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![New Land Rover Range Rover MKII [P38A] (1994 - 2002) review](https://ssl.caranddriving.com/f2/images/used/big/landroverrangerover.jpg)
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When the new model Range Rover was introduced in the Autumn of 1994, it had a hard act to follow - 25 years of the original Spen King-designed model. Hedging their bets, new owner BMW even kept the old one in production, badged as the Classic, for a year or so. This was a car that had real international appeal. It sold in markets as diverse as Japan and the USA, Canada and Australia - and demand usually exceeded supply. Well over 300,000 of the old Range Rovers had rolled off the production lines by the time the new model came along.
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What you get
The world's finest 4x4. Only the latest Range Rover can match this car's all-round off-road abilities. What differentiates the Range Rover from its Japanese competitors? In a word, style (which the Orientals never had) and wheel articulation. Off the road, you could drive a Range Rover over obstacles that would leave Shoguns and Troopers bottoming out, wheels spinning hopelessly. Only the Jeep Grand Cherokee gets close and it lacks the Range Rover's class.
Choose the Solihull product and, as everyone knows, you also get a car that can take you to the highest peak or through the deepest bog, then, via the car wash, to the ballet on the same day, parking without disgrace alongside Jaguars and Mercs.
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What to look for
Avoid base models without automatic transmission and air conditioning - as most people buy Range Rovers as a luxury car, rather than an off-roader, these items help greatly when selling on.
Ask the potential seller what kind of life the car has had; go for those cars that have lived on the tarmac (the vast majority anyway) rather than the farm. Torn carpets, ripped headliners and scratched plastic panels are sure signs of a hard life.
Thoroughly check out the suspension and transmission; replacement parts are expensive.
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Replacement parts
(approx based on a 2.5DTSE - ex Vat) A mixed bag. A clutch assembly will be around £250, a full exhaust about £500, a starter motor should be close to £200 and a headlamp £120. Front brake pads are about £60 and a rear set £45.
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On the road
You need to remember that it's a 4x4 and drive accordingly. Having said that, this is the best handling 4x4 you can buy. The V8s have huge torque and pulling power. At first acquaintance, the turbo diesels feels a little slow, but the smooth BMW six grows on you when you realise that there's pulling power aplenty, and that it goes far further than the V8s between fill-ups.
Buy a diesel and you can expect to average a useful 23-28mpg. The V8s, especially the 4.6, demand a rather larger wallet, with 15-18mpg averages commonplace. Remember too that certain low-roofed multi-storey car parks will be inaccessible to you (though not, interestingly, Le Shuttle).
This second generation model, with its standard air suspension, was far more acceptable to those used to Lexus LS400, BMW 7 series and Mercedes' S-class luxury saloons. It wasn't quite a Rolls-Royce for the rough but it was very close. The BMW-sourced 2.5-litre six-cylinder turbo diesel was much more refined than the previous Solihull-sourced TD 'four' and made much more sense.
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Overall
Like its predecessor, this is a modern-day classic. If you can afford to run one as a second car, you can't afford not to have one.
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