Hello all, i'm an illegal immigrant from over on DISCO3 hopefully you will welcome me and accept me into your FFRR world!
My Dad has ALWAYS had Range Rovers since the 70's, he sold his last P38 last year when faced with a huge bill and as he is now a pensioner.
He bought a Jag X-type estate but he is really struggling living life without his beloved RR parked on the drive.
Budget is an issue, he can't really afford more than £12k and I know there are 2002/2003 cars out there at that price, my question is, what do we look for as far as intrinsic problems/issues that could come back and bite him?
The old fellas 77 and I don't want him to die wishing he had gone for it and got his last Ramge Rover so i'm trying to sort it out for him.
Any advice greatly appreciated, then i'll off back over to the van forum at DISCO3!

The main advice i can give you is to check every single electrical item works on the car before you buy it, these are the main gremlins that will pop up and cost money.

If he's only doing low miles definitely go for the 4.4 V8, smoother and cheaper to buy, you can still get low mileage examples too. Definitely go for a Vogue rather than HSE, the spec is awesome, every gadget he could want.

Engines, bodywork and transmission are pretty safe all round, just check the service history is bang up to date etc.

Heres an example, great looking car for the money!

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/c...gLetter=03 Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

Thanks for the advice, glad to hear the engine/drivetrain are reliable. It was electrical gremlins that did for his old P38 HSE.
I give him all his fuel as I have a large diesel tank in my yard so It would have to be diesel (He drives to the Algarve quite a bit) and i've spotted a couple local to us, i'll check all the electrics but they could go the day after we buy it, such it the nature of the beast eh?
Thanks again.

BB

What Adam said above plus:-

I would also do a full HPI without question and check for a FSH preferably main agent and if possible also all old MOT's.

Also add emphasis to checking out the air suspension - but then the L322 is a whole lot better than the P38 so shouldn't be too many issues.

Thanks to all,

What about this one? Going to go and have a look at it, what are your thoughts?

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/c...gLetter=03

DO NOT go and gazzump me!!

looks good, not keen on the bling chrome side vents but they can be easily and cheaply swapped, the newer Vogue wheels are nice . Would he be bothered about not having a Vogue spec? Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

I'm not sure about the bling either.

He's not bothered about SatNav/TV (It's taken me 4 years to show him how to use his TomTom so we are sticking with that for now! )

Sunroof is probably the only thing, and I can't really hang too much importance on that.

I think it looks good VFM, he's not bothered about resale as this is probably the last car he'll buy and i'm just glad he's not going down the usual Rover Metro pensioner route!

go for it.  Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

that looks very nice just make sure its got a good history and take it for a loooooong drive too see how it performs feels , just bare in mind the td6 engine does sound a bit tractory when cold and acceleratin but should be quiet on overrun hope this helps a bit  onto no6 Range Rover

Everyone needs a hobby

Right i've narrowed it down to 4 that are within range both distance and price wise.

2 Vogues, 1 HSE and 1 vogue spec HSE. Going to see 3 of them tomorrow and that one above on Sat.

Should find a good one out of the 3, wondering how hard to go in with the offers in current climate.

Thanks for continued advice, feel under pressure as it's not for me, MUCH easier buying my Discovery last year, if it goes wrong its my lookout!