Dealer or Private

[Hudson1984]

after my last post, i'm pretty set on a Freelander 2.

Now, the last 3 cars i've bought from a dealer have turned out to be utter st heaps. In and out of the garage, granted all under warranty but clearly crap vehicles in the first place.

I'm really sick of spending 10 grand on a vehicle, to end up selling it for a loss because i'm sick to death of the issues.

is this just the state of used cars and i'm just being unlucky or should I just deal with private sellers and pay less in the first place.

My caravelle has been going strong for a couple of years now (bought privately) and the known issues are all fixed and it does exactly what we expect it to. I'd get in that tomorrow and trust it to get me absolutely anywhere

[ZX10R NIN]

There's no clear answer buy on condition & find the best one if it happens to be private then all good.

[anonymous-user]

As above

Dealer sold cars are generally ex private owner cars and no guarantee they're any better. You just get a bit of comeback with most dealers unless they are a tinpot setup and tell you to get lost rather aggressively.

I'd view as many as possible and buy one that's got the best upkeep and condition.

Have a contingency fund too as there will always be something needing doing on a used car. Especially on a JLR car haha

[chrisch77]

Even the newest Freelander 2 is now more than 8 years old? And it’s a JLR product in the first place so I’m not sure where you buy it is going to be the main influence on reliability of the car unfortunately.

[anonymous-user]

Buy a RAV4 over a Freelander and rest in the knowledge it's a reliable car (better looking too in my eyes)

[stevemcs]

lord trumpton said:

Buy a RAV4 over a Freelander and rest in the knowledge it's a reliable car (better looking too in my eyes)

Normally I would agree with Toyotas but the RAV4 isn’t the best, the Freelander is a pretty good car with very few issues.

[anonymous-user]

stevemcs said:

lord trumpton said:

Buy a RAV4 over a Freelander and rest in the knowledge it's a reliable car (better looking too in my eyes)

Normally I would agree with Toyotas but the RAV4 isn’t the best, the Freelander is a pretty good car with very few issues.

Thought they had a weak rear diff and endless dpf issues?

Wife had a RAV4 for yonks and it was faultless for us. Bit bland mind

The newer Vitara is a decent car too

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301173...

[stevemcs]

Diffs occasionally, never seen dpf issues,split intercooler hoses yes, occasionally turbo actuators