Hi, my fiance is in need of a car which would be our 2nd car and we found a 96 range rover 4.0se (the ad just says 96 range rover and on the back it has 4 0 S E) with only 137k miles for just under $4,000. I was looking at some clips on youtube of p38's and some of the videos had people lowering and raising the air suspension or something, does the 4.0se have this or that just on the 4.6? I heard the 96's and older ones are a lot better for things like offroading and such? We would be using it for possibly offroading, currently we have a bunch of snow, these handle ok in the snow right? Is there anything we should look out for?
They've posted a good number of pictures in their ad and the seats and interior looks really nice and the outside looks nice too. Thanks in advance!

Outside: http://i40.tinypic.com/iyd1j4.jpg
interior back: http://i39.tinypic.com/2h36hqf.jpg
Interior front: http://i43.tinypic.com/34xjbx5.jpg

 

Howdy,

I just bought a 98 Range Rover 4.0 SE and It is just great, yes the suspension is adjustable.
I would check for leaks and take it for a test ride. Hopefully you get the owners manual, I had to
find one on ebay but now I can figure out everything, ask if it comes with 2 keys..

Good luck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mfOZk3tTTk

 

The '96s and older being better for off-roading is debatable. P38's period are fantastic for off-roading. Rover's do handle great in the snow. Much better then most other vehicles. Keep in mind you may still want snow tires. As ggothlin suggested check the air suspension. Take it through all the heights (make sure it responds fairly quickly- under 20 seconds or so) and check the bags visually to make sure the bases aren't extremely cracked. If they haven't been replaced they are probably in need of being replaced and, while not insanely expensive, they should be a consideration.

 

Can you tell or show me where the switch or switches would be so we can try this out if we decide to check out the vehicle? Also where would we look to inspect the "bags"? How much does it cost to convert to coil? The more information the better please..
Thanks!
I asked the seller if anything is wrong with the 96 and they replied: "Nothing big. A small crack in the timing cover"
Is that just like a plastic cover hes referring to or what?

 

above the radio on the dash you will see the largest switch with arrows pointing up and down, and to the right is a small panel that lights up giving you the levels it is in.

Converting to shocks is defeating the purpose of buying a RR.

If you find one that has no little problems, is perfect, the seller is lying or it isn't a British made vehicle.

 

To inspect the bags you'll have to crawl under the chassis and, by each wheel, you should find air bags. They're pretty easy to identify once you're down there . The base of the bags is what you want to check. A new or pristine condition bag will show none to a few little cracks etc. Most bags will have some cracks... you want to make sure there aren't a million large cracks. The bags hold up pretty well even with quite a few smaller cracks but will eventually fail as more cracks form and the cracks expand.

While you're checking the bags, spray down the top of the bag, with a soappy water solution, where the airline goes in. You want bubble free... although this is generally a much cheaper fix then new bags. I'd also spray down the EAS box (under the bonnet) where the air lines go into the box. Same thing there. You don't want to see bubbles.

Coils themselves cost somewhere around 600 bucks and then, provided you're taking it to a shop, labour will probably at least double if not triple the cost. Arnott Industries sells the coil kits as well as the air springs.


Timing cover? Make sure it's the timing belt cover, which is my guess. That's a pretty important part. It protects the timing belt so unless it's a tiny crack i'd get it fixed. It should be metal. At least make sure it's not cracked to where it might damage the timing belt.


Regards