LandRover Freelander

gary the great

My Dad is is thinking of getting one of these. Any opinions of what there like?

He wants comfort, plenty of toys, a decent mpg, reliability, decent looking.

He likes these as he thinks the driving position would be nice.

He's currently trying to decide between looking at these or a BMW 320D, maybe some sort of Lexus(he loves the IS200 but is put of as it drinks the petrol) but he reckons he can save a fortune by going for the Freelander/he'll get more for his money so thats winning so far.

Any other diseal or good mpg cars he should also look at?
BTW he hates Passats and Octavias and his budget is 7kStg (hes living in the Uk for the next year and yep he'll be bringing it home and avoiding VRt)

Seth Brundle

Do a quick search on the freelander here - seem to be a lot of reliability issues with them
search results... - the first result should help kill any thoughts of getting one!

crosstownk

I agree with kbannon - FreeLanders are as reliable as Irish weather.

Clutch problems, window mech problems, fuel pump problems (diesels), loose interior trim, and others that don't spring to mind right now.

Your dad could do better in this category of vehicle.

ninty9er

unless he buys new he's not going to get a lot of toys either, grandaunt has a 00 one that doesn't even have a CD player:eek: :eek: :eek:

Stephen

UK cars will generally have a higher spec than here. Someone in work has a freelander, they're always complaining about the rubbish fuel economy it returns.

bazz26

gary the great wrote:

My Dad is is thinking of getting one of these. Any opinions of what there like?

He wants comfort, plenty of toys, a decent mpg, reliability, decent looking.

He likes these as he thinks the driving position would be nice.

He's currently trying to decide between looking at these or a BMW 320D, maybe some sort of Lexus(he loves the IS200 but is put of as it drinks the petrol) but he reckons he can save a fortune by going for the Freelander/he'll get more for his money so thats winning so far.

Any other diseal or good mpg cars he should also look at?
BTW he hates Passats and Octavias and his budget is 7kStg (hes living in the Uk for the next year and yep he'll be bringing it home and avoiding VRt)

I would avoid the Freelander as they are notorious for being badly built and unreliable.

One to look at are a high spec Rover 75 diesel which is plentiful in the UK and due to Rover's demise they are relatively cheap these days. The 75 diesel uses a detuned version of the BMW 320d engine. The 1999 - 2002 2.0 litre diesel 75 had 115bhp so try and get a 2003 model as this was increased to 131bhp. Also go for the Connoisseur Elite model as this will have leather interior, etc.

Something like this one except cheaper:
http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=545111

eamon234

Older model Freelander doesn't have a great NCAP rating either - apparently a Ford Fiesta is safer!

gary the great

ok after reading through old threads the freelander seems to be a heap. Its a pity really as he liked that. On the other threads people said the Vitara as an alternative, but he doesnt like the look of it. He'd love a grand jeep cherokee but i'd say there extreme on petrol being a 4litre and they dont do diseal.

he doesnt like the Rover unfortunatly he thinks its to much of a grandads car

he seems to want as cheap as possible and theres a few 320D's on autotrader that seems decent for around 5k, so i think he's going to go for one of these unless something else pops up. He likes the onda Accord but they dont come in diseal until later years.

Lamps

D grand jeep cherokee only comes in 4litre petrol so he'll spend a fortune on petrol.

Maybe a pajero if he likes the look of them?

Gatster

Just to give another side of the story - my Dad had a '01 TD4 for a while that didn't give any bother, a few niggles but nothing that caused a breakdown and it lived a hard life. My sister has a special edition one, again TD4, which she loves and has had no problems with, although it is an '05 IIRC

bkehoe

I assume he'd be buying new, in which case it would be a Freelander 2, a completely new model from the ground up. The Freelander 2 has a 5 star NCAP rating too, and is completely different from the old one in every way.

Edit - sorry, just noticed it's second hand he wants, so in that case, avoid the old one. Any time my Discovery has been in for a service and they gave me a FL I couldn't wait to get rid of it .

smash

tell him to check out the Rav4

astrofool

How's a new freelander 2 then? any bad reports? They seem quite high spec compared to the equivalent from others (volvo xc90), new btw.

Wossack

could you get one new for 7k stg?

gary the great

Sorry to drag this back up, but he's looking at a Honda CRV now and maybe even a HRV(its a bit hairdresser i think!).

Anyone any advice on these. There Honda so i cant envisage to many problems? What mpg would be expected and is there much power?

skypette

boards.ie needs to add in a section for freelanders! never heard so much about a motor til now, deserves its own special place on the menu above........

L-M

The freelander 2 is a different yoke altogether... They've a new 2.2 ford jaguar diesel engine with about 170brake and 400nm of torque... The S model is fairly well spec'd as well... Thank god the petrol is gone:D(Well it's not gone, but as a 3.2, it won't be sold much over here:D)... I'd reccommend an early Rav4 diesel... U can't go wrong

mac500

as all the other posts say, dont go near a freelander i did my homework on this before and never hear or read one good comment on em. The rav4 would be the best outta all those suv's and its toyota need i say more!!!

Seth Brundle

skypette wrote: »

boards.ie needs to add in a section for freelanders! never heard so much about a motor til now, deserves its own special place on the menu above........

It also needs to add in a section specifically for people who raise dead threads!