gold rover
Well-Known Member
If the best you can afford is an 02 plate, there are two options. Leave it for now, save some more pennies and get a later one, later. Or buy it but ensure you have plenty of spare pennies as back up. I have the diesel, it is fantastic to drive, I love everything about it and to date, I seem to be lucky. However,after reading these boards I am constantly waiting for a big incident.
Whatever you do, once you buy one you will be in love and never want to let it go
Whatever you do, once you buy one you will be in love and never want to let it go
have a look at it guys its in Hillside Garage | Welcome
Off out in 5 minutes...so can't stop too long so I'll give a brief synopsis....
They are awesome vehicles but will empty a healthy bank balance rapidly when they go wrong.
The V8 engine is very sturdy, but there have been reports of VANOS guides wearing and they are ££ to replace.
The Front Diff suffers a misalignment problem, some have been delat with under recall which involved fitting a CV type joint on the front prop shaft where it meets the Diff.
The ZF 5HP24 box is a known weak point, the main problem is the bearing between B and C clutch packs which wears away the O ring that seals between B and A clutches this causes A clutch slip, which the Lock Up clutch trries to control the amount of slippage, this prematurley wears the LUC friction material and trashes the box...not as catastrophic as the GM box failure, but will cost around 2K to refurb the box plus a refurbed Torque Convertor....symptoms include a 'Cattle Grid' type vibration between 35-50mph
Suspension bushes wear rapidly, esp. the rear bushes.
The rear electronics bay on the left handside of the Boot gets soaked from a leak on the rear quarter...in the best case this will cause minor electrical niggles..the worst case it will trash it costing a bomb to replace/repair.
The Cables that actuate the door handles break meaning you can't get in or out!
The radiators leak, the expansion tanks crack and the hoses split.
The PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) system gums up with grud and will over pressure the Sump and blow all the oil out of the crankseals ruining the engine.
There are many minotr electrical niggles that require plugging into diagnostics to clear....I think they do it just because they miss being plugged into something as 7/10 times it is just a spurious fault.
The batteries are like the P38....once they are tired they will reek havoc on the electronics.
Other than the main bits above, they are brilliant vehicles to drive...but aslong as you are handy with a spanner, and have your own Diagnostics device, repair costs aren't to bad.....if you can't DIY you'll need a budget for repairs....
Awesome cars though....would I have anything else? No...!!!!
gold rover
Well-Known Member
As said above don't be put off because of the possible issues and the fact that a later one would most likely be better. I love mine and if you are as lucky with the V8 as I have been with my diesel so far , then life is great. But be prepared to spend your time fluctuating between , loving the drive and worrying about what's going to go wrong with it.
Oh and btw it looks nice, apart from the colour (in joke)
Oh and btw it looks nice, apart from the colour (in joke)
