Hey guys I am helping my buddy pick out rovers. after off roading with me in mine he has to have one. found a 98 in san jose for 7k it seems great... i just test drove it and looked it up on car fax only has one owner. Is it too food to be true??

The engine was power washed and some of the parts look new. Some of the hoses and the serp belt look worn and slightly cracked.
There is a black calk like substance on the piece where you add motor oil. Almost like a re enforcement. Also i noticed a bit of oil on the front passenger side of the under carriage. And finally there was a blueish or greenish residue that was dry on almost the whole engine i think it might be from the power wash but i wanna make sure it wasnt from an over heat.

Thanks again i am sure as usual i will get great feed back.
Chris

 

How many miles on it? Mine is a '97 and I am the second owner. So no, its not to good to be true.
To remove any doubt about the truck take it to the dealer and have them give it a once over. Probaly cost $100 but they can tell you anything you want to know, and anything that needs to be fixed have them write it up and use that to haggle the price.

 

yeah, how many miles? 7 seems a little high. I got mine worse for the wear, but running strong for 2 about 2 years ago. 129K on the ticker. A little polish and 2 years of elbow grease it is getting close to perfect.

 

$7K is to high is worth about $4K bad for weowners good for
buyers.

 

I bought my 98 in Mountain View (just N. of San Jose) for $3,600 w/133k just to give you an idea. I was seeing them in the$4k - $5,500 range in a little better shape. Check Craigs List, there are usually several in the Bay area for sale. It'll give you an idea on price. Land Rovers are fairly maintenance intensive and I've noticed that most out there for sale (that I was seeing) have a good deal of deferred maintenance.Mentally prepare yourself to drop another grand or two into maintenace and repairs after you buy it. If you find one that costs more but most of the maintenance and repairs were kept up with, that would probably be worth it because it'll save you the time and energy having to do them yourself. Even then, it's probably going to require ongoing maintenance ...just like any vehicel of it's age.

 

Mine was a one owner. It is a '97 and had 152,000 when I bought it April '07. Most of the maintance and repairs were done at the dealer so I was willing to pay alittle more. It was in great shape, leather was well taken care of, new Michlins.
The cruise didnt work, check engine light was on and it ran cold. New t-stat, plugs and wires and a new vacum line and it was as good as new.
The dealer quoted him over $2,000 I fixed it for $200.
He was asking $5900, itBlue Booked for $6200I paid $4500 including tax, title and plate. We now have 170k on it and it still runs like a champ.
So just do your research and know what to look for.
Go to www.kbb.com and that will tell you the book value and then compair that to www.edmunds.comthat will tell you the true market value. Then go to www.nada.com with the first two numbers and compair again and you will get a good average.
Scan the forum for common problems and then use that as a negotating tool.
Good luck to your friend.

 

I have a 1998 DI, The KBB in the Northeast is around 6k for one that is in excellent condition.
With the current gas prices the value of a V8 SUV is only going to go down.
If the car has less then a 100K miles and is very good shape make an offer around 5K.
You already know the belts and hoses need to be replaced so add that as the extra costs after the purchase.
As