Popped down to the local main LR dealer in Cardiff this morning to look at a 2011 plate Vogue SE (on sale at £28.8k). When I saw the ad on Autotrader last night, what attracted me was the LR 2 year Approved warranty mentioned. Alas, whilst the car was in good shape (49k with recent service, 2 local owners), after having a look around it and pre a quick drive, the young chap showing me went to check on the warranty and the ad was wrong, they would only do 6 months! The car had just gone over the 5 year age limit for LR Approved (plus experience day, etc.).

No deal for me, as I average 35k miles a year, and the assurance of a LR unlimited mileage warranty would be great. For those who would know, is the original price fair. And what scope to reduce e.g. Dealer margin is x% and they should be willing to do x and y to close the deal? Would have been a cash buy. Thanks in advance. I'll now look out for a 2012 model.

Type ford cap connect into google and this will bring up the cap tool which dealers use to value trade ins etc and it will give you the trade value and you can see what sort of margin is in there. It's free on the ford one so worth using that.

Thanks for the tip to use the site. Top price for trade in was £24k. Which in theory leaves £4.8k dealer margin! If I have to buy a Warrantywise warranty, it works out about £1300 per year (for higher labour rate) - although I would not be tied to main dealer of course. A very cheeky £25k would likely insult. I'll think a bit and check others on Autotrader.

If you like the car then I wouldn't worry about what they might think if you make a low offer - they can either say no or accept. In the past I've left low offers with the salesman on a couple of occasions in the past and they have both come back a week later and accepted. You don't know if the car has been on the forecourt for a while or the salesman is low on targets, or its a slow footfall month in the showroom then you may get a deal. Whats the worse that could happen? Current Fleet:-
2018 Discovery 5 3.0 HSE
2021 Ford Ranger Wildtrack
2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt 5.0 V8
1993 Defender 90 200TDI Pickup

Gone - not forgotten
2016 L405 4.4 SDV8 Vogue SE
2012 L322 4.4 Westminster
2004 L322 4.4 V8 Autobiography LE
2000 P38 RR 4.0 HSE (ex Clarkson test car)

Cardiff main dealer was part of Stratstones group. They tend not to discount their used cars too much. They claim/ aspire to a policy that has researched a radius market and so, they they will feel their cars are priced comparably with others similar.

As a second hand/ A.U car, if they have it on for touching 29k (which sounds ok to me if the car is right/ nice?) you would appear unlikely to get it for 25k (good for you if that is wrong but doubt it, unless they've had it for ages and cannot shift it).

What they might do is negotiate with you on a nominal discount and/ or some extras, such as free servicing and/ or a good extension on your all important warranty and breakdown cover.

If you buy the car from them, do not assume that the A.U multipoint checks have been done to the standard you would hope for.

If you are not well versed with RR and are not getting a third party to check the car for you, take a list and check everything, including taking off the rear arch rubber strips and looking for all known corrosion weak points (edges of upper tailgate etc) and get under the car (or get them to ramp it for you) so you can check for oil leaks etc.

The LR 2 year warranty is well worth having especially if you are doing high mileage. The FFRR is an expensive car to buy, run and maintain and is why I made sure I bought mine last year from a main dealer so I could get the warranty.

At the price you're looking at you should be able to find a 12 plate VSE somewhere but may have to pay slightly more or wait until March when dealers will have some more p/ex L322's to shift.

Took me several months looking for my Westie but worth it in the end to wait for the one you really want.

Good luck 2017 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography
2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster - Gone, but not forgotten

Thanks again guys for the advice. The RR VSE in Cardiff would only have the Stratstone dealer warranty, not a pinch on the 2 year LR version. Taking PLD118 comments on board, I could 'request' 500 off for the car tax, plus the 6 months going to 12 months, plus next service... then again, there is always a tradeoff here.

So a 2012 Westie would of course be more (saw one on Autotrader at 32.5 with the 2 yr LR package). Waiting post March would make some sense. I did 1,000 miles this week, and if I P/X my current motorway hack, and use the RR as my only vehicle, I need something to fall back on (given any car can have problems, not only Range Rovers ).

In no rush, so the steady hunt continues...

[now whilst I was at the dealer, I did sit in the L405 for the first time... man maths is now at work!!]

What fun this really is