Common fault approximate repair costs?

Hello All

New to the forum, and to L/Rs. I've fancied a Freelander for some time and, despite reading some of the horror stories on here, still do! There are many petrol cars for sale round here (Somerset) in my price range, which is only £1.5 - 2K.

Although I've lurked and searched on the things to look out for when buying a Freelander, experience suggests that adopting a cautious 'if it can go wrong it will, and it will be the worst possible outcome' approach may be prudent!

So, to help budget guesstimating, could people give me likely ballpark costs of having a good independent fix some of the common problems: hgf and VCU are the two that immediately spring to mind, but I would also appreciate advice about any other likely candidates.

Thanks.

Aren't there any L series diesels around for you? They have a better reputation...

I don't know about the HGF's. A new VCU is around 350 and can be put in pretty easily if you're handy. Checking it regulary should keep you out of problems for the VCU. Also, the exhaust is prone to rusting, so take a peek at that before buying one. Can be replaced easily, so no big worries there...

do a search, theres loads of threads on buying advice, steer clear of the K-series and you should be fine.

I too fancied a freelander, but did it the other way round.
Bought it....then found this forum. Scared the **** out of me reading the faults, lol.
Fortunately, no big problems so far.
Done a service with the help of a good mate who owns one. Had the brakes repaired professionaly.

Sorry for hijacking your thread...but the comment by cmdr_keen interested me.
How do you regularly check the VCU?

Allnick said:

I too fancied a freelander, but did it the other way round.
Bought it....then found this forum. Scared the **** out of me reading the faults, lol.
Fortunately, no big problems so far.
Done a service with the help of a good mate who owns one. Had the brakes repaired professionaly.

Sorry for hijacking your thread...but the comment by cmdr_keen interested me.
How do you regularly check the VCU?

Click to expand...

I check my rear tyres, if they are worn with a saw-tooth wavey pattern then the VCU is knackered.
There are mechanical tests , you'll find them if you do a search on here.

Thanks howardo....will give the tyres a good lookin at tomorrow.

Info about how to test your VCU can be found here:
VCU check - Http://freelandertech.info/

Fairly easy to do.

Wtf!

Peeps on here have put a lot if time and effort into various VCU tests on this forum - and yu post a link elsewhere!

do a feckin search!

I did search. Best answer I came across was this link (with pictures and all). I'm sure there are some fine posts on this forum as well, but this was the easiest for me to link to.

Allnick said:

How do you regularly check the VCU?

Click to expand...

Quickest very rough check is to reverse the car whilst the steering is on full lock. Car should feel like the handbrake is half on but should drive ok. If it feels like the car is going to stall & needs lots of "throttle" then the VCU is shot. Easier to use this method with the auto as you won't need to apply any "throttle".

Thanks chromiumuk.....that's just how it feels...handbrake partly on.

I get the same feeling of brakes partially applied on full lock going forwards, such as when entering a tight parking bay. Is this normal?