I'm sensing a money pit!

RO51 said:

I know I could have had a lovely 300tdi disco for the money lol stronger more comfortable and miles better off road..... But I guess I like a challenge the worst part is I sold my series 3 to buy the freelander and swapped my disco for the series

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personally, I would have kept the disco, looks real nice!! however, that Series look nice too ... guess you have to try them all before you know which 1 to get and keep

Lol I know it's not so much trying it's being different.... Not many people actually offroad the freelander, but I should have prepared myself for the.... Trials..... Of a freelander it's by no means a proper landrover it's a market gap filler. I'm almost talking my self back into the idea of this freelander thing lol think I will just keep at it but I do forsee a fair amount of money going into keeping it on the road so I can offroad it I just hope that the problems don't keep coming as I will have to sell it and take a step back to something more traditional

I don't know what to do, if I keep it I have to spend lots more money before I can MOD it for off roading, however, with the way danielsand put it, its doesn't sound very expensive at £140 per month ... when modded, it will probably be problem after problem, or lots of maintenance to keep it on the road , but I guess thats the same with any off roader

It is a catch 22 all round and believe me I know your pain I'm in the same boat, but better the devil you know

Danilsand was a car dealer in a previous life and he made a good case for buying second hand. If he owned a LR dealership 2 miles down the road from you, I'm sure he'd make just as good a case for buying a new D4 That's not knocking Danielsand - just pointing out

I don't know why you're considering changing the IRD and rear diff if there's no problems with it. You can just as easily factor in the price of a new engine because the timing belt might snap. Perfectly right to keep an eye out on the VCU though and monitor it to make sure it doesn't cause problems, although tyres being the same and correct/same pressure I believe is a much more important factor.

As has been pointed out, and you appreciate, the bits you've changed should be good for many miles, so you should have faith and confidence that there's less bits to go wrong.

I owned Discos (diesel then V8) for 10 years before switching to the Freelander. Loved them and was rather bored by the Freelander when we first got it. But I've grown to appreciate the Freelander and my preference is now for the Freelander. My IRD 'went' - but I'd say that was 80% my fault and 20% car design. Other than that in the 4 years of ownership its been very reliable and maintenance cost have been negligable - so once you've sorted you're niggles, it should be a reliable car.

Another thing I really like about the Freelander is how easy it is to work on. It is much easier than the Disco for home maintenance - possibly just cos everything is so much lighter - but that's reason enough for me.

Here in NZ we don't have to worry about rust either, no car manufacturer financed salt put on the road. The other benefit being bolts and screws come off after being on the car for 15 years! The arse end of my Freelander does get dunked in the sea occasionally launching the boat - but it is washed down every time. There in lies another benefit of the Freelander - its a great tow truck for my boat.

I would point out that its an L Series, so I don't have to worry about over heating, head gaskets, stupid plastic engine components or a mirriad of fault prone German sensors!

RO51 said:

Lol I know it's not so much trying it's being different.... Not many people actually offroad the freelander, but I should have prepared myself for the.... Trials..... Of a freelander it's by no means a proper landrover it's a market gap filler. I'm almost talking my self back into the idea of this freelander thing lol think I will just keep at it but I do forsee a fair amount of money going into keeping it on the road so I can offroad it I just hope that the problems don't keep coming as I will have to sell it and take a step back to something more traditional

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It may not be a "proper offroader" and a "market gap filler" but those Wallis & Sons Freelanders don't look to shabby Plenty of stories of Freelanders pulling out stuck Tratters.

Our Freelander may be 15 years old - but I'm still not allowed to abuse it! So I'm on the look out for another L Series that I can turn into my version of a Wallis & Sons Freelander!

Lol I know I know it's definitely a bench mark I might just print a pic off for my inspiration

NDavies said:

... when modded, it will probably be problem after problem, or lots of maintenance to keep it on the road , but I guess thats the same with any off roader

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I use mine every day for commuting to work etc. It's lifted, roll-caged etc etc and well capable off road. Apart from filling with diesel and checking the fluids, oil changes etc - the normal everyday things you do with any vehicle -it needs no special or extra maintenance to keep it on the road. Unless I run it for long periods with the aggressive 205/80/16 tyres, then it eats off-side drive shafts at a rate of around 1 a year. So the trick is not to run such large and aggressive tyres for long periods. I have always had so called "proper" Land Rovers with beam axles since I bought my first Lightweight over 20 years ago.Since then I have only owned Land Rovers and have owned around 30 in this time. However, since buying my first Freelander - against my better judgement- I've not looked back. Modified to my spec they have proven to be more versatile than any other Land Rover I have owned in the past. They are quiet, comfortable, good off road and carry all my gear, are not too big, or small and can do far better MPG's than any of the 90's or Discovery's I've owned.

I bought a brand new Skoda Yeti back in 2010. It was a great car. I really liked it and didn't want to get rid. But, I needed to reduce my monthly costs, and I would have had to refinance it as I had a PCP for it.

I paid about £10,200 over 30 months and the depreciation was pretty good at 'only' £9000 = 37.5% which was pretty amazing really as I had modified it (remap, big brakes & flappy paddle MFSW) and it had 41,000 miles.

That equates to £640 per month, not including servicing, insurance, fuel or road tax.

I bought outright a high mileage 2006 registered HSE TD4 auto with full service history and 113,000 miles. I knew that I would have to spend money on it to keep it on the road, and will have to spend more soon on suspension.

I haven't dared work out what my Freelander has cost, but as has been mentioned above, the VCU, ! New brakes & discs, silicon hoses, expansion tank, the BMW cyclone mod, the thermostat, the heater matrix, the 2 new injectors, the 2 services & all fluids changed, 5 new tyres, drop links, one track rod end, the £485 road tax and the insurance, (about the same as the Yeti). Those are just stuff that's needed replacing, and all but one service has been done by a garage.

I have also modified it, remap (after fitting a Ronbox & Pierberg MAF (which I didn't need!) lift kit and wheel spacers, towbar, rock sliders, HID headlights, LED bulbs inside, Bluetooth headunit, a set of 5, 16" alloy wheels with winter tyres (which need replacing).

I gave taken it off road on green lanes a few times now, and I am constantly amazed at what it can do, and so are Disco & Defender owners.

It's a nice freelander you got there bud I have seen it in other posts. Mabie the op and I have just managed to get bad cars to start with. I'm slowly working through mine and unless it fails drastically with ird failure or something overly expensive then on will be keeping mine against my guess feeling, I do hope my guess is wrong

RO51 said:

It's a nice freelander you got there bud I have seen it in other posts. Mabie the op and I have just managed to get bad cars to start with. I'm slowly working through mine and unless it fails drastically with ird failure or something overly expensive then on will be keeping mine against my guess feeling, I do hope my guess is wrong

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Yes it's nice, but it have spent a LOT on it. It's amazing what needs to be done on a 'full Land Rover service history' car. I'm sure it will work out cheaper than the Yeti in the medium to long term....... Funny thing is, I prefer the Freelander, even though it is slower, heavier and not as economical.

I've enjoyed this discussion and I'm sure that it would be of interest to many others as it addresses concerns we all encounter. Is this a thread that could be flagged / tagged so it's easy to find for future readers?

htr said:

I've enjoyed this discussion and I'm sure that it would be of interest to many others as it addresses concerns we all encounter. Is this a thread that could be flagged / tagged so it's easy to find for future readers?

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Second that it's nice to see others with a similar conflict to me

@htr as I started the discussion, do I need to tag / flag the thread?

my shed is getting full of mods to put on something, looks like it is going to be the hippo.

2 sets of spots, auxillary battery, cb, etc etc ... just need to find some time now

NDavies said:

@htr as I started the discussion, do I need to tag / flag the thread?

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Thread tools/subscribe at top of thread on right hand side if using Mac/PC.

Back on topic.

Without insurance and road tax and fuel, the Freelander has cost me about £600 per month over 12 months (Assuming I could sell it for what I paid for it), compared to the Yeti which was costing £740 per month.

The Freelander WILL get cheaper to run (I keep telling myself) as I have pretty much finished modifying it, and I'm hoping the worse/most expensive repairs have been done so far.

Mike how come yours is £485 for road tax. Mine's £280.

glynnp said:

Mike how come yours is £485 for road tax. Mine's £280.

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So is mine and I drive a V6!! It depends on date of registration.

The thing is, car's in general don't have to cost the earth, if you know what to look for and can fix it yourself.
For example. My current V6 is a 2001. I picked it up for what I consider a good price. It cost me £800. Now the previous owner didn't do many miles, but more importantly didn't lift the bonnet either.
Now being a V6, the thermostat leaked coolant and the HGS failed. The owner then drove it home cooking the engine. I saw it for sale and made a cheeky off. This was accepted and I trailered her home. Now to the casual observer this may appear expensive for a Freelander with a busted engine.
However the particular Freelander had only 30500 miles on it. It was in mint condition inside and out and had pretty much every option including CC.
I found a good 70K mile engine for £350 and spent another £150 on consumables.
So engine aside I have a low mileage V6 for £1300. That is cheep motoring. I've used this V6 for 3 years now, changing nothing but service parts in that time. I'm still more than happy with it.

Mines a 2006 06 as I think mikes is.