RE: Shed Of The Week: Land Rover Freelander

[yellowbentines]

ecs0set said:

Otherwise, despite the fact that it is in some way related to motoring, this advert holds absolutely no interest at all to PH subscribers

That facts you noted about that ad DOES interest me, not greatly mind.

I'm one of these odd people that has an interest in all things motoring-related, a shed of the week doesn't need to be something I like or would consider buying, for me to have an interest in it. Variety is the spice of life and all that, constant requests for sheds to be old smelly Volvos and Mercs with beige velour is a bit dull really.

I'd see something like this Freelander as an ownership challenge, see how long you can make it last

[gareth29]

Dont like the volvo but the jag looks nice! A 3.2 V8 though? I dont remember that one isnt it a V6?

y2blade said:

Here's a better shed than that POS

268bhp Volvo T5
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/v...


240bhp Jaguar V8
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/j...

[anonymous-user]

I've never seen such uniform, consistent hatred for the SOTW before. Truly this car has united the PH masses.

I'll chip in; it's rubbish.

[Clivey]

Does anyone else actually like these?

If you're going to buy one, you at least have to take it green laning...otherwise there are much better cars (as in saloon, coupé etc. - not a 4x4) to smoke around in.

I considered a facelift TD4 HSE when I wanted a 4x4 but didn't initially want something that'd struggle to do 30 MPG. The ones I drove weren't bad at all but by that time I'd been bitten by the off-road / overland travel bug and decided to get a Discovery instead.

[Domf]

If this is bought to be used as a Garden Shed, then good, but if you want to drive in it you must have missed the long running Hammer House of Horrors movie 'Freelander - the wallet cleanout'

[RedAlfa]

No thanks ⊙_⊙

Whenever I see a TD4 version it's smoking like Thomas The fking Tank Engine

[leedsutd1]

i buy a cheap 4wd every year if it snows where I live its usually 3 feet deep and the council does not clear it. years ago I used to buy a fourtrak , but nowadays there too slow and the headlights are crap. 4 years in a row a bought ,M, N, P, R reg discoverys good in snow ,ok to drive except for long shift through gears, but for the price I paid ,around £1,000 even with 10 months test they were rotten, 3 years ago I bought a freelander TD4 , 2 owners, needing a clutch. Got it home first problem doors did not lock, no alarm, had to get 2 central locking motors for doors, wipers did not go to park postion ,second hand wiper motor £12, needed a drop link, no antifreeze in engine ,so full service , I paid £1450 for it but ended up having £2,300 by time I finished, that included a respray to a rear wing that had a big dent. drove okay but 4 months later was hard to sell on, took £1850 for it with a new clutch

Edited by leedsutd1 on Friday 25th July 15:43

[Liquid Tuna]

Really? This is the best thing out there this week?

I've never owned or driven a Freelander of this generation, so my only knowledge of them is people I know who've owned them. They've all had problems at some point, enough problems to put me off ever owning one.

Dreadful effort for SOTW. So bad in fact, I suspect whoever wrote the piece was laughing as they submitted the page to the internet.

[V8 FOU]

I have £10 for the FTSOTW, Ben.

[PistonBroker]

I remember buying one of these when I was in my 'buying and selling for pocket money' phase many moons ago.

Abiding memory of the rear window dropping of it's own accord and the inevitable signs of HGF issues - ashamed to say I chucked some K-Seal in it and sold it on promptly. At a loss if SWMBO recalls correctly . . .

[Skater12]

I used to work for Land Rover and drove many of the Freelander models.

Overall I found the later face-lifted TD4 manual was the best of the bunch.
Pricey when new and held their prices at dealers for some time in the the Freelander 2 was launched.

If you can get a low mileage for year, fully dealer serviced 04-05 HSE or Sport 5dr for under £4000-£4500 you'd have a pretty decent car for the money.

Essential to make sure on the service history though. Any early issues would have been flagged up, possibly done under warranty or fixed by a previous owner.
If not, walk away, very very fast. Freelander repairs can be crippling, so shop around and get some advice.

Get a good one, and it'll be a reliable, comfortable and actually quite enjoyable family wagon.

[nigelsanderson]

I have owned a 2003 5 door 1.8 petrol for the past 4 years. Bought it when I could not get anywhere in the snow with my Jaguar or the wife's mini.

Done 30K miles in it, returns about 30mpg. Reliability has been quite reasonable, couple of brake pipes, a leak from the inlet manifold (£3 parts, 1 hour of your time to fix) and a faulty rear light.

I think many owners and garages change the head gasket when in fact it is sometimes the inlet manifold gasket, as the symptoms are similar. The water channel goes through the manifold and leak can lead to water in the oil. Gasket is rubber so will go hard and fail eventually (11 years in my case).

Mine now has 70K on it and still has 4WD, and sailed through it's last MOT.

I actually like driving it in a vague barge steering kind of way and I don't have to worry too much about getting it muddy (inside or out). I treat it like a van, and I like that robust hard plastic interior, just like a van in fact. And it is excellent in the snow, passed a line of stranded cars on a hill, including many 'lifestyle' 4WDs a couple of years ago. Chunky tyres helps there.

Will oversteer in the snow, what fun. Not enough power to oversteer any other time!

[cookie1600]

Not for me thanks, I 'd have to spend as much again on head gaskets if I kept it for any length of time.

[Limpet]

You would need to be some kind of masochist with a penchant for Russian roulette, surely...

The kind of car you'd take off someone's hands for pennies (or free) and throw away at the first sign of grief. Makes no sense under any other circumstances.

[Thorperoo]

@gareth29 - it's definitely a V8, I've counted the spark plugs and everything

for the record I wish they'd run with the jag too.

[Dr G]

6 years of lurking to defend an old Freelander? What a waste

[Prawnboy]

Dr G said:

6 years of lurking to defend an old Freelander? What a waste

or is it?
to wait that long for a freelander article on the front page is the work of a mad genius surely.


bravo.....

[cookie1600]

pSyCoSiS said:

I like this chain of thought. I think we are onto something here.

Get the worse rated / most hated SOTW cars and have them crushed, smashed, drowned, etc?!

But please, please ensure it doesn't get back into the 'food chain' as spares and keeps another one of these hateful monsters on the road for a minute more.

[nigelsanderson]

Never had anything else worth saying.

I usually just read these forums to get what everyone is thinking, I have been a member for years because I placed an advert years ago.

Must say some of the posts are getting predicable...

Freeland, must be rubbish because the head gaskets go every other week. It's just not true.

Jaguar, will break down every week and leave you stranded by the road. Oh wait a minute that is true(in my experience).

[Robbie1400]

OK I know I'll get some stick for this but here is a counter point of view (one versus so many). We have run 4 of these - 3 hardbacks (btw they were always called hardbacks) and one 5 door. All had K series engines. In all we probably did about 30k miles in them. The only problems were a clutch and an ECU. I know this sounds unlikely but it's true.
I agree that they are not really PH fodder nor ideal SOW candidates but there's little competition if you want a semi-convertible SUV (and why wouldn't you). However, I will admit that the roof is a b*st*rd to take off, the interior is rubbish and they do handle like a boat.
As a car to take stuff to the tip (as opposed to leaving it there) they are a good bet. Honestly......