Hi there,

I could really use some advice. There is an insurance auction '08 full fat SC that looks great, except that it won't start. Not only will it not start, but is also showing no signs of life at all - even with the use of a jumper box. The CarFax looks great, and everything else seems right. I even ordered an inspection.

It really sounds to me that the battery has just gone bad, but I'm worried that there could be some other catastrophic cause. My friend has suggested to me that the worst case scenario might be that the ECU is dead. If the ECU was dead, would it fail to illuminate all lighting?

Any further thoughts about the risks involved? (Other than I may be able to restore power and there still could be some kind of problem preventing it from driving properly).

Thank you.

Ultimately it is just a car; will need fuel, gas and spark to run And power to the ECUs to feed it...But only you know the true risks as you know your abilities and the depth of your pocket.

In my opinion I wouldn't bother unless extremely cheap, not just because it isn't running but also because it is the pre MY2010 model. The value just isn't there to sink money in those models in my opinion.

If only go for it if you can make your money back on breaking it. If its completely dead electrically then likely hood is its just a dead battery but you should get some form of life with a jump box on it like enough to turn the ignition on, test the central locking etc

Or it's been in a flood and all the ecu's are broke, there are around 20 of them... Pete
__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
-Click here for Thread-
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand Sold
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click here for Project Fatty off roader-

And considering it’s an insurance auction they have likely already deemed it beyond economical repair. So I would highly doubt it is just a $200 battery but more going on with it.

That doesn’t mean it can’t be repaired but without knowing what other damage it has it’s impossible to predict.

Thanks for all the advice!

I was specifically looking for an 07-09 on the advice of Clifford Mark’s L322 Buyer’s Guide. He recommends avoiding MY2010 and up due to the high cost of ownership and repair and the timing chain issues. Is there a reason that MY2010 is a better buy?

Edit: I *am* aware that Rovers are always expensive to maintain and repair, but Cliff suggests that it’s much, much worse on MY2010 and up.

The idea of flood damage having fried all the ECUs is terrifying, although flood damage is not listed on the CarFax, the auction’s description of the damages, nor in the report I got from the inspector.

You will have no idea how it became salvage, there are 1001 different scenarios ...

Never heard of this Clifford Mark but it is a fact that the post 2010 are the most reliable model, and they are not much more expensive to maintain than an earlier one, certain items are more but most servicing and the cost of service items are similar to the earlier ones..

The timing chain issue can be a problem but it is certainly not guaranteed to happen to them all, over here it is now a sub £2000 fix.

From my pole 70% on here have not been done... https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic55495.html?vote=viewresult

If I were you I would get the latest you can find...

Have fun looking...  Pete
__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
-Click here for Thread-
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand Sold
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click here for Project Fatty off roader-

That makes sense. I’ll start looking at newer RRs. Thanks again for the advice.

Haylands wrote:

You will have no idea how it became salvage, there are 1001 different scenarios ...

Never heard of this Clifford Mark but it is a fact that the post 2010 are the most reliable model, and they are not much more expensive to maintain than an earlier one, certain items are more but most servicing and the cost of service items are similar to the earlier ones..

The timing chain issue can be a problem but it is certainly not guaranteed to happen to them all, over here it is now a sub £2000 fix.

From my pole 70% on here have not been done... https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic55495.html?vote=viewresult

If I were you I would get the latest you can find...

Have fun looking...

Totally agreed, no idea who that guys is either. Stuff happens to mechanical devices; heck apparently all Porsche V8's loose their bore lining and all BMW 7 series V8 also have a bore lining issue. Oh yeah and all Nissan Navara trucks blow their bottom end. There is a lot of noise on the internet.

BTW I wasn't suggesting buying a new one, I was suggesting that it is not a good idea in my opinion to buy a broken older model unless you know what you are doing as it can become a money pit, especially if you have to pay others to fix it, and then you invest a lot in an older money that is simply not worth it...Buy a working one cheap, that is the best strategy

Cliff is the publisher at offroadrover.com.

http://offroadrover.com/range-rover-buying-guide/

I don’t know his username here, but he references this forum several time in the guide 👍

Also, I previously owned a 2010 LR4, so I know what I’m in for 🙃