So a friend is going to be selling his 4.4 TDV8 soon and I'm just looking for a little input on what people on here think it's worth. It's a white '11 VSE with 96k, 3x owners, near FSH (i.e pretty much every invoice) and he's had it a few years (longest he's ever kept a car!).

In its favour; he's going to MOT it and would put new brakes on for me as the current discs/pads are pretty worn. It's also got four nearly new 2nd gen Pirelli Scorpion Zero All Seasons. The paint's tidy, and it's a known example and I know it's not being sold because there's something wrong with it. It's also been serviced the last few years by my uncle's garage and I know that means it's had what it's needed when it's needed to be done. It's had brake lines done recently and a full underseal with Lanoguard, itself not my favourite stuff but better than nothing. There's also no arch rust.

Downsides are that it has a 25k gap between services early in its life although I suspect this was done and probably not stamped but that's just opinion. However, when the second owner bought it they took it to a specialist and spent £3k getting all fluids (diff/tc/box etc) changed at about 50k. It's not had any of the bags or dampers replaced so it must be assumed that at some point at least the bags will need changed. It also has the deployable side steps but of course one is stuck down, on the drivers side, and needs some investigation (it's apparently getting power). Oh, and the down button for the menu on the RHS of the steering wheel is knackered but that is on the surface a cheap fix. And black wheels (yuck).

Overall it's an honest, known car, and that definitely counts for something albeit of course it's a Land Rover so in many ways means nothing! The downside is it's very much buyer beware and there's no warranty. He's after £14k which seems like strong money given that most online already seem overpriced and seem to hang around for a while. Am I being unreasonable in thinking it's a £12k private sale car?

£14k is very 'optimistic' esp for a white one which is not to everyone's taste. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

£14k is on high side but knowing the history is well worth £2k! Has it had the second turbo oil drain mod done, any work on oil cooler? How old is battery?

VSE spec is very good and fairly rare. Look at arches and at top tailgate for signs of rust.

If your uncles garage have looked after it that would be my first port if call. As I said above known history is well worth paying top dollar for v an unknown car from a garage….yes they may fix issues under warranty but at great inconvenience to yourself.

New brakes and tyres alone are worth circa £2k at garage prices. 2012 tdv8 Westminster arrived Jan 19 gone Dec 23

200 TDi discovery bobtail gone
RR classic v8 bobtail gone
300 tdi Discovery 3 dr gone

Have a good chat with the garage, with your connection you will most likely get the truth about their thoughts on the car and go from there. See if the car owner is open to a little haggling over the price, as said above buying a known car can be a lot safer. I would not be too worried about it's earlier history, as since then it has obviously been looked after.
Some people don't like RR's in white, but we all have different tastes.
There is some truth in the old saying 'Better the devil you know' At the end of the day, buying a 12 year old FFRR will always involve an element of risk.

Opinions vaguely in line with my own then, thanks!

I'm not really bothered about the difference between V and VSE, other than the auto dimming mirrors. I'm in Scotland so heated rather than cooled seats are important and even the Oxford leather is still pretty decent albeit not the uncoated semi-aniline stuff of the VSE.

I think the phrase 'pricey but worth it' might apply here given it's of known providence, has had work done to it and hasn't got any of the usual tailgate/arch rust but at the same time possibly a little bit more than you would expect to pay for a similar car you didn't know, and which was white. I'm not averse to white and at least it doesn't have white wheels like my old Vectra ST200, but I'd rather most colours than it, even black. The chrome mirror covers would have to go though...

I'll have a word with my uncle this week (my friend's already suggested I do that anyway as he's not mechanically minded) and see what he says. I think that given he's planning to sort the MOT and brakes if I was to get it then there's not really any room for haggling. And obviously with me knowing him it also makes it easier for him to sell to me at an inflated price because I can justify it more than someone who didn't know him from Adam. And that hurts, because I don't like to buy things feeling like I'm paying top dollar! On the upside he's happy to sell it to me at my convenience, which makes it much less faff to sell mine and then have to sort out travelling all over the country to view unknown cars.

ETA, no oil drain mod but then no smoke either.

I’d suggest you need a maintenance buffer of about £1000 to get the transmission fluids, steering fluid and battery changed plus to have a Hunter 4x4 wheel alignment done. If I were in your position I’d use this to haggle.

See my suggestions here: https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic66822.html?highlight=year+1 TDV8 4.4 2012

I think haggling room might be limited but we'll see. That said the discs are in decent nick and don't need imminent replacement for the MOT which he's going to get put on it, so that reduces the overall amount he needs to spend (using genuine parts and the local garage I think he was expecting at least £500) which'll knocks a bit off, and then I can throw in some HP2000's as I'm never a fan of OEM spec pads regardless of what manufacturer they come from (I've melted the pads in every single car I've had).

There's a chunk of buffer there from selling the current car which is worth a fair bit more. Transmission fluids etc were done not that long ago, about 30k IIRC, so they won't need doing for a little while yet. PAS fluid probably hasn't been changed but I've got gallons of the stuff in the workshop so that's an easy enough job. Battery though is a fair point but I can't see there being any negotiation on that front! But on the basis of other stuff being okay that's not the end of the world. One thing I did notice was that at some point the rear bumper has been repainted (a little paint lift at the corner) but there aren't any signs of anything going on underneath which is good. Unsure about if the alternator's been replaced, so I'm guessing at some point I'll have that pain, but then that's a risk on any of them if it hasn't already been done. Good link.

If the garage thinks it's mechanically sound, just go for it. Your peace of mind is worth more than +/- £2K and consumables such as brakes and battery shouldn't be a consideration. Photos when you've got it, please

Selling to or buying from a friend should involve more than normal trust and less than normal risk so why are they not giving you a discount ? 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

There are two sides to the argument. Several years ago I had purchased a Volvo S60 from a a close friend at a price he wouldn't be getting from a dealer. He urgently wanted to upgrade to a cls550 amg he'd found.

Being an unplanned purchase, I didn't have all the funds so he transferred the title anyway and I paid him off over the course of a year.

The car was mint, freshly serviced and in need of nothing. I could still probably get a similar year / mileage one from a dealer at a similar price, perhaps with some sort of warranty even but I absolutely knew what I was buying. And served me well for 5 years until I moved it on.

Interest free credit wasn't mentioned by the OP but if it's included then it would be a good incentive to buy from them. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

vs322 wrote:

If the garage thinks it's mechanically sound, just go for it. Your peace of mind is worth more than +/- £2K and consumables such as brakes and battery shouldn't be a consideration. Photos when you've got it, please

Yes, definitely on the piece of mind, although an element of consumables do need to be taken into account (i.e old battery/nearly knackered discs and pads/3mm tyres combined) but overall this one is in a fair state. It's only in comparison to the current daily which has nearly new discs/pads, new tyres, etc that anything seems like it's needed. I always assume an element of stuff will need changed, and of course whatever performance pads cost.

As to the points made about expecting a discount from friends. Perhaps if he was a best mate, but he's not, and I never really subscribe to the friends should discount for their friends anyway. As long as we're both happy with the price that's the main thing, after all he won't be able to call on a mates discount when it comes to him buying his new car! He'd be getting paid in full too. Cash would be there so I'd definitely not be looking to take the by paying him off over time unnecessarily (different obviously if I'm doing him a favour by taking it off his hands). Pay your debts when they're due, IMO. But equally, in VS322's situation, if it works for both parties then there's absolutely no problem with paying over time.

If you can be sure everytime you get behind the wheel that you love the white paint and won't have a nagging feeling you should have held out for one with a different colour then go for it  2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

I owned an MY12 VSE in Fuji White a few years ago, combined with the MY12 black accents, headlights, front grille etc obviously a personal choice but I thought it looked rather smart and didn’t regret going for that colour

 Jonathan

2007 Defender 90 XS Hardtop

As has been said, there is a lot to be said about buying a car that you know. Of course any 12 year old carries a risk no matter what but at least you know how it has been driven and something of it's recent history which is a positive.
If you think £14k is a bit rich, why not tell your friend that you think for the age and mileage it is worth £12500 and if he thinks he can get more let him advertise it for a few weeks and see what happens.
That way your friend can test the market and if it doesn't sell, he still has a fall back and you could get it at a lower price.
Good luck whatever you choose to do.