Buying advice please - Freelander Diesel

Hi, I am new to this forum and am looking for a little advice please.

I am selling my Mk3 Golf TDi Estate and I am thinking pf replacing it with a Freelander 5dr diesel.

The car wont be used much - mainly week ends for towing my Folding Camper whilst carrying roof box, Kids bikes, Kids & 2 small dogs etc.

Discovery would be great but is simply too big for what we need.

Won't be main car so budget is circa £2000 to £3000 ish.

Am I better off with a late TD or an early TD4? Is it any good for towing? And is there anything specific to the Freelander that I should check other than the usual checks you would carry out when looking at a used car?

Looking around the internet there seems to be praise and condemnation for the Freelander in equal measure. The Golf has been bomb proof - am I likely to find a Freelander that will give me the same 'turn key' reliability or am I deluding myself?

If anyone has any advice I woud be very grateful.

Many thanks.

PS just inadvertantly posted this in the 'engine section' too. Apologies, its late! :doh:

having recently bought a late DI ie 2000 model, while I like it, it is under powered and would defintely recommend holding out for a TD4. Your budget is right at the bottom of the TD4 range so you may well only get a first incarnaton high miler for that money. Do your research on the forum for things to spot with a TD4 and general issues with the car namely IRD and VCU's are some big ticket items on freelanders.

Oh and good luck in your hunt

I have a TD4 on an 03 plate (55,000 miles), paid £5200 for it 2 and a bit years ago. used if for a fair bit of towing and heavy load carrying and it does a great job. got a roof rack on it too which is ideally for throwing bikes on. As for reliability its been spot on (until last weekend, lol) never let me down once. Only problems i've had since owning it are a door locking mech go on drivers door about a year ago. fixed that myself for £20. Then last weekend the master cylinder on clutch went. luckly the master cylinder wasn't to major, cost me £200 at the garage and works perfectly again now. Think clutch hydrolic problems are a reasonably common fault, i was lucky because if the slave cylinder goes its way more expensive. (EVERYTHING crossed it won't!) Also like RogNog said it seems the IRD and VCU are expensive repairs which people have probs with although mine are so far so good! I love my freelander and would definatly recoment the TD4.

Having both a 2.0di and a td4, I would advise you to try for the td4 for the almost car performance, the later the better, even if it means stretching the budget a bit.
If you find that you have to go for the di, then check to see how many of the regular failure points have already been replaced, you might get one with the expensive bits already done.

RogNog said:

having recently bought a late DI ie 2000 model, while I like it, it is under powered and would defintely recommend holding out for a TD4. Your budget is right at the bottom of the TD4 range so you may well only get a first incarnaton high miler for that money. Do your research on the forum for things to spot with a TD4 and general issues with the car namely IRD and VCU's are some big ticket items on freelanders.

Oh and good luck in your hunt

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Why don't you get a synergy vp unit from roverron for the L-series to improve the performance. Got to be worth going for at £159
+ p&p

SYNERGY VP

I already have and I must say its an excellent piece of kit, realy gives DI a boost beyond what I was expecting. Fuel economy has improved as well.

to add more power I have also adjusted the wastegate, decatted the exhaust, cleaned the MAF and blocked the EGR. has made a real difference to the performance.

RogNog said:

I already have and I must say its an excellent piece of kit, realy gives DI a boost beyond what I was expecting. Fuel economy has improved as well.

to add more power I have also adjusted the wastegate, decatted the exhaust, cleaned the MAF and blocked the EGR. has made a real difference to the performance.

Click to expand...

That's really good to know, I've got a synergy for my Td4 & know they're great but you're the first person I've heard confirm that it's just as good with the good old L-series. I've seen quite a few people on here asking about the egr on the L-series & haven't been able to help with advice. You should think about starting a thread about what you've done, maybe some approximate costs, how easy you found the jobs & how much it's improved your car. I know that there are many people here with the L-series who would be happy to know about your experiences & probably quite a few questions they'll have for you.