Foo - 87 Range Rover: What are your thoughts and opinions?

I have a line on a really nice looking one. Want to know what others think of them?

Cheers,
Chris

I see lots of fuel pump and fuel system problems with the 87 model in an online search. It still has the Lucas Electric system. They went to Bosch in the 90's.

I like that older body style. I would find a Rover repair shop and ask them about that particular year model, issues, repair cost, etc.

Very Very high repair costs.

as a mechanic in a British specialty shop: beware.

the good: it's pre-air suspension. it's after the switch to a ZF gearbox (the originals had a Chrysler). parts aren't as expensive as one might think. the body is aluminium, so it won't rust.

the bad: performance will truly suck. it's got a wimpy 135-hp 3.5 liter V8 trying to haul around a 4500 pound full-time 4wd truck. fuel economy will also be terrible. the engines are prone to head gasket failures, overheating, and block porosity. labour rates at a specialist shop will be higher than for other vehicles. it's got a steel frame, which is already rusted.

Thanks much for the replies :-) I think this car (as cool as it looks) is a bad idea...I'll stick with my tried and true Subarus, or better yet buy more bikes!

Thanks again,
Chris

as a mechanic in a British specialty shop: beware.

the good: it's pre-air suspension. it's after the switch to a ZF gearbox (the originals had a Chrysler). parts aren't as expensive as one might think. the body is aluminium, so it won't rust.

the bad: performance will truly suck. it's got a wimpy 135-hp 3.5 liter V8 trying to haul around a 4500 pound full-time 4wd truck. fuel economy will also be terrible. the engines are prone to head gasket failures, overheating, and block porosity. labour rates at a specialist shop will be higher than for other vehicles. it's got a steel frame, which is already rusted.

When is repairing any English car not a expensive specialty?

It's a British car, that's all you need to know.

If you want a car of that type, buy a Jeep.

Do you realize how much gas that V-8 uses? Can you afford 12 - 13 mpg at $3.50 -$4.00 per gallon? Off road the mpg goes to 6 or so. They are good off road wagons, just understand what you're buying.

Do you realize how much gas that V-8 uses? Can you afford 12 - 13 mpg at $3.50 -$4.00 per gallon? Off road the mpg goes to 6 or so. They are good off road wagons, just understand what you're buying.
OP decided to stick with his Subaru.

When is repairing any English car not a expensive specialty?

MGBs, MGAs, some Triumphs, classic Minis, some Jaguars, the M100 Lotus Elan, and many others are very economical to run. the Jaguar X350, X358 and X351 are very reliable and good on gas.

I hope you are really good at doing your own maintenance and like the looks of oil spots/lakes on your garage floor.

80's Range Rovers are supposed to be some of the worst built, least reliable cars ever. Do not buy.

It's a British car, that's all you need to know.

If you want a car of that type, buy a Jeep.

This^^^

When I had Lucas electrics on my old motorcycles we used to call it
"Lucas - Prince of Darkness"

I sold 1987 Range Rovers when they were brand new. Phenomenal cars. Horrific reliability.

Don't go there.

I sold 1987 Range Rovers when they were brand new. Phenomenal cars. Horrific reliability.

Don't go there.

If you were still in the trade you would sell this sucker the used car + a $200 interior protection package,$200 paint protection package and $300 Range Rover floor mats,"tail light" warranty before coffee break.

I sold 1987 Range Rovers when they were brand new. Phenomenal cars. Horrific reliability.

Don't go there.

I knew there was something slimy there.

If you were still in the trade you would sell this sucker the used car + a $200 interior protection package,$200 paint protection package and $300 Range Rover floor mats,"tail light" warranty before coffee break.

Correct.

I knew there was something slimy there.

You have no idea.

Wow! Who woulda thought this thread would have had so much interest? As cool looking as this rig is, I'm not going to go anywhere near it! As I said earlier, I'm going to stick with Subarus, I even feel comfortable working on them ;-)

Cheers,
Chris

One a these days Imma buy me a series 3 109 wivva Safari roof, I is. Anna TdI.

One a these days Imma buy me a series 3 109 wivva Safari roof, I is. Anna TdI.Visual translation:
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d126/telehammer/safari08.jpg

Very capable, hard on your kidneys and you'll need a bull horn to talk to others in the car.

They will be deafened by the wash of testosterone and the encompassing report of the double rifles anyway.

MGBs, MGAs, some Triumphs, classic Minis, some Jaguars, the M100 Lotus Elan, and many others are very economical to run. the Jaguar X350, X358 and X351 are very reliable and good on gas.

I don't remember people using the terms "economical" or "reliable" when discussing English car back in the late 70's/early 80's when I was driving sports cars, unless they owned one and were saying something like "my next car is going to be more reliable/economical".

Why do the British drink warm beer? They have Lucas refrigerators.

For the life of me, I will never understand why people say Land Rovers are good vehicles. To me, the first part in being a good vehicle is reliability, with out that, it's a POS regardless of what it looks like or might be capable of when it does run.

A couple of years ago my bf and I were riding around town on our bikes and came across a guy and his family with their broken down (newish) Land Rover along the side of the road. We stopped to see if they were ok. He was waiting for some help to show up that he had called for. He said the vehicle was "quirky." We went on our way.

One of my Pandora stations plays commercials for a "Land Rover Roaring Fork" dealer (Glenwood Springs, CO) all the time.

I'm on my 3rd Subaru. All of them have been pretty reliable.

I'm probably in the minority but I love old Range Rovers. If you're handy and like working on trucks go for it. If not, forget it. With Land Rovers it's death by a thousand cuts, not usually big ones but plenty of them.

I'm probably in the minority but I love old Range Rovers. If you're handy and like working on trucks go for it. If not, forget it. With Land Rovers it's death by a thousand cuts, not usually big ones but plenty of them.

I would rather go with an a real classic like an International Scout over a Rover in that case.

I would rather go with an a real classic like an International Scout over a Rover in that case.

Good luck finding one, they're as rare as hens teeth around here.

I don't remember people using the terms "economical" or "reliable" when discussing English car back in the late 70's/early 80's when I was driving sports cars, unless they owned one and were saying something like "my next car is going to be more reliable/economical".

nobody made reliable cars in the 70s and 80s, except for the Japanese.

a British classic can be just as reliable and durable as an American or other European classic car. the single greatest problem is ham-fisted "mechanics" who create more problems than they solve.

the much-maligned British electrical systems, for example, use a different set of design philosophies than US automakers used. because of this, they function in a different fashion, with different part requirements. most Americans are unaware of this, and not smart enough to take it to a specialist. this leads to cooked wiring and electrical components due to improper repair, all of which gets blamed on the car (instead of the mechanic's ignorance).

Two problems with IH Scouts, and I am a fan of all things IH.

Rust....everything rusts, the frames are especially prone to rusting out, not just surface rust, structural corrosion.

Parts, orphan powerplants that have been out of production for 30+ years.

Best to stick with a Jeep, sure they rust just as badly, but at least you can find every replacement part you can imagine.

Certain Jeep models have their share of maintenance issues too. But then again I'm talking about the situations I see while off roading. I really can't say how many Jeeps we had to rescue.

nobody made reliable cars in the 70s and 80s, except for the Japanese.

a British classic can be just as reliable and durable as an American or other European classic car. the single greatest problem is ham-fisted "mechanics" who create more problems than they solve.

the much-maligned British electrical systems, for example, use a different set of design philosophies than US automakers used. because of this, they function in a different fashion, with different part requirements. most Americans are unaware of this, and not smart enough to take it to a specialist. this leads to cooked wiring and electrical components due to improper repair, all of which gets blamed on the car (instead of the mechanic's ignorance).

Yeah, but most of the British cars of that era weren't meticulously maintained by factory trained mechanics, they were maintained like other cars of that era were by the owners or mechanics who worked at service stations. Which resulted in a large pool of British cars that didn't run, or didn't run right for too long, generating (pun intended) a reputation of unreliability.

Most of my friends that ride vintage British bikes really like them, and have had them long enough to be able to compensate for all their mechanical and electrical shortcomings and don't ride them daily. They've got the right mindset for that kind of vehicle now, just like your customers must have. The people that didn't share that mindset have all given up and moved on to some blander transportation appliance.

Good luck finding one, they're as rare as hens teeth around here.

You can find them around here, at this point, most don't leave the garage to often though.

Why do the British drink warm beer? They have Lucas refrigerators.

That joke was old in the 1970's.

nobody made reliable cars in the 70s and 80s, except for the Japanese.

a British classic can be just as reliable and durable as an American or other European classic car. the single greatest problem is ham-fisted "mechanics" who create more problems than they solve.

The degree to which this is misleading and inaccurate cannot be over stated. While cars were far less reliable 25-40 years ago than they are today, British cars always sucked MUCH harder than just about any other car. Don't tell me Fredly, I was there, we had a couple in my family, and I sold Jags and Range Rovers in the 80's. Fantastic cars, but they didn't run very well.

the 80s were the absolute nadir for Jaguar build quality. condemning British cars based on the reliability of those cars is foolish. i'm on my second Jaguar, but not that long ago (well, 15 years or so) our entire household fleet was British. one Land Rover, three Jaguars and a Triumph. and we weren't walking to work.

the Landie was the worst British car we've ever had, and even it ran 170k miles before we got rid of it. my first Jag had over 220k when the guy who owned it after me stuffed it in a ditch.

we still have the Triumph. Dad bought it new in '69, and it spent almost a decade as his daily driver.

the '78 MGB i ran for several years as my daily driver was no less reliable than my '01 VW is. my old Honda trumps them both, making 330k miles before i scrapped it, but it was built in '89 (during Honda's best recent period of design and production quality).

but then, the first car i ever bought with my own money was French (1976 Peugeot 504). so my perceptions may be a bit skewed.

The degree to which this is misleading and inaccurate cannot be over stated. While cars were far less reliable 25-40 years ago than they are today, British cars always sucked MUCH harder than just about any other car. Don't tell me Fredly, I was there, we had a couple in my family, and I sold Jags and Range Rovers in the 80's. Fantastic cars, but they didn't run very well.

This is why the Limeys always included a tool kit in those new British Leyland rust buckets.After the 1st year you could stop a MG Midget Fred Flintstone style by putting your feet through the floor and on the pavement.
Their engines had such loose fitting piston rings you could make Cleveland look like London fog by driving through downtown.

The degree to which this is misleading and inaccurate cannot be over stated. While cars were far less reliable 25-40 years ago than they are today, British cars always sucked MUCH harder than just about any other car. Don't tell me Fredly, I was there, we had a couple in my family, and I sold Jags and Range Rovers in the 80's. Fantastic cars, but they didn't run very well.

They do run well nowadays,on a trailer to a car show looking for the next chump.