Hello everyone!
I'm looking into purchasing a 2002 Range Rover HSE from a private seller. What type of advice can members give me or what exactly should I be looking for before I agree to purchase the vehicle. Vehicle has 89,400 miles and it has been converted to springs by a land rover dealer. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
RROJ

 

I would see if the head gaskets have been recently replaced. If not you should expect to replace them in the next 20 to 30k miles. Just make sure all the fluids have been replaced and the vehicle has been serviced regularly. Have it inspected by a dealer and if all checks out, get it. Also, what are they asking for this rover? We can tell you if you are getting a good or rotten deal. One other thing, ask the person why they are selling it. I always do that before I buy a car. This lets me know if they are trying to "off" it on some one. If they are caught off guard, or don't have an answer right away, it may give you a few hints.

 

Thank you for the advice. The seller is asking $13,700. I would offer $10,000. He stated that the reason for selling is that he bought a new RR sport. He claims he has all the records. He mentioned that the roof has a dent from a tree branch that fell on it,the climate control reading/display out doesn't workwell in the colder temperatures and the driver lumbar no longer inflates. The RR is in Mystic Connecticut which is almost three hours from me. He claims he has all the records. I have an appointment for this Thursday to go see it. I was asking the question because I'm the person who is going to inspect the vehicle and besides looking for leaks would there be anything else? Thank you again and let me know if my offer is reasonable. I found the RR on Autotrader in Mystic Connecticut.
Regards,
O.J.

 

Thats a little on the high side for the price, however you can't put a price on a very well taken care of rover. I would check the condition of all the fluids if you are doing the inspection. Refer to the owners manual for the service schedule and make sure the owner followed it. If it runs good and you can't find anything wrong, then you have found a diamond in the rough and I would definitely purchase it. The display is relatively easy to fix yourself and I wouldn't worry about it, I think you need to solder some contacts together that get loose.

 

Thank you Scott for you advice and time. I will put it to good use and post my findings this Thursday.

 

Results of test drive 02 RR . Owner had all the records and all previous issues were addressed by a LR dealership. Upon my inspection I found that the head gasket was wet near the front and a ring of moisture was around the whole gasket area, front differential was also moist, drivers lumbar not working as he told me and the climate control display was not fully shown,RPMs remained at 2000 is this normal? There was 3/4 inch dent pass side paint intact no rust. Can anyone reading this give me their opinion of how much this list would cost? The most important would be the head gasket. Any comments price quotes would most appreciated. Other than these findings the owner really took very nice care of this RR. Thank you all for your support.

 

Well, the dent is the least of your worries lol, maybe $50 to have it pulled out. What was the front differential moist from? Was it coolant or was it the differential oil? The pinion seals go out on high mileage ones, I just replaced mine. The part was $70 and included a new pinion, took me a good 5 hours to replace but it wasn't that hard. The HVAC display isn't a huge issue like I said previously. The high idle is not normal, at least not when it stays at 2k the whole time. Mine will sometimes idle at 2k for about 10 seconds or so when its been sitting out in cold weather for awhile. The high idle could be a number of things, either of which will cost about $200 for the part and maybe an hours worth of work if that. The head gaskets are your biggest potential problem from the sound of it. The gaskets themselves are pretty cheap, however most shops charge 1 to 2k to replace them.

 

The front differential was moist due to oil, but not enough to cause it to drip on to the ground. The type of coolant he had in the system's radiator was the orange coolant not the typical bright green that I use in my car. He stated it was much more industrial strength type of coolant.

Yes, the head gaskets were the most serious issue I found. The owner stated he recently had it pressure tested and he states it did not show a problem of immediate concern. I just noted that it was leaking very slowly all around the gasket and the mostly near the front of the vehicle, but not enough to drip on the ground.

In playing back my test drive and reading alllll the receipts he had I felt and read something about feeling a vibration under the driver's floorboard. Is this a common finding? The dealer did some repair thousands of miles ago, but I feel that the problem/issue has returned. Is this something to worry about? What do you think?

Your comments have been very much appreciated and very useful in making educated decisions. It's a lot of money for me and I need all the knowledge to make the right decision. He came down in price to 12,400 due to my findings. Is this still high in your opinion? He mentioned that he had a buyer who was will to pay full asking price 13,700, that wanted to buy the vehicle site unseen.

Please, anyone reading this feel free to comment. I welcome your opinion too. We all love rovers so post a comment.

P.S. The RR was purchased in San Diego and was driven cross country stopping in Moab for some off roading and ended up on the East Coast.

 

Still high I thought I seen that on craigslist. There is a lot of these here in CT. Take your time and look. Good luck

 

Thanks bentonrover. I will continue my search.