Can a Freelander be reliable ????

Hi all,

I know this probably seems like a daft question given all the tales of woe on this website about Freelanders, but if a series 1 was looked after properly from new, by someone who actually understood 4x4s and in particular the achilles heels of a Freelander could it be as reliable as a normal car ?

As most of us are motoring on a budget and have bought used Freelanders, we pay the price for the previous owners using the cars to pose in at the school gate or down at Waitrose, but being oblivious to proper tyre pressures, changing all 4 at the same time, the existance of a VCU etc etc or even putting the right amount of oil in the engine and NOT following the handbook !

It would be interesting to see how many people know of owners who have fault free Landies and give me some peace of mind that I'm going to get home, each time I put the key in the ignition !

Cheers for now...............

Loads of them are fault free with normal servicing only. Very few come on ere saying theirs doesn't have a fault. Most only join when they have faults.

I've had lots of Freelanders. Mostly problem free, even if they haven't cared for quite how they should.
As Hippo said, generally most owners only come onto here when they have a problem. Not seen anyone come on here to say there Freelander is working perfectly. If it ain't broken there's nothing to fix!!

Nothing wrong with mine. All the work I've done has been the usual improvement stuff rather than a fix. Egr bypass, silicone hoses, crank case breather, the list goes on and on but it's all voluntary !!!

I now expect to be starting a thread tomorrow called "There's a long con rod looking thing sticking out of the engine block" but there you go............

The freelander is not perfect , show me a car that is , in my fifth year of ownership , it has never let me down (touch wood) been in daily use , have serviced and modified it to run at its best , been very impressed with it's 4×4 capabilities in mud and snow , tyres were missmatched when I bought it , by evans halshaw hp fuel pump replaced due to leak , both finaldrive driveshaft oilseals replaced due to leaks , tailgate handle broke off , got off lightly me thinks up to now still love it and the simple answer to your question is YES !

19NMC said:

I now expect to be starting a thread tomorrow called "There's a long con rod looking thing sticking out of the engine block" but there you go............

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Thankfully not likely on a TD4, or any Freelander engine for that matter

Ditto what people have said really. My Freelander has suffered the prerequisite transmission collapse - which I believe is far to easy to occur and as such a design flaw. Other than that though, in my 4 years of ownership, it has been used and abused and has been almost boringly reliable!

The only other design flaw is the petrol engines, but luckily there is an easy solution to that and I have an L Series

perkins said:

could it be as reliable as a normal car ?.

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It is as reliable as a normal car.

It has more things that can go wrong. But it is reliable when looked after properly. Neglect any car and the future owners will have to spend money hand over fist to keep them on the road..

GrumpyGel said:

Ditto what people have said really. My Freelander has suffered the prerequisite transmission collapse - which I believe is far to easy to occur and as such a design flaw. Other than that though, in my 4 years of ownership, it has been used and abused and has been almost boringly reliable!

The only other design flaw is the petrol engines, but luckily there is an easy solution to that and I have an L Series

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l-series are good but don't quote the rank and file on k-series, they are just as reliable as yours

only more powerful

in addition yes they can be reliable but like any car they do need to be made reliable on occasion

My disco had a ****ty engine but was rust free, Been looking at commercial freelanders for work and they seem to be spot on in TD4 trim but the K series is just a ****ty block! I know many lads who have owned rover/Mg's with the K series and they all went pop

SnowmanV8 said:

My disco had a ****ty engine but was rust free, Been looking at commercial freelanders for work and they seem to be spot on in TD4 trim but the K series is just a ****ty block! I know many lads who have owned rover/Mg's with the K series and they all went pop

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The k series only goes pop if the water level drops or the radiator can't cope or rad seal is used.

The mgf has lots more pipes to leak. The rover 200/400 radiator cores can disintegrate with age. And cost cutting allows water weeps to appear on the engine... If you maintain the cooling system properly using the right coolant the engine is fantastic.

Lotus didn't chose it because it was British.

My Freelander has been reliable. Yes things have gone wrong but they are things that most cars suffer from. Thermostats, heater matrix, injectors. Then there are the perishables. Brakes, all the oils, tyres etc. General servicing stuff.

Then there are the mods- head unit, lift kit, spacers, rock sliders, cameras, clocks, headlights, led bulbs, light guards.

What do you expect from a car with 126,000 miles? Things start to wear out.

I had 2 BMW e39 Tourings and both broke down and cost a fortune to repair.

My Freelander has been reliable. Never let me down. It came with a full Land Rover service history for what it was worth.

ZDomZ said:

The k series only goes pop if the water level drops or the radiator can't cope or rad seal is used.

The mgf has lots more pipes to leak. The rover 200/400 radiator cores can disintegrate with age. And cost cutting allows water weeps to appear on the engine... If you maintain the cooling system properly using the right coolant the engine is fantastic.

Lotus didn't chose it because it was British.

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Oh yeah anything can be reliable but as an average user back then, We just changed oil and thought we had taken care of the engine lol. Mind you I borrowed a mates MG and put the revs into the red and left it there lmao, Christ that car was abused before it went in glorious style!

Mine's spot on, had the first thing to replace in 18 months last week, needed a new alternator, and that was only because I had a tiny oil leak from just above it dripping down on to it... all sorted now! Touch wood mine's been spot on

It seems to me the main problem with mine was the local garage.
Obviously don't go there any more!
I'm wondering if the cars that fair the best are the ones which are owner maintained.
It might be about more than cost!

Yep, agree with that about local garages. Mine has a full service history with only 60k on the clock, but most of the stamps are with a service centre, not a 4x4 specialist. When I started to go through it bit by bit, I'm amazed at how much has been missed or ignored - and simple obvious stuff too. I suppose Landrover dealers are way too expensive service wise and none of us like being talked down to as we don't drive 12 month old Range Rovers and haven't got bottomless pockets

Having read through a lot of the problems on this forum, I've done a lot of preventative maintenance - replaced the VCU, changed all the oils, done the egr, engine breather etc etc and now just have the brake hoses to change as they are all rusted to hell - so much for a proper MOT which missed them. Hope it all pays off as my better half is doing her taters at how much time I'm spending under the 'new' car.

Bit shocked at how the last few UK winters have wrecked the underside - thought Landies would be a bit more resistant given what they are built for but then again my old Hilux was the same underneath and they are supposed to be bulletproof too !

Hi my 2001 1.8 is very reliable 134.000 miles its good on fuel only bother is the sensors keep needing reset ie intermittent abs. hdc tc so you can get good ones

After 10 years from new and 151k miles i have so far had to change:

1 x Turbo (last year, went for a new one, not recon - want to keep the car)
1 x VCU (this year)
1 x High Pressure fuel pump (under warranty, been fine since)
1 x Low Pressure fuel pump
Front dampers & Anti-roll Bar.
Plus a few small bits and bobs that aren't worth listing, plus service items like tyres, filters e.t.c.

To be honest, i'm more than happy - other than when the turbo went it's NEVER let me down or left hanging anywhere.

Despite the mileage i still wouldn't consider getting rid of it, i love the removable roof, the plain interior thats easy to clean, it's off road capability (wouldn't make use of a Defender) and the fact my TD4 is a pleasure to drive anywhere - Motorway, A-Roads, Dirt Tracks, in snow, rain, mud...oh, and the consumption is great as far as i'm concerned.

Just got back from a weekend 1200km round trip to Hungary and back and it never missed a beat.

ZDomZ said:

The k series only goes pop if the water level drops or the radiator can't cope or rad seal is used.

The mgf has lots more pipes to leak. The rover 200/400 radiator cores can disintegrate with age. And cost cutting allows water weeps to appear on the engine... If you maintain the cooling system properly using the right coolant the engine is fantastic.

Lotus didn't chose it because it was British.

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All very true - have bought a couple of MGF's in the past as non-runners with head gasket failures when actually the problem was the metal coolant pipes that run back to front under the car had corroded and leaked - one of the engines survived the overheat with no other work needed - it was a VVC with 82k on it and I kept it for 3 years without any problems.

I know I'm going to get flamed but the K-series was a great engine - powerful, revvy, tunable - which is why the MG's/Rover 25's are so popular with the youngsters these days. It had been around a lot longer than some of it's competitors, since 1989.

With regard to the Freelander being reliable - like other Land Rovers becuase if it's capabilities it tends to get used by some as a main car for longer then if it were a "normal" car - i.e. some people might have a 10-12 year old Freelander worth £3k as a main car when the same money might get a 5 year old Focus. Hence they run to longer mileages, more wear and tear on the windows, door locks, suspension etc.

Tannaton said:

All very true - have bought a couple of MGF's in the past as non-runners with head gasket failures when actually the problem was the metal coolant pipes that run back to front under the car had corroded and leaked - one of the engines survived the overheat with no other work needed - it was a VVC with 82k on it and I kept it for 3 years without any problems.

I know I'm going to get flamed but the K-series was a great engine - powerful, revvy, tunable - which is why the MG's/Rover 25's are so popular with the youngsters these days. It had been around a lot longer than some of it's competitors, since 1989.

With regard to the Freelander being reliable - like other Land Rovers becuase if it's capabilities it tends to get used by some as a main car for longer then if it were a "normal" car - i.e. some people might have a 10-12 year old Freelander worth £3k as a main car when the same money might get a 5 year old Focus. Hence they run to longer mileages, more wear and tear on the windows, door locks, suspension etc.

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Nothing wrong with the K series if it's looked after. My latest VVC MGF has suffered HGF but only because the coolant pipe under the car pin holed, loosing the coolant. Sadly the driver didn't notice and cooked the poor thing. Still I'm well on the way to getting her running again.