As I have received so much help from fellow members (particularly Superspark) I thought I would share my experience in the hope that it will help someone else. I had a FL2 S manual in Tonga Green which was an absolute pleasure to own. I did, however, miss some of the toys and creature comforts of the cars I had owned previously.

I narrowed down my choice to an XS which quickly changed to a HSE after asking other members opinions. I started looking at both main and local dealers and the car supermarkets. The first thing that struck me was the huge variation in price. Mileage of course plays a part in this but I quickly came to the conclusion that at the moment price guides are useless and the market is extremely buoyant for used FL2's. As a consequence dealers are asking what they think they can get away with. I spent a couple of weeks noting price vs spec, age and mileage to get an idea of what the maximum and minimum prices were and which main dealers offered the best value for money. The latter is an eye opener as some cars were 2-3000 pounds more than the others with no obvious reason why (other than profit).

At this point I popped mine on ebay. After numerous emails offering to give me the trade price now (dealers) I finally started to get genuine buyers. The first person to view mine bought it-I asked about a thousand pounds more than the trade in price so hopefully we both got a reasonable deal. Having already done my homework on pricing I then went to view two private HSE's, one car supermarket and one main dealer. Both private cars were ok but one needed servicing, taxing and a new MOT and the other three new tyres. Neither owner would reduce their asking price accordingly so I walked (Lesson No1-ask all the relevant questions before travelling!). The car supermarket FL2 was a shocker. Priced just below the main dealers, it looked like it had been repeatedly driven through a hedge-I have never seen so many scratches. The salesman optimistically said they would polish out but in my view it would require polishing down to the primer which I'm not sure would hold a shine! It also had a rather large brown stain on the ivory leather drivers seat. I'm unsure if this was related to the numerous scratches and perhaps an unexpected trip through a hedge but it certainly put me off (Lesson No2-although it doesn't look as nice, black leather is far more practical than ivory-particularly for any scary driving moments!). The fourth car (main dealer) was a peach. One owner, supplied by the dealer I bought it from and maintained by them. It is a little higher mileage (50k) than I wanted but the lower mileage cars were 2.5k more so I concluded it was the ideal balance between age mileage and condition. It also comes with the added benefit of a 12 month land rover warranty which I think is worth the extra miles. So I am now the proud owner of a 09 plate HSE auto in grey which is being delivered on Wednesday. I will make a donation to the site as soon as I get paid as I didn't want finance and as a consequence I'm officially skint!!

Last edited by Labradorslave on 14th Jul 2013 10:50 am. Edited 1 time in total

It's great to hear that you have finally found a replacement.

I would always avoid car supermarkets. Their cars are often in bad condition, and I found that the salesmen tried to badger me into buying the car. I left and I will never return!

Looking forward to seeing some pictures too.

Enjoy your new car it sounds a good one,Google paragraphs

I see your point- I got a little carried away I think-it was only supposed to be a short post. I will add a few in!!

I think you are right with a huge variance between similar cars of similar age. I checked out V-Cars site and narrowed down the search to the spec I wanted whilst keeping an eye out locally. By chance I ended up looking at 2 Mobility cars. One (59 GS) was low miles 25,000 and VG condition but the tailgate inside was badly scratched by a wheelchair ( well that's what the car was bought for ) and a steering wheel large indent where a steering knob to aid driving had been used. The 2nd ( 09 GS ) 35000 miles was overall in GC and £1,000 cheaper.so I bought this one. My local Vauxhall dealer had an 08 GS for the same price I paid for the 09 GS and it was OK outside but filthy inside with stained seats, dog hair, soil in the boot and shabby, with trim scratched. He offered me £800 less than I got for my trade in so no deal. However within 3 weeks had dropped the 08 car by £1200. How much profit was he hoping to make at the original price I wonder? He should at least cleaned it before putting it on the forecourt.

Glad you are now fixed up, so enjoy it and don't read too much into the many issues that litter this forum but know that it is of great help when you need it.