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GavinBell

Member Since: 10 Sep 2017
Location: Phnom Penh
Posts: 88

2012 Range Rover Westminster 4.4 V8 Santorini Black

A protracted but good buying experience.... One happy puppy

Finally am the owner of a 2012 4.4 V8 Westminster - and am one happy puppy! Finally picked it up last Tuesday, and by Thursday morning was driving off the ferry at Hook of Holland for a 3 day drive across Europe to my main home in Transylvania, Romania - one really good way to get to know a new car.

So glad I made the choice of the FFRR rather than my initial plan of a D4 - after reading the tales of woe about a percentage of Discos with crankshaft issues on the Disco3 site, made the plan to go for what I have always lusted after rather than the 7 seat, huge boot practicality of the D4.

Living out the UK most of the time makes my UK car buying a logistical nightmare - needing to identify a few possibilities and make a decision in a short time - with a return trip to collect. My last saga to pick up a TD5 D2 in 2010 was real pain, with supposedly renowned 4x4 dealers specializing in overland serving up cars that were nice on the outside put a pile of

underneath, meaning a 400USD phone bill to source another whilst on a trip to Uzbek but returning via UK.....

Anyway to cut a story short - based on the feedback here and on Disco3 - I thought that Gary Elliot would be a good candidate, with a public forum reputation of happy buyers. So stated keeping an eye on his stock - initially for a D4, but one morning I was browsing Autotrader and spotted the Westie up for sale by Gary, and after a restless 24 hours gave him a call.....

We chatted about the car for 20 mins... then when I said 'i am actually calling from Romania and cant come for a couple of weeks' heard the understandable sharp intake of breath! But after offering a fairly big deposit - he kept the car until I managed to come and have a look.

After a short test drive after dark and a cup of tea - agreed the deal, based pretty much on the comments of you lot about Gary. Transferred the cash next day and was on the flight from Heathrow to Bucharest....

The next month was incredibly long - hate waiting for a new toy, probably clicking new posts on the site 4-5 times a day - reading all sorts of posts, buying a GAP tool, staring at the few pictures I had....

After a variety of work trips, finally paid a brief visit to unload my hire car of luggage, before a day at WTM at Excel....until I got the tube back n picked her up.

I must say Gary was amazing with such a prolonged process, dealing with a buyer from Romania, getting the car up to Lookers for a full inspection, MOT and keeping it safe until my return - and receiving some amazon purchases to go straight into the car. The car is generally in good nick - a few marks on interior that will come out with some detailing, and an annoying rattle from one of the heat shields ( that only appeared into my journey) - and I think worth the price especially as it has 12mth warranty.

Well impressed - a total change from my previous LR offerings - and the 200kph and still pulling strong on a clear motorway felt so good and easy. So comfortable and relaxed - with what a sound from the stereo!
The infotainment system is ( as expected from this site) not as good as it should be - and the navigation tried a few interesting routing... (but I used my garmin mounted as per Stans model) . Only got western europe maps - not sure if will bother with adding eastern Europe or simply keep garmin in.

Anyway now a fully fledged FFRR owner - one of only 3 L322 in my immediate area! All black though...

And thanks to Stan and all you guys for running a helpful and friendly forum... hope it stays that way and not get distracted and flame ridden like some of the BMW bike forums I also frequent.

Any members heading to Romania.... give me a shout, and if you turn up in an L322 there is a couple of nights free BnB in Transylvania!

Best

Gavin Series 2a LWB Hardtop - ex British Aerospace that was then used in an armed robbery! not by me!
2 door V8 1979 Range Rover
A slight Subaru blip..
110 County 200tdi
R reg 300 tdi Discovery Aviemore - gone to a local enthusiast to be resurrected in Transylvania
2003 TD5 Discovery2 - now sold
and the 2 wheeled Range Rover - BMW R 1150GSA

and finally the big lady of my dreams... 2012 Westminster - gives me a smile every morning

12th Nov 2017 8:06pm

rar110

Member Since: 09 Aug 2014
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 1119

2008 Range Rover Vogue TDV8 Atacama Sand

Congrats Gavin. The last run of L322s is certainly a nice vehicle. Enjoy. And well done Gaz. ______________________________
Vogue tdv8 08MY poverty pack - wow

12th Nov 2017 8:45pm

Baltic Blue

Member Since: 13 Aug 2015
Location: North Wales
Posts: 3774

2011 Range Rover Vogue SE TDV8 Baltic Blue

Looks a stunner.
Hope you enjoy many miles of trouble free motoring.
And I am sure Stan will be along to welcome you into his “Westie” club.

Enjoy 👍👍

Mike. G reg 2.5VM Vogue Portofino red 1991- 1999
V reg 2.5td P38 Rioja red 1999- 2006
53 reg td6 Vogue Oslo blue 2006- 2015
11 reg 4.4 TdV8 Vogue SE. Baltic blue 2015- date.
https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic56162...tty+affair

12th Nov 2017 8:47pm

Paulus1978

Member Since: 09 Nov 2017
Location: Leicester
Posts: 89

2008 Range Rover Vogue SE TDV8 Santorini Black

Thats a really nice looking example. That Santorini Black is really going to grow on you if my experience is anything to go by. When it's freshly polished and the sun is shining, its a stunning colour. All those tiny rainbow coloured metal flakes sparkle and it looks like the FFRR is hewn from a solid lump of lacquered coal.

12th Nov 2017 9:16pm

362bkr

Member Since: 15 Oct 2014
Location: Devon
Posts: 679

2017 Range Rover Autobiography SDV8 Carpathian Grey

Looks a real beauty .

12th Nov 2017 9:18pm

nino_nino

Member Since: 29 Mar 2015
Location: pocitelj
Posts: 690

2012 Range Rover Autobiography Black TDV8 Santorini Black

Beautiful car Gavin, have fun driving to Transylvania. I'm little bit jealous of that nice long drive in a new car, i must confess.

13th Nov 2017 6:40am

Rob99

Member Since: 03 May 2016
Location: Gatwick
Posts: 1425

Welcome to FFRR ownership...........especially a Westie... 2021 D350 Fifty Edition - Carpathian Grey
2017 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography (2021-2024) - Santorini Black
2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster (2016-2021) - Santorini Black

13th Nov 2017 8:41am

GavinBell

Member Since: 10 Sep 2017
Location: Phnom Penh
Posts: 88

Cheers

Thanks all - like I said a cool friendly place!!

Looking forward to getting it polished up properly - gave it a quick wash today and impressed how clean she came up. I think when spring comes may treat her to a full detail ....

Nino... have a long overdue craving for real Cevap - so a run over to BiH is in order sometime, I have a share in a Moto ranc in Novi Sad and the L322 just begs to keep on driving. So not too far...

Got a crazy week finishing project docs for Kyrgyzstan - then a trip to Valencia for 10 days running a course, but after that I will get the GAP tool up and running, fit some proper winter tyres and then take her for a play in the mountains. So expect some newbie questions.

Really need to convince the group that put the 2010 MY manual download together that I am worthy of access without waiting a year - this is a long term ownership and hope to be a useful addition to the forum, especially for any members who are planning trips n holidays to the Balkans, Romania, Georgia, Armenia and the Stans... My work is in tourism development and have a wealth of useful contacts and advice that am happy to share. I did sign up for a week on Topix - but ended up only grabbing a few sections due to workload.

Multumesc

Gavin Series 2a LWB Hardtop - ex British Aerospace that was then used in an armed robbery! not by me!
2 door V8 1979 Range Rover
A slight Subaru blip..
110 County 200tdi
R reg 300 tdi Discovery Aviemore - gone to a local enthusiast to be resurrected in Transylvania
2003 TD5 Discovery2 - now sold
and the 2 wheeled Range Rover - BMW R 1150GSA

and finally the big lady of my dreams... 2012 Westminster - gives me a smile every morning

13th Nov 2017 9:59am

Joe90

Member Since: 29 Apr 2010
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 6409

No pictures of the happy puppy ? .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

13th Nov 2017 3:33pm

Robert

Member Since: 25 Oct 2011
Location: Perigueux
Posts: 2289

2007 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 V8 Zambezi Silver

Congrats and many save miles! Looks great!

13th Nov 2017 8:23pm

gregdav

Member Since: 26 May 2014
Location: just north of stafford
Posts: 1077

What a lovely motor Gavin. Have fun.

13th Nov 2017 9:57pm

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