Re Fred's cars.
They have 3 x FL2's for sale - 2 x HSE & 1 x XS
The HSE's are listed as having 18" wheels, the XS with 17"
Yet each photo shows all vehicles with the exact same style/size of wheel.
Just seems a bit odd to me.

 FL2 now gone and have a couple of items left for sale:-

Brodit active iPhone holder + Brodit dash clip,
Bluetooth Music Streaming Module.

They are different tyres, look at the block pattern.

PS I bought my initial XS FL2 from a small leasing company on a farm, and had no warranty from them, but as it was only less than 2 years old, it was covered by LR warranty.
I suspect that these cars were bought at auction, nothing wrong in that as most larger dealers send older part exchanges to auction as soon as they receive them.
If it's not a mainstream garage, you just have to price in the risk, and buy as if from a private buyer - as seen. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Hi Ian & Romp.

This is the blurb on Freds cars website and AutoTrader

"Freds Cars
"Hello welcome to Fred's cars we are independent Land Rover specialists with over 30 years-experience with Land Rovers. All our cars are road tested at least 100 miles and checked over in our own workshop before going on sale. If I wouldn't be happy driving them across Europe (many of our customers do and further) then we won't sell them. Emails and texts are great but I really like to talk to people so do not hesitate to call us anytime. We are open 7 days, 24 hours a day with late night viewing being no problem."

Services offered
Used Car Sales I Warranties I Part-Exchange"


When I spoke to Bill at "Freds" he said that they have a close relationship with a Land Rover Dealers, and get the Older LR's from them, the rest go to Auction.

I will give him another call today... As he said they do all the work there and the MOT's for the vehicles...

But it is interesting that there is no reviews or internet footprint of this business. Or a Registered Business Number. for VAT etc.

Theres one or two here which look promising https://www.cloverleafcars.co.uk/ , I bought my previous one from here , (well it is only a few hundred yards from home ) , I can always have a look if anything catches your eye . Don't get too hung up on an Hse , yes they are nice but you do pay a premium for them , I'd be tempted by a later facelifted model for similar money .

Mark 2009 FL2 TD4 SE (Sadly gone)
2007 FL2 TD4 GS (The wifes , gone after 8 great years)
2012 FL2 SD4 SPORT LE(Gone and missing it)
2015 DISCOVERY SPORT 2.2SD4 HSE (Now gone)
2014 Ford Bmax 1.0 ecoboost ( Gone but what next )
2014 Ford Focus 2.0tdci Zetec S (Gone,but what a car)
2020 Ford Fiesta ActiveX 1.0 Ecoboost
2024 Skoda Kodiaq 1.5 Tsi SEL

Tigerlily,

All car buying is a risk, and you seem to have researched this decision well.

Fred's cars seem to have been honest with you and explained that they obtain and sell on ex part exchange cars.
They do not look like a garage, so I still believe that you should base the price on that of a private sale and therefore take on that amount of risk.

You can get an idea of the prices from Autotrader website, or better still if you can obtain the reg number (or one from similar car) get a value by using their 'sell your car' / 'value your car' feature on that site to find out the trade and private sell prices.

I would not expect them to be asking dealer level prices as it does not look that they are not relieving you of that amount of risk.

Bearing this all in mind, just go and look, you may get a bargain, or you might walk away having learnt a bit about what you want in a Freelander. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

mmm right Ive just got the Registrations of the FL's and a quick check on DVLA show a discrepancy in the mileage advertised.

Blue one is advertised as 104 miles and DVLA has 140 miles on its last MOT??
Silver advertised as 98k its last mot Sept 2017 it was 110k, nearly a year ago.

Have a look yourselves if you want:

Blue: BP57 CKN
Silver: HG08 BFZ

I dont half pick um!!!

Last edited by tigerlilly on 31st Aug 2018 4:11 pm. Edited 1 time in total

The man is a crook then !  FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

does he not think that people will arrange to view the cars, and not have checked the paperwork either physically or online.... why do some dealers still think they can get away with this sort of stupidity.

There is a dealer not far from me, they have changed their names probably about 6 times in the last 8 years. Nobody local touches them as far im aware as they are clearly the same people selling the same cars in the same location but under different company names.

definitely walk away in that case, even if he apologises for the typo error in the ads.

Whilst the blue one could be excused as a typo when placing the advert the silver one can`t claim that! Luckily you didn`t travel to see them before finding that out! A few years ago I did an almost 400 miles round trip to view a Fiesta that was advertised as having done 100,00miles but had actually done 150,000miles. This was before you could check the history online. I think that sellers fudge mileages in the hope that you will come and see the car and like it enough to overlook the difference in mileage. I don`t think that they clock them just advertise them at a lower mileage to hook you in!

Thanks all..


Im disgusted...How on earth does he think they will get away with it...So it would of been a complete waste of my time to have travelled down there tomorrow...Im pretty sure I would of picked up on it once I looked at the MOT certs myself..

He should be ashamed....

Im fuming and gutted!!!! GRRRRRRRRrrrrr

Looking at all the vehicles that are for sale none of them are photographed showing their numberplates so you would have to do as you did and contact them for that info and as you say the guy you spoke to sounded very nice and I am sure that he would have apologised for the error if you had turned up in person to have a look! Looking for a new car can still be a bit of a minefield as it seems that there are still "Arthur Daley" types out there!

Update: Just managed to read the number plate of a Ford Focus (LG09ROH) that they are advertising as having done 65,000miles but online history shows 68,000miles on 25th October 2017! Safe to assume that everything advertised has had something shaved off the mileage!

Tigerlilly

Don't despair --- as they say ---- Onwards and Upwards.

My method of finding the car I wanted was to register with autotrader.com and form a query and make it a 'saved search'.
You can then switch on 'alerts' on the search and recieve emails on cars appearing for sale on that site which meet your criteria.
(it took me a year to find my white Metro, some 200 miles away at a main dealer)

Remember, most dealers will allow returnable deposits, and work with you over a distance, until you have decided.

One other thing I normally do, is to force the other party to put something in writing outlining the deal. Sometimes it pays to seem not to understand and ask them to email you.

dondiddy made a good point in that they made it hard identify the cars (or where the pictures were taken), and if you look at other adverts quite a lot include picture of drivers instruments showing the mileage.

I think we have all learnt some lessons by your experience. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

@ Ianmetro: Thanks!! Yes Im back on Autotrader, thanks for the tip, I will set up an alert..

Good lesson indeed...it really pays to be vigilant...I was slightly taken in by the patter, "30 years experience, LandRover specialists, blar blar blar " but they did let themselves down with their lack of detail, internet footprint, reviews, and well their lies !!!.

But yes onwards and upwards...I will be a FL2 owner soon!!!

Im going to keep you all posted anyway, hahahah..

@dondiddy - Yes they were very clever (or so they thought), in not showing the registrations, or the millage on the clock!!
Like your detective work on the Ford Focus...very clever.....


@RogB : thanks for the advice

@YorkyBob - Crooks indeed!!!

@bxzx16v : Thanks for the tip, I will have a look at cloverleafcars and see what they have... Thanks for the offer of having a look for me, that is so very nice of you, and I might take you up on that.

I think we all did a pretty good job there of finding a crooked car dealer...

Thanks.

Ive texted "Bill" at the "garage" and mentioned the discrepancy I have found between the MOT millage and the Advertised Millage....its all gone very quiet, no response...the tumbleweed is a rolling......

I think this Freds Cars should be reported to Trading Standards.
I'm quite sure they'll take an interest in his vehicles. FL2 now gone and have a couple of items left for sale:-

Brodit active iPhone holder + Brodit dash clip,
Bluetooth Music Streaming Module.

Not your patch but this garage used to be the York Dealers for LR until recently so know the cars inside out, as for a fair deal I have no idea but everything sells at the right price.

https://www.armstrongmassey.com/index/show...freelander FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current