Would you buy a Freelander?

logie101

Thinking of buying a 04 Freelander. Good clean car with plenty of history.

But I hear they can give trouble. Any advice appreciated.

barura

If the history looked good and it was running sweet, and the price was right. Yeap!

Don't the head gaskets need to be replaced on them though?

JJJJNR

Petrol or diesel ? do a search as there was a really detailed thread about these a couple of years ago IIRC.

YouTookMyName

Petrol no, Diesel with plenty of history and the right spec, maybe.

working fool

worth a shot if its well looked after .
the fluid clutch servo gives a lot of trouble on them ,,its a sealed unit so u have to buy the lot when fixing it .

101sean

Late TD4s are generally fine and sought after in the UK at least. It's the 1.8 petrols that had gasket problems, mostly due to owners never lifting the bonnet, coolant level is critical.

Make sure it's got 4 matched tyres and no funny wear patterns, make sure the steering isn't jerky on full lock going forwards or tyres scrubbing. All are signs of failing VCU and/or IRD, walk away if they do.

Having said that, late ones aren't so prone to rear drive failure.

Decent bit of history makes a change here, could be a good buy.

couldntthink

I haven't much experience working on these, and I'm not able to vouch for their reliability. But I had a freelander 2 diesel on a safari in South Africa and I thought it was a really nice drive. Loads of power and very comfortable. I was impressed as I've never been a landrover fan. I have always fancied the Mitsubishi Outlander 1.9 vw engined diesel though.

101sean

Freelander 2 seems to be pretty trouble free so far.

mondeo

I wouldnt say no to a freelander as a bad weather run about. The 1.8 petrols are 4x4 right? I suppose with the updated head gasket set the petrol would be fine.

Did the very early Freelander petrols come with Honda engines or were they all the partially doomed k series?

101sean

No all were K series. There was a KV6 as well mainly for the US market, now that was a heap of trouble apparently! The K series can be reliable but coolant must be checked regularly and any sign of overheating investigated immediately.

Early diesels were L series (badged di), later ones are BMW Td4, a much better engine.

All Freelander 1s are 4x4 unless the rear prop and VCU have been removed, not unknown on older ones after the IRD (on back of gearbox, sends drive to rear) has failed. They used to fail if owners ignored a failing VCU, which are cheap to replace, the IRD isn't (around £700). The rate of failure is less on later ones as LR lessened the difference in axle ratios front and rear.

There was a horror story on the 4x4 forum some time ago when someone bought one and found it had no rear prop, dealer claimed it was an economy measure :eek:

mondeo

mondeo wrote: »

........

Did the very early Freelander petrols come with Honda engines or were they all the partially doomed k series?

No Honda powered ones, some were KV6 I think.

exador

101sean wrote: »

Freelander 2 seems to be pretty trouble free so far.

Agree... I have seen a lot of these and they are by far the most relaible and least troublesome in the range...so far !

racso1975

well if you really want to be noticed here's one on donedeal with all the bells and whistles

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2638243


vrt works out about 6600

Though i would be suspect of the exceptonally low mileage

101sean

Way too blingy, they look much better unadorned. 19" rims won't do the ride any favours either.

heate

racso1975 wrote: »

well if you really want to be noticed here's one on donedeal with all the bells and whistles

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2638243


vrt works out about 6600

Though i would be suspect of the exceptonally low mileage

Might have been used to drive to shops or to work a mile or two from home. An 08 with that spec and milage for under 17k is the suspect thing to me!

YouTookMyName

racso1975 wrote: »

well if you really want to be noticed here's one on donedeal with all the bells and whistles

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2638243


vrt works out about 6600

Though i would be suspect of the exceptonally low mileage

Fugly.