Anyone know of Fred's Cars?

Hi Guys,

Sorry if this question is in the wrong place but has anyone ever heard of or used Fred's Cars? (Tewksbury)


I went down there today to look at a LAND ROVER DISCOVERY 3 TDV6 SE AUTO (2005) and took it for a test drive, looked and felt to be in good condition and I am looking to buy it, just though I'd ask if anyone has used them and what they thought of their experience with the guys?

Thanks, Terry.

Check mot history.
Check sills for rust.
Make sure you have a reserve fund!

mantrid said:

Hi Guys,

Sorry if this question is in the wrong place but has anyone ever heard of or used Fred's Cars? (Tewksbury)

https://www.fredscars.co.uk/

I went down there today to look at a LAND ROVER DISCOVERY 3 TDV6 SE AUTO (2005) and took it for a test drive, looked and felt to be in good condition and I am looking to buy it, just though I'd ask if anyone has used them and what they thought of their experience with the guys?

Thanks, Terry.

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I haven't ever heard of them. But used car dealers don't have a great rep.

That is 18 years old, and a heavy, complicated vehicle, which don't have a great rep for reliability either.
If you want to buy it, I would expect to see plenty of service history, or other evidence that service jobs have been done, and check MOT history carefully, including mileages and previous advisories, and how much it has actually been on the road in it's long-ish life.
And also ask them if they have serviced it at all, or done other jobs, and what, if anything, they know about previous owners, also ask to see the V5 document, and check for insurance write offs and finance problems in the past.
Ask how much tax and insurance will be, they can add up to a lot of money each year.

If any of those questions aren't answered to your satisfaction, walk away.

If you do buy it, it will be very useful if you are mechanically handy, these things are expensive on parts and labour, so it helps if you can do lots yourself.

Never eard of em, have you seen this?

We got our Discovery 2 from them back in April 2021.

Just looked at the site.
Seems to me all the D2 are madly expensive, and the D3 are priced at twice what they are worth, both are also high road tax models, so 630 quid a year.

lynall said:

Just looked at the site.
Seems to me all the D2 are madly expensive, and the D3 are priced at twice what they are worth, both are also high road tax models, so 630 quid a year.

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Everything is twice as expensive as it should be. He's asking almost £7k for Freelander 2 identical to mine, which cost me £3500 3 years ago.

Plus 1 in being well overpriced , also ensure the upgraded oil pump has been fitted

hopefully the buyers guide will also be useful to u

also a very handy tool to have is a code reader , something like an Autel AP200 , if u intend to own one ur need one anyway along with a multimeter and something like a CTEK battery charger as basics

Amazon product

if they refuse u plugging one in walk away

decent tool kit and cash reserves in maintaining one of these vehicles is a must, there lovely motors to own / drive but jobs need to be kept on top of

as u go up the model range from S the insurance will be more expensive, considering things like brakes, wishbones, compressor and tyres

Keith_L said:

We got our Discovery 2 from them back in April 2021.

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How has your discovery 2 held up, did they sell it to you in good condition?
Thanks for the reply sir.

Thanks all for the responses, the guys at Freds Cars seem like real land rover enthusiasts, that's what sold me on them, I will ask some of the questions presented here to them but it's the fact that they knew Land Rovers well that I liked, I would rather pay a bit extra for a car that's been checked over and evaluated properly, I intend to take it somewhere in the midlands/cotswolds to have it checked by a garage so any suggestions as to a good trustworthy garage that knows LR's in the midlands and who could give the car a good going over would be appreciated?

This is the MOT history for said vehicle

mantrid said:

This is the MOT history for said vehicle

https://www.check-mot-history.co.uk/vehicle/kj05dfn

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Due next month. Are they intending to MOT it before sale?

Keith_L said:

We got our Discovery 2 from them back in April 2021.

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Any good? Was it wildly overpriced?

Turboman said:

Due next month. Are they intending to MOT it before sale?

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they can't get it booked in until end of next week apparently.

I can't get concerned about the MOT as the history of it's MOT's seem pretty good, the one thing I would have been concerned about "- Central Rear Prop shaft bearing excessively worn " seems to have been fixed between recent MOT's so not expecting anything major to come back

The fact that the history is generally good (MOT) is reassuring to me, implies the car has been looked after, it's only 2 owners, one an old fella who loved it to death apparently.

They want to deliver it today, its tax ran out on 30th of August and they claim that they can't tax it, I have to, is this correct guys?
(IGNORE THIS QUESTION, THEY USE TRADE PLATES).

gstuart said:

Plus 1 in being well overpriced , also ensure the upgraded oil pump has been fitted

hopefully the buyers guide will also be useful to u

also a very handy tool to have is a code reader , something like an Autel AP200 , if u intend to own one ur need one anyway along with a multimeter and something like a CTEK battery charger as basics

Amazon product

if they refuse u plugging one in walk away

decent tool kit and cash reserves in maintaining one of these vehicles is a must, there lovely motors to own / drive but jobs need to be kept on top of

as u go up the model range from S the insurance will be more expensive, considering things like brakes, wishbones, compressor and tyres

Click to expand...

Apparently, it's the early engine (2005) so it's pump was stronger and more reliable than the replacement pump introduced later into the discovery 3's life by land rover in order to save money

mantrid said:

They want to deliver it today, its tax ran out on 30th of August and they claim that they can't tax it, I have to, is this correct guys?
(IGNORE THIS QUESTION, THEY USE TRADE PLATES).

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Any vehicle can be taxed on line at the point of sale, and registered in the new owners name if the V5c is available. When taxed it can be driven by the new owner. I suspect they are trying to put pressure on you to buy.

mantrid said:

Apparently, it's the early engine (2005) so it's pump was stronger and more reliable than the replacement pump introduced later into the discovery 3's life by land rover in order to save money

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The only way to be sure is to look at the date cast into the pump, and check if it has the later modified webbing.
I think what they say is bit of a red herring, belts not due until 100+k so the cars would be at least a few years old, then cambelt gets done (and this is where it went wrong) the mech over tightened the tensioner bolt, this then caused the weaker casing to crack.
So early cars appear to be okay, but are not.

The fact they want to deliver it today suggest to me they can see you are wavering and are trying to push you into a sale you are being doubtful about, and once you have it then the fun will begin.
At that price I would at the very least expect new style oil pump/cambelt/fresh mot and a service.

You have heard the old saying, only fools rush in?