Hi all.
First post on this forum and looking forward to conversing with some of you.

In the New Year I will be looking to purchase a FFRR and after trawling all the car sales sites I have decided it's between a 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE or a 5.0 Litre Supercharged.
My annual mileage is under 10,000 and I prefer Petrol to Diesel in general. Also I tend to do fairly short trips during the week which I know is not good for the TDV8's.
I am an old RR fan having had 8 since 1987 so, under no illusions when it comes to the of joys RR ownership.
I am also good "on the spanners" being a now retired Automobile Engineer.
My only concern with the 5.0 SC is the timing chain tensioner issues and the high cost of repair.
So to my question....finally......"Is there a positive way of finding out if the tensioners have been replaced by the latest modified parts ?"
When buying a vehicle most dealers just produce the service book and show off all the stamps as proof of history but, is it possible to get a comprehensive print out of warranty work done by say a Main Dealer ?

Cheers.

If you're going through the dealer network, they can easily look up the vehicle history. Buying independent your options are ringing the dealers that appear in the service book or hoping the person selling has receipts to prove it. It might pay you to budget replacing them into your price, that way at least you'll know its definitely had them done if you're looking to own it long term.

Thanks for your reply.
I am looking at 10 / 11 plate vehicles so, more likely to be independent dealers rather than MD.
My understanding is that the tensioner issue can affect vehicles as early as 30,000 miles so, if considering mileage of 80 to 90,000, most should have been modified by now ?? (logic or wishful thinking)..
A maintenance fund will be in reserve but, would rather get a vehicle with the tensioners done to save the inconvenience of loosing use of the car.
I suppose I was hoping someone on the forum would have access to a database with the info required.
Interesting times ahead with lots more investigations and forum reading !!!

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone.

If the vehicle was subject to a recall for the Tensioners, it would be easy to ring your nearest dealer and ask them, as Recall Notices have no expiry even though the vehicle does, and they would have it on the vehicle history as having had it done. However I don't think (although if i'm wrong i'm certain one of the more knowledgeable guys will put me right) they were part of a recall, instead being fixed mostly under the standard warranty.

If you're looking at that sort of mileage, most i should think would either have been done, or be in the process of failing when you buy so should be easy enough to spot by listening to the engine running and avoid. A surefire sign is taking the sump pan off and inspecting the bottom of it for little chunks of fragmenting plastic (not really something you can do on a road test i appreciate). It seems from my short time here though that there are still examples which have the original tensioners, simply either by virtue of low mileage, overly regular maintenance or both.

Either way, i hope your new year searching brings home a beauty, and i look forward to seeing photos and specs on the site in due course. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, AJC

You could pm (private email) owners of 5.0 SC on here and ask their experience. Eg supershuttle.

Isn’t there a 5.0 SC for sale on here that has already had the new timing chains done ?

Will have a look....Thanks

If i had the cash i would buy it!

http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic44809.html