took it a local LR specialist indy and got the following feedback:
front and rear upper arm bushes damage (control arms) - fronts are costly, garage claims it is pointless to change bushes as issues will persist afterwards so replacing control arms is recommended ($$$$)
brake pads are ok - some grease in between brake pads and disc, apparently a bit of smoke during road test, ok for time being
tyres are ok- minor cracks, nothing to worry about at the moment
mountings - something to keep an eye on in the future, will need to be addressed eventually
rear diff making noise - should be ok for the next 2 to 3 services but eventually it will need to be replaced ($$$$)
Got the price down to $17.5K, and my gut says that even with the control arms and rear diff issues, this is too good a deal to pass up.
Very surprised that at 55K the control arms have enough damage to warrant replacing though.. hope it is not a sign of things to come or this being a lemon