About to take the plunge, any advice would be appreciated!

[nbdyuknow]

Hi all,

I have been reading this board with great interest. I am about to take the plunge and join the proud ranks of RR Classic lovers. I had a 1984 Jeep Wagoneer that I was smitten with, but unfortunately when I purchased her, she already had cancer of the rust variety, so after doing quite a bit of mechanical work, my mechanic urged me to find another baby to restore. Coincidentially, he is a Rover specialist, so he was extolling the virtues of the Rovers, and I have always loved the toughness combined with the eccentricity of the Rovers.

Now I have found two that I am trying to decide upon. One is a local vehicle from Craigslist, and the other is on Ebay. They are both 1991 Classics. The local is a maroon color, mechanically seems very sound. The guy who is selling it has owned 4 Rovers, he fixes them and tinkers and then sells them. All of the switches and gauges work, he recently replaced many parts including heating core, sunroof gasket, etc. etc. He says fluids do not leak at all, but he also checks weekly. He uses 15W/40 motor oil in it. There are 155,000 miles on it, with original motor and trans. My concerns are that the tailgate is rusty, flakes come down when tailgate is opened and closed. It is also difficult to open and close tailgate, key has to be wiggled. Other than that there is much less rust than one would expect from a Chicago-area vehicle, of course due to the alum but also seems to have been reasonably well-cared for during its life. Interior is good, seats are not cracked or too visibly work, everything else looks fine. Brakes are a little squishy and rear wiper seems to decide on its own when to work, but those are issues I could live with and address. He was asking $2,500, and we seem to have settled on $2,100.

The other vehicle I found on ebay, it looks to be in remarkably good shape for a 1991:
eBay Motors: Land Rover : Range Rover (item 110246888502 end time May-02-08 05:39:36 PDT)

I have emailed back and forth with the seller, the Rover is supposed to be in great mechanical condition and needs nothing, but of course it is Ebay. The seller is not offering the vehicle locally, so one would have to wait until the auction ends, and who knows how high the price can go. I like how clean and seemingly nice this Rover is, and the fog lights are a bonus.

If anyone has any advice/suggestions, I would be most appreciative!

Thanks,

Bill B.

[hermanpj]

take the local car to be checked out by a local garage that knows rovers and have them give the body a good going over to look for rust. doors, quarters, wheel arches, toe boards (basically any lower body panel, lip or edge where rust can form). if there isnt much rust, a tailgate is replaceable.

im not so sure on the ebay vehicles. when i was looking around for a 4.6 i used ebay to find them reasonably close-by and then tried to see them in person. if i couldnt i crossed them off the list. my theory is if you can't drive it so you just don't know much about it. you cant smell whether its got oil leaks, exhaust gas leaks, radiator/hose leaks, etc.

6 foglamps is a bit much - who knows how well or badly they were wired in. the ebay one does look to be fairly shiny in pics, but paint conditioin very hard to judge. all the interior pics are from far away so you really cant tell about the condition of leather, woodwork etc - all those things may or may not matter to you, but at least you can see them clearly on the one that is local.

i thought the really charming thing about this ebay add was that $2500 had been spent on all those things rovers need to have fixed. wow. a whole $2500? since when - last month? ;-)

[MysteryTheatre]

seems a little high to me... i'd hold out and keep checking craigslist. i wouldn't buy anycar off ebay motors. the prices are too high. just my cent and a half

[nbdyuknow]

Thanks fellas for your input. I decided to pass on the ebay Rover. I am going today to give the local 1991 a second look, esp. for rust areas. Thanks again.

Bill B.

[SafariDave]

1991 Rovers tend to be a very good year, check for rust on the floor boards passenger side. Also Steering vibration when you drive on highway at 60 a very common problem that needs fixing (wheel bearings). Besides that 1991 models are great. Mine has 186,500 miles and still is running well, not perfect, but what can you ask for in a 1991. I think the most you should pay for it is $1800. The rear gate rust is always an issue mine has been rusting for years. I repaired it myself and left it lone. Good Luck & by local, one you can drive home.

[ArmyRover]

check both foot wells for rust. Also check at the rear seat belt anchors on the rear wheel well another common area. Also check under the loadspace carpet rust has a habit of showing up there as well.

[SafariDave]

ditto ArmyRover.

[nbdyuknow]

Thanks to everyone. The footwells seemed solid. Rust had taken hold of both beams underneath, pieces were flaking off and I could break off easily. Also, brakes were squishy and made an audible noise every time applied, and windscreen had a chink in it near driver's side. Otherwise drove well and didn't appear to have any leaks. I took a pass to think about it more and it has been relisted on CL for $2,500 or obo.