Hi Folks

Sorry for another of these posts, but i'm about to venture into RRS buying for the first time and have spent a fair bit of time on this forum and other sites trying to sus out what to look out for when buying.

I have found this one and in fact after seeing it today (without a test drive - long story) i wanted to put a few things out there to seek some advice:

http://www.arnoldclark.com/used-cars/land-...gi-u-13705


The good bits:
Price - £32, 488. Low Mileage - 23.5k, 1 Owner, Full LRSH, Wheels clean (although dealer said they had just been refurbished??), 3 extra packs - Memory, Dynamic, Cold Climate

The bad bits:
Nearside of the car has 2 small dents 10 pence size in door passenger, 2 stone chip marks on rear wheel arch, above rear door bad scratch with dent, front bumper has been scratched and obviously been 'patched' with wrong paint, very small nick on rear bumper. None of the paintwork marks are through to the metal. Just the undercoat showing. Each mark is around 5mm in size. Rear passenger door handle has very small 'nick' in the leather, some marks on headlining (hopefully clean out with valet) and more obvious small 'indents' in one area of headlining where someone has carelessly overloaded the car/boot. Car needed a valet for sure, but it wasn't filthy, just grubby. Boot was clean as was engine bay and floors. Both tyres on nearside where badly 'nicked' like they have been curbed. Sales person said they would be replaced if they fail the MOT.

My wife and I noticed that the car also sat slightly lower on the front left - about 10-15 mm. Although to be fair it was on a slight slope - sloping away from the drivers side, so not sure if the car was 'auto levelling' which gave us that impression/illusion.

The car hasn't been through service or mot yet, but assured it will be serviced where they are waiting for a 'Spiral Cable' to be fitted. We couldn't test drive it today as the Manager said he didn't want to risk anything with this 'Spiral Cable' fault, we said we were not happy as we travelled quite a way!

Apart from the passenger side and an area on the front bumper (about 4 inches) then the rest of the body work is in good nick.


Car starts on the button, no smoke, sounds good, suspension as far as i can tell does go into the 3 settings ok at standstill. Drive, reverse also selects ok, although i only drove it 10 feet.

The dealer gives a 2 month warranty but also offers a 2 year warranty for £575.


We left unhappy with the car, but the price is tempting - it is 4k down on equivalent car (with less spec) in our area. Within a few miles after leaving the sales guy called us and said they would repair the roof mark/dent, door and front bumper. It will be fully valeted and serviced and MOT'd with new tyres replaced if needs be.

My main concerns are:
Front suspension if it is 'sloped' at front when in 'Normal' - is it? easy enough to tell i guess if parked on the flat.
Wheels (are they genuine?) - HOw can i tell without removing one?
Bodywork problems (if 'bodged') - especially roof above passenger nearside door

I won't buy the car without a proper test drive over speed bumps etc etc. But i have secured it for the time being.

What do you think objectively?

Thanks all!

Hi Chris,
Welcome to the site

Pleased to see you are doing your homework. Not sure if that is a typo error on your part, but you should get a minimum 3 month warranty from a dealer.
Arnold Clark aren't a L/R specialist from what i know, so they won't have a clue what they are selling. For me, that has too many issues for a car with 23000 miles. Obviously it hasn't been loved, but then again, it might have been used for what it was built for. I'm not sure on your exact spec and budget, but take a look at Peachy's RRS he is thinking of selling. Lovely well cared for top of the range Autobiography. There are plenty to choose from, so don't buy the first one you see. One good thing about this one you have been to see, you know what wants doing to it, before it is ready for sale.

Personally, Keep Looking there are others out there, May be low miles one owner, but doesn't sound well cared for.

Cheers
Col

Objectively - I would purchase my 61 plate 12MY Sport for a few £ more

Seriously - it seems the service is not what it should be - approved used Landrover offer a 2 year warranty now as standard - this alone is worth over £2k. The dents & dings would put me off - the Sport sounds unloved

Take your time there are plenty around & eventually you will find the right one if you find one a few miles away - post the link on here for feedback - you may even get a forum member volunteer to go have a look over it for you

Welcome to the forum & good luck with your search  16MY Estoril Blue SVR.............
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Buy meeeee

It's an awful lot of money for that list of Bad bits' in my opinion. If it hasn't been loved on the outside the chances are it hasn't been on the inside either, or driven with any sympathy. Plenty to choose from in that price bracket so I would walk on by.

For that money go to a main dealer and it will come with a 2 year warranty  Visitor from fullfatrr.com
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If you are prepared to travel to Edinburgh from Aberdeen to see an Arnie Clark dealership then nip out to Pentland Land Rover at Newbridge, just west of the airport at the big roundabout where the M9 and M8 meet. They are franchised LR dealers with a huge stock of used Land Rovers of all varieties and have a pretty good reputation and will offer you better cars and service than Arnie's Empire can. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
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Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Ady 555 wrote:

Hi Chris,
Welcome to the site

Pleased to see you are doing your homework. Not sure if that is a typo error on your part, but you should get a minimum 3 month warranty from a dealer.
Arnold Clark aren't a L/R specialist from what i know, so they won't have a clue what they are selling. For me, that has too many issues for a car with 23000 miles. Obviously it hasn't been loved, but then again, it might have been used for what it was built for. I'm not sure on your exact spec and budget, but take a look at Peachy's RRS he is thinking of selling. Lovely well cared for top of the range Autobiography. There are plenty to choose from, so don't buy the first one you see. One good thing about this one you have been to see, you know what wants doing to it, before it is ready for sale.

Ady 555 wrote:

Hi Chris,
Welcome to the site

Pleased to see you are doing your homework. Not sure if that is a typo error on your part, but you should get a minimum 3 month warranty from a dealer.
Arnold Clark aren't a L/R specialist from what i know, so they won't have a clue what they are selling. For me, that has too many issues for a car with 23000 miles. Obviously it hasn't been loved, but then again, it might have been used for what it was built for. I'm not sure on your exact spec and budget, but take a look at Peachy's RRS he is thinking of selling. Lovely well cared for top of the range Autobiography. There are plenty to choose from, so don't buy the first one you see. One good thing about this one you have been to see, you know what wants doing to it, before it is ready for sale.

Col wrote:

Personally, Keep Looking there are others out there, May be low miles one owner, but doesn't sound well cared for.

Cheers
Col

Thanks. Still looking!

PEACHY wrote:

Objectively - I would purchase my 61 plate 12MY Sport for a few £ more

Seriously - it seems the service is not what it should be - approved used Landrover offer a 2 year warranty now as standard - this alone is worth over £2k. The dents & dings would put me off - the Sport sounds unloved

Take your time there are plenty around & eventually you will find the right one if you find one a few miles away - post the link on here for feedback - you may even get a forum member volunteer to go have a look over it for you

Welcome to the forum & good luck with your search

Tim in Scotland wrote:

If you are prepared to travel to Edinburgh from Aberdeen to see an Arnie Clark dealership then nip out to Pentland Land Rover at Newbridge, just west of the airport at the big roundabout where the M9 and M8 meet. They are franchised LR dealers with a huge stock of used Land Rovers of all varieties and have a pretty good reputation and will offer you better cars and service than Arnie's Empire can.

Yeah Edinburgh and Glasgow is ok for us. Will check out Pentland. Thanks!

DrRob wrote:

For that money go to a main dealer and it will come with a 2 year warranty

Bladeboy wrote:

It's an awful lot of money for that list of Bad bits' in my opinion. If it hasn't been loved on the outside the chances are it hasn't been on the inside either, or driven with any sympathy. Plenty to choose from in that price bracket so I would walk on by.