+1 for the 4.4 non-supercharged petrol. Cheap as chips now and you'll have loads of cash left for petrol and you can get an 07 plate with the 07 facelift bits and pieces too! '08 Audi S6 Avant 5.2 V10 with Milltek non-resonated. Vrrrrrrmmmmmph
'59 Ford Kuga Diesel (boring but AWD and 40mpg...)
2007 (07) Subaru Forester XTen 2.5 Turbo. (Roundabouts are fun again!)
2007 (07) 4.4 V8 Vogue (gone)

Having had my tdv8 for 18 months now i can safely say it has been the best car i have ever owned.

Not the most reliable in terms of faults, but it hasnt ever failed to get the job done. It does about 12000 miles a year, an i reckon if i didnt have a warranty i would have put about 4k into it in terms of fixing it so far. But pretty much all sorted now.

Having had a car with the same engine as the td6 i would recommend the tdv8 over it any day.

Tow bars are really easy to fit or get fitted and you should be able to get an oem (westfalia) tow bar for around 400 plus some genuine land rover wiring for about 100. Dealers are extortionate for the same job that a local fitter can easily do. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
KIA E-Niro 4+
2021 Discovery 5 D300 MHEV commercial

The best compromise here, in my view, is the AJV8. But as I hate compromises, I'd go S/C and live for the moment.

Should that 100 mile commute become reality, then a well-kept S/C won't be hard to sell and you'll have the joy of finding your second FF.

Worth bearing in mind also that the S/C has a very high equipment level (Vogue SE) whereas a TDV8 can be had in various trim levels meaning you may find the right car but then hanker for cooled seats. Again, any compromise would bug me and it can make selection that bit harder. Si. <This is my name.

I eat rat poison.

A man ain't truly been insulted until he stands buck naked in front of a woman and she didn't even notice. Or care.

Get a good 4.4v8 for around 15k. If the job changes convert to lpg
Best of both worlds

^^ As Bellini says above - but doesn't agree with (!) - AJV8 is best compromise . . .

I weighed up purchase price against anticipated mileage with reliability. I'm totally happy with the car. Nuff said.

You have to start with what you'll use the car for and what you want out of it - you only know that . . . .

 Where do you go after one of these . . . ?

4.4 V8 Petrol 300BHP (ish) Supercharged 385BHP (ish) - no contest

I've had the 4.4 - and not worth the MPG to performance ratio. Go for S\C  RR Sport Supercharged Vesuvius Orange 4.2 V8 First edition

Or a chipped TDV8?  Got - 2017 SDV8 Autobiography in Loire Blue
Had- 2008 TDV8 Vogue SE in Java black
Had - 2007 S/C in Stornoway Grey

+2 for the AJV8. Very, very smooth. Yes, the Supercharged is faster, but the NA is NEVER lacking in power.

You've got lots of choice. I'd recommend a very carefull inspection for any car. Good luck

^ RR2008HSE - Agreed ref power

^^ B3EEE - Can't agree with you ! Come back to the real world - the original post was for a car with a potentially large commute. I don't think any SC owner would recommend such a car for that - unless someone else was paying for the fuel !

 Where do you go after one of these . . . ?

Thanks for all the advice, I knew I was opening a can of worms

As much as I would love the SC, my circumstances are just too changeable and I would hate to find the perfect SC RR only to sell it a few months later and begin the search all over again for the perfect TDV8 I dont know if I could handle the stress of it all! The OH is a massive fan of the SC so maybe after I get mine he may want to upgrade his 3 series.... fingers crossed! A double FFRR driveway may be in my sights, surely the perfect line up

Now, on to the sourcing of my TDV8, and thus far I have come up pretty short. There are wonderful examples in London and down south but sadly I dont have the free time to take a jaunt down south only for problems to be discovered. Shall I assume that purchasing on pictures and reassurances alone would be financial suicide...

Alanm_3 pointed me in the direction of a VSE not too far from me so I am going to view that this weekend if it is still there, however it is top end of the budget and doesnt have side steps, privacy glass or towbar which will all push up the spend if I decide to take the plunge, so not ideal but deffo worth a view and a test drive. Also one other nearby but sand interior rather than ivory, but again probably worth viewing and driving as I want to try to get a feel for any differences between them, and whether one sounds/ feels better than the other. I have started to realise that my hopes of getting my FFRR before the end of the month have been somewhat ambitious

If anyone has the desire to deliver their black/ buckingham blue Vogue/ VSE with ivory trim to my door in an act of wonderful charity just let me know....

^ Sounds like a plan !

For info there are three trim colours in the "beige range" -
Sand - darkest
Parchment - middle
Ivory - almost white

Parchment appears to be the most prolific and with a dark car gives the correct "Bentleyesque feel" as you waft about

 Where do you go after one of these . . . ?

Fly to Heathrow and rent a car. A well-planned trip with scheduled viewings for the two best FF's should be easily done in a day.

Bring HWMBO along for the ride. You could even fly back the same day. Tiring, but possibly worthwhile if most of all the good stuff is down here?

The cost and time spent may save you some ag. Then again, I've just bought a motorhome in Germany from a dealer purely on pictures and emails and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a trifle worrying.

Good luck in whatever you choose.  Si. <This is my name.

I eat rat poison.

A man ain't truly been insulted until he stands buck naked in front of a woman and she didn't even notice. Or care.

By now your head must be spinning!

I have owned all of the above at one point or another... My biggest point to make to you is RUST RUST RUST... You will presumably be keeping the car a while? So have the underside, the rear arches and bootlids (top&bottom) thoroughly checked out Scottish cars can be much worse then southern English cars as the weather/salt on road can be very very different... IMHO the cars have got worse as they have gotten newer! ie, Ford production seems to have more rust issues than BMW's ownership! The point im trying to make is dont count out a trip down south to buy a rust free car (there are plenty of rusty ones here too but chances are less rust the further south IMHO just check where they have lived all their life)

Go and drive some, get a feel for the different models/engines. My Last but one was a TD6 and i loved it, great great compromise FF (ok a bit noisy but IMHO enough power "when chipped" and great fuel consumption) Then i owned an SC last, 06MY (so the old interior one) loads of power! But really disappointing handling IMHO (very similar setup to all pre 07 FF's) Then in 07 (with the interior facelift) came a massive (IMHO) suspension rework (to handle the bigger engined TDV8 presumably) so post 07 FF's have much nicer road manners than pre 07 facelift cars, noticeable on A roads, roundabouts etc etc... I didn't tend to notice it with the TD6's as i didn't tend to drive them as enthusiastically but was very evident in the more powerful petrol cars... I now own an 08MY TDV8 VSE (the one with all the toys) and absolutely love it To me it's the best compromise. It makes me drive slower (as its a diesel and doesn't make such a nice noise as the SC did) but when you are a bit late and driving that little bit faster... It ticks all the boxes for me (i think the TDV8 is much the same power an my last SC when above 20mph if not slightly quicker ) Returns excellent MPG across the board and is almost as quiet as a petrol when rolling...

So, my advise as a FFRR specialist (we facelift and maintain/service/rework FF's for a living!) and an owner would be to drive a pre & post 07 TD6 & TDV8 and then decide weather you want to compromise or not... If your answer is NO, then go and drive the V8 petrols and ask yourself the same question after... (running costs etc etc) All my humble opinion you will appreciate...

Craig

TugRR- Yea use of the word 'beige' seems to be all-encompassing! I like the ivory, and I'm assuming all the darker ones which arent as dark as sand will be parchment. Really not a fan of the sand interior (no offence to those with this interior) and would ideally prefer ivory, but parchment would also be an option if I can see one in the flesh! Thanks for clearing that up for me!!!

Bellini- I think that flying down south may be the final plan with this. I am struggling to locate suitable options up here, there are plenty with 25k+ price tag and several in the 10-14k bracket but minimal around the 20k mark. That cant be said for down south as I have seen plenty that I like in my price range. The problem is that I was planning on taking my friend who is a RR enthusiast but dragging him to London may be an ask too far! Deffo an option worth considering though.

Cam-Tech-Craig- With regards to the rust issue, my dad has also advised that heading south may be a better option and there should certainly be more chance of locating one that hasnt endured the salt/ grit every winter which cars up here are subjected to. So RUST RUST RUST has jumped to the top of my checklist

Thanks for your advice, all of which I have taken on board! In light of it I will add a few Td6 RR's into my viewing list for this weekend and hopefully that will force me to decide between TDV8 and Td6. Then once that decision is made, just need to decide whether it is worthwhile to consider SC. I think the best option will probably be TDV8 as my brain cannot comprehend the fuel costs on a 500 mile weekly commute together with weekend travels, especially since myself and the OH spend most weeks driving up North or heading away for the weekend somewhere remote which easily adds up to another 300 miles or so over the course of the weekend. Fuel costs on an 800 mile weekly journey in a SC anyone??? Would genuinely love to know

If anyone sees any potentials on their travels please send them my way!

That's very good point by Craig re rust. Both my cars were from the south - very little corrosion on either.
They use a lot of road salt where I live hence I spend most time washing it underneath in winter.
How close is this to you ? -
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/adv...?logcode=p
It's been for sale since spring - I considered it but it was overpriced. They've dropped it quite alot. It may be worth viewing ? It has the AJV8 engine and the Ivory interior although I accept the body colour is not to everyone's taste.



PS Many on here will recommend - don't go near Saxton 4x4 . . . . .  Where do you go after one of these . . . ?