Buying freelancer?
Discussion
Having got a new job which requires travelling about 2 hours each way every now again on motorway and lugging quite a bit, I am thinking of getting a freelander partly because a mate of mine has one and every time I am in it, it's very good on motorway, quiet and comfy and deal very well with pot holes in London.
But having done a bit if research it seems to have quite a bit of reliability issue even though the ones with Beemer engine, what's the view of the fraternity? And will the early ones have air con and how's safety as I'll be my baby in it as well.
Lastly any specialist you guys will recommend? Saw a few already but owners seem to be clueless. I am in London/Essex area
Sorry if this has been asked zillion of times!
But having done a bit if research it seems to have quite a bit of reliability issue even though the ones with Beemer engine, what's the view of the fraternity? And will the early ones have air con and how's safety as I'll be my baby in it as well.
Lastly any specialist you guys will recommend? Saw a few already but owners seem to be clueless. I am in London/Essex area
Sorry if this has been asked zillion of times!
Hi mike,
For £6k you should easily get a 04-06 facelift model, it has a better dash and different front+rear lights and bumpers than the 97-03 range.
Spec goes from basic to top range, -> E,S,SE,HSE. Go for SE or HSE as they have the best kit in them. I have an TD4 SE and its got aircon, 6 disc cd autochanger, 17s, heated seats, front windscreen and heated elec powerfold mirrors, rear parking sensors and half leather/suede seats. Mine is a manual and does 35-40 mpg, motorways get it closer to 40. Ive done over 400miles on one go with it and its been great, really comfy and supportive seats. I get 450-520 miles per tank roughly, mine runs best on shell for reasons only it knows
Get a TD4 as the petrols are not as good on fuel and the 1.8 needs regular coolant checks, if it gets too low it blows the head gasket. VCU's can pack up but its £450 for a new one, make sure its got all the propshafts in as some people remove them for better mpg and or because the VCU has packed up.
Manual or auto is down to your own preference. I like the manual on mine. Change is decent and it can be hurried along at a decent pace.
TD4's go better with the EGR valve removed, plenty of kits on ebay for it, go for the black one, the silver is the wrong one. Remaps work quite well, JE Engineering does the best. I have a twisted performance map on mine, its good but not the 157bhp they claim, also it kicks out a bit of smoke on full boost and there is a bit of turbo lag from mine, also TP have poor customer service from my experience.
You say you have a baby so either 3 or 5 door will suit it, 5 doors easier for loading the kids in but i recon the 3 door looks nicer, im biased as i have a 3 door though.
The boot on both are reasonable but not huge. There are loads of storage bins around the car though.
For either, check the boot compartment doesnt have water in it, they can leak and its a new seal to fix it. Not an expensive problem to fix though. Other than that just do the usual checks, service history. Make sure the best tyres go on the back! If you get one and the best are on the front, change them to the back, it helps keep the VCU happy.
I would buy from a dealer, as they will have warrenties etc. Check landrover mags as well as the traders on them will have freebys to buy. Good luck and let me know how you get on.
Mine to show you the bumpers etc.
For £6k you should easily get a 04-06 facelift model, it has a better dash and different front+rear lights and bumpers than the 97-03 range.
Spec goes from basic to top range, -> E,S,SE,HSE. Go for SE or HSE as they have the best kit in them. I have an TD4 SE and its got aircon, 6 disc cd autochanger, 17s, heated seats, front windscreen and heated elec powerfold mirrors, rear parking sensors and half leather/suede seats. Mine is a manual and does 35-40 mpg, motorways get it closer to 40. Ive done over 400miles on one go with it and its been great, really comfy and supportive seats. I get 450-520 miles per tank roughly, mine runs best on shell for reasons only it knows
Get a TD4 as the petrols are not as good on fuel and the 1.8 needs regular coolant checks, if it gets too low it blows the head gasket. VCU's can pack up but its £450 for a new one, make sure its got all the propshafts in as some people remove them for better mpg and or because the VCU has packed up.
Manual or auto is down to your own preference. I like the manual on mine. Change is decent and it can be hurried along at a decent pace.
TD4's go better with the EGR valve removed, plenty of kits on ebay for it, go for the black one, the silver is the wrong one. Remaps work quite well, JE Engineering does the best. I have a twisted performance map on mine, its good but not the 157bhp they claim, also it kicks out a bit of smoke on full boost and there is a bit of turbo lag from mine, also TP have poor customer service from my experience.
You say you have a baby so either 3 or 5 door will suit it, 5 doors easier for loading the kids in but i recon the 3 door looks nicer, im biased as i have a 3 door though.
The boot on both are reasonable but not huge. There are loads of storage bins around the car though.For either, check the boot compartment doesnt have water in it, they can leak and its a new seal to fix it. Not an expensive problem to fix though. Other than that just do the usual checks, service history. Make sure the best tyres go on the back! If you get one and the best are on the front, change them to the back, it helps keep the VCU happy.
I would buy from a dealer, as they will have warrenties etc. Check landrover mags as well as the traders on them will have freebys to buy. Good luck and let me know how you get on.
Mine to show you the bumpers etc.
Early ones are as cheap as £1000 nowadays but you are best going for as late as you can afford. Air con was an option on all models but I'm not quite sure what spec levels got it as standard. 1.8 petrols suffer from head gasket failure which is fixable with improved gasket materials.
Mike, been looking on autotrader for prices and mileages. It seems for SE spec as mine is, the miles are all over the place. from 46k to 135k. Its really upto what colour you see and like.
I got mine on jan 09 so bought as the recession was biting hard, £6500 was what i paid for it, 1 previous owner and only 37k on it. My original budget was £4k inc trade in for the first freeby but i discovered they had the heated windscreen and had to up my budget a bit to get on. That one got smashed by a lorry skidding on black ice and declared an uneconomical repair, so they do stand well to rear end shunts.
If you can up your budget to nearer £7k then it opens alot more cars in SE spec to you. Obviously you can haggle the price and if you have no trade in then you should get £250-500 off.
I got £500 off my 2nd freeby as i bought it from the same dealer as the first, same colour, spec age, and very similar reg plates as well. he knew the fate of my first and as i hadnt screwed around with the sale of the first he got the 2nd one sorted for me when the insurance payout came.
I got mine on jan 09 so bought as the recession was biting hard, £6500 was what i paid for it, 1 previous owner and only 37k on it. My original budget was £4k inc trade in for the first freeby but i discovered they had the heated windscreen and had to up my budget a bit to get on. That one got smashed by a lorry skidding on black ice and declared an uneconomical repair, so they do stand well to rear end shunts.
If you can up your budget to nearer £7k then it opens alot more cars in SE spec to you. Obviously you can haggle the price and if you have no trade in then you should get £250-500 off.
I got £500 off my 2nd freeby as i bought it from the same dealer as the first, same colour, spec age, and very similar reg plates as well.
he knew the fate of my first and as i hadnt screwed around with the sale of the first he got the 2nd one sorted for me when the insurance payout came.Gassing Station | Land Rover | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff