I sold my L322 5.0SC about 3 years ago because it just wasn't getting used that much. And then of course, we went into lockdown and it would have been used even less. I did actually feel quite smug thinking I had sold at the right time as in my mind, I imagined the floor would fall out of the big car market since nobody could go anywhere and sky high fuel prices. Who'd have thought that car prices would have gone through the roof. Still, I was was happy that the old girl went to a good home and i think the new owner is still a member on here.

So, for the last 3 years I have been slumming it in a 2010 1.0 VW Polo that I bought from my son. I say slumming it but it has actually been a great little car and I certainly appreciated only having to fill it up every 6 weeks or so. I also appreciated not having to be careful where I parked or the ease of driving round some of the narrower country roads round here.

The one thing the Polo couldn't do though was put a big smile on my face every time I drove it. So, I knew I would be back in a Rangey at some point. I knew this time around it would likely be am L405 and having already owned a 5.0SC (and often do quite short journeys), it would be a 5.0 AB again. From reading around these forums, the late 2017 cars seem to be a sweet spot for many and that fitted in well with my budget. My preference would have been metallic grey of some description with an ivory interior. I also knew that must have's were deployable side steps, head up display, sliding roof and definitely Meridian Signature sound. The car also needed ideally to be sub 50k miles, low owner and full dealer/Independent Land Rover specialist service history.

I went to see a few cars and whilst they all looked nice in the pics, were actually all pretty disappointing in the flesh. Poorly prepared/presented, scratches on the bodywork, worn interiors, stuff not working etc.

Browsing around, I came across a lovely looking SVA Dynamic that was at a niche dealer about 40 minutes drive from me. Now, the colour combination was not high up on my list (black with black interior) but it was growing on me. The car actually looked more dark grey than black.

I spoke to the dealer the next day day and it seems they just deal in lower mileage, low owner cars with great service history. By chance, I had been given the task of selling my sisters Mercedes SLK AMG so I mentioned that to them. They were very interested in that because of age/condition/service history so I agreed to run the car up that afternoon. I told them I would like to have a look at the SVA while I was there and they said it was still available as they had only just started marketing it.

My initial impression when I actually saw the SVA in the flesh was, blimey, a car that was actually in really fantastic condition. And I loved the colour. It is actually Borealis Black Ultra Metallic. It does look kind of dark grey in certain lights but in the sunshine, it has a quite nice blue sparkle to it. I only managed to find one very slight chip in the paint but apart from that, pretty much immaculate. The wheels were colour coded in the same Borealis Black and the brakes/disks were all new and shiny. And, I just loved the stance of the SVA which I think is lowered by about 9mm compared to a standard L405.

The one stumbling block for me was going to be the all black interior but once the sunblind was opened, it certainly was a much more pleasant and spacious place to be in. The inside is in as great condition as the outside. There is only very minimal wear to the drivers seat, and I suppose the only thing that does show up in sunlight is slight swirl marks on the piano black trims which is inevitable with that finish.

The car has had 2 previous owners and covered 42,000 miles. Full LRSH for the first 2 years then I believe the second owner was also the owner of a well regarded Land Rover Specialist who carried out all the subsequent servicing in house.

I took the car for a test drive and fell in love with it straight away. It drove so very nicely, smoothly and quietly when you are drifting along and just I loved the noise from the exhaust when you are giving it some beans. Not dronie or tiring - just right. The handling feels so much more planted than a standard L405 and I suppose the the only trade off for that is that poor road surfaces can be felt a little more in the cabin. Oh, the 8 speed box really helps these cars along - it's a shame the L322 petrol's never got this box.

So, a satisfactory deal was done on both that and the SLK. A great result and saved all the hassle of the inevitable tyre kickers if I had to advertise the SLK privately.

I have only had the car for a month so still getting used to all the gadgets. But I have had the chance to go through it all and everything seems to work as it should. In that time, I have done a mixture of short and slightly longer journeys, some pootling around and some giving it some stick and it is returning about 22MPG which seems reasonable.

The only things I have added to the car in this time is a CPLAY2air wireless Carplay adapter and a Powerflex wireless phone charging tray that fits in the cubby above the fridge. The CPLAY2air adapter seems to work really well. My Iphone connects within about 30 seconds of starting the car.

The jury is still out on the wireless charging tray because it doesn't seem to charge very quickly at all and it does make my phone quite hot to the touch when I remove it. When I get some free time I will have a look and see what sort of current the charger is pulling when the phone is in place.

I only have some dealer pics at present which are all indoor so don't show the paint off to it's best advantage. I'll try to get some more this evening as I have just washed it and it looks like the sun is coming out.

So, overall, I am pretty happy . The only thing that is taking some getting used to is getting back into not only a bigger car, but one that is even bigger than the L322!
Enjoy.

Cheers, Mark

Looks very nice

I see its got the later rear lights so the later facelift version? Whatever, certainly love my '17 - hope yours is equally good to you. Mike - MPx

2017 5.0 V8 Supercharged SVAutobigraphy Dynamic SVO Palette Grey (2021-...)
2012 5.0 V8 Supercharged Autoboigraphy Orkney Grey (2017-2021)
2007 4.2 V8 Supercharged Vogue SE Tonga Green (2012-2017)
2002 4.4 V8 Vogue Bonnatti Grey (2008-2012)

Congratulations, lovely looking car

 19MY SVA-Dynamic Spectral Chromoflair Blue but colour not available in profile
2016 RRS SVR Estoril Blue - Gone
2010 RRS 5.0 Supercharged Navara Bronze - Gone
2008 RRS 4.2 Supercharged Black - Gone
2006 RRS 2.7 Diesel Rimini Red- Gone