Hi all, newbie here,

wondering what you thought of a truck with this many miles on it. it looks in great shape, grant it, i haven't even sat in it yet. the following is the link http://www.underwoodgm.com/VehicleDetails/789028604 for the truck on the dealer website, the add says 12,900 but the sticker on the front when you drive by says 11,900, the interior looked great from what i could see, didn't look abused. the exterior was in great shape. it looks like it came from a ritzy part of the michigan area, where rich people drive these cars cause they are something different, but whoever drove this, drove it alot.

i know quite a bit about cars, but not much about rovers. know they have legendary status in the third world and elsewhere. but anyway, let me know, can i haggle some more. i read elsewhere on the this site that some times people give close to nothing for the trade, is it possible that the dealer has very little into this vehicle and it could be had for less? and from what i gathered reading elsewhere on this site, it seems as though the 04MY is the best of the series II trucks. what should i look for when i go on the second to check it out? what pictures should i take? how should i drive it to find out what is up? etc etc. and is it true that you shouldn't expect any better than 15 mi/g on the highway???????!!!???? yikes,


anyway, any input would be greatly appreciated.

by the way, the only 4x4 experience i have had is my subbie wrx, which is a very different and yet fun beast in itself.

thanks,
steve

 

Check for overheating ..oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil..coolant leaks around the head gasket,
signs of oil leakage around the front cover , heads and oil pan. If the engine has been steam cleaned it will be hard to spot it..

 

Ask the dealer to show you the CarFax report. It should tell you if regular dealer maintenance has been kept. It should also tell you how many owners it's had andwhether or not it was a rental or lease. My guess is that it was a rental. You never know though...

 

At nearly 100,000 miles on it, I would be very careful, you are bound to see a number of thing that will need to be repaired or replaced.

 

is there a price point at which it would be worth it to go ahead in spite of the high miles? like i said, it looks to be in great shape. definitely not a rental. if service records can be found and i check the vin with the local dealerships, at what price should one go ahead with it?

thanks,
steve

 

From being in the Car and RV business a fair price is what you want to pay for it. Any vehicle with 100K miles on it of course could have repair issues in the future. Since it is a new car store offering it, probably was a new car trade in and their shop is confident in the vehicle to retail it rather than wholesale it. They probably offer an extended warranty, and I would recommend buying it and make sure it can be used at any repair shop. I have never been afraid of vehicles over 100k or even 200k just by doing some of the simple checks mentioned earlier. Prepare your self for a little more expense in maintenance cost, but it is worth it. Maybe offer them their 11,900 including a fullextended warranty, which is about 2500 or so.Good Luck

 

Shop around for a better deal. I got my 03 a lot cheaper than that and it had 30k less miles.

 

I just got off the phone with a very nice lady named Carrie up at Farmington Hills Land Rover in Michigan. I politely asked her if she could run the VIN of a Disco that had originally been purchased at there stealersh.... i mean dealership. She asked for the VIN and my number and said that she would call me back. Less than 10 minutes later, she called back and said that the vehicle had been serviced there. She gave me quite a detailed history of the servicing. It had been in 11 times since it was purchased in '04. 5 of those were for what she said were very thorough Land Rover recommended servicing, each running $1100 !!!! (I just about fell out of my chair I was sitting in). Anyway, she said that Land Rover recommends those every 7500 to 10000 miles based on driving habits. The rest of things looked at seemed run of the mill kind of ring ding things. New gas cap she said, not sure if she read it wrong, could "gas" mean gasket and she misinterpreted, anyway, also a sunroof that was closing well, a front light bulb shortage. Last time in, this past May, did a detail job and new brakes, pads I think. As far as she was concerned, Rover's that are taken care of this way are great cars. She said that these were very good service records, and she wasn't blowing smoke cause the Rover isn't even on their lot, it is 75 miles south of them on Chevy lot as a trade in. So anyway, I stopped by the dealership again, and they have 12,700 sunk in to it, it's been there for over 3 months, and they are asking 11,900 just wanting to get rid of it. I think they are desperate and may go to 11 even and they have given a 3000 mile/ 3 month dinky warranty as well.

How does this info change the deal? Like I said, based on the way it looked and now having driven it, it does seem extremely well taken care of. I asked her if the dealership would be willing to give me those records and she said she would ask the service manager for them.

Any more updates would be great.

Thanks a million
Steve

 

The service history is encouraging. However, I don't trust any dealer to tell me the whole story on how much money they really have into a used car. There are too many places to hide the money. Maybe they gave the guy who traded it in a $10,000 factory cash incentive on a new suburban and $2700 for his high mileage trade in. In that case the dealer has $2700 + any servicing into the thing but on paper it looks like $12,700.

Basically, as someone else said, a fair price is what its worth to you. You can always get to the table and tell the guy you'll give him $10,000 cash, or $11,000 if he throws in a warranty. Good luck and let us know what happens. I'd look forward to counting another Rover owner among our ranks.

Dave

 

I agree. Don't let what the dealer says move you any. Take what you want to pay for it. It seems low, until you look at the mileage. You can get them with 25K on the clock for under $15K all week long. 100K is high. If the head gaskets have made it this far, they will need to be replaced soon. You may also be looking at belts, hoses, water pump, alternator,...etc. Plus, with a lower mileage truck, you can extend the warranty. Not much chance on this one.

Unless you like working on things and keep a close eye on how your truck is running, I would save your money and get something else. I would personally walk in with $9K cash and see what they do. (I would also have an extra thousand in the glove box)