By jason mack on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 11:40 am: Edit

I am looking at buying a land rover certified 98 disco se-7. What all is involved in the certification? I saw on edmunds.com that certification adds to the price somewhat. Do they just hook it up to test book and see if it is ok then slap another year on the warranty, or do they actually do something - like replace stuff. What exactly do they inspect? Thanks in advance!

By Murray (Cdnrvr) on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 12:42 pm: Edit

I bought a Land Rover certified vehicle - you're right that it adds to the sticker price but it adds piece of mind. From what I understand, they have a list of tollerances it must pass - kind of like a vehicle safety, i.e. tread wear, brake rotors, etc. The first 12 months are "free" and you have an option for additional 12 months for extra bank. Just a warning ... there is a $100 deductible and as soon as you drive the vehicle off the lot, if you didn't opt for the additional 12 months, it's no longer available. When I priced out my vehicle compared to the local market, it was cheaper getting the "certified" vehicle rather than buying a used vehicle and getting a third party warranty ... but that is going to vary by region and year of vehicle.

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 12:47 pm: Edit

not to disparage LRNA (I'd hate to do that ), but my "dealer certified" 96 SD (bought in late 99) had lots of little problems that should have been picked up by anyone who gave it a once-over, as the certification process advertises. Everything was covered under the 12month/12k warranty, but it was still a PIA and didn't bolster my dealer certified confidence. I'm talking about little things like lock actuators, window motors, lightbulbs, cruise control wiring, dead battery (the bastards wouldn't cover that one), etc.

My advice - have them go over the vehicle with you and show/tell you what they've done. Then ask to have an hour to look it over yourself. Go through everything, drive it, crawl under it, etc. If they want your business, they'll be cool with it.

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 12:49 pm: Edit

p.s. that $100 deductable didn't apply to me (rule wasn't in effect yet). If it did apply to me, I would've driven the damn thing through the showroom window and left it.

By willis on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 03:18 am: Edit

you should get a 100 point checklist indicating what has been done. That way you have proof of the work. The buyer is also supposed to sign off on this checklist and it is then sent to LRNA. If a truck is still covered under the orginal warranty the dealer can do all of the work and charge it to that warranty. If the truck is not covered under the original warranty, as would be the case with a 97 or 96 in blues case, the dealer has to pay to have the work done. It is not uncommon to leave a few things "undone" and then do that work under the "certified" warranty and therefore the dealer does not have to incur the bill. Id bet thats what happened to blues rig, thats why he had a lot of niggling issues. Im sure they were fixed, but it is a PITA for the customer. did that make any sense?

By jason mack on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 05:13 am: Edit

Thanks for the info. I am going to go ahead with the purchase. The wife and I are going to drive to OK city (from Nebraska) next week to finish the deal and pick it up.

By Jeff Bieler (Mrbieler) on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 05:37 am: Edit

Good luck with yours.

We bought a certified 97 SD from LR Scotsdale. There were a # of small details I wanted fixed before I took ownership, but could not wait in Arizona to get them taken care of. Instead, LR Scotsdale worked with my local dealer LR South Bay in Redondo Beach and we got all the bugs ironed out. Little things like the cracking serpentine belt, a sticky dif-lock, sticky kick down cable.

The 12 month/12k mile warranty is a nice bit of security to have in your back pocket. It doesn't add so much to the price that it's a deterance to purchasing. Besides, the dealers tend to keep the nicer lease returns and trade ins and let the more abused trucks go to auction.

As for the $100 deductable, anything I go back to the dealer about had better cost me more then $100 to fix!

Oh, and just to be contrarian, I love the service I get at LR South Bay. Greg & Jason are two very good Service Advisors who do their job well. It's nice having a dealership enthusiastic about the modifications versus trying to find ways to discount your warranty over them.

Jeff

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 06:18 am: Edit

mine was from LR Scottsdale, too...willis is probably right...

One more thing, if the vehicle is new enough to have residual factory warranty left over, then the certified 12k/12mo warranty will kick in after the factory warranty expires, which is real nice.

By jason mack on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 07:24 am: Edit

It still has almost a full year on the factory warranty, so I will have 2 years worth of warranty, which is reassuring. Thanks guys

By Murray (Cdnrvr) on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 10:35 am: Edit

If the dealer is really nice ... get them to print off the warranty history on the vehicle for you as well. I have a local dealer that did it for me and can pin point you in areas you should watch while the truck is on warranty or get the VIN ... there is somebody on Discoweb (can't remember their name) that has run warranty history for people before they made the big purchase ... good luck. I bought mine on vacation ... most people buy t-shirts. I have had no regrets!

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 10:38 am: Edit

Gil Stevens, if you can catch him without his binger!