About to purchase a Freelander

Hi ya Outy - Disco Paul said in his Q - "about to get a freelander as well - its a V reg 1.8 petrol". Your comments are absolutely valid for a new Hippo (with warranty) but a "V" plate?
also "you will struggle to get a balanced view on here " - that is why i suggested "I would suggest reading several general motoring reviews, rather than those possible pre-disposed towards LR products. Also look at the easily available NCAP results and independant reviews such as by "what car" and others."
unfortunately a forum like this is a double-edged sword (thank you Slob) - the people on it have the experience, but invariably a bad one. Does that mean one ignores a request for your opinions. Maybe we need a disclaimer - " the opinions expressed on this forum are those of the writer and do not, necessarily, represent the majority!"
Maybe Disco Paul needs to make his own mind up?

i hav ea thought here!! yer man was on about this bmw engine in the gaylander being the same as the 320, which on accounts is a good engine.. great! fine! fantastic! but isn't the 'k' series the same engine as is in the mgf or whatever it is. and in that car its supposed to be a good engine. o'r have I misread some stuff??
so just cos the 2litre lump is fine in a 320 dunt mean it will perform the same in a gaylander.

The point I was TRYING to make is... Since there are far more 1.8s on the road (europes best selling 4x4 etc) the proportion of problems posted on here would suggest the TD4 has more problems than the 1.8. I didn't even get into what it would cost to have the biggest willy.. If Disco Paul is looking for a car, an average 1.8 should do him fine.. He's had a tractor and wants a change so having owned an LR before he should not be totally unprepared for whats coming his way.

i'm amazed at the number of different 'best selling 4x4's ' there are.; I've even found one article stating that the 'Hyundai Santa Fe' was the best seller.
the only Santa Fe i've heard of is a john wayne film

aha daft chapeau- what you fail to take into account is the fact that I am often so fond of the sound of my own voice that I forget to read the whole post correctly!!

I was thinking exactly the same myself slob - the whole Freelander / MGF thing leaves me scratching my head somewhat - the K Series engine was used in more than a couple of cars - worth bearing in mind that even though the engine is shared, other factors such as radiators and the configuration of cooling systems may not always be the same.

hence the revised cooling system used in the Lotus Elise and on later Hippoos - remote thermostat.... \that is why I maintain it is poor design and therefore ALL Hippoos are susceptable - just not all fail.

One thing I wont argue on is the size of ya willy - i dont even wanna think about going there.

Being a new freelander owner, 54 reg 1.8 with still a years warrenty, I read all the bad and all the good (which obviously is harder to find!) and in the end, what swayed me was that this vehicle suited us both in looks and functionality.

I have never owned a car which had 100% reliability. Even our old trusty sportrak needed a new gearbox (which the wife drives daily!!). I've had VW engines go on me, fronteras that fall apart, and I won't even mention my old alfa 156!!! Some problems were down to me not looking after the car, others were warrenty items (or out of warrenty items ) If you are prepared to get a vehicle serviced under the terms of the warrenty then you get some reassurance if something does go wrong - that's true for any make of car and if you buy an older car with a 3rd party warrenty that may not have a full service history, then you are gambling and no matter what make of car it is, something at some time will go wrong and you'll have to pay for it. Plus LR dealers are no worse than other manufacturer dealers or no more expensive - just that some are worse than others. (Alfa servicing at a main dealers is way more expensive than the LR servicing!!)

At the end of the day, cars don't look after themselves, if they are neglected then they are prone to failure. If there is a design fault and you know about it and there is a fair chance that sometime in the future it could happen to you - make sure you are covered if you choose to buy that car.

And before anyone bashes me for touting on about forking out for servicing and warrenties - not everyone is mechanically minded or has the time to do it themselves, that's what you pay for. If you buy an old freelander (or any older vehicle) you still need to look after it. If you don't, it will break - sometimes on it's own.

Anyway that's my 5p's worth (or £5 worth as once you get going it's difficult to stop - )

Oh so true De frag. . . .