Hi everyone,
New to the site and totally new to land rover (previous BMW man). I am looking at purchasing a 61 plate SD4 HSE from Armstrong Masser dealership with the 2 year unlimited mileage warranty. It has 33k on the clock.

Would you be kind enough to offer some advise on the things I should be looking out for on the vehicle. Are there any known issues with this model/year that I should question the dealer about. Any recall issues etc?

I am test driving the vehicle later today, so is there anything specific I should be checking with this vehicle.

Thanks in advance for any advice offered

gareth

If it has anything wrong with it the warranty will sort it, depends how you feel about losing it to the dealer for a few days but drive another nice car. Just listen for noises that shouldn't be there and body work repairs, usually show up as slight paint miss match on panels. You will be surprised by the performance, gear changes should be smooth under hard acceleration. my PC is slightly to the right of Genghis
2012 HSE SD4 In Orkney Grey now gone, best car ever.

Any noise or whine needs to be looked at, there are fixes for them under warranty.

The paint on plastic panels will be slightly shaded, bumpers and lower door trims.

Have a look underneath, there are brackets sticking down from the fuel tank, and a silver heatshield, if it has been clobbered off road these will shown signs.

Brake discs should be clean and unscored, scoring would suggest heavy use, mine did 70k miles and looked very even.

Steering light and straight

Auto box should change 'fairly' smoothly, its an adaptive box and will have adapted to someone else's style, try it in sport mode and commend shift.

On the move, select the Terrain response modes, don't worry you won't break it but if there is an issue it will error rather than select the mode.

Check all door locks, window movements etc, all covered under warranty but don't forget them now, its easy on a test to overlook these things in the excitement.

Engine bay should be clean, mine new one has 30k miles and is clean under there.

Tyres, evenly worn, fronts slightly more so, if it has Continentals the front nearside may have shoulder wear, all the conti's do this.

Come back later and let us have your thoughts

Good list above:

Worn tyres 'can' produce a road whine and enough to worry you, especially worn Wranglers but as said, get any whine checked out.

High level brake light has a habit of leaking water into the boot area. Never had it on my MY11 SD4 but have now had a new one fitted on my MY13 SD4

Make sure the boot opens in normal use and by key fob, the lock mechanism has been known to suffer from water ingress.

The steering at first will seem over light but you will soon get use to it

Look at the wheel arch rubber edging strips, it has metal strengthening inside of it and rusts and lifts, get them to renew if you buy as the rusting will transfer to the metal arch lip.

Best of luck

I've had my 61 plate XS for a month now and I'm pretty clued up when it comes to choosing the right car.
I got the dealership to sort out a scratch on one of the doors and they had to give it the next big service which wasn't yet due as LR made them do it to get it onto the 2015 two years warranty offer.

The car got two new front tyres, new discs and pads up front and new pads on the rear.

The one thing I did miss was the leaking rear high level brake light. Mine wasn't the bodywork seal failing, but the spray nozzle O-ring inside the light that failed. You push the squirter and half the fluid ended up inside the light.

Love the car, shame the lock on the steering isn't as good as the Skoda Yeti I traded in.

Of all the Land Rover dealers I have visited (about 5), I found Armstrong Massey to be by far the best. The preparation went above and beyond what I expected and I would not think twice about purchasing another FL2 from them

So.....

Firstly thanks to all who took time to respond. Found all the points really useful, checked everyone and it gave me a bit of confidence with a vehicle I am not familiar with atm.

The test drive went well. I had already tested a 13 plate SD4 HSE the previous day and found it to be similar (not identical as the salesman suggested) I found the 61 plate engine to be a little louder ticking over (or not as well soundproofed in the cab) and the steering seemed much more responsive (almost twitchy).

I checked every point mention above and couldn't see any signs of damage. Everything worked as expected as did all electrics. There was no whining noises to note at all and all tyres seem to be wearing evenly. I was relieved to see that the heat shield was how it should be and there were no dints or bends underneath. I did notice the paint on the tow bar is scuffed on the ball which make me think this may have been used for towing. Is there anything additional that should be checked as a result of that or anything to look out for??

Gear box was smooth, pulled nice throughout the range. Averaged 41 mpg which I was pleased with. All driving modes selected without any errors.

In addition to the checks and service they are doing themselves, they have agreed to top the air con up, supply new carpet mats throughout (has rubber ones in existing), supply 6 months tax and discount future servicing.

They have also agreed at my request that the leather seats are conditioned and a full machine polish to the paintwork outside. I was pointed out the spider webs in the paintwork that made the finish look cloudy. The salesman smiled and said I certainly had an eye for detail lol!

So, all being well I will be collecting the vehicle this Friday. Thanks again for your help

Click image to enlarge

Not sure what you mean about rubber mats - these sit on top of the carpet. Don't throw them out if they are Genuine ones - they aren't cheap. Towing shouldn't have been a problem, especially with the SD4. There's plenty of power and an auto box, so no stress on the clutch. This car is designed to tow things. Ex AA Series III LWB Safari - Gone
300TDi Disco (bought new - terrible car) sent back after 18 months
Freelander 1 Estate - leased, given back at end of lease
200TDi Disco (bought from a mate with 100,000 on the clock) - Gone
Disco 2 TD5 - sold and exported to France
FR2 TD4 GS - Gone
FR2 SD4 HSE - Now changed for a DS
New model ex-demo Evoque S 180 in white
Unable to order a new DS, so gave up. Now have a Volvo S90 Recharge.

Looks great
Looking forward to getting some more feedback as the weeks progress, there is a lot of info on here on almost every topic you can think of, many members with superb technical knowledge, access to parts from many forum sponsors and even access to Land Rover Customer Services, should you need them, hopefully all will be well.

I have suggested to get your username changed, take out the e-mail part or it will be used in spam

Have fun with your car and have fun here too.

Paul

Thanks guys

Just a bit of a follow up for all those who helped earlier on in the thread.

Had the FL2 4 weeks this Thursday and I am really pleased with it. As yet, nothing has gone wrong (touch wood) and it drives really nice. It's averaging between 37.5 and 40 mpg which I am pleased with.

Here is a pic taken at the coast in Bridlington.

Click image to enlarge