Opinions on best year for a used RR

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SoCalLR3

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I am a current early 2005 LR3 owner and am looking to get rid of it. Too many problems and I'm getting nervous as I approach the end of the warranty in the next year or so. I am interested in purchasing either an older Disco or Range Rover.

I know this is a hard question, but is there any particular year of Range Rover that stands out above the rest? Or a year to stay away from? I'm looking at some used Range Rovers in the 1998-2002 range, but am willing to look at older ones assuming they are reliable and won't cost me $4000 a year in repairs.

What can I expect as far as reliability (this will be my primary vehicle)? Is there anything that is a common failure point in these vehicles?

I guess I want to be sure that repair costs don't end up costing me more per year than just keep my LR3 with higher payments.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations or advice. I will be posting a similar thread in the Discovery forum.
 

Slam

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I am a current early 2005 LR3 owner and am looking to get rid of it. Too many problems and I'm getting nervous as I approach the end of the warranty in the next year or so. I am interested in purchasing either an older Disco or Range Rover.

I know this is a hard question, but is there any particular year of Range Rover that stands out above the rest? Or a year to stay away from? I'm looking at some used Range Rovers in the 1998-2002 range, but am willing to look at older ones assuming they are reliable and won't cost me $4000 a year in repairs.

What can I expect as far as reliability (this will be my primary vehicle)? Is there anything that is a common failure point in these vehicles?

I guess I want to be sure that repair costs don't end up costing me more per year than just keep my LR3 with higher payments.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations or advice. I will be posting a similar thread in the Discovery forum.

I love the classic RR, so can't help you on the newer model. I assume it would be pretty much the same as what Joey said, go for the last year of the range (2002). This gives LR time to fix any bugs in the earlier models.
 

roverman

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from my experience, if you're not happy with LR3, you won't be happy with the P38. Although I love it, it puts me through some grief.
 

pascaltissot

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1998 is the best year ..

Definitely the best construction year was the 1998, because they had a lot of problem in previous years, so they did a big effort on getting thing right, and they did! After that year they consider things would go as planed and let down some strict controls .and some finish problems came back but of coarse not as bad as the 1995 to 1997.
Saludos cordiales,

PT.
 

roverman

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Not sure what inside info Pascal has on the workings at the LR plant but here is my experience with my '99:
from 50,000 to 75,000 miles I've had the following problems/issues:

bad torque convertor and flex plate $2600
leaky heater core O ring $1050
bad water pump $400?
bad starter don't recall cost
valve job talked em down from $3k to $2k
failed rear wiper motor never fixed
replace MAF (normal i guess) $300
serpentine belt (normal for age) don't recall cost
failed hood catch mechanism never fixed
brakes/discs (first set of rotors!) $400 ish

So the last 25000 miles cost me about $7000 or so. I'm not saying don't get one, just don't get one because it will be more reliable than the LR3. Of course my LR3 has been near perfection so that's what I base it on. I don't think I will ever have another Rover without warranty coverage though.
 

SoCalLR3

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Thanks for the info. I'm actually going to take a look at a 2001 RR SE with low miles (44k). I'm getting the impression from my experiences with Land Rovers and peoples opinions that there are good trucks and there are bad trucks......year / model may not have as much to do with it as I would have thought.

My concern isn't so much repair costs, just that I'm already paying a lot of money for my "new" LR3 AND it has problems. I can accept an older car needing work. I'm fairly certain that even if I spend $7000 on repairs in two years worth of driving, I'll be ahead financially with the difference in vehicle costs.
 

roverman

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Understand completely. To me, the bummer of it all is when you spend more than the car is worth. Every time something comes up you ask, why am I spending 2 grand on a car that's not worth 10? Although it's always worth it with a Rover. Last night I saw a ford pickup stuck in a heavily rutted 4 wheeling area near my house. I asked if they needed help. I don't really think they even knew what a Rover was b/c they looked at me kind of confused..started to ask if I had a truck to do it with, then asked "you mean you're gonna come in here with THAT??!!" (pretty much the same kinda surprise as if I'd told them I was gonna pull them out with a prius). The look on their faces when i raised the supsension, crawled through the ruts and yanked them out without so much as a spun wheel makes it all worth while..
 

pascaltissot

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See what happens if it is not a 1998, (I am just kidding you) you did have a lot of problems, did you buy it new? or used ¿?you are perfectly right some truck are just perfect some other are just a pain in the a….sorry about your bad experience just buy another one (its like marriage ,if it doesn’t work just change it ) ….I am sure things will get better ..

Saludos cordiales,
Pascal.
 

healey1006

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A common failure point on all P38 models is the air suspension. There are some expensive components in the system that will cost you big bucks to repair. Many people just convert to regular springs and that's that, no more problems.

Regarding a specific year to stay away from, I have heard that the 95 had a lot of problems, probably because it was the first year. I have a 97 and it's been very good, so much better than my old 89 which needed head gaskets and heater core twice and that was just for starters.

So, I would look for a well cared for 97 - 02 with service records and if the records indicate never ending problems, pass on it. Good luck.
 

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