Advice please on buying a Freelander.

Hi all, I am considering buying a Freelander and wondered if any of you could tell me what to look out for, what to avoid and which pre-2001 regs have the best reputation. I would like a pre-2001 reg to avoid the higher road tax charge. Don't mind manual or auto. Another question (might make me look stupid) but are all Freelanders 4 wheel drive and can they be switched between 2 and 4 wheel drive? Are the diesel models better? Which are the cheapest to insure? Thanks.

avoid the petrol versions in fact avoid the freelander altogether
ps
use the search function above and have a good read

Oh dear, thanks, maybe a Discovery would be a better option?

if you do decide on a freelander, avoid petrol versions like the plague, esp 1.8

td4 is best of the bunch, like all vehicles though, not without fault, but well happy with mine, td4 auto.

as for permanent 4wd, it's kind of. it has a vcu or viscous coupling unit in the middle of the drivetrain. when it senses front wheels turning at different speed to rear wheels, it locks up and sends drive to the rear. purely a physical phenomenon based on the properties of a silicon gel, can't be manually controlled at all. that said, it works really well.

aim for a td4 as they had different diff ratios which were kinder to the drivetrain, the earlier ones led to vcu's seizing and then taking out the IRD, which is the equivalent of a transfer box.

good luck with your quest

What do you want to use it for? Freelander may or may not be the most suitable choice.

robint said:

avoid the petrol versions in fact avoid the freelander altogether
ps
use the search function above and have a good read

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...AS THE MAN SEZ....

Go for a td4 its a BMW engine look for one thats been looked after ,good off road in its class 30 mpg round town and has a bit of style i love them !

Greenbean said:

Hi all, I am considering buying a Freelander and wondered if any of you could tell me what to look out for, what to avoid and which pre-2001 regs have the best reputation. I would like a pre-2001 reg to avoid the higher road tax charge. Don't mind manual or auto. Another question (might make me look stupid) but are all Freelanders 4 wheel drive and can they be switched between 2 and 4 wheel drive? Are the diesel models better? Which are the cheapest to insure? Thanks.

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Dont buy a Landrover full stop.. you must have had a 'brain fart' to even
consider it:doh:

You can buy mine if you like!!

Ian jones said:

Go for a td4 its a BMW engine look for one thats been looked after ,good off road in its class 30 mpg round town and has a bit of style i love them !

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Wot a load of bollocks.....pure British with a kraut motor.....it's a sin....get a real landy mate....Defender....nothing more, nothing less

The Freelander is one of the best engineering masterpieces of all time.

RichM said:

The Freelander is one of the best engineering masterpieces of all time.

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:hysterically_laughi:hysterically_laughi

td4 2001 x reg is the one to go for if you want the cheapest tax and if you want to use it offroad get a auto this will save on burnt out clutches in auto form they are much better offroad but not as capable as a defender etc but alot more comfortable it all depends on what your gonna use if for

I had a Freelander and to be honest I loved it it was a practicle family car, dog in the boot kids in the back, it managed OK in the snow without drama or crisis. All went well until the head gasket went.
Now I don't blame the Freelander for that I blame everyone I knew who wanted to say I told you so when I had to admit that the head gasket had gone.

I would have another but it would be the diesel.
But I suspect a TD5 disco would be sitting on my drive first.

Nothing wrong with kraut motors as far as i know all the LR models have had BMW diesel engines at some point shame they didnot put a petrol BMW in the FL instead of the K series !