

[Loanrangie]

I am looking at TD5 Discoveries but I keep getting tempted by P38 rangies. The 4.6 litre V8 has the "I want one" factor.

Are they as unreliable and thirsty as they are made out to be?

In one word, yes, i love the look and style but i wouldnt have one unless it was free and even then i would have to think about it. Sure they are not all lemons but there is just to much fiddly expensive stuff to go wrong.

[ISUZUROVER]

have a search on AULRO ( www.aulro.com/afvb ). Plenty of p38 owners over on that forum.

Personally I wouldn't buy one (but then I prefer 100% mechanical diesels), but there are a lot of happy p38 owners.

[chimpboy]

Hmm, do I dare?

Thanks for the replies

[cloughy]

Do it, had one, miss it, great town car

[chimpboy]

So they have a tendency to drop cylinder liners... does this total the engine or is it a relatively affordable rebuild?

[zook4fun]

kills the engine.

i have one and don't regret it one bit! great car, eats up the k's. we go from ACT to the central coast a fair bit and its great t drive. the mrs walks it up tracks i'd think twice about driving in my lux

if you do get one make sure all the recalls are done on it and then save to put it on gas injection.

[ISUZUROVER]

So they have a tendency to drop cylinder liners... does this total the engine or is it a relatively affordable rebuild?

Means a new block to fix properly.

Apparently certain VINs are more likely to do this??? And/or if overheated.

[Simo63]

I've got one, had it for a few months now and am still in love with it. IMHO they are just like any other car but maybe a bit more complication although these days people have figured out how to diagnose and repair them cheaply.

I still have my factory Turbo 80 series for off roading but the Rangie is a brilliant car to cruise around the road/hwy and if you want they are very capable of road as well.

Fuel consumption around town is equal to the 80 series so it's not as bad as people claim (particularly people who haven't actually owned one before, just heard this or that froma mates mate friend).

If you are always being tempted then you should go for it but like all cars, shop around to get a good one as they are getting older now and condition varies wildy depending on how they've been treated.

Cheers
Simo

[chimpboy]

Yikes, I gave into temptation! I just bought a P38 HSE, dual fuel, quite clean and tidy although not super low miles. Alright for the money I think (hope) and goes very well.



Now all I have to do is find some polo matches to drive to in it.

[Loanrangie]

Jolly good old chap, good luck hope you got a good'n. Silver looks good them.

[chimpboy]

First impressions are: fark yeah, this is a lot of fun to drive.

[Micka]

Good stuff. You're a braver man than me...and maybe deeper pockets.

I've always wanted one too...but i think I'll hold off until the L320 prices come down a bit more.

[chimpboy]

Good stuff. You're a braver man than me...and maybe deeper pockets.

I've always wanted one too...but i think I'll hold off until the L320 prices come down a bit more.

I am bracing myself for a few repair bills if need be, and kinda took that into account in working out my purchasing budget.

But yes, I do have that fear in the back of my mind!

[grimbo]

that will go jolly well with the Stag. I do hope you purchased a fine tweed coat with leather elbow patches as well.


Have always liked the Rangey and have been tempted a few times but have always just chickened out at the last moment. Hope it goes well for you.

[chimpboy]

Well, all it needed for the roadie was a couple of suspension bushes. Got it back and still loving it... so far.

[Suspension Stuff]

As time goes by this is going to be one of those never ending threads.

[craz3d]

Do these have IFS?

[cloughy]

Do these have IFS?

No, Live axle

[fatsogq]

I am looking at TD5 Discoveries but I keep getting tempted by P38 rangies. The 4.6 litre V8 has the "I want one" factor.

Are they as unreliable and thirsty as they are made out to be?

elo mate you could ring peter haylock at kotara nsw 4x4 land rover wreckers and ask for his advice a very helpful guy

[chimpboy]

I am looking at TD5 Discoveries but I keep getting tempted by P38 rangies. The 4.6 litre V8 has the "I want one" factor.

Are they as unreliable and thirsty as they are made out to be?

elo mate you could ring peter haylock at kotara nsw 4x4 land rover wreckers and ask for his advice a very helpful guy

Thanks but I bought a p38 a couple of weeks ago.

I am a P38 fan now, these are awesome cars for the money imho.

[Suspension Stuff]

Now go back out there and get a 2nd one. That way you can always get parts and keep on the road

I would love one also, how do they go off road as far as flex is concerned.

Shane

[chimpboy]

Now go back out there and get a 2nd one. That way you can always get parts and keep on the road

I would love one also, how do they go off road as far as flex is concerned.

Shane

Well! There's an upgrade to the air springs now available that gets you about 3" of lift, and you can reset the EAS controller to set your ride height for standard (normal city driving), highway (a bit lower than standard, kicks in when you are cruising at 80 and over), access (very low, for when you're parked), extended (higher than standard), and super-extended (automatically lifts you higher when the car is stuck).

So the cool aspect is that you can have all that lift off-road and sit lower again on-road.

There aren't many pics of people doing anything hardcore in these but I believe this one has the Gen III air bags which have that lift:



Swaybar disconnects get you a good inch more apparently.



I plan to do this upgrade after I've sorted a few other issues such as my key remote not working - just want to get everything standard working before I do any mods. Subject to finances as well I guess.

There's also an airbag compatible front bar I have my eye on:



... and I have already started piecing together a diy endless air setup, which I plan to mate with a manual airbag piggyback setup... what this lets you do is manually air up the suspension corner by corner in the event of any kind of failure:



Mine has a few little issues that were reflected in the price, knowing how much I love driving it now I would probably go back in time and spend more for one where every feature was 100% working. Easier to fix stuff that breaks on your watch than on the last owner's watch. But mine was extra attractive to me because it had a near-new LPG system on it.

When you consider what they cost new they are a shiatload of car for the money today.

The one thing lacking is a good commercially available snorkel at this stage. However hardrange have one coming apparently.

[chimpboy]

... still lovin' the P38.

Got my Gen III air springs in the mail.

Shocks later, can't afford everything at once

[The Master]

I've had my P38 for two years now. He is a black 4.0 and very hard to keep clean. Looks great though.

We call him Harry.

Very British and all that.

Getting close to 200K now, but a great car.

I've rebuilt the EAS Valve block and compressor, resoldered the relay board in the main computer, fixed the HVAC flaps, etc.

The only 'technical' fault that has occured was when the power window switch pack failed about 14 months ago. That was $250 to replace.

Other than that, a great car. I run mine on petrol and avg about 15L p 100K. I figure a Nissan Patrol Diesel gets about 12L /p100, so i don't feel to bad about the difference and I enjoy overtaking more.

I think they need a good hard run every now and then or the engines start running a little rough. Carbon biuld up maybe?

Great Car.

Cheers,

Carl

[Ben]

Bump.

Still happy? Got to admit, I've been thinking about taking the plunge, but everyone I know (who doesn't own one) has warned me off them with horror stories.

Chimp, what year, etc did you get? Can I ask what it set you back?

One thing that everyone keeps bringing up is that if it's ever been overheated it'll be cactus, but how the heck can you check that?

[chimpboy]

I have a 1996 HSE. I would not look at anything but an HSE for the 4.6 and other goodies. eg it is the first car I've had where I didn't need to replace the stock stereo/speakers/etc because the HSE set up is just outstanding (except the head unit).

Yes, I am still very happy with it. Mine is dual fuel which is a good thing. I got it for under $8k which was fairly cheap at the time, and spent about $200 getting it RWC'd. Knowing how much I like it now, I would spend more and get something tidier with lower kms... not that I have any actual issues with its condition. My biggest issue is a saggy headlining over the cargo area which will take me about a day to fix, if only I can find a day.

They have a known problem with slipped cylinder liners. How common is that problem? Hard to say. But basically a car will either have a slipped liner or it won't. If it has this problem, you will definitely be able to tell. If it hasn't, it is probably not going to at this age. That's how I looked at it anyway.

I could not be happier really and my only regret is that I would probably go back and spent $15k instead and get one without a mark on it. Mine has a few little signs of wear and tear.

edit:

... having said all that, I do think they are an enthusiast's car. If you are going to be paying someone to do every fix on it, forget it. If you are happy to spend a day every few months sorting things out then you'll be on top of it and get a good experience from the vehicle. But having said that, it is not like you are under the bonnet every weekend or anything.