Guys, If I was to buy a Rangie from a independent dealer, who would be the best company to give it the once over and make sure it's not a lemon...

I think I heard Land Rover do this, but can't find anything...

The RAC and AA do these independent vehicle checks don't know how much they charge tho ...... Is the indy a reliable dealer would you say .....

I think so, has a lot of prestige cars...

I have had the AA one done before, but I thought I read that Land Rover do one...

Could be wrong...

The only inspection LR do is if the car falls into the Approved Used scheme - less than 6 years old and 100,000 mile IIRC. Give Jez / Matt or James a call and ask them 2018 Mini Countryman Cooper S E All4 PHEV in Melting Silver - it’s whisper quiet in EV and polluter modes

Depending where you are you might find a local independent LR specialist who would give the car the once over for you, for a fee. Just dont tell 'em you are an IT man or they might charge you the IT rates!

Seriously though my local indie LR specialist in Fife said he would happily vet a car for his £time.
He takes £40+VAT an hour so it was not going to be too deadly, however I ended up buying from a LR dealer.

Best having a LR indie look at it, they know what to look for, AA or RAC are jack of all trades type and could easily miss something

specman wrote:

. Just dont tell 'em you are an IT man or they might charge you the IT rates!

Jesus, I don't want them to charge me iT rates... Bloody extortionate...

Cheers for the info guys...

Did anyone mention asking a dealer you know to check the VIN number for warentee work ?

Not sure what model year the car you have found is - quite right not to give any of the details though, if only to avoid any more taking!

Regarding vehicle inspections - IIRC the AA and RAC offer an insurance for their inspections should anything become faulty once you have bought the car - but, as has been mentioned before, not sure about how comprehensive their inspections are with these type of vehicles?!

Ideally you will want some kind of professional who has a good understanding of these vehicles and can offer some kind of guarantee for their service - maybe the local Land Rover Dealership could provide a contact or look over the car for you in their workshops (@ a price of course) - quite possibly they may know the car themselves anyway?

More importantly though - please be very careful when dealing with independant car sales companies.

I have no idea who the company is where you have found this car, without wanting to put you off or meaning to question their reputation - be sure you HPI Check the vehicle yourself...

...without mentioning names, there used to be an independant specialist dealer in my local area that had in stock everything from Bugatti's to Ferrari's - Range Rovers to BMW's (very impressive etc.) even looked at a couple of RR's they had in stock myself - however, when the recent economy slump hit hard, the receivers were called in - turns out that many of their stock vehicles were on sale or return from private individuals (many of which owed finance) - over approx 3 month period the majority of vehicles that garage had 'sold', the finance wasn't cleared and/or the original owners where not paid for their cars, deposits lost etc.

This happened over a year ago and I believe some unfortunate people are still out of pocket to this day.

Like I said iT LAD - I do not want to scare you off buying from an independant, or question the dealers reputation - rather, just offer words of caution

As always delamo, thanks for the advice and the time to explain...

Just got told to off again anyway... The advice could still come in useful in the future.

Dealers are playing hard ball at the mo, hardly budging at all on there price...

I think in the case of the inspection what people mean are an non-franchised LR specialist rather than and independent dealer. The guys that I use (and introduced 47P2 to) are very happy to go and look at a used car with you but they will want a fee for their time, they will also allow you to bring the car to their workshop for an inspection.

iTLad - If the car you are looking at is less than 3 years old it will also have the balance of the LR warranty (for what it is worth!) . I have only done this once but if you note down the VIN you can go to any service dept of a franchised dealer and ask them to download the vehicle's full service history for as long as it has been in the dealer network - very few non-franchised dealers have the ability to do this or to enter service records into the system. If your car is less than 3 years old and the services have been carried out at a franchised outlet then all is OK, even the fitting of dealer-fit accessories should be recorded as they also get a 3 year warranty if fitted at the dealership, all recall/TSB services carried out should also be recorded.
Have you asked our resident non-franchised pre-owned car dealer what he looks for when he is looking for a nice motor to sell? Last thing he wants id an irate customer coming back for repairs I'm sure! 2018 Mini Countryman Cooper S E All4 PHEV in Melting Silver - it’s whisper quiet in EV and polluter modes

iT LAD wrote:

Dealers are playing hard ball at the mo, hardly budging at all on there price...

Some them have a rather optimistic view of the stock prices too.

My local offered me (available in December) a 2008 standard Vogue, 30k miles for 45k

I paid a little over 40k for an SE with less miles, same age and got it a few months earlier.

I think they are all playing on the fact that the weathermen have predicted a long cold hard winter for the UK..........
some of us will be in sunnier climes for the next 3 months even though it is work, Singapore and Hong Kong will very pleasant  2018 Mini Countryman Cooper S E All4 PHEV in Melting Silver - it’s whisper quiet in EV and polluter modes

I just had a conversation with another dealer earlier as I put in another offer... He just laughed, saying I would not get a car for the price I wanted...

Well I nearly did last Saturday...

The prices seem artificially high IMHO, like a cartel..


Fox, you got a cracking deal...


My other half says I've got computer "face" again, as I keep looking for a Rangie.

That was my thought as well as i have been looking nearly all day for either a 4.4 or 3.6 , certains areas of the country are dearer than others for the same car ..........