Are they worth the premium cost? With the added benefit of the approved warranty etc. Opposed to buying from a non franchised dealer or private sale and getting your own warranty? Now this is on vehicles in the 30k bracket approx. Anybody had experience of either? Good or bad?
All the best
Phil

TBH i dont think they are, there are the stories of a few on here and the other forums of them being cars full of problems, and some being ok... I'd personally take the chance and go private and put my own warranty on it after getting it checked over properly of course! FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

Have a good, independent mechanic go over the vehicle and do a full inspection. I'm always dubious when the seller is the one doing the inspection. A non-certified car with the OK from a mechanic you trust is probably better.

Also, if you've settled on a price BEFORE inspection, anything that needs doing can be negotiated as either a price adjustment or work done before taking delivery.

We have bought our last 3 cars as approved used from 3 x different LR UK dealerships/ all different dealership groups too (two of the three were in the region of the price bracket you mention).

The pre sale preparation of the 'first two' cars was the best we've experienced (and we've had a fair few so called prestige cars from other marques/ main dealers so have comparisons to draw from). All and any snags were dealt with promptly as 'no problem' from minor cosmetics to replacement tyres.

The LR UK warranty is the best, hassle free warranty we have known/ on those previous two cars the warranty covered anything that cropped up (and we found that the LR after sales/ service were first class with the first two cars).

We bought the third car a few weeks ago from a LR UK main dealer. The car is immaculate inside and out and pretty much was as described (apart from two cosmetic areas that are now in the process of being remedied).

The recent handover experience at the dealership was polished/ as you would expect and with a few nice gestures added too.

I hadn't seen the car before travelling 5 hours to collect it. The down side was I was knackered/ alone on arrival and was thorough but nowhere near as thorough as usual when giving it the once over/ just wanted to get the transaction completed and get on the road home (having the mindset that it will all be right as we're buying from a main dealer).

Since getting the car home I've picked up on a handful of queries/ snags that were obviously present when I arrived to collect the car but which I didn't find for the reasons mentioned (as well as being annoyed with myself, I'm annoyed that the garage/ technicians did not identify those before the car was sold).

We've had the car over 3 weeks now and since getting it home from the garage we've not done 200 miles in it because having raised issues with the seller, I'm not using the car until it goes into my local main dealer for resolution this week so that hopefully they will resolve all issues and cannot say the issues have arisen due to our carelessness or reasonable wear and tear since buying the car (and that's the down side of buying a car such a distance away/ you might have to wait longer to get local resolution).

We would have bought 'the right car' privately or from an Independent or from a main dealer, the preference being to use a LR main dealer based on the positive/ reassuring experience of our last two cars, not least because of the very good LR warranty.

Pending the car going into the local dealership this week, the jury is still out on whether our positive approved used experience will be three times lucky.

All I would say is that if you are buying approved used from a LR UK main dealer, you should go with someone (anyone/ just an honest second pair of eyes), still complete your own due dilligence pre sale checks, do use the numerous RR buying guide checklists and use your common sense/ gut instinct.

Also 'hold them' [the seller] to the following assurance that LR UK gives to get your business ('hold them to it' both before you buy and if things crop up after you buy because you are paying a premium to LR main dealers no matter the age of the car they are selling):

‘… Approved used Land Rovers undergo a comprehensive multi point inspection… all vehicles are given a comprehensive inspection by Land Rover trained technicians… everything from the paintwork to the performance and safety is checked. Should any faults be found with the vehicle, they are rectified prior to display and sale using only genuine Land Rover parts. The inspection always includes a complete engine preparation, a road test and final inspection before the vehicle is professionally valeted. "

Hope this assists...

SparkyPhil wrote:

Are they worth the premium cost?

This sadly is not always the case bought from Shields Land Rover Darnley when I had issues took vehicle to Morrisons Land Rover Stirling, only to be told in the most discourteous manner that they would not sort out issues with my car because it was not bought from them! Complained to Land Rover UK and was told sorry they have no right to tell them to fix my car.... I will never deal with any main dealer again regarding these cars not if I can possibly avoid doing so!!!!

A friend bought a nearly new P38 2001 4.6 Vogue (6 months old - one owner) (so was top money in the day he bought it) from a main dealer and when he got it home he found all manner of issues with it that should have been put right. The problem was the dealership where he bought the car was miles away so he went to his local Land Rover dealer who put it through the check it had supposedly had from the selling dealership and corrected everything for him with no problems even though it was not the same dealership.

So I guess the point is, even though initially there were a good number of issues, it was all sorted straight away by another garage in the network so on the strength of that, I guess it is worth it.

(Though, I further guess it depends a great deal on the individual dealership you are dealing with.)

In our case, the selling garage is one of the largest UK groups. I have raised issues with the selling garage and they asked me where their nearest group dealership to me is... They then told me to book it in with that nearest dealership and say they will resolve costings/ what is to be done between themselves.

Time will tell and as I say, the jury is out on this particular situation but I am not expecting (nor will I accept) any nonsense (whether I'm seen to be a pain or not).

I know how the car was described and sold to me. Consumer rights are in place for a reason. If a product or service is not as described and/ or is misrepresented in any way (just one example being the generic LR UK approved used pledge) then we have a right to challenge that provided we are acting reasonably and within a timely manner.

good luck with it all. Not an ideal start to the ownership of a new car.