Hi all.

Does anyone know if there is a way of establishing whether any cars were actually built with a particular specification?

I appreciate that I won't be able to identify the current owner of a certain VIN number but it would be very handy to know whether or not the car spec I am looking for actually exists or not!!

Any pointers / ideas / contacts very much appreciated!

Cheers!

 -----------------------------------------------
2016MY FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Loire Blue
2007MY FFRR 3.6 TDV8 Vogue SE Tonga Green

If you have the VIN, pop it into this site and it will tell you the factory build spec and several other bits of handy info including original reg number:

http://www.vindecoderz.com/ Jordan


'56 SC 4.2 ‘21-Current
'56 SC 4.2 ‘16-‘18

Yes, if you know the VIN you're OK but I've never found any place I can enquire based on selectable options other than the Land Rover used cars site. You can tick boxes there and end up with a list of potential candidates but IIRC it was one of your posts you mentioned a 2011 which won't be in the LR approved used network. Max 5 years old so only the last of the L322's. Maybe worth a punt though.

Which options are you wanting, or is it an unusual combination of options which is causing pain?

JPHC - I am aware of the Vindecoderz site but thank you very much anyway.

As mzplcg picked up on, I need to establish what vins have a particular spec, not what spec a particular vin has. Thanks any way though.

Mzplcg - I would like to establish how rare my ideal vehicle is, so that when I do come across one, I do not end up "passing it up" by being too picky, thinking that another 'better' one will be along in due course!

The ideal spec is:

4.4TDV8 2011MY+
Autobiography (VERY high spec Vogue SE or TOTALLY loaded Westminster MAY do but ideally I want the extra leather)
Ideally Green (that is the really tricky and rare bit!!)
If not then Grey.
(Blue may be considered for the perfect car at right price but not really what I want)
Must have Ivory leather.
Grand black lacquer extended 14 piece wood set
Less than 60k miles

Must also have:

Vision assist pack
Adaptive cruise control
Adaptive headlights
Electrochromatic wing mirrors
Side steps (ideally fixed)

Ideally the Harmon Kardon 19 speaker 1200w upgraded stereo - a STRONG plus
Ideally Rear mud flaps (a plus but not essential)
Ideally rear seat entertainment (but not essential)
Ideally reclining rear seats (but not essential)
Tow bar a plus (but not essential)
Ski hatch / bag a VERY VERY strong plus

I appreciate that to be honest this is pretty much everybody's dream spec (and a lot of 'extra' boxes must have been ticked when it was ordered!) but that is what I am looking for.

Hence, I need to know just how 'picky' I can be when a 'very nearly' car comes up!!

If anybody has any ideas on a) a suitable car or b) how to establish just how many cars were produced with the above spec, I would be very, very grateful!

Cheers!  -----------------------------------------------
2016MY FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Loire Blue
2007MY FFRR 3.6 TDV8 Vogue SE Tonga Green

Sorry mate, I didn't read your first post thoroughly enough. Must be the heat!
I understand now. I don't think there is any single site that lets you cross reference that kind of detailed spec against the current market.

I had similar taste for a highly specced car and it took almost a year to find it, but I got there in the end.

I would get that spec to a few LR dealers as well as a few local trusted dealers near you, if they haven't got it they might be able to source it. I'd also put that spec on the Wanted/For Sale section of this forum, you never know.

You can also setup a search on Autotrafer. I know AT doesn't let you get too granular on the spec, but you can still get the base spec in there and save it as a search. Every morning the search will run automatically and email you new results so you can be completely on top of what is available on the market day by day.

Hope it finds you soon mate  Jordan


'56 SC 4.2 ‘21-Current
'56 SC 4.2 ‘16-‘18

Sounds like my car !

JPHC wrote:

If you have the VIN, pop it into this site and it will tell you the factory build spec and several other bits of handy info including original reg number:

http://www.vindecoderz.com/

You are clearly a man of great taste and distinction Rambles!

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2016MY FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Loire Blue
2007MY FFRR 3.6 TDV8 Vogue SE Tonga Green

Well, aside from the engine my previous car which is now in the network would have been perfect. Was a 5.0 S/C though.

Your options list is comprehensive but let's take it back to what you can get away with for a moment.

4.4TDV8 2011MY+ Easy.
Autobiography (VERY high spec Vogue SE or TOTALLY loaded Westminster MAY do but ideally I want the extra leather) Start with AB models. They generally have more goodies.
Ideally Green (that is the really tricky and rare bit!!) Erm, you'll be lucky.
If not then Grey. More likely.
(Blue may be considered for the perfect car at right price but not really what I want)
Must have Ivory leather. Not many grey or blue cars had Ivory. This is a real limiter.
Grand black lacquer extended 14 piece wood set. Can be retro-fitted so forget it for now.
Less than 60k miles. Pushing it on what is now at least 4 years old cars

Must also have:

Vision assist pack. A sod to retrofit to needs to be there really.
Adaptive cruise control. As above
Adaptive headlights. Standard on AB
Electrochromatic wing mirrors. Standard on Vogue Se and above
Side steps (ideally fixed) Retro-fittable.

Ideally the Harmon Kardon 19 speaker 1200w upgraded stereo - a STRONG plus Almost all ABs had this
Ideally Rear mud flaps (a plus but not essential) Retrofit
Ideally rear seat entertainment (but not essential) Hard to find and even harder to retrofit
Ideally reclining rear seats (but not essential) LOL, I've seen one and it was mine. Think hard about the necessity of this
Tow bar a plus (but not essential) Retrofit
Ski hatch / bag a VERY VERY strong plus. Parts can be bought and the thing retrofitted. Ask Ducky Dan on this. You might be able to cross it off the "must have" list.

Look back at that now. There must be a few cars out there for sure but I seriously doubt you'll fins any LR approved used ones. I checked the site before typing this and there were NO L322s with rear seat entertainment, None. You might get lucky with the PX machines coming in with the September registrations. I strongly recommend calling every dealer you know and asking them to look for one. Big groups like Stratstone, Lancaster etc have computerised access to the entire group stock. Make friends in these places.

Bear in mind that the LR approved used warranty can only be put on cars up to 5 years old. (registration date) so you oldest car now would be a 12MY Sept registered in 2011. This was the final year of production for L322 and LR were building Westies like they were going out of fashion, mostly to empty the parts bins. Anyone ordering an AB model was logically going to wait a year for L405.

So you're stuck with the non main dealer stuff it seems. There is no single place to look, nor a search engine which lets you tick all the options you want. It will be a tedious search for sure unless you can modify the list of requirements.

If you want some friendly sales people I can PM a couple.

Best of luck.

Dom.

RSE is one that splits opinion - I think you're better spending the money in a couple of iPads - the RSE screens are too small.

RSE has the benefit of being controllable from the front screen, but that's more than outweighed by the advantages of an iPad IMHO. Try asking your kids.....

Reclining rear seats also seem like a waste of time to me - and I have them

Ski hatch retro fit is more complex than you might think - could be wrong, but think it's a new seat back rather than cutting a hole..... like this

What is vision assist pack?

Many thanks Mzplcg (Dom) - everything you say is very much in line with what I have discovered / am thinking. All good advice. Thank you.

The one thing I will say as a minor correction to your very helpful summary is that it is not strictly true that Electrochromatic Wing mirrors are standard on VSE and above..... yes in 2011 but in 2012, there was no VSE, only Westminster and Autobiog. The Westminster didn't have them (nor did it have adaptive headlights or adaptive cruise).

The standard Westminster is in fact a pretty low spec. Certainly lower spec'd than the VSE.

I appreciate that green is very unlikely (which is why I would like to find out if they ever even made a green autobiography with ivory!). Grey and Ivory should be do-able though. I have seen a few.

The thing about retro-fitting is although possible, it is likely to end up being too expensive to warrant it really. Hence trying to find it all in one car.

I didn't realise almost all AB's had the upgraded stereo though. Most that I have seen don't seem to mention this, so I had assumed that they were the standard item. Interesting. Makes a Westminster even more unlikely to be the one for me as this is the only 'option' that it has fitted as standard!

As you say and very much as per my initial thoughts, it really is an AB that I am after....

Thanks again... -----------------------------------------------
2016MY FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Loire Blue
2007MY FFRR 3.6 TDV8 Vogue SE Tonga Green

Alistair

All good points about RSE and Reclining seats - nice to have but by no means a deal breaker for me (that is why I mentioned them as "ideal but not essential".

I have RSE now - have used it a few times but could easily live without it.

Premium seat pack - is more about 'having all the goodies' (and cooled seats in the rear) than actual practicality. After all I can count on one hand the number of times I have been in the back of my current car!!. I definitely would not 'turn down' a car for not having this option. (Standard on AB though I believe - certainly on 2012MY).

Thanks for the 'heads up' about the ski hatch. Didn't think about retrofitting this. At Flashman's price for the part, it is a real option! (looks like quite a lot of work involved though!!)

Cheers for your input! -----------------------------------------------
2016MY FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Loire Blue
2007MY FFRR 3.6 TDV8 Vogue SE Tonga Green

Baltic Blue -

The Vision Assist Pack is essentially a surround camera system - five different views from around the exterior of the vehicle - so you can monitor the exterior of the car (and positioning in relation to any objects you might be close to).

It also includes a 'Blind Spot Monitoring' feature, 'Tow Assist' and 'High Beam Assist' (auto dipping of main beams).

All nice features in my book... -----------------------------------------------
2016MY FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Loire Blue
2007MY FFRR 3.6 TDV8 Vogue SE Tonga Green

Thanks Olders.
My 2011 VSE seems to have everything else on the list, plus also I really like the black roof headling it has, but this is not mentioned on my build sheet.