P38A Thinking about buying a P38 - Should a new radiator worry me?
- Thread starter rickead2000
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their other p38 at the same price has a visible numberplate and half the mileage
HEVAC screen is conveniently occluded
HEVAC screen is conveniently occluded
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It has got its reg I’ve I’m looking at the right one BD02MLF failed a couple of mots
rickead2000
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Sorry guys didn't realise they had 2! It's the red one
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That was the red one I looked at reg as above
badfluffy
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well just payed £750 for an 02 with 97k on clock, ok it might want a replacement engine and eas looking at but even then would work out half the price of that one
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That sort of money must be mint
tomcat59alan
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Henry_b
Think outside, no box required.
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All depends on a good testdrive, no excuse as said for the coolant to be low.
As for the engines longevity, you can get a 4.6 to 200k if you try hard enough however it is all dependant on the past maintenance, at 150k or so the top end would benefit from a rebuild,.
Cooling system can be temperamental on the V8, plastic crap radiators the same for heater matix then no its not unusual, I had to replace the rad on mine when I bought it due to the overflow pipe shearing off.
Transmission and axles last the course.
body tends not to rust same for the chassis, however some P38's can have corrosion around the outriggers that support the rear bumper.
Water ingress, make sure the carpet and headliner are dry.
I could go on..
Basically anything inbetween the front/rear bumper can give trouble.
And then there is fuel consumption, towing a horse box will get you 8mpg, as I found out today with mine..
As for the engines longevity, you can get a 4.6 to 200k if you try hard enough however it is all dependant on the past maintenance, at 150k or so the top end would benefit from a rebuild,.
Cooling system can be temperamental on the V8, plastic crap radiators the same for heater matix then no its not unusual, I had to replace the rad on mine when I bought it due to the overflow pipe shearing off.
Transmission and axles last the course.
body tends not to rust same for the chassis, however some P38's can have corrosion around the outriggers that support the rear bumper.
Water ingress, make sure the carpet and headliner are dry.
I could go on..
Basically anything inbetween the front/rear bumper can give trouble.
And then there is fuel consumption, towing a horse box will get you 8mpg, as I found out today with mine..
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That red one is way overpriced. Heater matrix, three sets of o-rings & radiator replaced sounds like no maintenance in between.
+1 on HEVAC display needs sorting, and zero under bonnet pictures ?? Im ny book any dealer that hides number plate & overprices cars is worth avoiding.
+1 on HEVAC display needs sorting, and zero under bonnet pictures ?? Im ny book any dealer that hides number plate & overprices cars is worth avoiding.
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That or the viscous coupling is seizing up. Scrubbing on ourside of tyres? New tyres?
£7k is a lot. Head gaskets will go on the v8, no doubt about that. Viscous is old. EAS Airbags may need doing. Radius arm bushes and possibly ball-joints will need doing before long. And the rear brake lines if they haven't been done already. Heater matrix is a good job done. Liners less of an issue as they would have dropped by now if they were going to. RF receiver needs to be gen 3 and it should have at least 2 working keys. Put it all together and you're looking at £3k unless it is a factory fresh one and possibly an Overfinch at that.
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BD02MLF might be red, but it's listed on DVLA as diesel, so cannot be the one the Op was talking about. Green 4.6 must have been off the road for 4 years with no MOT in 2107, 2018, 2019 !! I wonder what else is "under restoration" that the MOT fail doesn't cover ?
Neither of them worth the high prices though. I bet they gave << £1000 in trade in, if that.
Neither of them worth the high prices though. I bet they gave << £1000 in trade in, if that.
tomcat59alan
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It can't be found on my DVLA website and its gone missing off Auto Trader.
rickead2000
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Thanks for all the advice - although I must say I'd love to know where all these sub-£1000 P38s are that everyone keeps referring to! £2000 on ebay gets you something that's been sat in a swamp for 5 years, doesn't start and has ABS/EAS/TC faults, needs head gasket, no MOT and an interior David Attenborough could film a whole series in
Not being an experienced mechanic (and also not wanting to buy a car I immediately have to start fixing before it can be used) I'm happy to pay more for something I can just get in and drive in the hopeful knowledge it doesn't have any serious faults at the time of purchase.
I'm going to have a look at it tomorrow - having spoken to the dealer we've agreed a price which starts with a 53 if it's to be a sold-as-seen purchase and is as described.
Thanks Grrrr for the very useful advice. EAS bags and compressor were all replaced 4k mls ago so hopefully that won't be an issue.
pwood999 not sure where you're getting it's a diesel from? Gov MOT and TAX checker both coming back at 4.6 petrol; so did my insurance when running a quote thru?!
Not being an experienced mechanic (and also not wanting to buy a car I immediately have to start fixing before it can be used) I'm happy to pay more for something I can just get in and drive in the hopeful knowledge it doesn't have any serious faults at the time of purchase.
I'm going to have a look at it tomorrow - having spoken to the dealer we've agreed a price which starts with a 53 if it's to be a sold-as-seen purchase and is as described.
Thanks Grrrr for the very useful advice. EAS bags and compressor were all replaced 4k mls ago so hopefully that won't be an issue.
pwood999 not sure where you're getting it's a diesel from? Gov MOT and TAX checker both coming back at 4.6 petrol; so did my insurance when running a quote thru?!
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I just bought my P38 from a member on here last Saturday. I paid £2500 for it including some spares and other bits. It has had the head rebuilt along with cams & cam chain. All documented on this very forum. I consider myself lucky to be its new owner
badfluffy
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there's a sub 1k p38 sat in my workshop
rickead2000
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Presumably because it doesn't work?
badfluffy
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because it was only delivered last week
I paid less than 750 quid for each of mine one of them was quite tidy to look at but on springs and high mileage and had a lot of money thrown at it over the past year I've had it , and the one I picked up in the last few weeks has half the milage but is an absolute shed to look at needs loads of money throwing at it but before it didn't start this morning it drove absolutely fantastic
