Headed towards a 95 RR-LWB

[MrDoug]

On my way to work every morning, I pass by a 95 LWB. I decided to drop a my card into the mailbox of the house..."If you ever want to sell the Rover..." That was last week.

I got a call yesterday from the owner. Evidently, he's got a few. This one is a 95' LWB with 91K.

Now I've read all the 'what to look for' threads, so I'm not asking for that. What I AM looking for is experiences. I went over the car as much as I could, without driving it. I'll do that next week. What have others found when buying an 11yr old truck?

I'm pretty excited about it. From what I can gather, it's pretty reasonably priced for the condition/year.

Any comments?

 

[Moose]

That is in my top five Rovers. 95 LWB, earlier 90s SWB, SIIa 109", Lightweight, and Defender 110 (a guy can dream)

Those are nice trucks, if you have one that was taken care of. It's still the 3.9 V8, and you know all about the EAS issue.

My 96 Disco was not 11 when I bought it (it was 6), but I've found that you REALLY have to keep up on the regular maintenance, and be willing to upgrade engine components at a moment's notice. Water pumps, power steering, alternators, all these things start to go and seemingly at once -- but once you get a new part, it lasts another 60-100K so if the parts have been done already you're a step ahead of the game.

Let us know how it is and post up some pics in the Registry!


Andy

 

[MrDoug]

I was thinking 'Disco' and then I talked to a mechanic at the local LR dealership. I asked HIM what he'd buy if he had $10K. He said he'd find a 95 LWB, and then keep the change in the bank till it needed repairs.

This guy has owned a lot of Rovers. Looked like a new muffler, decent tires, newer suspension bags. He DID tell me that it'd need brakes right away. I have NO problem buying 4 new calipers and rotors for it. 4WD is all well and good...but if you can't stop!

The ONLY thing that I've found with the body is some rust starting under the gate. Everything else looks REAL solid. I've done a bit of body work in my day, so I'm thinking I'll have that repaired and POR-15'd in no time.

 

[MrDoug]

Here's a link to the pics...feel free to comment. (I don't own it, so I don't want to put them in the Registry.)

http://www.hardman.org/pix/rover/rover.html

There's bits of rust on parts here and there, but nothing I can't tackle. Other than the back gate, I don't think there's anything structural.

I DO see that there are new(er) airbags, suspension, and muffler. That makes me happy.

 

[Moose]

That stupid back gate -- it's the bane of every RRC I think!

Lookin' pretty good from what I could see. Looks like it has the Rover leaks from what the undercarriage shots show. Nothing to worry about unless he backs it up and reveals a ********* stain on the ground!

 

[MrDoug]

I'm not worried about the leaks up front. I took some addl pics of under the engine, and there honestly isn't anything there. I didn't believe it, so I stuck my hand all over the ground, and didn't get anything but dusty.

I can take the gate off, POR-15 the daylights out of the inside, and bottom, and then have it re-sprayed. I'm also thinking I'll take all the 'bumper grills' off and have them media blasted, and then coated with truck-bed liner. PermaTech is around the corner from me and they do REAL nice work.

http://216.28.21.48/Public/Bedliner/Welcome_Center/index.shtml

One of my Porsche buddies told me "Old cars are like women...no fun unless they are a little wet underneath." That may be a little crass for here...sorry.

 

[Moose]

No problem!

Those rear light guards are next-to-worthless too, and are lookin' a little shaky. You could POR and rattle-can paint those, and probably make a little money by selling them on EBay