buying a freelander 1

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GerryN

Active Member
Posts
184
Location
North hampshire
Hi all thinking buying a freelander1 2003 1,8 petrol rust hole tailgate handle would this fail an mot and 2nd aparently slight noise turning corners and around roundabouts propshaft owner says I was wondering drive shaft owner says proffesional looked at it says propshaft us needs repair or Cutting off?? really? anyone any ideas still in daily use been offered it at good price but I am trying to find out if its worth the gamble I have asked elsewhere on the forum as the owner wants an answer today. many thanks Gerry
 
Plenty of Freelanders for sale, no reason to buy a rubbish example unless it is super cheap and you are able to fix it yourself.
 
Sounds like the viscous coupling has failed, causing the noise in corners as the rear wheels take a different path to the fronts and need to turn at different speeds. Common problem on Freelanders and not cheap to repair. Which is why you see a lot for sale with the prop taken off: "I converted it to 2WD to save fuel!"
 
GerryN said:
Hi all thinking buying a freelander1 2003 1,8 petrol rust hole tailgate handle would this fail an mot and 2nd aparently slight noise turning corners and around roundabouts propshaft owner says I was wondering drive shaft owner says proffesional looked at it says propshaft us needs repair or Cutting off?? really? anyone any ideas still in daily use been offered it at good price but I am trying to find out if its worth the gamble I have asked elsewhere on the forum as the owner wants an answer today. many thanks Gerry
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You are best asking Freelander related questions in the Freelander forum.

www.landyzone.co.uk

Land Rover Freelander

www.landyzone.co.uk www.landyzone.co.uk

However unless it's insanely cheap, it's most likely going to be a money pit.
As for the hole in the rear door, no it won't fail an MOT.
The noise is much more serious, as it means there's excessive wear in part or parts of the AWD system. If it has noise and odd tyres fitted, or identical tyres where the newest are on the front, then walk away.
There are always better examples available for sale.
 
Nodge68 said:
You are best asking Freelander related questions in the Freelander forum.

www.landyzone.co.uk

Land Rover Freelander

www.landyzone.co.uk www.landyzone.co.uk

However unless it's insanely cheap, it's most likely going to be a money pit.
As for the hole in the rear door, no it won't fail an MOT.
The noise is much more serious, as it means there's excessive wear in part or parts of the AWD system. If it has noise and odd tyres fitted, or identical tyres where the newest are on the front, then walk away.
There are always better examples available for sale.
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Price is £650
 
what if I turned it into 2 wheel drive? Iam at the moment using my grand vitara 1.6 cabriolet which is a 3 door and now does not give us enough room this has new mot and canvas the plan was to sell this to finance the freelander I use to run a garage up untill it all went computerised I do have health issues and where we live does require a 4 wheel drive.
 
GerryN said:
what if I turned it into 2 wheel drive? Iam at the moment using my grand vitara 1.6 cabriolet which is a 3 door and now does not give us enough room this has new mot and canvas the plan was to sell this to finance the freelander I use to run a garage up untill it all went computerised I do have health issues and where we live does require a 4 wheel drive.
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You can remove the propshaft to make it 2WD. However if it's already making a noise, then the damage is done, and whatever is making the noise (normally the IRD), it can explode at any time. Unfortunately the AWD system on these vehicles doesn't tolerate odd tyres, low tyres, or new tyres fitted in pairs to the front.
 
Nodge68 said:
You can remove the propshaft to make it 2WD. However if it's already making a noise, then the damage is done, and whatever is making the noise (normally the IRD), it can explode at any time. Unfortunately the AWD system on these vehicles doesn't tolerate odd tyres, low tyres, or new tyres fitted in pairs to the front.
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cost of IRD ?
 
GerryN said:
what if I turned it into 2 wheel drive? Iam at the moment using my grand vitara 1.6 cabriolet which is a 3 door and now does not give us enough room this has new mot and canvas the plan was to sell this to finance the freelander I use to run a garage up untill it all went computerised I do have health issues and where we live does require a 4 wheel drive.
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End of the day it is up to you. If you have your heart set on this one. Then logic and rational thinking probably won’t enter you decision making.

Personally I see no appeal of a troublesome Freelander when there are plenty of nice ones for sale. As chances are there is more wrong with it that you don’t yet know.
 
Yes I see your point, The vitara has a new mot and 2 small idvisories being repaired this month s I think I will wait and see the end of this month possibly selling the vitara 1st
 
GerryN said:
Yes I see your point, The vitara has a new mot and 2 small idvisories being repaired this month s I think I will wait and see the end of this month possibly selling the vitara 1st
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Quick look on Autotrader shows 36 Freelander's under £2000. They can't all be bad. And you could spend a lot keeping a rough one running.

If the IRD needs replacing, so will VCU and maybe even the rear diff. Rear door handle has lots of microswitches and I think a small ECU to control locking of the door and dropping of the window glass. Rust is also an expensive thing to maintain and solve.

Screenshot 2023-08-01 at 3.01.03 pm.png
 
GerryN said:
Thankyou will take look
Click to expand...
Right I found a 2003 freelander short mot failed on minor points last mot lights etc NOW one wiper has stopped working its a 2.0TD all drives ok seems to take a while to start do they have glow plugs ?Or is that a thing off my childhood back in the 60/70,s? £600
 
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