Educate me on Range Rover

I am considering a Range Rover for family use and race car (light) towing. Who has first hand experience? Are they trouble prone? Is the air suspension a problem? Learn me.

Which model? RR classic, P38 (the boxy one that followed the RR classic) or something newer?

Yes, the air suspension is a well known trouble spot. There's a reason that you can get conversion kits to coil springs for those.

Electrics are as good as just about anything put on a Brit car (Lucas, the Prince of Darkness), so expect trouble there. At least the older Rover V8s are notorious for wearing the cam if the oil hasn't been changed super regularly. The main symptom for the worn cam is noise from the cam area, less power and increased fuel consumption. Mind you, they're not exactly powerful to start with and drink fuel like it's going out of fashion already when they're in good working order. Think slightly worse than a full size pickup truck when it comes to fuel consumption. Some of the engines are notorious for having the thermostat fail closed and then blow the head gaskets. That seems to be a common issue out here and in really bad cases you're looking at a new engine.

For decent legal towing capacity you pretty much need one with the 4.6L, IIRC the other ones have a 5k lbs towing limit whereas the 4.6L has 7k lbs.

Invisible rust can be an issue - the outer panels on these and the Discos are aluminium, but the frame they're mounted to and the chassis are steel. The panels dent fairly easily and don't be overly surprised to find rust damage underneath on a car that looks perfect on the outside.

Oh, and interiors don't hold up overly well, at least not on the older ones in the sun out here.

I saw one advertised locally that sounded almost perfect for my needs until I found out the front driveline had been disconnected "to increase fuel mileage". A quick check with some RR-nutter friends in the UK confirmed that that's a good way to kill the center diff. Look out for mods like that. A lot of them can be had cheap-ish when they lose the bling factor and the later owners aren't necesarily willing to look after them they way they need to be looked after.

Personally if I were in the market for an SUV I'd probably look at a P38 HSE or a 2003 Disco with the 4.6L engine.

Looking at the P38 model. Things to look for? Concerns?

Why? Whywhywhywhywhywhywhy?

If you wanted one "just cause", I could understand, but for family use, aka, a reliable vehicle? Helllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll no!

All of the stuff I listed above. Oh, and check for leaks on the front swivel joints. Unless the PO can prove that they've been resealed recently, chances are that no leak = no oil in the joints. And yes, that's bad.

Also, check the trunk floor and the whole chassis for rust, and all the metal in the engine bay as a lot of it is painted steel.

HiTempguy wrote: Why? Whywhywhywhywhywhywhy? If you wanted one "just cause", I could understand, but for family use, aka, a reliable vehicle? Helllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll no!

I like them and I'm probably crazy enough to use one as semi-daily transport. But there's a reason that people buy 4runners and Suburbans for family transport.

You can't tow with the coil conversion unless you like popping wheelies. Ask me how I know. Replace the air springs every 5 years and the rest will last forever. If you don't know the spring age on the one you buy, budget $1000 to replace them yourself (easy). Stay away from the BMW engined ones. 2002 was the best year IMHO, and I was a dealer tech for 11 years. Every one had the 4.6 and factory nav. The 03-04 Disco 4.6 has too many issues to let me recommend one so I'd stick with the Range. Buy the nicest one you can and then put a few hundred away each month just like a car payment or you'll be caught out when something expensive like the body computer ($1200+install, dealer only) inevitably breaks.

Thanks guys. Abort.

Aren't those the ones that if you don't change the front axles every 60K miles, they will break on you and take out the transmission?

I still think they are cool, but I need another PITA car like....

Here's the Range Rover cliff notes- for every hour of use, they need an hour of repair.

Junkyard_Dog wrote: You can't tow with the coil conversion unless you like popping wheelies. Ask me how I know. Replace the air springs every 5 years and the rest will last forever. If you don't know the spring age on the one you buy, budget $1000 to replace them yourself (easy). Stay away from the BMW engined ones. 2002 was the best year IMHO, and I was a dealer tech for 11 years. Every one had the 4.6 and factory nav. The 03-04 Disco 4.6 has too many issues to let me recommend one so I'd stick with the Range. Buy the nicest one you can and then put a few hundred away each month just like a car payment or you'll be caught out when something expensive like the body computer ($1200+install, dealer only) inevitably breaks.

I've got an unhealthy obsession with Land Rovers, and I'm curious what makes you say avoid the 2004s. I've heard about the oil pump failures on the 2003s, but most forums I've read agree the 2004 is the best year of disco. Just passed on a '99 DII that was traded in at the dealership I work at due to rust on the underside, but it sure was tempting. I really want a RR Classic, however they've pretty much disappeared around here.

I always just figured that Range Rovers were status symbols for people who wipe their tooshies with $100 bills. I never heard of one that was reliable or economical to run.

Mine has been trouble free,and is a fun ride.

Beware of some of the above issues on a P38 but are not very difficult to maintain.

Do not change to coil springs, they suck whereas the air ride is amazing.

PS it was awesome on Road Atlanta being swarmed by Miatae.

I heart Britmobiles, am fully capable of keeping them running and I would not DARE DD a Range Rover. No way. Gimme a riceburner for back and forth.

I would love to have a P38 Range Rover, but to be honest, they scare the hell out of me. I've spent some time looking up info on them to know what I would be looking at and so much random E36 M3 can go wrong and is expensive as hell to replace.

I really hate that older luxury cars are expensive as hell to repair.

Once again, the GRM crew is giving bum advice about cars most of them have had ZERO experience with. I have had a number of Range Rovers. The Classics are incredibly tough with very stout chassis and nearly unbreakable transmissions. The engines are also reliable if they are maintained and not overheated. I drove a '90 Classic for years into some nasty terrian to haul mountain bikes and provide race support. Completely reliable. Drove it daily for years with no issue other than a couple dodgy window switches. I did follow factory service guidelines. Sold the thing with 200k still running great. Bought another and converted it to the Old Man Emu suspension(replacing the air system). The ride over wash board surfaces was unbelivable and I could tow a lightweight 911 without issue. Also trouble free and still inservice with its current owner. I purchased a P38 Rangie with the Holland & Holland special kit. Very luxurious and again, trouble free except for a bad door latch/lock assembly. Installed bigger tires and a slight lift-still in service with my Dad as he uses it as a DD and severe weather vehicle to reach his cabin-the thing goes through mud/snow like you wouldn't believe.

I would avoid the Discos-find a well serviced classic and you'll love it.

Thank you forzav12, I thought I was alone for a while there

I'm definitely uneducated in Range Rovers, but I went to a few "dedicated" P38 websites to find out more aboundontk and they talk about all the common things that go wrong with them. Priced out what parts I could online and the prices were what made me say no way.

Realize I could not find one in my price range (under $5k) that didn't need some major amount of work and several had transmission issues.

Other than that, working on them seems pretty straight forward.

I think it is a case of it is British so it must be unreliable. My uncle has put hundreds of thousands of miles on Land Rover Discos and Range Rovers without many problems pulling cattle, sheep and such. Yes they take a bit more maintenance then a comparable Japanese SUV but it also has more luxury. Also my experience with them is they won't leave you stranded. Lots of little things will break but the engine in those things rarely dies if properly maintained.

Well now I can stick my foot in my mouth.

I just went on CL and their are several P38s for sale under $5k in really good shape. What a difference 6 months makes.

I really really really like this one.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/ctd/2907133950.html

93EXCivic wrote: I think it is a case of it is British so it must be unreliable. My uncle has put hundreds of thousands of miles on Land Rover Discos and Range Rovers without many problems pulling cattle, sheep and such. Yes they take a bit more maintenance then a comparable Japanese SUV but it also has more luxury. Also my experience with them is they won't leave you stranded. Lots of little things will break but the engine in those things rarely dies if properly maintained.

I agree with this. Like most British vehicles, it will treat you how you treat it.

Damn it now I want to go look for a Range Rover again... Damn. I really want a Defender though but those are ungodly expensive.

93EXCivic wrote: Damn it now I want to go look for a Range Rover again... Damn. I really want a Defender though but those are ungodly expensive.

How about a Series III? http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/2887554311.html

MG Bryan wrote:

93EXCivic wrote: Damn it now I want to go look for a Range Rover again... Damn. I really want a Defender though but those are ungodly expensive.

How about a Series III? http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/2887554311.html

I was thinking of a '90s one but I am not buying anymore cars this year.

93EXCivic wrote:

MG Bryan wrote:

93EXCivic wrote: Damn it now I want to go look for a Range Rover again... Damn. I really want a Defender though but those are ungodly expensive.

How about a Series III? http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/2887554311.html

I was thinking of a '90s one but I am not buying anymore cars this year.

Just a thought. My experience is that a Defender can't be had for less than $10k. Which has me back to looking at the Series trucks.