Wednesday 6th November 2013

The worst used car in Britain

Unhappy owners of petrol-powered Mk1 Freelanders rate it the least liked

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And the worst used car in Britain is... A petrol Land Rover Freelander Mk1. The verdict comes from previous owners posting on a review website, who were ruder about it than owners of any other vehicle.

This is perhaps unsurprising given that most petrol Freelanders of that generation use the Rover 1.8-litre K-series engine with all its associated head gasket woes. The other petrol of course was the 2.5 V6, which is rarer than cheese-and-onion flavour Digestives.

One customer 'gave up after 2 engines'

The website is WeLoveAnyCar, run by WeBuyAnyCar, which asks people who've just sold a car via them to tell others what they've thought. A sample comment: "Spent more time in the garage than being driven. gave up after 3 head gaskets and 2 engines."

From the total 572 Mk1 Freelander reviews on the site, the TD4 diesel actually does quite well, so it's pretty much just living with a sluggish, unreliable and thirsty petrol four-cylinder that annoys them then. On the plus side, it does make them quite cheap - £1,495 here for a 2000 car. And as we know, the head gasket problem can be averted if you're wise to its issues.

Again unsurprisingly, this unreliability for the 1997-2006 generation petrol cars is thinning them out rapidly. By delving into the DVLA statistics, the website reckons that just 60 percent of petrol Freelanders sold before 2006 remain, compared to 95 percent of petrol Honda CR-Vs sold before that date.

 

 

 

[David87]

60% remaining?! Blimey.

[IrishAsal]

Does anyone have any info on the Freelander 2??

My sister insists on buying one (I mean really insists) but if the problem is solely related to the head gasket / engine trouble of the K series, perhaps other model years / engines are okay?

[300bhp/ton]

Piston Heads said:

TD4 diesel actually does quite well, so it's pretty much just living with a sluggish, unreliable and thirsty petrol four-cylinder that annoys them then.

Proof that stats are meaningless as the petrol 1.8 version is far more peppy and faster than the Td4. The 1.8i is also no worse on petrol than any other petrol 4x4 in this class.

[Dion20vt]

I always thought they used the 1.8i engine from Volvo?? Guess you learn something new everyday!

[Fartgalen]

300bhp/ton said:

Piston Heads said:

TD4 diesel actually does quite well, so it's pretty much just living with a sluggish, unreliable and thirsty petrol four-cylinder that annoys them then.

Proof that stats are meaningless as the petrol 1.8 version is far more peppy and faster than the Td4. The 1.8i is also no worse on petrol than any other petrol 4x4 in this class.

No - I think it just means a sluggish thirsty diesel is preferable to a sluggish, thirsty & unreliable petrol

[300bhp/ton]

IrishAsal said:

Does anyone have any info on the Freelander 2??

My sister insists on buying one (I mean really insists) but if the problem is solely related to the head gasket / engine trouble of the K series, perhaps other model years / engines are okay?

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.

[X5TUU]

hardly a shocker, I have never met anyone who runs a mk1 Freelander who likes it and who hasnt had it spend copious amounts of time getting issues sorted

in other news ... there are 2.5 V6's about (18 on FleaBay) ... which means that Chees & onion flavour digestives should also be kicking about somewhere and I for one would like to try them ... ... ...

[SpeckledJim]

K-Series issues are now a single, one-time fix. Done once, done forever.

It's a famous problem amongst almost-enthusiasts and bluffers, which has gained traction out of all proportion to its actual magnitude.

The K-Series is a terrific engine (now, once properly fixed).

[johnnyBv8]

300bhp/ton said:

Piston Heads said:

TD4 diesel actually does quite well, so it's pretty much just living with a sluggish, unreliable and thirsty petrol four-cylinder that annoys them then.

Proof that stats are meaningless as the petrol 1.8 version is far more peppy and faster than the Td4. The 1.8i is also no worse on petrol than any other petrol 4x4 in this class.

Compared to the BMW-sourced TD4, the 1.8 petrol is less powerful (marginally on bhp but notably on torque), less reliable (HGF) and uses more fuel. Not sure which bit of the article statement you're contesting - and there are no stats quoted to be meaningless!

Edited by johnnyBv8 on Wednesday 6th November 12:49

[Justin Case]

[quote]The website is WeLoveAnyCar, run by WeBuyAnyCar, which asks people who've just sold a car via them to tell others what they've thought
[/quote]

Does anybody ever sell any car especially to WBAC for any other reason than it has become unreliable

[Dapster]

This result is an analysis of the absolute number of negative reviews rather than reviews as a percentage of vehicles sold which makes it totally meaningless.

In any case, whoever wrote a bad review of a Freelander has clearly never owned a mark 1 Citroen AX....

[iloveboost]

I think most people will forgive any fault with a new car as long as they can drive it to the dealer as anything non-consumable is usually covered under warranty and done within a day. As soon as they get stranded they start to think maybe I shouldn't have bought one of these or I won't buy this brand of car again. Depends of course how loyal they are to the brand. I read Land Rover gaskets last longer than MG rover ones so probably less failed under warranty. I suppose now more are failing because they have all done a lot more miles.

[HustleRussell]

[quote=article}And the worst used car in Britain is... A petrol Land Rover Freelander Mk1
[/quote]

[quote=300bhp/ton]
Freelanders are good vehicles period
[/quote]

Only 300BHP/ton...

[cptsideways]

State the bleeding obvious to promote your website dot com.


They are great for British business, creating far more jobs for the local garage workforce than any other "imported" competitor.

Vote with your feet & buy British Build Quality

[anonymous-user]

I like LR products but the Freelander is an awful car, not surprised in the slightest it's been voted worst car.

[300bhp/ton]

johnnyBv8 said:

Compared to the BMW-sourced TD4, the 1.8 petrol is less powerful (marginally on bhp but notably on torque), less reliable (HGF) and uses more fuel. Not sure which bit of the article statement you're contesting - and there are no stats quoted to be meaningless!

Edited by johnnyBv8 on Wednesday 6th November 12:49

Parkers list the Td4 at 110bhp while the 1.8k is 118bhp. Torque is not power

0-60mph times are a lot better for the 1.8 over the Td4 as is top speed. Thirsty can only be used if it is being levied against a standard that isn't thirsty for this type of vehicle. A petrol Frontera, Vitara, Rav4 or whatever are no more frugal.

[P-Jay]

HustleRussell said:

article said:

And the worst used car in Britain is... A petrol Land Rover Freelander Mk1

300bhp/ton said:

Freelanders are good vehicles period

Only 300BHP/ton...

Pfft Head Gasket failures hold no fear for the man who thinks the answer to "what fun car for £20k and a 90 miles daily commute" is a Ferrari Mondial and his Canute like resistance to statistical evidence.

Edited by P-Jay on Wednesday 6th November 13:07

[thirsty]

What a shame really. I thought it wasn't a bad looking little SUV at the time, but then look how it turns out. Makes you wonder what kind of traps are out there for us now.

[Toaster Pilot]

Note to self - ignore those cheap Freelanders you keep seeing....

[_Neal_]

P-Jay said:

Canute like resistance to statistical evidence.

On a serious note, is the 2.5V6 any good when put in one of these? Seems like a lot of car for the money - was idly looking at the (quite a few) for sale on Autotrader yesterday evening.