RE: Shed Of The Week: Land Rover Freelander
Discussion
tclynes said:
I had a red R reg 1.8 from the chinese embassy. It was absolutely mint, I even blacked the bumpers properly so it looked like new. Took it to Scotland for christmas, it went along fine (at that point I had had a RR Classic, 190e merc, CLK and a P38 that was a heap of crap that tried to kill me). It was the only thing that could get up to the lodge we were staying in by Aviemore in the ice and was good fun off road.
One day when driving back from London, just as I was telling my friends I was thinking of keeping it when I qualified as it was a good no issues motor, it blew its head gasket, turns out the car had an ironic sense of humour.
The other half now wants one, I can now thank shed for reminding me why we won't be getting one.
Get a TD4 then. It's the same (BMW) engine that went in the 3-Series...One day when driving back from London, just as I was telling my friends I was thinking of keeping it when I qualified as it was a good no issues motor, it blew its head gasket, turns out the car had an ironic sense of humour.
The other half now wants one, I can now thank shed for reminding me why we won't be getting one.
We're moving to Yorkshire and with the warning from the new neighbours that we can get snowed in we require a 4x4 each, I like the Freelander, I do still have fond memories, but if I need to be certain that its going to get either of us to work when on-call then I don't know if I can trust it. I've already been lucky in having what seems like the only reliable RRS, I surely cant get two perfect LR products?!
Not for me, never owned or driven one . My next door neighbour bought one some years ago to replace her Metro, I waited for the inevitable problems so I could have a good laugh but the damn thing just ran and ran. That was at least six years ago and other than "normal" problems like seized locks and rusted up windows it still runs to-day and as far as I know the top has yet to come off the engine.
I don't want this weeks SOTW, but when a friend asked about a cheap (1k ish) second hand daily driver to do a good bit of running about in, I tried to send her down the Focus route, or even a Golf because she likes them but £1k buys a dog VW. She bought a Freelander and I went into hiding expecting many where shall I take it for this etc phone calls, but unbelievably one year later she has had no issues with it whatsoever and it just sailed through another MOT with zero faults. She loves it and I am amazed.
My brother has one of these which he got for £175 with tax and m.o.t. Not very good in mud though.
20140728_213431 by w.kane90, on Flickr
20140728_213431 by w.kane90, on FlickrEdited by dabofoppo on Tuesday 29th July 02:06
dabofoppo said:
My brother has one of these which he got for £175 with tax and m.o.t. Not very good in mud though.
20140728_213431 by w.kane90, on Flickr
It depends on tyres but they're not bad in the mud - better than the CR-V, Rav4 etc. Remember; it was LR's entry level product. - It wasn't intended as a Defender replacement.20140728_213431 by w.kane90, on FlickrEdited by dabofoppo on Tuesday 29th July 02:06
Freelanders are the epitome of Russian Roulette with second hand cars. I have spent about 80% of my career so far with Land Rover products, most of it between 2002 and 2009 when the Freelander 1 was a popular car. The car is susceptible to the following problems:
-K-series Head gaskets (1.8 and to a lesser point the V6)
-Rear diff front mount
-Prop centre bearings (ALWAYS REPLACE IN PAIRS)
-VCU bush
-VCU unit
-IRD
-Tailgate window regulator... ...in fact all window regulators
-Catastrophic structural rust on early models
-If you take the roof off on a 3 door then you quite often find creaks and groans from the back as the car seems as structurally rigid as an omelette
-Radio display on earlier models (XQH100102, over £100)
-Check the prop is still there. I lost count of the number of people who bought one only to discover it was front wheel drive and would cost them the best part of a grand to reinstate the 4wd although hats off to Land Rover for making the conversion so unbelievably easy.
Despite this I think they have a certain charm and if you are incredibly careful then you could have a good car. Just try and buy a TD4 if you can. If you can't then the earlier L-Series diesel is, engine wise, bomb proof but the slowest of them all. The V6 is near enough as thirsty as a V8 P38 and the auto gearbox does experience solenoid failures so isn't worth bothering with.
If you do buy a K-series model then make sure that you can tick some certain points.
- It must of had a head gasket replacement at some point in it's life so make sure it had the modified multi layer head gasket (can't remember the whole number but I'm sure it ends in 630L) and the modified oil rail in the sump, part number LCN000140L. If it has had the oil rail then it is more likely the liners didn't drop when the gasket failed.
-Make sure it has the modified plastic thermostat in the pipe work. They originally had one on the back of the cylinder head. The housing should still be there but it should have a dummy thermostat in it.
-Make sure it has the modified expansion tank. You can tell as it will have a large black cap which houses a valve to relieve pressure if it gets too hot.
-Don't take it above about 3,000 rpm until it is fully warmed up. Most failures were down to people driving up to and over 4,000 rpm or so from cold as all the power is at the top of the rev range. Basically treat it with kid gloves when cold and you should be alright.
-Despite taking all these precautions, budget for a head gasket replacement anyway.
-K-series Head gaskets (1.8 and to a lesser point the V6)
-Rear diff front mount
-Prop centre bearings (ALWAYS REPLACE IN PAIRS)
-VCU bush
-VCU unit
-IRD
-Tailgate window regulator... ...in fact all window regulators
-Catastrophic structural rust on early models
-If you take the roof off on a 3 door then you quite often find creaks and groans from the back as the car seems as structurally rigid as an omelette
-Radio display on earlier models (XQH100102, over £100)
-Check the prop is still there. I lost count of the number of people who bought one only to discover it was front wheel drive and would cost them the best part of a grand to reinstate the 4wd although hats off to Land Rover for making the conversion so unbelievably easy.
Despite this I think they have a certain charm and if you are incredibly careful then you could have a good car. Just try and buy a TD4 if you can. If you can't then the earlier L-Series diesel is, engine wise, bomb proof but the slowest of them all. The V6 is near enough as thirsty as a V8 P38 and the auto gearbox does experience solenoid failures so isn't worth bothering with.
If you do buy a K-series model then make sure that you can tick some certain points.
- It must of had a head gasket replacement at some point in it's life so make sure it had the modified multi layer head gasket (can't remember the whole number but I'm sure it ends in 630L) and the modified oil rail in the sump, part number LCN000140L. If it has had the oil rail then it is more likely the liners didn't drop when the gasket failed.
-Make sure it has the modified plastic thermostat in the pipe work. They originally had one on the back of the cylinder head. The housing should still be there but it should have a dummy thermostat in it.
-Make sure it has the modified expansion tank. You can tell as it will have a large black cap which houses a valve to relieve pressure if it gets too hot.
-Don't take it above about 3,000 rpm until it is fully warmed up. Most failures were down to people driving up to and over 4,000 rpm or so from cold as all the power is at the top of the rev range. Basically treat it with kid gloves when cold and you should be alright.
-Despite taking all these precautions, budget for a head gasket replacement anyway.
Nearly forgot one thing. If you are buying a late one, check the VIN number. If it starts with SALL, it will be a Solihull built model and will come with dubious reliability. If it starts with a K then it will be a Korean built model won't come with any reliability at all. Land Rover shipped a bulk load of Freelanders to South Korea as CKD's (Complete Knockdown Kits). Once built, Land Rover in Korea didn't want them so Pendragon (Stratstone) bought the lot, shipped them back over here and sold them as Limited edition models. They are nearly all on 06 and 56 reg's. These Freelanders make the Solihull built models look like Toyota's in comparison. You could tell straight away as the front wings didn't fit properly and would bulge out between the arch and the front door and we had most of them back for warranty work.
I never thought I'd say this but the british built one is the one to buy.
I never thought I'd say this but the british built one is the one to buy.
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