Do you regret buying a Freelander?

Yes, i like my freelander very much. It does everything i want. Being a carp angler i tend to carry alot of gear when i go fishing, The freelander does this with ease. I also travel a long distance when i go fishing, The freelander does this with ease and comfort and economicaly. The place i fish is quite boggy with limited access to vehicals with 2 wheel drive, I can access most of the lakes where others have to carry there gear.

I have spent alot of money on my car since i have had it. I have done all of the work myself so now i know the car will run trouble free for a good while now, and if anything else goes wrong im more than capable to fix it myself.

Would i want a disco? No, ugly pieces of **** and they sound like a bag of nails when they start up in the morning ( my next door neighbor has one).

Would i want a defender? No, Imagine doing a 300 mile round trip in one of those. I come from suffolk so i know the types of people who drive such vehicals. Most of them have 3 thumbs and a sister/aunty/mother all in one. They are over priced too.

Bought one (2004 TD4 HSE)for the wife this winter when she refused to drive her Mx5 again till summer. Being an ex Range Rover and series land rover man I would not have considered anything other than a Land Rover for a 4wd depite their foibles.Freelander though??,hmm.. afraid I am having difficulty getting over the prejudice I felt when they first came on scene in the 90`s. they do FEEL a bit like an old Rangey to drive but they cant really cut it when it comes to road presence, seems reliable enough though I`ve got to admit. Never tried it off road so can`t comment on its ability there, cant see it being anything like the big LR stuff though.Overall though I do like it, the wife however absolutely LOVES it.

garagedood said:

Bought one (2004 TD4 HSE)for the wife this winter when she refused to drive her Mx5 again till summer. Being an ex Range Rover and series land rover man I would not have considered anything other than a Land Rover for a 4wd depite their foibles.Freelander though??,hmm.. afraid I am having difficulty getting over the prejudice I felt when they first came on scene in the 90`s. they do FEEL a bit like an old Rangey to drive but they cant really cut it when it comes to road presence, seems reliable enough though I`ve got to admit. Never tried it off road so can`t comment on its ability there, cant see it being anything like the big LR stuff though.Overall though I do like it, the wife however absolutely LOVES it.

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That's normal, after all she has a very good taste....(She picked YOU, not, as YOU think, the other way round ???)

Really happy with my 52 TD4, had it since november last year, coped with the snow admirably and fingers crossed hasn't missed a beat. Easy to service and tinker with and have been experimenting with mondo mode while I save up for a new VCU.

Don't know if the old one needed replacing just a bit stiff reversing on full lock, but there was no mention of it being replaced in the service history and I'd rather not take the chance since she's done 90'000. Would def have another or a FL2 given the required lottery win.

Whats up wee ya.... Buy a DEFENDER!!!:behindsofa:

Great vehicle but take it to the wrong people, it can turn into a nightmare!

my 05 reg has had the l/p fuel pump replaced ,and the master clinder and c/plate etc ,just wish i had brought a one with a auto box for when on the play and play sites and 16'' alloys to fit a/t tyres istead of the 17'' it came with ,the next one will be a freelander 2

I like my Freelander, though I also understand it's downsides. I have a 1.8i XEi which i've had for about a year and has done 30k miiles, it's now on 105K. I've changed the clutch and fixed all of the little niggles. Haven't had HGF issues but i'm not worried about that - it seems to be pretty much cured with about £300 and a weekend of work.
The good side is that they are cheap, simple, easy to work on and have a great support network - most of the design faults and niggles are easily and cheaply fixed. There is very little rust and the bodywork generally seems pretty tough.
The downside is obviously HGF and the fact that some of the original parts were of poor quality as well as some poor designs. If you can fix these issues you can easily pick up a good motor, although you can just as easily get a duffer that's been abused.

I've had my 99 1.8 for nearly a year now, I got it cheap as it had a few niggles to sort and needed a good service, it has had an engine change which was done at decent place but at the price I got it for it allowed for any repairs to not be a big deal. Serviced it straight away with all fluids changed apart from rear diff, replaced diff mount, general clean up of throttle assembly and bits and pieces of dodgy wiring. Only things not fixed were the sunroof(fused removed) and the drivers central locking. The car is great for my use, tows the trailer, lugs all the crap around, bikes fit on the roof and gets me through the snow, and some mud, I know it's limits and that's good enough for me, plus it's easy to work on I found. Would I buy another, yeah why not.

Greetings all, I've just purchased a 2001MY ES V6. After reading some sites (and posts) Im getting a little concerned about my purchase. Nothing major has gone wrong so far (had it for about 2 weeks now). Warning lights seem to come on intermittantly for no reason, usually the low ratio warning light. I purchased on a whim after I took it for a test drive and ex owner made an offer I couldnt refuse. Seems to drive (and still does) beautifully, nice and quiet after my rattley van. Hopefully it will last me a while, will delay my verdict for a while. I do really hope I DONT regret it!!

Well happy with mine!

I like the style of it. when it's clean people turn to look at it. That's not bad given it's a 54reg. Perhaps Private plates help slightly?

It drives good in the snow and mud, I've passed Range Rovers going up snowy hills. It lugs the bikes on the roof and on the back, taking the hardtop off and putting softtop on to make the most of that hot northern sun, kids love it, I'm not board driving it, if anything goes wrong "tuff it's a motor" it happens, get it fixed and enjoy.

I've spent a few hundred pounds upgrading to MLS Gasket, upgraded oil rail, new head bolts and when the VCU plays up I'll change that to!

Only thing I would like is the interior trim like the four doors and I love the cream leather ones but would be a mare it keep clean.

^^^^^^^^^^^^ try and change the vcu before it plays up, then you won't be changing the ird at the same time!

Given it's all fine at present and it's not near due to be changed, when would you say this should be done? 48K on clock....

Anguslives! said:

Given it's all fine at present and it's not near due to be changed, when would you say this should be done? 48K on clock....

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A lot of peeps start getting paranoid about the Vcu when they read about big bills cos of failure , well remember it can fail two ways A= two wheel drive [not working at all] B= seized or part locking up [this is the eggspensive one] a lot change them for no reason at about 75,000 miles ,but the truth is a lot go on for ever , so the answer how can you tell, well they can fail straight away [unlucky] but good news is it happens over a time period . . . . .so do the reverse trick every now and then its simple and don't take long, from cold put it into reverse on flat road and turn wheel full lock at very slow speed , now most will get like a stalling effect [this is normal] but if its completely locking [could be a problem] try again with other lock. . .ok if you have the complete locking , then do the tipex test [search] and if that fails do the rear wheel torque test [search]. . . . .but remember not that many fail at the rate thats being bantered

the more that do the test, the more likely we can find what a valid figure should be.

Well I reverse off the drive almost every day and have to put a full lock on once out, if I go slow it's almost like it's stalling.... as soon as you allow the wheel to turn back a little the power comes back like normal.

I'll let you know as soon as I have changed what I would imagine to be a very blocked crank case filter! Fixed a door strap and a few other jobs that need doing to make it perfect. Did drive it from York back to spain over 2 days with no probs except a blocked filter which made it loose power half way through France. This is my second Freelander, my other was a 2 door 1.8.

My 2001 TD4 Auto is the 2nd Freelander I"ve owned and I loved them both, brilliant, brilliant vehicles.You"ve got a Car, Van,and 4x4 all in one. Only wish I could by some reasonable cheap alloys for her.
Cheers Dave

forestdave said:

My 2001 TD4 Auto is the 2nd Freelander I"ve owned and I loved them both, brilliant, brilliant vehicles.You"ve got a Car, Van,and 4x4 all in one. Only wish I could by some reasonable cheap alloys for her.
Cheers Dave

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Try fleebay, tends to be a few listed.

It does work well as a van, I was able to go along to B&Q last week and pick up 24 boxes for large floor and wall tiles, Toilet, Sink, Radiator, Grout etc and get it all in, I was bloody amazed, thought two drips easy!!

I've got nothing against Autobots, I've only had the one (Orion) many years ago but it was nice to drive and I think they are normally better looked after than manual cars, their was a real nice one I would have looked at but was 580 miles away, just a little out of the pref distance!!

this is the 3rd one we've owned...1st was a 2001 1.8 es, 2nd was an 04 td4 hse and this td4 auto sport premium...got to say they have all been great but i'm a little shocked at the mpg i'm getting from the auto! 30 mpg was easy around town in the manual but i'm struggling to get 21 mpg out of the auto

forestdave...not exactly cheap but i will have a set of four 18 inch sport wheels with new autogrip tyres available soon, i bought them as i was looking at a hse before i got the sport and picked the wheels up to put on that, just after my money back which was £400....drop me a pm if anyones interested...