RE: The worst used car in Britain
Discussion
Anecdotal maybe, but I had a Freelander from new - purchased in 2006 so one of the facelift models with supposedly improved build quality ( TD4 model ) and the viscous coupling seized before it had even done 10,000 miles.
A freak failure perhaps, but was one amongst many faults it developed during the three years I owned it.
As it froze completely solid it had to be jacked up onto 4x skates to get it onto the back of the recovery truck and being stranded on the M6 for 6hrs in the middle of the night, waiting for a recovery truck that had a second pair of skates on board isn't much fun.
The clutch cylinder was replaced at about 30,000 miles, it had a number of niggly faults, water leaks etc and the injectors were on their way out by 60,000 miles when I got rid of it - it was always serviced on time at the supplying dealers and was far from neglected.
Faults aside it really wasn't bad to drive and the dealers handled any problems well enough, but I can fully understand why they have a bad reputation.
A freak failure perhaps, but was one amongst many faults it developed during the three years I owned it.
As it froze completely solid it had to be jacked up onto 4x skates to get it onto the back of the recovery truck and being stranded on the M6 for 6hrs in the middle of the night, waiting for a recovery truck that had a second pair of skates on board isn't much fun.
The clutch cylinder was replaced at about 30,000 miles, it had a number of niggly faults, water leaks etc and the injectors were on their way out by 60,000 miles when I got rid of it - it was always serviced on time at the supplying dealers and was far from neglected.
Faults aside it really wasn't bad to drive and the dealers handled any problems well enough, but I can fully understand why they have a bad reputation.
300bhp/ton said:
Well ok, it was my Mum's. But I have had first hand experience and done many 1000's of miles behind the wheel. It was only replaced due to being written off in an RTA.
So in your straw pole of 1 there was no issues whatsoever. Looks like many thousands of customers were just the unlucky majority
yonex said:
300bhp/ton said:
Well ok, it was my Mum's. But I have had first hand experience and done many 1000's of miles behind the wheel. It was only replaced due to being written off in an RTA.
So in your straw pole of 1 there was no issues whatsoever. Looks like many thousands of customers were just the unlucky majoritycptsideways said:
The reason the centre viscous units fail is freeking obvious if you know what you are on about
Being predominantly FWD it wears the front tyres out first, then the difference in diameter front to rear is sufficient for the viscous coupling to be activated most of the time, it then overheats & then eventually seizes up solid. However at this point they damn good off road!!! Until its starts spewing diffs & CV joints out.
Its a very simple cycle of failure, I bet 1/4 of them for sale have had the rear propshafts removed.
All the viscous unit does is provide some stodge between the front & rear axle speed differences. There is no detection or automation its just a simple thing of multiple clutch plates in glupe that lock up under some rotational movement (its a newtonian fluid in there) Constant locking up overheats the glupe till its carbonises.
Easy way to tell a borked one, drive it on full lock, it should NOT be locked up initially but should lock up after about half a turn or 180deg (some tyre scrubbing should be evident)
Many of the competition don't suffer the same faults due to design differences
Jeep grand Cherokees suffer the same problemBeing predominantly FWD it wears the front tyres out first, then the difference in diameter front to rear is sufficient for the viscous coupling to be activated most of the time, it then overheats & then eventually seizes up solid. However at this point they damn good off road!!! Until its starts spewing diffs & CV joints out.
Its a very simple cycle of failure, I bet 1/4 of them for sale have had the rear propshafts removed.
All the viscous unit does is provide some stodge between the front & rear axle speed differences. There is no detection or automation its just a simple thing of multiple clutch plates in glupe that lock up under some rotational movement (its a newtonian fluid in there) Constant locking up overheats the glupe till its carbonises.
Easy way to tell a borked one, drive it on full lock, it should NOT be locked up initially but should lock up after about half a turn or 180deg (some tyre scrubbing should be evident)
Many of the competition don't suffer the same faults due to design differences
Luckily the manual 2wd/4wd selectable transfer case from the standard Cherokee is nearly a straight swap.
Will be doing mine shortly
tomoleeds said:
DO NOT EVER BUY A PETROL FREELANDER ,the head gasket will go.
It's hardly a certainty, especially if it's already been fixed properly. Even if it does go, provided you don't carry on driving it and badly overheat the engine then it's a cheap and easy fix (a lot cheaper than the clutch on your TD4).boundary1840 said:
Same engine as used in the MGF, and guess what its the same old headgasket, which then leads to head shot, block following close behind, people will drive them until they cant go any further.
No, ignorant cretins with the intelligence of a baboon will drive them until they can't go any further. Anyone with a modicum of mechanical sympathy and common sense will stop well before the engine is scrap.yonex said:
So in your straw pole of 1 there was no issues whatsoever. Looks like many thousands of customers were just the unlucky majority
My sister in law had a 1.8 Freelander for several years with no head gasket issues, though several other faults (inlet manifold gasket, window regulators and door lock problems).Edited by Mr2Mike on Wednesday 6th November 18:57
We have a 2003 2.5 V6 Freelander in the family. It has been flawless in the 6 years we've owned it.
The KV6's rarely suffer HGF and in fact the K in KV6 doesn't actually denote it's a K series because they're not.
It's not the most economical car, the KV6 in my battle cruiser Rover 75 returns a lot better MPG than the Freelander.
But it is a comfortable mile eater, performs well in winter and is only really let down by poor internal ventilation and heating.
Stef
The KV6's rarely suffer HGF and in fact the K in KV6 doesn't actually denote it's a K series because they're not.
It's not the most economical car, the KV6 in my battle cruiser Rover 75 returns a lot better MPG than the Freelander.
But it is a comfortable mile eater, performs well in winter and is only really let down by poor internal ventilation and heating.
Stef
Rose tinted glasses, if it were another mark, you would be insulting it. True badge snob
300bhp/ton said:
Freelanders are good vehicles period. Just read up on the problem areas. You'll find all cars have these, no matter what make or model. Only some get publicised more heavily.
The FL2 sadly has very little in common with the FL1 and uses BMW & Volvo engines and a Ford derived platform, unlike the FL1 which was mostly all Land Rover/Rover own.
The FL2 sadly has very little in common with the FL1 and uses BMW & Volvo engines and a Ford derived platform, unlike the FL1 which was mostly all Land Rover/Rover own.
te of the worst kind as it had a recurrent and intermittent fault which left my wife stranded more than once.300bhp/ton said:
Yet for this article there are only 572 reported reviews and nothing that claims they are all negative. Doesn't sound like 1000's to me.
This, unfortunately shows your lack of understanding on what a K Series needs to maintain reliability. You can't see past your love of defending something. StefanVXR8 said:
We have a 2003 2.5 V6 Freelander in the family. It has been flawless in the 6 years we've owned it.
The KV6's rarely suffer HGF and in fact the K in KV6 doesn't actually denote it's a K series because they're not.
It's not the most economical car, the KV6 in my battle cruiser Rover 75 returns a lot better MPG than the Freelander.
But it is a comfortable mile eater, performs well in winter and is only really let down by poor internal ventilation and heating.
Stef
+1. MiL has had her 53 plate 2.5 V6 ES since 2004 and it's served them very well as a workhorse.The KV6's rarely suffer HGF and in fact the K in KV6 doesn't actually denote it's a K series because they're not.
It's not the most economical car, the KV6 in my battle cruiser Rover 75 returns a lot better MPG than the Freelander.
But it is a comfortable mile eater, performs well in winter and is only really let down by poor internal ventilation and heating.
Stef
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