auto or manual?

hey guys, I am new to the forum and have said hey in the intro yourself. I am ash from near sheffield.

I am interested in buying a freelander 1 ideally a X or Y reg due to the slightly cheaper tax, and also i dont have a mega budget.

I want a 5dr ES model as leather seats are so much easier to keep clean with kids and dogs .

I have however recently heard some really scary things regarding freelanders. I am quite handy with the spanners but hate electric probelms etc. are the freelanders as bad as things I have heard ( I will be buying one with FSH no questions asked).

second I tow a 1500kg max loaded weight caravan. I no you may say disco or something would be better, but due to the stupid licence laws a disco with my caravan all loaded would take me over the 3500kg limit, so freebie in needs to be. so what I am trying to get to is I am interested in the TD4 as i have been told the Di is awful, so my question is would anyone recomend a manual or auto box?

any feedback is much appreciated.

I guess i would think manual is cheaper on fuel, but wife likes auto. given the weight I am pulling would an auto cope, as i no auto boxes are very hard and expensive when things go wrong.

cheers
ash

or if the freelander really is quite scary, would a frontera be a better option (please dont kick me off for this) but i just prefer the look of freebie

Driving an auto Td4 myself I guess my opinion is not exactly what one can call "objectif".. but since day 1 (january 9th 2001) both the wife and I just love the car, much better as anything we've had before (Last one was a Mercedes 190E) and on all aspects, comfort, easy AND fun to drive etc... first I was afraid for the reliability of the car as I had heard all ghost stories as well but the Freelander is, as far as I'm concerned, not worse than other cars, quiet the contrary even. As for the autobox, don't pull a caravan myself but from what I've read from others the Td4 auto is the perfect match to pull a caravan. (And especially true if in combination with a RoverRon box). Good luck.

i have a manual and tow a caravan.the only problem is reversing on a field always seems to bugger the clutch lots of smoke and it stinks.Been told the auto box is much better so when i change this is going to be the one.

my wife will be pleased to hear that the auto is winning

thx for input so far, what is fuel consumption like on your auto if you dont mind me asking

Don't think anyone on here would describe the L series diesel as awful. I'd say you've been misinformed.

have td4 auto myself, usually manage around low 30's mpg wise, usually round town loaded up. Generally has coped pretty well with whatever I have had on the tow bar, be it a trailer, another car and so on.

have a td4 auto me self been to europe and back 3 times with caravan in tow on one occasion all the way to italy with no probs

I have a TD4 auto FL, and once I have sorted the latest problem I will be getting rid, just too much goes wrong for my liking. In 2 years its prob cost over £1000, and that's doing most of it myself.

Will get a mitsubishi or toyota next I'm afraid.

That said, I like it, and I may have a 'dog' - but I don't think so.

Just my opinion remember!

Oscar

Got a TD4 Auto too, much easier for towing and greenlaning as you dont have to play the clutch against the conditions. I've had mine for a year now and have to say very pleased with it. I got a RoverRon tuning box which helps the performance overall.

Do the usual things, regular oil change, servicing etc and it should do the biz

We have two Freelanders, one l-series and one TD4. The l-series has a reputation as a bomb proof engine but is not as powerful as the TD4. 96hp. Vs 110hp.

The auto is easier to manouvre and hill start, but it is by no means impossble to get the hang of it in a manual. Older autos can get a bitconfused by towing up hill, but. The tiptroniic system should put a stop to that.

Cheers

Blippie

Have had two Freelander 1's the first from new had 3 clutches in 90k, burn't the first clutch out in 13K.
The second was an auto, 60k miles both towing and heavy off road use, Auto box never a problem.
Bought a Freelander 2 auto - says it all.

The Di you refer to is the L-series engine and its bomb proof, in what respect is it awful? Think you might be getting mixed up with the K1.8, now that is awful (engine wise!!!) Id have an L Series over a TD4 anyday, dont want anything BMW under my bonnet!!!

going to get slagged off here but the td4 is the best engine ive had under the bonnet of a landrover up to now and have had a few landys

The Di did 90k miles and the engine never missed a beat - I drive as a service engineer (White Van Man) and still it survived.
The TD4 never let me down, but was fussy about fuel filters in foriegn parts, some people have had issues with sensors failing.
The TD4 was MUCH better to drive, the extra power when towing was very welcome, chipping makes the car a better tow car.

Auto's have been around for a long time now and are more reliable than manuals/clutches.