Best year for 4.6 Range Rover?
- Thread starter wturner
- Start date
jymmiejamz said:
Sounds like the owners are stupid, not the vehicle, which doesn't surprise me. The reason that more P38's are in the shop is that there is they are more involved and therefore there is more to go wrong. Simple as that. When it says "sunroof open" people take it to the shop. The fact is, with half a brain and the ability to turn a wrench, you can fix it yourself. I've never had mine in the shop in over 4 years of ownership, and I beat mine (respectfully) to hell by wheeling it.
Like I've said a million times, if you want everything to work in your truck all the time, then the P38 is not for you. My sunroof doesn't work, my plastic trim is broken, but I don't care because I don't use it to go to the opera.
Second to the Freelander, the P38 is the most bashed vehicle on LR sites...90% of that bashing is from people who've only "heard" they suck. They aren't anymore frustrating than any other Land Rover....just in a different way.
skippy3k -
I agree. I think the P38 is one of the most capable and luxurious vehicles you can get with solid axles in it's class. I can't compare driving this vehicle to any other. The platform feels rock solid and the driving characteristics are marvelous on road. When I am going out to my land or taking a mountain trip I use the P38. With great visibility and a wonderful traction control system, it is great for that. It compliments the D1 so well. If I am hauling, trail riding, or going on a "local expedition" I will use a D1. If I am driving somewhere for a day or highway driving I will take the P38. I am particularly nostalgic about the P38 as I used to go to the dealerships when the P38 first came out and dream of the day I could own such a vehicle.
BTW - did you replace your EAS with springs? I am looking at AB's kit and it is very tempting.
I agree. I think the P38 is one of the most capable and luxurious vehicles you can get with solid axles in it's class. I can't compare driving this vehicle to any other. The platform feels rock solid and the driving characteristics are marvelous on road. When I am going out to my land or taking a mountain trip I use the P38. With great visibility and a wonderful traction control system, it is great for that. It compliments the D1 so well. If I am hauling, trail riding, or going on a "local expedition" I will use a D1. If I am driving somewhere for a day or highway driving I will take the P38. I am particularly nostalgic about the P38 as I used to go to the dealerships when the P38 first came out and dream of the day I could own such a vehicle.
BTW - did you replace your EAS with springs? I am looking at AB's kit and it is very tempting.
draaronr said:
I thought this untill I got the Hunter. Less is more. As close as I could get to a Defender in the RRC.
I would say 1999-2002 bosch were the best. From my time in dealer land, I could not see any real reliability difference between that set of years (for example, 1995 was a disaster, 1996 was only slightly better and throughout the GEMS years they were all marginal). Obviously a 4.6 is better than a 4.0 for power. The BECM was updated throughout the model years, but they all sucked.
My personal favorites are the wimbleton green 30th aniversary edition (2000); and the Rhino edition (I think 2001, it had rhino look leather which was really neat); 2002 Borrego was nice (yellow) and there were at least two issues of a vittesse (1997 and 1999???). I have seen them in monza red, AA yellow and black. The ones with the body color carpet are nice (most frequently seen with the 2002 and 2001 HSEs).
01 4.6 SEs are neat in that they came with 16s if you are basics kind of guy.
Bosch all had 4 wheel traction control which was better than the rear only on GEMS, a little bit more power and a little less need for valve jobs in my limited experience.
Still, all this being said, they are a bear to keep functional and the NAV was crap in all of them and it would take a really nice one for me to part ways with my 1995 LWB. Too many niggles that made them annoying to drive overall, even if it was a good one. ie seat rock, steering play, radio hiss etc. etc. etc.
My personal favorites are the wimbleton green 30th aniversary edition (2000); and the Rhino edition (I think 2001, it had rhino look leather which was really neat); 2002 Borrego was nice (yellow) and there were at least two issues of a vittesse (1997 and 1999???). I have seen them in monza red, AA yellow and black. The ones with the body color carpet are nice (most frequently seen with the 2002 and 2001 HSEs).
01 4.6 SEs are neat in that they came with 16s if you are basics kind of guy.
Bosch all had 4 wheel traction control which was better than the rear only on GEMS, a little bit more power and a little less need for valve jobs in my limited experience.
Still, all this being said, they are a bear to keep functional and the NAV was crap in all of them and it would take a really nice one for me to part ways with my 1995 LWB. Too many niggles that made them annoying to drive overall, even if it was a good one. ie seat rock, steering play, radio hiss etc. etc. etc.
skippy3k said:
I guess I must just be crazy because I like for the features of my vehicle to work
. I also don't see how the p38a's having electrical problems have anything to do with the owners being stupid, I think it is more to do with a shitty BeCM design. While yes, if you have half a brain and can turn a wrench, you can fix most of the problems they will have, but why deal with that shit if you don't have to? The reason Freelanders and p38a's are bashed the most on the boards is because they have the most problems! You can't sit there and tell me that a Freelander is a good car. Replacing the engine and transmission on those things should be considered regular maintenance. But I have never owned one, so what do I know.
I think wturner is looking for a daily driver, not a trail rig. My guess is that he would want most of the things on the vehicle to work, but I may be wrong.
wturner,
If you are dead set on a p38a, I second what Tillery says because with them GEMS system you will be less likely to have to do head gaskets on it. Not that GEMS rovers don't need head gaskets ever, but not as much as the Bosch ones with Dexcool.
jymmiejamz said:
Then why are you driving a Land Rover?
jymmiejamz said:
Uh, I'm not. Where did you get that idea?
jymmiejamz said:
I agree with you there. If that's the case, then avoid the P38. I used mine as a daily driver for awhile, and while they run better when driven all the time (as do most Land Rover's), using a P38 as a daily driver is expensive and a pain in the ass.
jymmiejamz said:
I don't know about this, but doing a head gasket job on a GEMS is a whole heck of a lot easier than a Bosch engine.
Well, I must be stupid.
I just bought a 2001 4.6 HSE, black with lightstone interior, 65k miles with 2 years worth of extended warranty still on it. It's going to be the replacement for the '95 RR LWB we've had for a couple years (which itself was the replacement for an '88 RR that was an $800 fun toy). And I love what depreciation and modern fuel cost does for the price of these!
I have no problems maintaining and repairing my vehicles myself. My daily driver is a '98 BMW 740iL which has only cost me $600 in repairs and $400 in routine maintenance in the last two years, and it has 165k on it now. yeah, if the extended warranty requires it, I'll have Treasured Motorcars do the routine work on it, but I'd prefer to do it myself.
I got reciepts on the HSE, and the guy only had it serviced and worked on at a Land Rover dealership and they charged him out the ass for things like brake work (what cost me $200 on the BMW and '95 cost him almost $2k due to parts and labor. At that rate, no wonder people call RRs expensive to maintain).
Currently everything works, but the moment the EAS goes wonky, I'll probably replace it with coils as was done with my LWB (which will now be sold as there are too many vehicles in the driveway).
http://www.supercars.net/pitlane/pics/69439/3322813b.jpg
http://www.supercars.net/pitlane/pics/69439/3320355d.jpg
http://www.supercars.net/pitlane/pics/69439/3322813c.jpg
I'm more of a Classic guy, but man, I really liked driving this truck back to Baltimore from Long Island, NY. And I thought the nav worked perfect (never had one talk to me in a perfect British butler voice).
I just bought a 2001 4.6 HSE, black with lightstone interior, 65k miles with 2 years worth of extended warranty still on it. It's going to be the replacement for the '95 RR LWB we've had for a couple years (which itself was the replacement for an '88 RR that was an $800 fun toy). And I love what depreciation and modern fuel cost does for the price of these!
I have no problems maintaining and repairing my vehicles myself. My daily driver is a '98 BMW 740iL which has only cost me $600 in repairs and $400 in routine maintenance in the last two years, and it has 165k on it now. yeah, if the extended warranty requires it, I'll have Treasured Motorcars do the routine work on it, but I'd prefer to do it myself.
I got reciepts on the HSE, and the guy only had it serviced and worked on at a Land Rover dealership and they charged him out the ass for things like brake work (what cost me $200 on the BMW and '95 cost him almost $2k due to parts and labor. At that rate, no wonder people call RRs expensive to maintain).
Currently everything works, but the moment the EAS goes wonky, I'll probably replace it with coils as was done with my LWB (which will now be sold as there are too many vehicles in the driveway).
http://www.supercars.net/pitlane/pics/69439/3322813b.jpg
http://www.supercars.net/pitlane/pics/69439/3320355d.jpg
http://www.supercars.net/pitlane/pics/69439/3322813c.jpg
I'm more of a Classic guy, but man, I really liked driving this truck back to Baltimore from Long Island, NY. And I thought the nav worked perfect (never had one talk to me in a perfect British butler voice).
jymmiejamz said:I guess I must just be crazy because I like for the features of my vehicle to work
Hmm. Both my classics needed quite a bit as they got older, and my neighbor's Disco did, too. ALL cars can break, and most of ours definitely need to be tinkered with regularly in some shape or form. Not a good enough reason to discount one over the other.
Hell, most of the most desireable cars over teh decades ahve also been known to need more than the average maintenance and repairs, mostly because they encourage the owner to drive with a bit more enthusiasm, be it sports cars and road racing, musclecars and drag racing, or offroaders.
If someone wants a perfectly reliable appliance, well, the closest to get is an Accord or Camry, and then see how much passion you can muster up for it....
Merc63 said:
Sorry I didn't mean to give the impression that other Land Rovers are reliable, everyone knows that's not true
. I was more just making reference to the BeCM failures. For example, we had one at the dealership that had to have the BeCM replaced because the reverse lights would not turn off. Now normally I would think that something like that would be caused by water ingress or something like that, but that was not the case, the old BeCM very clean, as were all of the contacts. I just wouldn't want to shell out $1800 to fix my lights.We also had another one a few months ago that would not pass inspection because the drivers side headlight would not work. This was also due to a BeCM failure, but they were able to pass inspection by wiring the drivers headlight to the passenger headlight.
http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/YWC112210GK.cfm
D
Diesel_Disco
Guest
Amazing that these trucks have a bad reputation built into them as standard. I couldn't help but thinking that this is something we try not to want in a car.
And currently my truck has the check engine light one and the passenger side window not working. The ECU on the 88 is hard to find.
And currently my truck has the check engine light one and the passenger side window not working. The ECU on the 88 is hard to find.
Thomas if you are referring to your 88 Series III.......well you drive it so little that you'd never know if it had tires.