Hi, Firstly Ill apologise if there is a thread already, but Ive used the search and couldnt find one.

were looking at apossible purchase of a RR this year. It would be around the 2004/05 year. Its also got to be the Vogue model and a diesel. Im understanding that the 3.0 diesel is the same unit as found in the BMW 530d?

Other than the usual checks on a used car, what areas of these RR should be checked and what usually goes wrong with them?

The car currently on my radar is in monte carlo blue, is this a special order colour or are they just not that popular? Are there any MUST have gadgets that I need to ensure my RR needs to have that could possibly help resale value?

Thanks

Welcome to the forums

Monte Carlo Blue was a beautiful colour - I had a TD6 in it, it was a standard metallic colour so don't let a dealer tell you it was an "Autobiography" colour abd charge extra.

The TD6 is essentially the same engine BUT re-engineered to allow it to meet Land Rover's offroad requirememts regarding engine lubrication and wading it's also not quite as smooth or powerful as in the 530, but is perfectly OK. Watch out for chipped ones as that was quite common

The others will come along with a host of other things to look for but something many people miss is that these cars are very good off road - if you can get it on a ramp or get underneath it check out for scuffing on the front airdam and sump, mud in deep dark places and scuffing at the back where the rear silencers are. Also look very carefully at the dash that there are no warning lights masked off with black tape to hide lights that cannot easily/cheaply be extinguished.

SE models lack a lot of the fancy and troublesome toys - but you get all the basics - at that age the Vogue is the one to go for if you can - it had all the toys.

I'll get shot by some for saying this but avoid any car with wheels bigger than 20" and also check that the right profile tyres have been fitted. FFRR was not designed to have wheels bigger than 20" and most early cars came on 19's - there were issues with vibrations and diffs in the early cars 2018 Mini Countryman Cooper S E All4 PHEV in Melting Silver - it’s whisper quiet in EV and polluter modes

Last edited by Tim in Scotland on 2nd Apr 2011 5:53pm. Edited 1 time in total

Try and get a later 2005 with the facelifted front and the touchscreen nav.

td6's are fine, but:-

lots are chipped, very difficult to tell unless you drive one chipped and then a std one. You will soon notice the difference!

Don't be too worried if it is chipped, it is a better car and with one exception the car can handle the increased power.

The exception:- the gearbox, but on standard cars these break too..

So, if the car has done over 70k, budget for a replacement (1700+VAT) at some point in the future and negotiate the price to reflect this. Do not accept a verbal the box has been changed, with out a receipt. There are plenty of dodgy replacements around.

Check that the front diff has been changed, the old design used to strip its splines. New ones were fitted FOC to cars being serviced within the dealer network. If the service history is non franchise this may not have been done.

Other than that you are buying a car that is 6+ years old, spares are more affordable than in the past, with more pattern parts available.

Thanks Tim, thats some good info there.

Just going back to the engine, was the gearbox a different unit to the BMW?
The reason being I own a E39 525d at the moment, and the auto box is quite common and prone to failures, do LR recommend oil changes or are they filled with lifetime oil as with BMW. Also, the swifrl flaps in the inlet manifold falling apart and dropping down the bores. Ive deflapped my own 525d due to this issue.

oh far too techy for me that lot! You will get some of the regulars coming along in the next few days who can answer most of that lot - I buy new or ex demo cars / late plate so I tend not to be so worried about these things as I still have warranty left to get them fixed, or the car isn't old enough for them to fail (hopefully!) 2018 Mini Countryman Cooper S E All4 PHEV in Melting Silver - it’s whisper quiet in EV and polluter modes

POWARTEK wrote:

Thanks Tim, thats some good info there.

Just going back to the engine, was the gearbox a different unit to the BMW?
The reason being I own a E39 525d at the moment, and the auto box is quite common and prone to failures, do LR recommend oil changes or are they filled with lifetime oil as with BMW. Also, the swifrl flaps in the inlet manifold falling apart and dropping down the bores. Ive deflapped my own 525d due to this issue.

As far as I'm aware the gearbox is the same as in the 5series. The box is "sealed" for life thus having the problems and failures in later life. Nothing can run in it's own indefinitely so BMW/Landrover were stupid to think that. If you find a box that's been well looked after ie fluid changes regularly then there shouldn't be a problem, but I guess these will be few and fat between as people will be suckered into the "Lifetime"'oil. If your looking at older/higher milage cars look for one with a new box and take care of it. Have a look at Matts website www.myrangerover.com he's got quite a comprehensive lis of things to look for when buying. Read the forum and make sure you can deal with the problems as there WILL be some. Hopefully they will be easy cheap fix's when they come calling. I have a love hate relationship with mine. The car is great! Love the snob factor, the power, speed (V but there is always the doubt in the back of my mind about it starting, breaking etc and that kind of wrecks the enjoyment of owning such a nice car. I oftern get the "heart stopper" aka bong of death and takes a few breaths to pluck up the courage to look at the dash to find out just how much it's going to cost to fix, 9/10 times if just the car telling me it's below 3oC but never fails to give you squeeky bum time!
Drive lots, look at lots and don't rush in! Only then will you know you have made the correct choice.

IIRC the "sealed for life"is now generally taken as sealed for the length of the factory warranty! If you look in the technical section somebody has just posted about changing their gearbox transmission fluid and filter 2018 Mini Countryman Cooper S E All4 PHEV in Melting Silver - it’s whisper quiet in EV and polluter modes

Yer what Tim has said is true. Dan will pop along soon to let you know when GM recomend changing he oil in the box. They have reduced the service times recently I think. Unfortunatly you will drop into these areas if your looking at a 2004/05 car.

Thanks for the advice, this is basically the same issues I'm having with my 5 atm. It's got over 100k on the auto box hence awaiting the hefty bill anytime I hear a squeak.

it would be well worth buying a facelift as it has a more powerful v8 and a new 6 speed box
as well as the new touch screen MOST fibre optic system and a 710 watt Harmon-Kardon Logic 7 arrangement with 14 speakers as standard , to much to list but have a look on the net about what theve got etc
some on here will say buy a Vogue -buy what you can afford and like

What year does the facelift model come start from and what's the smallest diesel engine it comes with?

they started in 05 with the interior getting the MOST system etc and from 55 plate with the facelift
if you had to park the 2 beside each other and look its a big change

best bet for you is to go to http://www.rangerovers.net/rrmkiii.htm
this lists everything