What year am I looking to get.

[norville]

Folks, hello,

I may be new to the RR world. I sold my 88 landcruiser and I was looking for a newer one, however I love the look of Range rovers and thought I'd look around. I'm looking to spend under 5K prefer about 4+-.

I plan for this to be my daily driver, grocery getter and weekend wheeler. The most I would want is a set of 33's and mild lift.

What are the better years to looks at. Less issues ect. I see an 88 in the classifieds thet looks perfect. Is milage an issue? I generally fix my own vehicles within reason. I do not have a shop but, have done quite a bit of work on past rigs.

I've seen some 88-90's I can afford and a 93 lwb locally even a 96 in budget.

thoughts and input would be great.

thanks,

bob

[daway]

Originally Posted by norville

Folks, hello,

I may be new to the RR world. I sold my 88 landcruiser and I was looking for a newer one, however I love the look of Range rovers and thought I'd look around. I'm looking to spend under 5K prefer about 4+-.

I plan for this to be my daily driver, grocery getter and weekend wheeler. The most I would want is a set of 33's and mild lift.

What are the better years to looks at. Less issues ect. I see an 88 in the classifieds thet looks perfect. Is milage an issue? I generally fix my own vehicles within reason. I do not have a shop but, have done quite a bit of work on past rigs.

I've seen some 88-90's I can afford and a 93 lwb locally even a 96 in budget.

thoughts and input would be great.

thanks,

bob

welcome! 1st u can go to www.rangerovers.net this site is great and could get u a ton of specs and info. http://www.rangerovers.net/rrbuying.htm this link has all the specs for each yr of RR's.
in 1990, Models built very late in the year have an access panel in the rear cargo area to allow the fuel pump to be replaced without removing the fuel tank (VIN# 454554 on up). which is a nice thing to have. everyone has there fav yrs. 90 and below have alot of great things to them if u r doing alot of offroading. check out the above links and do some home work. let us know what u get and take some pics. good luck

[Badger1]

If you plan on wheeling it extensively, look for a short wheel base.

[KevinNY]

An '88 would be pre ABS and have 10 spline axles. If you ever wanted to upgrade to a traction diff of some sort you would need to do a lot of other replacing, stub axles, hubs and drive flanges in order to run 24 spline aftermarket axles.

[norville]

Thanks for the quick responce. Yes, Ive been to both sites and much read before I posted here. I was hoping to get some interactive input. Things to watch out for. best years, Thanks for the tip on the 90. My fear was to have a choice and get a 90 and then find out I should have gotten a 89.

90% of the miles will be on the asphault. I hunt and fish offroad and it used to snow up here in the north east.

I love the style and the prices seem to vary quite a bit. I'd hate to get a stinker.

thanks,

bob

[Badger1]

If you plan on keeping it for awhile and building something nice, and seeing you live in the Northeast, buy a truck from the south. Very little rust to worry about then. If you find something maybe someone on this or another board that lives close could go check it out for you.

I owned an 89 and loved it. Although not a big fan of the viscous center locking diffs, I like the ability to manually lock it like in my Disco. The 87 and 88 had essentially the exact same manually locking style transfer case that's in the Discos. 89 and up has the viscous units.

[daway]

Originally Posted by Badger1

If you plan on keeping it for awhile and building something nice, and seeing you live in the Northeast, buy a truck from the south. Very little rust to worry about then. If you find something maybe someone on this or another board that lives close could go check it out for you.

good point about finding 1 in the south. mine was in VT as a dealers rig for the 1st fours yrs and then moved down to FL for along time and po moved to CO. the PO didnt drive it much and has the common rust issues starting. i am going to do a underbody coating and etc this next summer.
check under the body, wheel wells, carpets and etc for rust. check under the hood to see how the hoses, fluids (clean) and etc look. see if there is any fluids dripping on the pavement and were it is coming from. power steering hoses leaking is a common issue w/ rovers and oil leaks is a great issue w/ all british cars. take a nice drive in it and go on the highway at top speeds and see how it feels. also see if the tranny shifts smooth and how the brakes handle. hope this helps

[norville]

Thanks guy's that the kind of input I'm looking for. Is milage an issue with these vehicles??

I have a 90 and 91 I'm inquiring about and an 88 in NC I sent a PM to.

thanks

bob

[norville]

Are the 95's better than the 90? other than newer?


thanks
bob

[daway]

miles are miles, but my dads 91 has around 170, or so and i have seen some members w/ 200, plus. depends on how the po kept up w/ the rover and if it is a hard trail rig or just a pavement/light trails rig.

[Funrover]

I have a 92 HUnter..... I love it, no ABS or other bells and whistles you won't need.......... it has 186,000 and runs great..... I do a lot of hard wheeling as well as a lot of pavement...... I averae 1000 miles a week in the summer..... I have been pleased with me rig, If you do a search you can look over a lot of pics I have posted...... I have a 2" lift and larger tires, that is all I really need to do it all here!!!! Hope this helps!!!

[Badger1]

Originally Posted by norville

Are the 95's better than the 90? other than newer?


thanks
bob

95's are a bit more rare. Also Nick the guy who runs the Rover club I am in has a 95 and he said parts are a bit more expensive because there are a few one off parts specific to that year. The interiors on the 95's are awesome. Same as the D2's.

Oh had 200K plus on my 89. Mileage really depends on what kind of care the previous owner/owners did to it. Personnally I would shoot for whatever truck is in the best shape body wise as you could shoehorn in a 4.6L V8 into down the road or the LT230 X-case that manually locks the center diff and/or upgrade axles as the need arises. As long as the frame is sound, you can always build from there.

I will be looking for an 88 when I feel the need to have a RRC again.

[Funrover]

Originally Posted by Badger1

I will be looking for an 88 when I feel the need to have a RRC again.

There is a beautiful 1988 here... only thing wrong.....front seats are torn and headliner sags........ All stock with a yakima roof rack... $1500 OBO.. Wish I had the $$$

[daway]

Originally Posted by Funrover

There is a beautiful 1988 here... only thing wrong.....front seats are torn and headliner sags........ All stock with a yakima roof rack... $1500 OBO.. Wish I had the $$$

fun rover, not bad!

norville, i dont know were u r at but MN craigslist and the class adds has acouple of rrc at times. i saw a 89 w/ 50,000 acouple of month ago for a great deal and a 88 around the same miles. maybe check it out. they have a 89 for 600 i put a link on lro rover FS to see if anyone needed one for a fixer or parts. it need at coolent hoses and etc.

[Paul Grant]

My advice to you is simply get a Range Rover that is in the best shape you can afford regardless of year. Keep at least $1000 aside for any repairs that the truck may need after the purchase and begin a savings account for any future work. Whatever you buy, '87-'95, if you go cheap, your first repair is likely to cost more than what you paid for the truck. I also hope you are prepared to do most of the work yourself. These vehicles are not cheap, especially if you want to keep the truck in good mechanical order.