^^

"My advice at this point would be to put an email to them with all your questions and queries, and ask them to respond in the same way, then everything is in black and white and laid out for you to make a judgement"

Good idea..don't know why I didn't think of that. It would certainly cut down the 'I'll just ask my sales manager' response (to every question so far) to nil. Cheers

"When you can't tell it's used it's Land Rover Approved"

A bold official LR statement but ultimately should be to the customer's advantage?

I'd have thought that for reasons NMJ says -and as it's the few weeks before Christmas - less people will be looking to spend that type of money on a car like that and you might get a good deal including the car prepared on your terms (if you did like the car, worth trying anyway)?

Have seen many cars offered for sale, unprepared, including videos. Agreeing that it's poor practice, it doesn't surprise me at all.

'Coming soon' could be because the car isn't on site or it could be a way of getting the advert in circulation without using library or after prep pictures of the car. Could be any number of reasons. Again, not best practice but probably not uncommon with large dealers that have large stock turnover; and not necessarily suspicious.

The history of the car should not be difficult to track back at that age and mileage, particularly if it has only been in a main dealer network. Nor does being in the main dealer network necessarily mean that it has been better maintained?

Nor is all that glitters gold (read my buyers guide or many other wounded member posts for proof of that).

When buying our latest RR from a main dealer, we viewed the car twice - at some distance away - before wanting to buy; and during that second visit when deciding to buy, we got told that it had been sold minutes before. We then got a call a few days later to ask if we were still interested because the prospective buyer's finance had fallen through. That was true and not a ploy (worked to our advantage/ used it to haggle the price down a little).

Having agreed conditions of sale, we then sent a numbered points email for them to consider, answer and tick off as they addressed queries and/ or dealt with minor snags on the car. The sales person didn't answer many points in writing. I actually ended up doing my own background checks with LR garages to provenance the car. The delays and lack of response to my queries were not because there was anything hidden or untoward going on. It was all down to a lack of diligence on the part of the sales person. Fortunately, his manager had a work ethic I was more comfortable with and all was well in the end.

Don't lose sight of the important main body of the LR "Approved Promise" either (note the words 'immaculate condition'):

" Every vehicle that wears the Land Rover badge is designed to be driven effortlessly on some of the world’s most difficult terrain. This means our Approved programme has to go above and beyond to make sure all our vehicles continue to be up to this challenge no matter what you put them through.

Your Land Rover Approved vehicle is prepared to the highest standards. To ensure it leaves a Land Rover Retailer in immaculate condition, an eleven point customer promise is in place. This gives you absolute peace of mind and guarantees your vehicle delivers the most composed and capable drive possible.

Every Approved Land Rover includes:

2 year unlimited mileage Land Rover Approved warranty
MOT Test Warranty
2 year UK and European roadside assistance and recovery
Rigorous testing: a multi-point inspection that covers up to 165 mechanical, electrical and safety checks
Reconditioning by Land Rover trained technicians using the latest diagnostic technology and Genuine Parts
Road test by one of our Land Rover trained technicians
Independent mileage and history check
Professional, expert part exchange service no matter what vehicle you own now
30 day / 1,000 mile Conditional Vehicle Exchange Agreement
Complimentary half-day Land Rover Experience
Complimentary 7 day Land Rover Drive Away Insurance

Every Land Rover Approved Retailer is independently inspected to ensure that these high standards of vehicle preparation and customer service are met and maintained."



Last edited by pld118 on 2nd Dec 2015 9:20pm. Edited 2 times in total

^ All very useful, thank you.

The salesman sent another video message of the basic stuff- full LR main dealer service history for five services (on a four years old last month) and two owners, the first being LR as demo vehicle and the second a lady owner.

This morning I had an email typed out to send to the dealership detailing about nine or ten points I wanted clarifying based on the advice given on this thread. Instead of sending it, I sent a message thanking him for his help but declining to go ahead with the car.
Gut feeling played a large part but the damage in the video didn't help and neither did the information that that colour interior wears quicker than other colours…as dog owners, it would have been difficult although not insurmountable but the wear aspect was another thing in the minus column.

The I put my heart to one side and used my head; this vehicle is virtually the same price as another of the same age I am watching which has ten thousand less miles, one owner (and looks like it was looked after) with a dark interior.

We have put the TDV8 AB back in play as a second choice and are going to exercise patience until something comes up at our nearest dealers.

The good news is that whilst I was in Costco yesterday, my wife looked around the FFRRs in the car park which has gone a long way to assuage her concerns regarding the vehicle's size which is a relief…

Looks like Thunderbirds are GO!

I think you made the right decision. Don't rush and take your time .there's plenty out there.
I travelled hundreds of miles looking at what turned out to be dogs all around the country.
Then thou and behold perfect 1 turns up 6 mile down the road  2007 tdv8 se ,stornaway grey

rangie47 is right. We looked all over and were unshakeable, it had to be minimum VSE spec and 5.0 petrol. We stumbled across a nicely spec'd 4.4TDV8 Vogue and the search was over. No other car got close to it on low mileage, condition and that gut feeling that this was the car. You'll find what you're looking for and this is a good thread for keeping a clear head

@rangie47 & pld118

Cheers, fellas.

Have now changed my criteria to include V and VSE as well as diesel. When all is said and done, a either has all the kit I would want anyway so an AB would only be a bonus really. As ^ said, it's all about the right feeling and condition/miles etc rather than options/badge.

Coincidentally, I am thinking of changing my name to 'Lucky' for no reason other than I found a very low mileage one owner VSE (21,000 at 4 ½ years old) TDV8 with….. wait for it….dealer pictures taken when it arrived rather than when prepped.

Scuff marks on the plastics and seat backs from careless passengers and a couple of noticeable chips/small dents on a wheel arch, obviously dirty boot area with a fuel can nozzle just lying there…..Lucky or Gifted, I reckon. Or maybe Hopeless?

EDIT: Here it is - damage on picture 7/ rear off side wheel arch http://www.lookers.co.uk/land-rover/used-c...rm18%208jf

Nice


A tad expensive but you will see where that extra cash will be well spent

One owner?
It says 2 previous owners so 3 in total!

^
Quite correct; my mistake…I suspect it has had two owners in total but I will check. It would be strange for such a low mileage car to have had three owners. One (pre-registered, perhaps) plus one certainly but three? As previously mentioned, I am either Hopeless at finding decent examples (so far) or Gifted at finding 'odd' examples.

Just checked, it is 2 owners in total...
Last owner since 21/3/13.

Usually, as dealers don't count, the 2 'previous' would mean 2 in total before they owned it.l

However, private sellers would take it literally and 2 'previous' excludes them - so by the time you get it, the V5 shows 3 previous.

You really only need this....

http://www.garyelliott.co.uk/images/2015_1...index.html

I looked at your site and it was obvious why you were so scathing about the presentation of vehicles by the main dealers I have videos of. All credit to you for your ethos.

We made the decision not to have ivory seats; we are dog owners and I am borderline OCD when it comes to keeping a car nice. Tan or Jet for us, I think. That and I REALLY like the idea of a heated steering wheel and seats that cool, amongst other things!

Thanks for the thought though.

THey all have Heated Seats & Heated Steering wheel