Land Rover Freelander vs Hyundai Tucson

Tomboy

Hi,

I am looking for some advice. I am thinking of buying a 2004 Land Rover Freelander wioth the TD4 Engine or a 2005 Hyundai Tucson 2.0l Diesel. What do ye all think which one or forget both?

si_guru

The Land Rover has a superb engine (BMW) but unless it has been maintained regardless of cost the likelyhood is that the transmission will give problems. It is real shame LR never sorted out the wear problems, plus this is accelerated by neglectful owners.

Tomboy

Thanks si guru, when you say transmission are you referring to the gear box? Apologies I am not clued into the motor jargon. Thanks again for your reply.

si_guru

Have a read here:

http://forum.landrovernet.com/showthread.php/142361-Freelander-gearbox-problems-and-faults

BUT... a good Freelander is nice motor.. problem is that so many will be neglected at 6 years old. Sadly.

Tucson is the same car as the Kia Sportage... I know people who have them. Not actually sure how good they are. Did you also consider a Nissan X-Trail or Suzuki Vitara - both have strong Diesel engines too.

kildare.17hmr

agree with si guru on this one, i would stay clear of both, the land rover for the same reasons and the kia for the sheer drop in value they suffer, you will know all about it when it comes time to trade it in!

Xtrail would be a great option, much better jeep and holds value very well

bmw535d

they are not really jeeps so i have to ask the question why? will you ever have to tow anything? go offroad? if not then why are you buying a jeep, if you are then you really shouldn't buy those type of jeep's atall,
.

si_guru

bmw535d wrote: »

they are not really jeeps so i have to ask the question why? will you ever have to tow anything? go offroad? if not then why are you buying a jeep, if you are then you really shouldn't buy those type of jeep's atall,
.

Maybe he likes the higher sitting position.. better visibility to spot righteous BMW drivers.

-Corkie-

si_guru wrote: »

Maybe he likes the higher sitting position.. better visibility to spot righteous BMW drivers.

Hehehe.... Op I am not being smart but it likes askin someone would they prefer to be shot in the left leg or the right leg..... Stay away from the landrover anyway. A poster called roverjames who knows a lot about them will explain all their faults in detail.

My in laws have a tuscon. I drove it recently and thought it very unstable on country roads... I also thought it was an alcoholic on diesel aswell. If its a jeep you want consider a landcruiser op.

kildare.17hmr

doesnt sound like he needs a cruser man, if it was a cruser he would be going back another few yrs for the same money! we all know the jeeps mentioned are glorified cars but like the other poster said people like the driving position

johnos1984

The Freelander through its various forms has been plauged with faults.

In fact it is so bad it was the worst car being built in Britain for reliability at one stage. The K-series petrol engine will suffer head gasket failure. This is expensive if you can't do it yourself and often leads to the engine being wrecked.

Early diesels were the L-series and are very agricultural but strong. TD4's aren't bad but they have their own faults too. The transmission problem mainly relates to the rear axle however it is expensive to replace and can start to give trouble around 70k miles. Waterleaks are another problem as are dodgy electrics.

As a car to drive I do like them but the ergonomics are badly flawed. There are a large amount of pitfalls and finally to put you off the platform for the car is based on the R8 Rover 200 of the early 90's.

As a fan of Rovers I would advise you to look elsewhere. A Discovery is a better bet.

Tomboy

Thank you all for your replies. The reason I am looking one is I like the higher driving position. Also I do some off-roading and also my jobs takes me along a lot of bog roads so I require something with plenty of clearance. The reason I was looking at those models is that I think they look quite good. Also I didn't want to be put in the farmer/ contractor bracket by getting a landcruiser or pajero.

bazz26

A Subaru Forester might be a better option then, they tend to cost more though.

dr.fuzzenstein

bazz26 wrote: »

A Subaru Forester might be a better option then, they tend to cost more though.

Plus Subarus are very tough.
Or get this:



That would be truly indestructible. And the classic looks will deffo not be confused with farmer/road engineer.

si_guru

FJ40... nice.