Garage of Luke's Garage - The UK's Cheapest Range Rover

[stuboy]

On 4/20/2022 at 12:13 PM, GarageOfLuke said:

The Twingo Mk1 Owners club of the UK probably aren't very happy about it, as even the fact it's got the wrong headlights fitted appeared to put some of them into Defcon 1. 

what are the right ones?

[GarageOfLuke]

2 minutes ago, stuboy said:

what are the right ones?

The ones with the separate indicator bit at the bottom, a la below. 

[Schaefft]

1 hour ago, GarageOfLuke said:

Strong money - £4495 on it - but I think the market knows what they're worth as soon as the arches aren't rotten, as I've managed to receive a couple calls just through the C&C ad today alone. I'd of course do an offer for Autoshiters as usual, but I've got an inkling it won't be hanging around. 

That would be pretty impressive money for it, even being free of rust. Usually facelift 540i sports sell for that nowadays.

[GarageOfLuke]

1 hour ago, Schaefft said:

That would be pretty impressive money for it, even being free of rust. Usually facelift 540i sports sell for that nowadays.

Again, there are 540i Sports for that money - but all have a sizeable snag list, or missing history, or are gone within less than a day. 

Having just watched a 535i Auto on eBay go for an end result on auction of 3680 with another 23k on it, and in Titan Silver over Grey leather, I reckon 4495 is pretty achievable. It's another one of those where there's a massive market disparity between 'alright' and 'good' examples. 

[sierraman]

I get where you are coming from, a £2000 one would cost more than buying a good one in the first place. 

[GarageOfLuke]

Slight thread change, we're not really motor-trading any decent tat (it's all new shite now) so I'll probably focus this on my own cars now. 

And I see no better way to start it than showing off my new Range Rover - the UK's cheapest, regardless of condition or running-status, at the time of purchase. 

Direct from the bailiff special, someone had racked up some bills they couldn't pay and as a result, this ended up at my local auction, still filled with all their personal belongings and with no key, and no documents. Some low-level designer clothes in the boot, and a glovebox full of central-African pop music - it really doesn't get any better than that. 

Had a key made for it, and prepared myself for the worst. Unlocked it, got in, and the alarm went off. Great start. Chucked the key in, switched to ignition, and the alarm stopped. Turned the key, and...IT STARTED. Not only did it start, it fired up and idled like a champ, with zero warning lights. Air con doesn't work, but the air suspension does (I was hopeful anyway as after a week sat at the auction, it hadn't sank). Not only that, but the maiden voyage lasted a whole nine miles before...

The inevitable happened. Fuel injection warning, two seconds of limp mode and then a very composed transition from 'running' to 'non-running'. Luckily, my good friend Taylor has had his fair share of BMW M57-related breakdowns and issues, and thus pointed out that, with fuel at around 1/3 of a tank, I'd probably managed to buy a Range Rover with a non-functioning transfer pump in the tank, meaning one side of the saddle wasn't getting pushed to the other side - he was bang on, and with £20 of Esso's finest delivered through plastic spout, it fired up once again and, 175 miles later, has only rewarded me with: 
-Sticking NSR caliper 
-Increasing cranking times before starting 
-Key remote lock/unlock de-programming 
-Occasional vibration under acceleration

I can just feel the joy and passion flowing through me for this project/labour of love/mistake/potential financial suicide. On the upside, a replacement caliper, rear discs and pads, tank pump, inline pump, air filter, oil filter, fuel filter, pollen filter and auto-box filter only come to around £180. Almost like they break a lot. 

[timolloyd]

Have you tried on the clothes yet? Could be a great calendar pic.

[dome]

Excellent purchase, remarkably tasteful looking for an early L322 too.

There's a few of us lurking in here with these, mines a similar age but V8 on LPG.

Are you ready for the hilarious* jokes about them breaking down all the time?

[Split_Pin]

I drove @domes one and what a way to travel!

Stuff the flakiness,  WOULD.

[Bear]

Very nice! How are the sills and rear boot floor?

[Six-cylinder]

Great cars, in some ways better than a L405 I replaced mine with. I liked the weight for towing, easier to climb into the driver's seat on the L322. The interior dash design is so special, rather than all modern cars look like this of the L405. It took mine 9 years to push me out of it because of broken bits.

[vaughant]

10 hours ago, GarageOfLuke said:

Slight thread change, we're not really motor-trading any decent tat (it's all new shite now) so I'll probably focus this on my own cars now. 

And I see no better way to start it than showing off my new Range Rover - the UK's cheapest, regardless of condition or running-status, at the time of purchase. 

Direct from the bailiff special, someone had racked up some bills they couldn't pay and as a result, this ended up at my local auction, still filled with all their personal belongings and with no key, and no documents. Some low-level designer clothes in the boot, and a glovebox full of central-African pop music - it really doesn't get any better than that. 

Had a key made for it, and prepared myself for the worst. Unlocked it, got in, and the alarm went off. Great start. Chucked the key in, switched to ignition, and the alarm stopped. Turned the key, and...IT STARTED. Not only did it start, it fired up and idled like a champ, with zero warning lights. Air con doesn't work, but the air suspension does (I was hopeful anyway as after a week sat at the auction, it hadn't sank). Not only that, but the maiden voyage lasted a whole nine miles before...

The inevitable happened. Fuel injection warning, two seconds of limp mode and then a very composed transition from 'running' to 'non-running'. Luckily, my good friend Taylor has had his fair share of BMW M57-related breakdowns and issues, and thus pointed out that, with fuel at around 1/3 of a tank, I'd probably managed to buy a Range Rover with a non-functioning transfer pump in the tank, meaning one side of the saddle wasn't getting pushed to the other side - he was bang on, and with £20 of Esso's finest delivered through plastic spout, it fired up once again and, 175 miles later, has only rewarded me with: 
-Sticking NSR caliper 
-Increasing cranking times before starting 
-Key remote lock/unlock de-programming 
-Occasional vibration under acceleration

I can just feel the joy and passion flowing through me for this project/labour of love/mistake/potential financial suicide. On the upside, a replacement caliper, rear discs and pads, tank pump, inline pump, air filter, oil filter, fuel filter, pollen filter and auto-box filter only come to around £180. Almost like they break a lot. 

So, what did you actually pay for it as its the "cheapest one in Britain at the time"? Bit of a pointless claim otherwise 🤣🤣🤣. 

[vaughant]

On 4/21/2022 at 9:46 PM, GarageOfLuke said:

Strong money - £4495 on it - but I think the market knows what they're worth as soon as the arches aren't rotten, as I've managed to receive a couple calls just through the C&C ad today alone. I'd of course do an offer for Autoshiters as usual, but I've got an inkling it won't be hanging around. 

In all fairness, the price doesn't seem bad at all, I'd say more sport territory but plenty of interest in these older beemers now and I wouldn't blame you for shoving the £1500 odd profit on top as you never know with older cars if that could bite you on the arse during the 3 month warranty. 

[GarageOfLuke]

18 hours ago, timolloyd said:

Have you tried on the clothes yet? Could be a great calendar pic.

There's an AutoAlex (Alex Kersten, ex-carthrottle) video on the way that will show some trying on of clothes! 

13 hours ago, vaughant said:

So, what did you actually pay for it as its the "cheapest one in Britain at the time"? Bit of a pointless claim otherwise 🤣🤣🤣. 

£950 in the end, to be fair I was only using eBay/Autotrader/Gumtree to look for them, so it's probably not even true. I'm sure someone's nan's friend's brother knows of one for sale in the classifieds section of the village paper for £800. 

14 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

Great cars, in some ways better than a L405 I replaced mine with. I liked the weight for towing, easier to climb into the driver's seat on the L322. The interior dash design is so special, rather than all modern cars look like this of the L405. It took mine 9 years to push me out of it because of broken bits.

I actually really like the way it drives, I must say. It's the pricing of spares that has me somewhat hooked already though - everything is available very cheap from Britpart or other brands (probably because it all needs replacing so often). 

15 hours ago, dome said:

Excellent purchase, remarkably tasteful looking for an early L322 too.

There's a few of us lurking in here with these, mines a similar age but V8 on LPG.

Are you ready for the hilarious* jokes about them breaking down all the time?

I'm just making them myself at this point to get used to it, but I've so far enjoyed breaking down more in the Range Rover than I did in the Alfa the other day! 

14 hours ago, RichardK said:

Very nice! How are the sills and rear boot floor?

Sills are actually okay, and all the jacking point blocks are not only present, but the metal they attach to is decent too. Boot floor is better than some I've seen, worse than others - nothing has fully perforated and it's passed a screwdriver test, so it'll be getting wire brushed, treated, painted, etc. 

[GarageOfLuke]

13 hours ago, vaughant said:

In all fairness, the price doesn't seem bad at all, I'd say more sport territory but plenty of interest in these older beemers now and I wouldn't blame you for shoving the £1500 odd profit on top as you never know with older cars if that could bite you on the arse during the 3 month warranty. 

To be fair, it's long gone - I dropped it to £3995 in the end and was consequently gone within 48 hours. Think it went at a good time as I've seen quite a few come up for less money since.