At $3,500, Would You Go To Town In This 1995 Range Rover Classic County?
A broken door handle and non-functioning fuel gauge seem to be this classic SUV’s biggest issues.
First-generation Range Rovers have been trending upward in value over the past few years, but today's Nice Price or No Dice '95 Classic County still offers a cheap way into the marque. You're going to have to figure out if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Was the $10,000 price on yesterday's 1995 Acura wholly accurate? Could ownership of so nice an Integra be in any way construed as integral? These are important questions, and as far as both the comments and the vote were concerned, the answer in both instances was no. As a result, the Integra's time ended here with a strong effort but still a 66 percent No Dice loss at that five-figure asking.
Look, the used car market is just crazy right now. We all know that. Still, there are certain makes — I'm looking at you, Porsche — that got to Crazytown before everybody else, set up a tab at the local watering hole, and then started ordering very expensive drinks.
One classic marque that seemed to show up late to the party was Range Rover. When new, the British luxury off-roader brand commanded respect both for its capabilities and its "veddy British" kit. But once that new wore off and the marque's many gremlins started to manifest themselves out of warranty, prices started to plummet. The result is that depreciation on even newish Range Rovers is precipitous, with models losing over 63 percent in value over just five years of ownership. This does not bode well for the latest edition that was just announced mere days ago.
Of course, as is the case with any marque, when values decline to a certain point even the most avid of fans give up and typically send their money pit to the great junkyard in the sky. That leaves only the most stalwart of the line to carry on, shifting the supply and demand curve significantly.
The original Range Rover models have already gone through this cycle and we're now seeing the few that are left are beginning to climb back up the value ladder, with some sellers now seeking five figures in trade.
The owner of this 1990 Range Rover Classic County seeming didn't get that memo. The truck itself seems to be in remarkably good condition too. Sure, there's a broken lever on the driver's door and a recalcitrant gas (oops, British car, I mean petrol) gauge, but other than those boogers, it looks road-ready and has a bunch of new bits to keep it out there doing its thing.
The updates include a new fuel pump and filter along with ignition system components and a battery. Quite amazingly, the seller notes that all of the cabin electrics work, including the window winders, seat controls, and door locks. Those are all among the usual suspects in any old Range Rover lineup of mischief-makers.
Outside, things look decent. The Trocadero Red metallic paint still seems to hold a shine and is accented by the funky factory three-spoke alloys painted with dark gray centers. Yes, the panel gaps on the body are wide enough to slide a hand through, but that's just the nature of the beast on these old machines. You will also notice mounts in the front bumper here for a tow bar, which is probably a smart move on any old Range Rover. Other than that, it all looks fairly stock.
There are no major complaints evident in the cabin either. The leather has held up reasonably well and the headliner is still at the top of its game. Yes, there are some signs of age here — cracking on that leather and some crazing in the (real) wood trim — but it's nothing unreasonable. Once again, these are elements that typically fail on Range Rovers so it's a seeming win here.
In experienced Range Rover owner fashion, the seller shows the load area taken up by a gas can, the un-stowed (new) spare, and a roller jack. That's either really smart or just being smartly realistic. Still, if you want to use this big Brit-boi as a grocery-getter, you might want to figure out some alternate options to such stowage.
We don't get to see the 3.9 liter Rover, nee Buick V8 under to bonnet, but according to the ad, that engine has taken the truck fully 154,896 miles. Also per the ad, this Range Rover rocks a clean title.
As we discussed at the outset, attrition has culled the supply of Range Rovers on the market, which does seem — along with our current general crazy state of car valuation — to be driving up asking prices. At $3,500, this one seems to be an outlier to all of that. The question is; why?
What do you think, is this Range Rover worth that $3,500 asking as it is described in the ad? Or, is there something afoot that would make you pause on even that paltry amount?
You decide!
Gainsville, Florida, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Walt H. for the hookup!
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