The doom and gloom about these trucks is a little bit overkill. Obviously most of these guys don't turn their own wrenches and are a little sore from taking it up the rear from the stealership. I have owned many Rovers and find them to be excellent vehicles IF as with any vehicle, you maintain them. I am not a professional mechanic nor do I own $1,000's of dollars worth of specialty tools. I have basic set of craftsman tools and there isn't very much on this Rover that I can't fix out in my driveway. As for reliablity all of my Rovers have been superb. I drive 1,000+ miles a week for my job and I trust completely. Sure you may have little things go wrong here or there but when you have more options than any other truck on the road you are going to have a few more problems. People complaining about tires, brakes, and exhaust?? Show me a car that doesn't need them. I did the brakes all the way around on my truck for under $150. The only thing that makes these trucks different than most is the air suspension (it is also one of best features that makes it ride like a dream on the highway but also raise it up and kick a$$ off road.) Check the air bags, if they are old and cracked replace them BEFORE you have problems. Use this a bargaining point. The are very easy to do in your driveway with basic hand tools. There is nothing special needed to to that job. I don't baby my truck at all (actually drive it like I stole it) but I am ultra religious about maintenance. I use only synthetic fluids and change every fluid in the truck at least annually (obviously oil changed more often.) If you do the work yourself you will find that it doesn't cost any more to keep the Rover on the road than any other SUV that is 10 years old. I wouldn't hesitate to hop in my truck and drive it across the country tomorrow. If you can't do your own work I wouldn't recommend any 10 year old SUV. If you are reasonably handy go for it, they are great trucks!

 

Its pretty typical for the airbags to deflate overnight. As long as it does not take long for it to lift up and the sides are not sagging.The current airbags should be fine for a little longer as long as they don't look like they are about to crack. It does sound like you did your research, however you do need to understand that finding a local shop is important and that you will at some point probably need to (for the sake of your wallet) have an understanding of how the rig works. I would highly recommend downloading the service manual from greenoval.com and searching the internet for common problems so you can spot them out before they happen. These vehicles are great and just need TLC from a good owner. If it makes you feel better, after what the doom sayers said. I have a friend that has had his P38 since new and has 220k miles on it and has hardly ever had any issues. Still runs and looks great!

 

I have already downloaded the service manual, but does anyone know where I can get my hands on the owners manual for a 02 Range Rover?l I always like to read everything

 

ebay has one

 

Thanks for the information...Actually, I havn't yet committed to buying this 2000 Range Rover HSK because I've been toying with should or not. My good friend and part owner of a local tire and mechanic garage told me to offer the guy $3800 for the vehicle. The local 'tiny car dealer' originally wanted $5,500 but then told me he would reduce it down to $5,200 because of the two problems he eventually told me. Keep in mind it has 131,000 miles on it. The interior (except for the headliner problem which can be fixed) is in excellent shape/condition. The exterior (Black) looks fantastic as well. So does the engine compartment. It's got more bells and whistles than Im used to but I'm shure the learning curve would be minimal. I'd like to ask you this please....."Would it be to my advantage (if I bought this vehicle) to replace all air bags with new coil springs?". Would that minimze the ride qualities over air bags? Also...because this vehicle is a 4.7 Ltr. V8, I'm assuming the engine is Aluminum. Are they prone to overheating which would or could destroy the engine? Lastly...Why do they refer to this vechile as a "P38". I don't want to sound naive but had to ask. And thanks for the all the info you posted.

 

I would not change over to the coil springs. The air bags are what makes these trucks unique. It is very easy to change out the air bags and you could do it for about the same price as a coil kit. If you could change our oil you are competent enough to swap out the bags. P38 is the model designation for that body style of truck. Yes they are aluminum and they can overheat (usually due to a head gasket leak) but if you are paying attention to your truck you should be able to catch it before it can do serious harm.

 

If everything seems to be fine with the air suspension, I would just keep it. I have the coil conversion on mine and have to say the ride is pretty harsh. Although it is nice not to have to worry about it breaking though... The engines are aluminum and can be destroyed if the temp hits red line even for a few seconds. So the cooling system is a very critical thing to maintain. The name "P38/P38a" came from the original code name "pegasus". The development for the "pegasus" was done in hangar "38A" which gave it the unofficial nick name (which Land Rover uses instead of "Pegasus" go figure....) of "P38" . BTW, they only made a 4.6L engine for the HSK. I would find out if they re-bore the cylinders at some point.

 

This didn't age well. Good examples are appreciating quite nicely. Air suspension is not crazy to maintain if you have any mechanical sense/drive to learn.