Freelander

[AUFC]

I see Freelander's don't get the best write-ups. However they seem to be going really cheap so my question is are they really that bad? What things to look out for?

The tax seems to be crazy on them but buying about a 2000 plate the tax is about £240ish.

[sandman77]

The 1.8 petrol engine is made from cheese.

[plasticpig]

The vicious coupling unit for the 4WD is prone to failure. The cheap solution to this is to remove the propshaft so it's 2WD only!

[Tomo1971]

AUFC said:

I see Freelander's don't get the best write-ups. However they seem to be going really cheap so my question is are they really that bad? What things to look out for?

The tax seems to be crazy on them but buying about a 2000 plate the tax is about £240ish.

Yes they do get bad press.

Mainly due to the 1.8 petrol.

The 2.0 L Diesel (K-Series I think, also used in the Rover 200/400 etc) wasn't a bad engine from what I read though.

The 2.0 L TD4 from BMW in the later ones is far better and was/is used by BMW in an updated form till recently if not still used.

The Viscous Coupling was an issue as it was too stiff and so broke the IRD prematurely. On the newer Freelanders (from about 2003 from memory, when they had the facelift) the VC was changed and a lot less VC/IRD issues were reported after that. Key to it is check the oepration on the VC on a regular basis.

I had a 2004 TD4 Van version. Purchased in 2008 with 12k on it (yes, really... just 12,000 miles 4 years old) and sold it in 2010 with 118,000 miles on it.

Issues?

Only minor, or expected ones for the age and miles....
-Mass Airflow Sensor was changed a couple of weeks after I bought it - Dealer paid for that (£200)
-Had a set of dampers fitted to the Viscous coupling but were cheap and nasty so had to replace with genuine LR ones... £40 for the cheap set £100 for the genuine ones (fitted)
-Slave cylinder went at 90,000 so was a gearbox out job so changed plate and DMF at the same time - Cost just under £1000
-Rear section of exhaust changed at 80,000 - Cost was about £70

Thats it.... and I dont think that was too bad for a motor that was abused somewhat and used off road. Cost me £250 every 12,000 miles for a service at a specialist LR indie garage (£450 at a LR dealer).

The specialist servicing to me was the key, they know the vehicles and know where to look for signs of things going wrong so they can nip it in the bud.

[wemorgan]

IMHO why buy cars like the Freelander when cars like the CRV exist.

[EvoSlayer]

We've had an '03 TD4 since Oct '07 and used it as a general workhouse for carting all kinds of ste around, always kept it outside and has been used through all kinds of stty Winter weather. It's currently worth more to us than it's monetary value so will probably be kept until it dies.
Failures to date include, 1 injector, 1 heated seat switch, one headlight levelling switch (turned out it just needed a clean!), 1 brake light switch, a split intercooler hose and a couple of bulbs.

They're easy enough to maintain and service yourself, parts are readily available and cheap enough, tyres seem to last forever and our td4 averages around 37mpg.

Edited by EvoSlayer on Saturday 18th January 15:32

[budfox]

Someone would have to pay me to drive a 1.8 petrol Freelander. Worst vehicle I ever owned by a country mile.