mepeefreelee Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 hi guys i currently own a 86 defender 90 and im thinking of upgrading to a 2.5 range rover diesel i dont want to buy anything newer than a 51 plate due to the road tax hike . are these old busses any good for reliability etc whats your thoughts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete3000 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 reliability / P38 hmmmmmmmmmm..... i'd go disco2 td5 if you aren't made up on a P38 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Is reliability your main criterion? The P38 has many good points - after the Defender the comfort, noise levels and handling would be a revelation. The diesels aren't quick, but if you accept that you aren't buying a street racer they're perfectly easy to live with on that front. They are however complex beasties. Judging by what we see on the forum, well maintained ones are no less reliable than most other land rovers, but if you aren't confident dealing with electronics and electronic diagnostic kit they'll run you up some hefty garage bills. There's also the issue that the effect of neglect on these vehicles tends to be less visible than on older land rovers (unloved ones can still look pretty tidy). There are exceptions - my own was horrifically unreliable money pit - but you can find similar examples of pretty much any land rover model if you search the forum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neonovice Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 I have a 2.5 P38, it's done 250,000 miles and still mostly runs OK. I do have a workshop and diagnostic machine, if I didn't I'd stick to a td5 Defender or Disco. I just had electronic issues which had I taken it to a garage would have cost me more than I paid for the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 I had a brief spell of considering buying a P38 However, so many people said I should budget for buying the TestBook computer at the same time - then make sure my credit rating is good to pay for the repairs / parts that I bought a Td5 110 instead! I think on the whole they were probably right based on the number of problems people have talked to me about since then! An L322 seems to be a much better option for reliability. The savings in repairs will compensate for the higher tax band! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 An L322 seems to be a much better option for reliability. The savings in repairs will compensate for the higher tax band! That's pretty much the opposite of what I've heard. Most of the things on a P38 can be easily fixed, unless you fry the BeCM or something. L322s are even more complex, and if something goes wrong it's almost definitely dealer time. The P38 is a lot of car for very little money, but I'd never touch a diesel, except very maybe if it's a manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 L322s are even more complex, and if something goes wrong it's almost definitely dealer time. That's true - but they seem to do it less often. I'm not sure how it balances out cost wise in reality between the two - but my impression of customer satisfaction is better with L322's than P38. As an added bonus, you have to be a bit of an anorak to tell what age an L322 is, so you can appear to be a super rich Footballer / Drug Dealer / Pimp / Pop Star / Loan Shark with a truck costing less than an average Defender! In a P38, you will likely only be mistaken for a London Taxi Cab Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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