Firstly, Hi All...

I'm looking to purchase a RR Sport HSE 2006. It has 50k on the clock, has a full service history (dealer) and the non franchised dealer is asking £20995 for it.

I've test drove it today for about 2 hours in total, apart from a slight wobble on the steering at about 55mph, all seems to be working and in good condition.

Now... I normally buy my cars from franchised dealers and as such, I get a minimum 12 month dealer warranty, so forgive me if I sound OVER cautious, but I just want to ensure I've not missed anything obvious and if I could get your inputs on what can and does go wrong with these cars please.. I would really appreciate any information.

details:
2006 06 LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER SPT TDV6 HSE A Auto 5 Door Estate
BLACK
50,000 Miles
1 Keepers
PRICE - £20,995
Remote Central Locking, Electric Windows, Electric Mirrors, ABS, Traction Control, Climate Control, Power Steering, Drivers Airbag, Passenger Airbag, Side Airbags, Cruise Control, Alarm, Immobiliser, Full Leather Interior, Alloy Wheels,parking sensors,sat nav,fsh


I've got till 11am tomorrow (Wednesday) to make my mind up if I want to go forward with it.. so any quick feedback on the deal would be greatly appreciated. ps.. I have carried out a full HPI check and all is clear.

Is an extended warranty a good idea? they seem expensive but there again, its a lot of car i suppose.. Almost, maybe an owner soon.... with your help....

The Extended Warranty is a MUST! On these qcars. If any thing goes wrong then it's expense. You also have to get that steering wobble sorted before you buy. Are you buying from a Land Rover dealer? If you are they are much better at fixing them. They have the famous knocking front suspension but can be sorted. It's a hell of a car for the money. They are not cheep to run so be warned.

sweetafton wrote:

The Extended Warranty is a MUST! On these qcars. If any thing goes wrong then it's expense. You also have to get that steering wobble sorted before you buy. Are you buying from a Land Rover dealer? If you are they are much better at fixing them. They have the famous knocking front suspension but can be sorted. It's a hell of a car for the money. They are not cheep to run so be warned.

Bloody hell a two hour test drive! You sound like my worst nightmare

I should take a leaf out of your book mind, I sell cars for a living but when it comes to buying my own personal cars I'm extremely impulsive

Get the document reference number from the dealer and do an MOT history check online (http://motinfo.direct.gov.uk/internet/jsp/ECHID-Internet-History-Request.jsp), have a look at any failure/advisories and you can also see the mileages to see if it's consistant.

Sounds like a good car to be honest, 1 owner, low miles for the age, main dealer service history, and a fair retail value. If your happy with it and you've done your homework, then why not!

My tick list was HST, Logic 7 and a sunroof

It sounds like a good car for the price, ask if it is possible to contact the previous owner and have a few important questions at the ready to ask them about the car, has it ever had any accident damage, reason for selling, how reliable has it been, did it have any known faults when he/she sold it, they might even tell you how much they sold it for if you are lucky, get as much information as you can from him/her if alls well insist on a 12 month warranty then ask for a discount, if you are happy with your result then go ahead and buy it, when the white stuff starts falling it will for sure be worth a bit more than its advertised for, good luck if you want any info about an after market warranty just let me know.

Thanks everyone so far for this input.. all good advice.. and I will take it up.. Ady, In the car was a pack containing receipts for work carried out on the car at the main dealer. It had the last owners contact info in.. so I've got it and will be calling them tomorrow morning ..

In all honesty. The car looks immaculate through out..

Re after market warranty. I would like some information regarding this but I'm not sure I can pm yet.. but please feel free to PM me with details.. Almost, maybe an owner soon.... with your help....

Ideally you should be looking for a pucker LR warranty, but it's likely an authorised dealer will have to inspect the car first.
If you go for the warranty offered by the garage your buying from give it a good going over to see if its going to cover the parts which commonly fail on a sport ie the suspension, also make sure it has a decent claims limit.

Nik.

uktivo wrote:

Thanks everyone so far for this input.. all good advice.. and I will take it up.. Ady, In the car was a pack containing receipts for work carried out on the car at the main dealer. It had the last owners contact info in.. so I've got it and will be calling them tomorrow morning ..

In all honesty. The car looks immaculate through out..

Re after market warranty. I would like some information regarding this but I'm not sure I can pm yet.. but please feel free to PM me with details..

Nik wrote:

Ideally you should be looking for a pucker LR warranty, but it's likely an authorised dealer will have to inspect the car first.
If you go for the warranty offered by the garage your buying from give it a good going over to see if its going to cover the parts which commonly fail on a sport ie the suspension, also make sure it has a decent claims limit.

Nik.

uktivo wrote:

Thanks everyone so far for this input.. all good advice.. and I will take it up.. Ady, In the car was a pack containing receipts for work carried out on the car at the main dealer. It had the last owners contact info in.. so I've got it and will be calling them tomorrow morning ..

In all honesty. The car looks immaculate through out..

Re after market warranty. I would like some information regarding this but I'm not sure I can pm yet.. but please feel free to PM me with details..

I've had a land rover extended warranty for eighteen months and never had a claim, had decided when it expires next year I wouldn't bother renewing it, my suspension compressor packed up on Wednesday and car is currently in having a new one fitted!.

The whole experience has been very easy, tech was at the house within an hour of calling them, hire car was delivered to house the same day, might just renew the warranty after all.

I would research any warranty thoroughly before buying, some will not cover full labour rate of main dealer, which if you want use main dealers is no good.

As a 2006 TDv6 it shouldn't have the DR problems as DR was an option not standard so that should mean the front bushes maybe worn but less likely than on a car with Dynamic Response. There is a way to tell under the bonnet - there is an extra header/ filler for the hydraulics compared to non DR cars.

I would check 1st if it has new wheels fitted and if these are bigger than 19" and whether or not are genuine OEM. If bigger than 19" then cars at this age required a steering rack upgrade to carry any bigger wheels, so that would be the first thing to get checked out. With the VIN a main dealer will be able to tell if that upgraded steering rack was fitted. If you search in the forum you will find posts that tell you what to look for if you want to check yourself.

Also around 2006MY there was a problem with balance weights falling off the wheels - so it could be a simple wheel balance problem if the car is still on it's original wheels.

With the VIN also get a main dealer to check it has had all the TSB and recalls done - in fact get the selling dealer to get all this done and to provide a printout from the nearest main dealer at the supplying dealer's expense before you accept the car.

I would also walk away if the car don't have full LR main dealer servicing - there are stacks of other cars out there and you can afford to be very very choosy at the moment, cars are not selling so go for the very best. No non LR franchise dealer is going to service the car as it should be, for a start they won't carry out most of the fluid changes or lubing that LR requires because it is difficult and expensive - one reason why franchised dealers are expensive, it takes along time to do the jobs.

I don't own an RRS now but I ran a launch day delivery 2.7 from May 2005 until October 2007 and then a Tdv8 from 2007 until 2010. Something else to check is if it has a fuel burning heater fitted................. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Tim in Scotland wrote:

I would also walk away if the car don't have full LR main dealer servicing - there are stacks of other cars out there and you can afford to be very very choosy at the moment, cars are not selling so go for the very best. No non LR franchise dealer is going to service the car as it should be, for a start they won't carry out most of the fluid changes or lubing that LR requires because it is difficult and expensive - one reason why franchised dealers are expensive

With all due respect that is nonsense. In my experience with any premium marque, non franchised specialists have given me a service that is head and shoulders above the sanitised junior apprentice-working-on-your-car crap that you pay double/triple for at a main dealer. These people have generally spent their entire life getting to know and love the cars they work on and are infinitely more knowledgable than the 18 year old spotty youths that are hired to maximise the profits of the multi-franchise people that don't give a flying if they are working on an Audi a BMW or a Vauxhall.

A good service history, wherever it is from is essential but to insist on it being main dealer is totally bonkers.

eddiek62 wrote:

Tim in Scotland wrote:

I would also walk away if the car don't have full LR main dealer servicing - there are stacks of other cars out there and you can afford to be very very choosy at the moment, cars are not selling so go for the very best. No non LR franchise dealer is going to service the car as it should be, for a start they won't carry out most of the fluid changes or lubing that LR requires because it is difficult and expensive - one reason why franchised dealers are expensive

With all due respect that is nonsense. In my experience with any premium marque, non franchised specialists have given me a service that is head and shoulders above the sanitised junior apprentice-working-on-your-car crap that you pay double/triple for at a main dealer. These people have generally spent their entire life getting to know and love the cars they work on and are infinitely more knowledgable than the 18 year old spotty youths that are hired to maximise the profits of the multi-franchise people that don't give a flying if they are working on an Audi a BMW or a Vauxhall.

A good service history, wherever it is from is essential but to insist on it being main dealer is totally bonkers.

Forgive me but I think you are missing the point. Buying a car from a non-franchised LR dealer AND getting them to service it would be wrong in my opinion. I think that is the point Tim is making. Buying from a non-franchised dealer and getting an independant LR specialist to service it is very different and you can get a much, much better quality service for good value. Warranty work may be tricky but they can advise on that accordingly.

Just my two penneth worth.

Richard

Tim does say he'd walk away from a car that doesn't have a full LR dealer service history though.
I however do agree with you Eddie in that a specialist garage is probably a better option than main dealer for servicing. I have now started taking mine to a LR specialist owned and ran by two ex LR technicians. They have all the knowledge and diagnostic equipment and are considerably cheaper than my local Stratstones who I wouldn't trust with a clapped out Fiat! 2015 Golf R DSG
Gone 2013 Mercedes C220 CDi AMG Sport Plus
Gone 2008 2.7 RRS HSE

I wouldn't hesitate to use a non-franchised Land Rover Specialist - I use one in the Glasgow area for my Defender and would recommend them to anybody. However I wouldn't recommend getting your local (in my case) village or backstreet garage who are general repairers and fetlers to look at a modern Land Rover product, they are too complex and specialist. Non specialist garages are good at Ford's and Vauxhalls but not with Range Rover Sports however old - and it was my beloved Defender (hardly a hitch vehicle) that they nearly ended the life of trying to change a cam belt.

What I did recommend but maybe didn't put across well is if you are buying any modern (post 1998) Land Rover product from a non-franchised dealership then get them to have the car fully checked out at a Land Rover Dealership, you could also take it to an LR specialist - often you will get fully factory trained technicians at a specialist looking after your car using genuine parts and it will cost a lot less than using a main dealer, but also some of them many be out of touch enough that they don't know about things like the auto gearbox and VCU not being sealed for life as LR documentation states - in LR's eyes sealed for life now means for the duration of the new car warranty and even the factory now recommends after 3 years to have the sealed for life units checked out. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Tim, what was the specialist you used in the Glasgow/central belt area? I've heard good reports about taggarts (Glasgow) but would like to look at alternatives.