Should I...

[bezzabsa]

swap the Classic for a P38? seen a few advertised in my price range - and have had serious thoughts about going for it, but I love the classic..opinions please!!

[Rich_P]

Stick with the Classic.  P38s are quite simply either very very good, or absolutely terrible.  More often the latter too from what people have mentioned.

[hairyasswelder]

swap the Classic for a P38? seen a few advertised in my price range - and have had serious thoughts about going for it, but I love the classic..opinions please!!

NNNNOOOOO  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:

Keep the classic.

The P38 is too much of a gamble.  If it goes wrong you COULD bankrupt yourself.  People I know have had major bills, one over 6 grand for a siezed diff that locked up and fudged the gearbox, one £800 for airflow and some sensors (inc recovery) too many electronics to go wrong  :roll:

Probably going to get stick for what I said but that is why I stopped looking at them  :(

Much prefer the relative simplicity of the classic and spares are easy to come by  :D

Bias but honest

Steve

[Guardian.]

my mate loves p38's, he has people queing up at his place wanting to part with big handfulls of lolly to repair them, day in, day out.
he thinks they are great!
shame they are so crap, because ive had 2, and they are a brilliant bit of kit, would definately not be buying a second hand one though.

[thermidorthelobster]

I loved my P38, but grew to dread driving it, because I spent the whole time listening for things going wrong.

I'd stick to the Classic, and save up for an L322!

[bezzabsa]

Done, classic staying

[hairyasswelder]

Done, classic staying

 =D>  =D>  =D>  =D>  =D>  =D>
Wise choice  :D  :D  :D

[v8kenny]

Well I wasn't going to say anything but I am going to stick up for the P38 simply because it appears that only people who have had bother with them have posted  :roll:
As Rich_P says I think you do get good and bad ones but that applies to any car
I have not really had any bother with mine apart from a slow suspension compressor but a new teflon seal @ £30 sorted that out
Anyone who has paid six grand to get a gearbox replaced has been royaly ripped off
Parts are becoming much cheaper and there is a plentifull supply in breakers yards and on fleabay - in fact there is a gearbox on there for £100 I think, and a 4.6 V8 for £300 so there is no need to pay stupid money for repairs
Not really disagreeing with anyone as you have obviously had problems in the past, but they aint ALL bad  - had a few classic dogs in my time !    

[Guardian.]

out of the two we had a 4.0 and before that the bmw derv jobbie, had loads of agg with the first one, always electrical faults, non stop.
second one the immobiliser played up a couple of times other than that sound, bearing in mind these were at the time brand new cars!
i know several others in our game at the time nearly all of them ran p38's, and i dont think one of them didnt have trouble with them in one way or the other, often silly little things.
bear in mind i am going back to 95/96 era they were new models then, lots of teething problems ironed out now, but they are definately the cars i wouldnt buy today (and no longer could afford either.)
and it is a shame because they are such a classy, smart motor, just unreliable.
not familiar with the current ones, but i do knov steve has plenty of them in with a whole host of problems, and the cost of some of the parts are just over the top, and for a lot of people unaffordable, there up to the hilt with the payments on the car itself!

[hairyasswelder]

Anyone who has paid six grand to get a gearbox replaced has been royaly ripped off

Gearbox, transfer and rear diff all fudged, made a complete mess locked up solid at 35 mph.

All new/recon parts fitted by speciaist came to just under 6 grand.
The owner, a mate, was not impressed but it was business use so bill was lost in tax deductions etc.  He p/x it a month after against a 38 grand J**p and got 11 grand for it

Another mate with a 4.6 had an under bonnet fire (electrical) which had the fire brigade out, It was written off.

Too many bad things have put me off  

Steve

[Rich_P]

As Rich_P says I think you do get good and bad ones but that applies to any car

But the P38 surely has a far worse reputation than "any typical car"?  :lol:

[v8kenny]

As Rich_P says I think you do get good and bad ones but that applies to any car

But the P38 surely has a far worse reputation than "any typical car"?  :lol:

Well what's a "typical" car then ?
The first freelander got slated for transmission problems and petrol engine failures, the Disco 3 appears to have reliability issues and no one seems to like TD5's in any vehicles
So you could ask around and fill a whole forum with problem stories - my point being as stated in my original post that it is only people who have had problems that have bothered posting  
Well I like mine anyway - doesn't make me a bad person - just a lucky one maybe  :lol: