Update on the Range Rover Sport money pit. Firstly, since changing from the black gangsta wheels to some civilized stock wheels the car has had a name change from J Rizzle to Ralph. I feel better already.
I bought this car as it was advertised for $8000 less than the going rate in Victoria for the same car. The previous owner had it serviced 6 months ago which cost an eye watering $5800 to have the timing belt, transmission service and solenoids replaced, water pump and all the water hoses replaced. Selling it after spending so much on it would either mean 1) the owner had decided the servicing costs were too much and it was time to move it on or 2) the owner was told that there was something major that would need replaced or something was about to catastrophically fail. Since buying it and driving it Syd to Melb I have found very little wrong with it other than the suspension getting saggy overnight, which will hopefully be an easy fix with an $80 front valve block. I have been worried though that there is something major cooking that I didn't know about so I took it to an independent Land Rover service place as asked them to have a thorough look to see whether it would pass a vehicle inspection. Drum roll....
They found:
No error codes (!?!?!?)
Worn sway bar bushings
Some minor oil leak around the turbo
Oxidized headlights
No leaks in the front suspension struts (confirming it is likely the front valve block)
This is pretty much as good as I could have hoped for. They said the small oil leak around the turbo was pretty common and unless I was planning on driving around Australia they wouldn't recommend changing it.
I had factored in around $5k to get everything up and running once I bought it as the price was so good, so it looks like I'll have money left over to fix a few cosmetic issues on the car. One reason it was sold cheaply is the car was left in the sun whilst one of the previous owners was traveling for 7 months. The leather dashboard had shrunk, cracked and curled and the steering wheel also didn't enjoy the experience. I've ordered a replacement leather dashboard from a company that makes them in the UK and the end cap from the dashboard from a wreckers. I'll get a tear in the front passenger seat fixed, most likely professionally as it is where your bum goes so a home repair job probably wouldn't last. I've also ordered a door actuator motor ($25) to fix the rear central locking issue.
So it looks like it was a good purchase so far. Maybe I'll spend some of the left over money getting it detailed to have the paint and leather coated. I've never had a car detailed before, anyone know a good place in Melbourne?
