Making sense of service history: Would you buy Vehicle A or Vehicle B?

[Doccy]

It's the age-old battle between price and age.
Two [Edit: Three] grey TD4 FL2s with beige leather.
$15,500 budget.



Vehicle A. 2009 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 SE Auto (https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/slacks-creek/cars-vans-utes/2009-land-rover-freelander2-se-td4-turbo-diesel-4x4-auto-175-000kms/1228742081) $9,900
175,000km

‘IMMACULATE condition. This vehicle is in top condition throughout and is A1 mechanically’ - Dealer blurb
RWC, No rego (6 Months fresh Rego +$400)

Service history
15,831km – Jan 2010 Service A + Oil Service – Pacific Land Rover, Maroochydore
31,823km – Aug 2010 Service A + B + Oil Service + Inspection 1 (wtf?) – NO SERVICE STAMP
54,147km – May 2011 NO SERVICE TICKS [Were some ticks above done on the wrong page? Could this service be A + Oil Service?] – Pacific Land Rover, Maroochydore
61,183km – Aug 2011 Service A + B [Or is one of these for above?] – Pacific Land Rover, Maroochydore
76,247km – Feb 2012 Service B + Oil Service + Brake fluid change + Anti-corrosion inspection – Pacific Land Rover, Maroochydore
84,367km – May 2012 Oil Service – Bruce Lynton Land Rover, Southport
108,840km – Feb 2013 Service B – Austral Land Rover Service, Fortitude Valley
127,898km – Nov 2013 Oil service – Comet Automotive, Land Rover Specialised Servicing, Albion
155,328km – Jan 2015 Service A + Inspection 2 + Brake fluid change + pollen filter + air (filter?) + fuel (filter?) – Comet Automotive, Land Rover Specialised Servicing, Albion
163,526km – Dec 2015 Service B + pollen filter – Comet Automotive, Land Rover Specialised Servicing, Albion
169,775km – August 2016 Service C + pollen filter + air (filter?) + brake fluid change + coolant change + anti-corrosion inspection – Comet Automotive, Land Rover Specialised Servicing, Albion

Pros: Relatively low kms, RWC, less stamp duty, plenty of money left over to do pre-emptive servicing, though already claims it had the ($2500?) C service back in August 2016, and still be 2 or 3 grand cheaper than car B. Bargain?

Cons: Pre-2011 version, 3 years older than car B, a long 28,000kms gap between the 127k and 155k service, what has the car been doing since August 2016?, dealer selling.




Vehicle B. 2012 TD4 XS AUTO MY12 (https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/land-rover-freelander-2-2012/SSE-AD-6232537/) $14,500
154,000 km

Purchased at Tony Hyman Auctions, Bankstown in Nov 2016 for $24,956.
Vehicle belonged to a charity of some sort. Current owner bought for his son who used every second weekend specifically to drive from Tamworth to Sydney and back again for the last 3 years.
Rego until Mar 2020, but may not pass a roadworthy because both rear tail light covers are chipped and cracked. Plus $500 to repair this?

Service history
12,477km – March 2013 Oil Service – Trivett Land Rover, Alexandria
24,438km – Sept 2013 Oil Service – Trivett Land Rover, Alexandria
36,992km – Aug 2014 Service A – Trivett Land Rover, Alexandria
48,110km – Aug 2014 [Wrong date added?] Oil Service (+ anti-corrosion inspection) – Trivett Land Rover, Alexandria
61,677km – April 2015 Service B – Trivett Land Rover, Alexandria
75,207km – Oct 2015 Oil Service – Trivett Land Rover, Alexandria
88,043km – April 2016 Service B – Trivett Land Rover, Alexandria
99,834km – Aug 2016 Oil Service – Trivett Land Rover, Alexandria
102,456kms – Nov 2016 Pre-Purchase Inspection + Fix Door Lock $460 [Mechanic’s note: Air box screws are stripped, front lower control arm rear brushes minor leak] – Oakes Road Automotive, West Pennant Hills
115,343km – Aug 2017 Oil Service [Mechanic’s note: Front & Rear brakes 70%] – Oakes Road Automotive, West Pennant Hills
136,345km – Sept 2018 Service A [Mechanic’s note: Front & Rear brakes 30%, services needed more frequently, brakes need replacing at next service] – Oakes Road Automotive, West Pennant Hills
148,686km – April 2019 Service A [?] + New Front & Rear Brakes/Rotors + New Wiper Blades [Mechanic’s note: Tyres are noisy] – Oakes Road Automotive, West Pennant Hills

Pros: Owner is upfront, newest car, least kms, no tow bar means no risk of towing history unlike other car, has rear camera and 9 speaker stereo (other one only has 6)

Cons: Last 3 years serviced by non-Land Rover specialist, lots of Oil Services rather than the standard A B A B pattern (How does an Oil Service differ from A and B anyway?), mechanic’s last note that ‘Tyres are noisy’ might be bad, will probably need 2 brake light covers replaced at back for RWC, may not leave any money left for preemptive servicing.



Which vehicle would you choose and why: A or B [Edit: or C a few posts down]?
A is significantly cheaper and claims to have already had Service C. Potential bargain.
B is newer with a few less kms but much dearer and and won’t leave anything much for preemptive serving.

[B]And how much weight should we give to service history?
Can a pre-service inspection actually catch damage done through poor servicing or should we walk away from bad history?

[rar110]

Vehicle B if has updated interior.

Edit: just checked. It hasn’t. Personally I wouldn’t buy either.

I would get an FL2 MY13 with updated interior and 11 speakers. These were the last of them. Remember the MY13 and later were a $50k plus car when new. I think you will be able to negotiate a buy within your budget. I wouldn’t limit yourself to diesel. The Si was also a good motor I believe. There’s one there with only 65k km.

[rar110]

Not saying there’s anything wrong with pre MY13 FL2s, just that the price of those examples wouldn’t entice me away when an MY13 is very close to your budget.

[Eevo]

given that service history looks goodm its not really a factor between thew cars.
in general you should buy the newest car with the lowest km.

[Doccy]

I would get an FL2 MY13 with updated interior and 11 speakers. ...I think you will be able to negotiate a buy within your budget. I wouldn’t limit yourself to diesel. The Si was also a good motor I believe. There’s one there with only 65k km.

Interesting. I've steered clear of the petrol engines because I thought running costs were much higher and the diesel engine would live a longer life, but I'm not planning to tow anything or go off road to any significant degree so no specific need for diesel power. So if those petrol models are selling newer for cheaper, maybe I should rethink that.
...You're certainly right that the updated interior looks so much cleaner than the cluster of buttons pre-2013.

Can anyone else comment on a petrol FL2 vs a diesel? (Am I right in recalling that the petrol has a camchain, so no belt waiting to break after 10 years?)

[Doccy]

rar110,
I assume you were referring to the 2012 Land Rover Freelander 2 Si4 SE Auto 4x4 MY13 on carsales for $17,999.
Not sure they'd come down enough. I could always try. No other petrol versions new and cheap at the moment.


There's one more diesel option, Car C below, which I thought was sold but has suddenly reappeared on Gumtree.
It *may* be a nice balance between age and price, with the added bonus of the most powerful engine, but it has the most problematic service history of the bloody lot.


C. 2011 Freelander 2 SD4 SE AUTO (https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/hunters-hill/cars-vans-utes/2011-land-rover-freelander-2-sd4-se-automatic-suv/1227226424) $13,000
195,000km

‘Mechanically in perfect condition, Looks like new and drives like new.’
11 months rego & e-Safety certificate

Service history
13,049km – Jan 2012 Inspection 1 -– Purnell Motors, Blakehurst
30,213km – July 2012 Service B – Purnell Motors, Blakehurst
57,993km – June 2013 Service B – Purnell Motors, Blakehurst
71,284km – Nov 2013 Service A -– Purnell Motors, Blakehurst
101,235km – Nov 2014 Service B (+ rear brakes & brake fluid change) -– Central Autohaus, Alexandria
115,381km – May 2015 Service A (+ front brakes) -– Central Autohaus, Alexandria
131,708km – Feb 2016 Oil Service -– Purnell Motors, Blakehurst
196,200km – Aug 2019 Oil service -– Wang Hi-Tech Automatic, 61-73 Parramatta Rd, Five Dock NSW
Oct 2019 - G Scan - Diagnostic report [No vehicle details on printout!] -– 15 scanned systems, 15 systems with no DTC [Though this counts for little]

Pros: SD4 engine, RWC and long rego, lower price means $1500 leftover for immediate replacement of cam belt, ancillary belt, and water pump.

Cons: No service history for last 3 years, seller claims serviced by Wang Hi-Tech Automatic -- a non-Land Rover specialist in Five Dock. Seller a bit sketchy (“Sorry. I threw away the receipts long time ago”; refreshes the ad on Gumtree by removing and reinstating; selling an BMW X5 as well...), kms between services has stretched, may be innocent or too good to be true. Will a pre-service inspection see through any smoke and mirrors?


[bigwhistle]

[rar110]

The SI4 is Ford motor I think, used in the Evoke and DS, and bunch of other cars just like the PSA td4 motor.

My wife has the 2.0 td version of the same PSA motor. I do like it, but the turbo petrol 2.0 sounds good too.

[rar110]

Double post somehow.