If the price is in your ballpark, I will buck the trend and say go for the dealer vehicles, with two caveats....that they can provide the service records for each of them, and tell them to throw in some sort of warranty with the sale.


Now, back to see what Griz is up to. lol

 

LOL i figured you'd pop up here sometime!

Update..... Made a long drive yesterday and checked one out. Took it to a Land Rover mechanic shop to have it checked out and here were the things of concern THEY told me: loose tie rod ends, transmission pan leaking, intake valve leaking oil, and about 20 codes (which they soay could not be a big deal but have the dealer address).
Needless to say, one guy started being a butthole when he heard I was taking it to have it checked by a third party. When I told them the report, they got pissed and took it very personal as they have much faith in their mechanics. The shop also told me "I wouldn't drive this home with the tie rods that way."
Dealer called this morning and said they and a different third party mechanic checked the tie rods again and there is NOTHING wrong with them. It did seem to drive and steer perfectly to me. Although the leaks they seem to want to ignore. I know the intake is a 1000 dollar job. I also know its a used vehicle. But at the same time, they are putting a lot of pride and stock into the maintenance they've done on the vehicle. Now my wife wants me to call them back and see what I think.
Oh also, the dealer said they were going to call the mechanic and ream them out massively.
I'm at a loss. It's a low mileage vehicle. Between a rock and a concrete wall....dealer is aristocrat in Kansas city

 

When the finger pointing comes out.. I typically walk away. Best of luck

 

That was my first thought boulderhead.
I talked to the manager earlier and he's blown away by the findings. He had another independent shop look at it as well as his guys and offered me the number of the place. Claims that they take pride in their vehicles and standards. He told me the oil and tranny just has regulygasket seepage and is 100% normal for a vehicle that age and a non destructive event. I really don't know the real answer to that myself. He also said that he has no idea why the other mechanic showed codes and thinks they may not have the right reader. And that they have serviced the vehicle for every appointment and was all done right and they have records. He sounds legitimately genuine about everything too.
Anymore thoughts?

 

Wow I'm really surprised no one mentioned this yet!

There is one SPECIFIC big difference between those two vehicles...

The '06 falls within the faulty differential category (as many on here know, my 06 RRS had both front and rear replaced - my 06 LR3 had rear replaced in service records before I bought it, and after fluid change I know my front is failing as well).

At least from my experience, they WILL fail in 05-06 models. My RRS had them replaced around 85k, my LR3 was around 75k from what I can recall for rear (however the front isn't really noticeable relative to NVH while driving, but the fluid confirmed abnormal wear/failure).

THIS WILL NOT be an issue with the '09, so keep that in mind. Considering the costs involved with maintenance on both is almost identical - having to drop a few grand out of pocket on front and rear diff could equate to nearly 25% of what you paid for the entire vehicle.... so it's a big deal.

I think little things like windshield cowl leaks, the transmission programming issues (probably updated by now, but who knows..) etc would be a non-issue on the '09.

Plus you get the painted fender flares.

I love my '06 though so take that with a grain of salt - I have about 104k on my '06 and that's considered low mileage, so you're looking pretty good on both of those honestly. They're both about 3 years below the mileage they should have!

 

Of course he is blown away, how could something be wrong with the vehicle he is trying to sell you That aside, someone saying that trans fluid or oil fluid leaking, seeping, or otherwise not staying contained is 100% normal and non destructive event... I would have to walk on. Have you seen all the service records for the work they did in the past?

Normal OBD2 scanner is sufficient for diagnosing these beasts and do you have a list of the codes the other group picked up? If you are handy with a wrench buying something that needs some TLC can be an advantage and you can bargain with that.

FWIW, I bought my 06 75K on the odometer and a CEL for fuel trims being out of limit (on the lean side indicating a failing MAF or some air leaks). Had them agree to new PCV, replace the MAF and get a dealer scan (or $1000 off the sticker). They even tried reseting everything with a super fancy reader (couple thousand dollars), but despite new parts and everything they tried I drove it home 150 miles with a CEL. The fix came in the form of an hour on the forums, a can of carb cleaner, removing the throttle body and cleaning everything really well, and making the computers relearn everything again with nothing more than a set of hand tools.

All fluids were neglected, both front wheel bearings needed to be replaced, needed front tires and a few other little bits. Rebuilt front differential may be in my future (fluids looked bad when I changed.. but time will tell). These things are actually quite nice to work on if you feel inclined to tackle the maintenance yourself to save some $$

 

Thanks! I'm starting to think the dealer is sounding more legit after all my studying also. We're probably going to make the decision tonight. I've done everything I have been told to do on here so far. Even paid another mechanic to look at it. Everything on the checklist checks out too.

 

In reference to the question about the dealer I have a few points, which may be the exception, NOT the rule.

I would say to try and go to the nearest dealer you have. Makes things easier for you if you need something. This is if you get a good vibe from them and trust what they tell you. You can expect them to be a little standoffish at first but build a little relationship and it usually goes great afterwards, albeit a very expensive relationship. They will get things done. The dealer in my area now serves pretty much affluent soccer moms and the really wealthy people, so I had to throw them a little business on a few small maintenance items before my service advisor started to get the sense I would be a regular customer with them. Once they like you its awesome.

Unfortunately even if you have the best dealer (I use DC's Tyson's dealership as an example of this), you can't expect them to "school" you on everything there is to know about your rover, there is WAY too much information to grasp, but you can ask about certain things and they will answer honestly. You usually interface through a service advisor who can get the techs to talk to you about certain things but this is hit or miss. If you're lucky the tech might point out a future problem spot to get ahead of, or let you know what parts to use, how to get at a certain area, or give you a cost benefit analysis on repairs, but this is rare.

My advice here is to get your foot in the door with a dealer and slowly try to get more time with the techs. They're generally the ones with no reason to bull**** you. They don't have the same skin in the game as the service advisor, who does want your money. Do as much research as you can on forums that way you can ask the right questions or know how something works before you start paying for some crazy repair.

Just play it cool and understand that you're servicing a super heavy luxury machine, so they break bolts from time to time and call you saying they need it another night, or someone fouled up and they need a part from another dealer, etc. They really appreciate it if you aren't that guy who stands there with sunglasses on indoors and a rolex worth more than their mortgage, turning away from his phone long enough to yell at them because his shiny new range rover isn't out of the wash 30 seconds ago.... All my dealers have cut me some pretty huge breaks just because I was nice and hang out for a bit.

As for tools no, the oreillys scanner will not get you very far. Look up GAP IID tools and the hundreds if not thousands of threads about how awesome they are. $$$, but so worth it.

EDIT: all my talk about dealers is nice but if you are on a budget and yeah the dealer is expensive, a great indy tech is amazing too. I have a guy that takes care of anything I can give him. Same principle, take it easy, build a good rapport, offer some small business and go from there. Hasn't steered me wrong yet.

 

When the mechanic I hired hooked up to the lr3 it showed almost 20 codes but the check engine light wasn't on. He showed me on the screen and I noticed that a lot of them stated misfire on several cylinders but also said "historic" beside it. He acted baffled by it.
The manager of the dealership did say he would provide all service records and that everything was done to the vehicle that should have been.
We are mainly looking because my wife got me started on it and now she is starting to get burned out but mainly because I am being very crazy careful about everything and it is driving her insane. I love the vehicle and think it would fit our lifestyle even more than my avalanche.
Also' I am very handy with a wrench and have always worked on my vehicles except when it comes to tearing into the engine.

 

If the service records check out, you feel good about the folks you are buying from and are handy with a wrench I think you are in pretty good shape.

Best of luck with the purchase, interested to see how you make out