RE: Shed Of The Week: Land Rover Freelander

[SeldomSeenKid]

I rated it 7 for the article, as I like Shed's writing style and articles.

The car, however, is pish poor. May as well throw a suggestion into the hat, don't know much about these, other than a neighbour had one a few years ago and raved about the air con in it. That's a good enough reason to buy one over the Freelander for me!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/mazda/tribut...

[soad]

FrankUnderwood said:

Recently voted one of the least reliable cars in the UK I think (although could be wrong), something like 60% left on the road compared to 98% of the Honda equivalent.

True enough, I recall reading the article.

[RCA]

I don't personally get the all the negativeness about these... Have run a late facelift commercial for last 3 years as a work/dog bus and it's been great... I've done almost 40k in it and it's just about to hit 170k. TD4 mind not K series...
Everything works including heated seats... 4wd is absolutely fine although I take prop off for 8 months of year and get about 45mpg...
It's never going to set any speed records or make you smile like an idiot when you drive it, but does it's job great...

[minerva]

I was serving in Cyprus so had a st car... Mitsubishi Pajero SWB. a friend of mine at the other end of the island had a freelander... We met on Mt Troodos and mine got to the top. I have photographic evidence of me and the motor near the top of ski lift.

The freelander, in all honesty, bottomed out at the very bottom. At the bottom of the ski lift. It was utterly st.

So, no. This is the worse shed for donkeys.

[Bladedancer]

V8 FOU said:

Urrgh! Yukk....

THAT centre viscous diff, no. H/gaskets - I could bang on about the dozens of those I've done, the modifications, but no.

One life, Just leave It Alone.

And if you crash it folds up like paper bag.
I'll pass.

[Gandahar]

You can get a Suzuki Jimny for that money now

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Put a private plate on it, J1 MNY, and it looks just like new.

And it will never go wrong.

Or a FWD Ferrari FF on hire purchase and sell it on after a month....

[Rumblestripe]

Awful, just awful.

Shed? I wouldn't use it to keep chickens in.

[IanMorewood]

Not with someone else's barge pole.

Terrible ride.
Vomit inducing back seats.
Road noise.
Transmission weakness.
Engine likely to go pop.

Can't think of one redeeming feature at least with a defender or discovery you get some positives.

[powerstroke]

Normal triumph of land rover marketing over substance
It was a real reminder of all that was wrong with the British motor
Industry...

[Clivey]

powerstroke said:

Normal triumph of land rover marketing over substance
It was a real reminder of all that was wrong with the British motor
Industry...

It's such a shame though as conceptually it was good. I think LR need to think-up the concepts, ideas and basic designs but get Toyota to build the bloody things.

I bought a D2 as despite the build quality issues (most of which can be felt with by the aftermarket on the older cars), it's a brilliant 4x4. The equivalent Land Cruiser (Prado J120) just isn't as well-shaped, if that makes sense.

[Tomo1971]

RCA said:

I don't personally get the all the negativeness about these... Have run a late facelift commercial for last 3 years as a work/dog bus and it's been great... I've done almost 40k in it and it's just about to hit 170k. TD4 mind not K series...
Everything works including heated seats... 4wd is absolutely fine although I take prop off for 8 months of year and get about 45mpg...
It's never going to set any speed records or make you smile like an idiot when you drive it, but does it's job great...

Same as the one I had. Never really an issue.

Bought a 2004 t4d commercial in 2008, had 12k on it at the time, ex-pool car for Interserve I think it was. Book showed full LR service and one breakdown due to flat battery and the subsequent receipt for new battery.

Serviced it at a local 4x4 LR specialist at 24,48, 60,72, 84, 96, 108k for £250 a time PLUS:

Within a week or so of purchase had the dealer pay for a new Air Mass Sensor - £250

At about 36k had a LR 'Tech' do a homer and changed the prop shaft bearings as they were rumbling - £40 and he serviced it too for around £90

At 72k, realising that the 'new' bearings were not that great, had proper LR ones fitted when I had it serviced - £90 (plus service)

Also at 72k had the rear silencer replaced - £70

At 96k while on way to London I gathered the clutch was giving issues. Managed to leave it on hotel car park for a week, tried to limp it home but gave up on the M6 Toll (at the services). RAC said it was the slave cylinder, managed a temp fix that got me home. Got it to my specialist who changed slave, clutch plate and DMF (although they still had a few 000 left in them, made sense to change them while the box was out for the slave) - £990

Not sure when but the speakers gave up the ghost. Damp had gotten to them in the front doors. Changed for some from Halfords, £30.

Sold at 118,000 miles.

Breakdowns - At around 25k I fitted a tuning box (the RoverRon one recommended by many Rover forums). Worked well enough but at around 70k there was hesitation while approaching the Forth Road Bridge. Pulled over, wouldn't restart. Back of an RAC truck to my specialist who bypassed the tuning box and all worked fine. never had an issue since then. So technically not the Freelanders fault, was the tuning box.

Used it off road on many many occasions as worked on the mobile phone masts. Only got it properly stuck once.

Would I buy another?

Hmmmmm.... dunno... I do wonder if I was lucky in mine.

[MadDog1962]

I have a theory that every once in a while Shed picks a real pile-o-crap just so we can all rant and say how rubbish it is.

The Freelander has to be one of those great British disappointments that was a shed when it left the factory. We all wanted it to be great and thought it looked good, but it just wasn't. Very Solihull.

[darkyoung1000]

gareth29 said:

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

That was the changeover year, i.e. the first of the V8s (confusingly the same displacement as the straight six).

I am the man mentioned in the ad who took it to Le Mans and having serviced it can definitely confirm its 8 cylinder nature

Cheers,
Tom

Edited by darkyoung1000 on Sunday 27th July 03:13

[Mr2Mike]

I can say with some certainty that a good proportion of the Freelander bashers on here have never owned one, but as usual like to follow popular opinion in a sheep-like manner. The Freelander certainly has it's share of faults but spares are plentiful and they are cheap to fix and there is plenty of knowledge on common faults and cures.

Obviously at this end of the market it's not for the limp of wrist who burst into tears at the sight of a spanner and have to get their "little man" to fix everything for them.

[GreenArrow]

terrible shed. Only last weekend I witnessed this exact model failing to start at my local supermarket car park and being trailered away. Yes I haven't driven one, but a pre-requisite with a cheap second hand car is that it should at least have a chance of being reliable and these have always had a terrible reputation in that department!

[Tomo1971]

Mr2Mike said:

I can say with some certainty that a good proportion of the Freelander bashers on here have never owned one, but as usual like to follow popular opinion in a sheep-like manner. The Freelander certainly has it's share of faults but spares are plentiful and they are cheap to fix and there is plenty of knowledge on common faults and cures.

Obviously at this end of the market it's not for the limp of wrist who burst into tears at the sight of a spanner and have to get their "little man" to fix everything for them.

A colleague of mine bought his TD4 at a similar time to me. Had slightly more miles on it and had a full LR service history. He serviced his at a LR dealer and spent £1000's on servicing and repairs. I know at a minimum the clutch, DMF, Turbo, IRD and VC were changed... so around £3k

After speaking to a LR tech (the one that did my homer), he said that they don't check the VC or IRD as a routine, just change them as and when they break. The specialist I used, checked the VC every time it went in for service, a failure of the VC is what causes the IRD to fail and the VC is a lot cheaper to replace!

As happens with many cars, the reputation for the freelander mainly came from the unreliability of the 1.8, especially the common HG failure which plagued all the cars with the same motor.

[A.J.M]

I had 2 freeby's. Both were 04 facelift TD4 SE manual hardbacks.

First one was actually a great car, it also stood up very well to a lorry skidding on black ice and rear ending me into a line of traffic, car was a write off, but i walked away unhurt, i dread to think what mess my Clio would have been in..

2nd one, was a dog of a car. First owner had neglected it and ran it on petrol, which is bad news on a diesel.
I shouldn't have bought it, but my hand was forced after i lost my courtesy car as my insurer had given me 2 low ball offers for the smashed one and i needed a car again.
It chewed it's transmission, the clutch system died 3 times and it never ran right.
I gave in after 3 years and after pouring a fortune into it and sold it on.

It was however great in the snow and would do superb donuts and i could get it further round off road courses than some D90s and RRC's, much to their owners disgust at being shown up by a freeby.

So, after suffering 3 years of dodgy Land Rover's, i bought a Disco3.. Which has been far better.

Freeby's can be a good car if you buy a diesel and do the basic checks, but even doing that can still land a dog...

[Clivey]

A.J.M said:

I had 2 freeby's. Both were 04 facelift TD4 SE manual hardbacks.

First one was actually a great car, it also stood up very well to a lorry skidding on black ice and rear ending me into a line of traffic, car was a write off, but i walked away unhurt, i dread to think what mess my Clio would have been in..

2nd one, was a dog of a car. First owner had neglected it and ran it on petrol, which is bad news on a diesel.
I shouldn't have bought it, but my hand was forced after i lost my courtesy car as my insurer had given me 2 low ball offers for the smashed one and i needed a car again.
It chewed it's transmission, the clutch system died 3 times and it never ran right.
I gave in after 3 years and after pouring a fortune into it and sold it on.

It was however great in the snow and would do superb donuts and i could get it further round off road courses than some D90s and RRC's, much to their owners disgust at being shown up by a freeby.

So, after suffering 3 years of dodgy Land Rover's, i bought a Disco3.. Which has been far better.

Freeby's can be a good car if you buy a diesel and do the basic checks, but even doing that can still land a dog...

The research I did when looking for a 4x4 backs-up your sentiments. - Find a good one and they can be a great little off-roader.

[BEP]

Some threads on here really are very odd....i'll be the first to admit that whoever had the idea of fitting a 1.8 K series in a 4x4 was evidently having a bad day at the design office. Basically not an awful engine but in a 4x4 not good... (btw have had 4 K series engined cars and never had a HGF)

So on the drive I have a late facelift TD4, in 14 months it's had an exhaust back box,prop bushes,and new discs and pads....now I may be lucky in that it's been maintained meticulously and indeed I did 800 miles last week without complaint. It's actually quite nippy and handles fairly well too which always surprises people, indeed a certain PH scribe likes to rib me over my lack of issues with it!! Off Road it's fine, been up grass/mud covered hillsides, through fields,and around forests....but that's down to the fact I've got proper tyres on it!!

Incidentally mine's an auto,very relaxing drive,around town about 30mpg and on a run 35mpg....can't at present think of a reason to get anything else

[tclynes]

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.