1995 Range Rover SE 4.0 Advice

[drfeldman]

I have been in love with the lines of the 95'- 02' Rover for a long time and am finally in a financial position to do something about it. I was looking for a newer car but I saw a 95 range rover SE 4.0 for sale for $6000 and am now contemplating what to do. My plan is to hold onto my Honda for reliability sake and use the Rover as a project/toy. I have limited knowlege of the vehicles history except for than the ECM was replaced recently and the air suspension was replaced with coil springs. I will find out much more tomorrow when I test drive it. The exterior is good except for some scratches on the hood which would need to be re-painted. NADA puts the value of this car at $8,800-$10,000 even with 200,000 miles which is a guess. My question is am I getting myself a deal or am I getting myself into trouble, and what are the common problems with this vehicle.

 

[drfeldman]

So I have the rover sitting in my driveway as I write this. The seller has loaned it to me for a day. So far the problems I have found are as folows: drivers windos is not set propperly and won't shut completely, the belt buckle on the drivers side on the rear does not clip in, all tires are worn and need aligning, headliner needs replacing, rear gate will not open I'm not sure if this is because of a fuse of the mechanism is just broken, front and rear rotors are trashed and all four pads are squealing, this may or may not be causing the ABS, Break and Traction Controll lights to come on every time I hit the breaks and then go off after a second or so, A/C aslo works very well for a short while then it just blows warm air this may be due to a lack of freon in the system. There is also a check engine light on, I had this checked at auto zone but the reader came up with no codes the tech used a odb 2 reader, I was under the impression that all cars prior to 1996 were odb 1. The owner said it was an O2 sensor which makes sense since the exhaust smelled like it was running a bit ritch. The only thing that concerns me is that the ABS, Traction Controll, And Break warning lights come on every time the breaks were applied. I don't mind putting some time and effort into this vehicle but am I going to be able to get my money back out of it, all I really want to do is break even and have a good time doing it.

 

[disco1]

It depends on whether you are getting the vehicle cheaply. What I can deduce from what you have said, is that the vehicle has not been looked after or maintained properly, if at all. If you have uncovered this amount of problems in the short time that you have had, I would hate to think what's lurking, to bite you in the ****. The seller is just trying to get rid of his problems. I wouldn't touch it with a 40 foot pole.

 

[avick]

Totally agree with Disco1. I had a shop for a few years, and we did a lot of Rover inspections for people. Generally speaking, if it's not maintained on the outside, it'll be much worse on the inside. Now that you know you want one, keep looking and the right one will come along. Keep an eye on www.lrx.com and www.rangerovers.net.

 

[joey]

Run......, then run some more.... or at least get back in your Honda and find another Land Rover.

This one sounds like a money pit.