Considering a 2003 Freelander Kalahari 1.8 petrol 3 door

Hi all,

I've been trying to find out more abotu this car and seems a good place to ask.

First of all I was wondering if anyone had any decent pictures of the interior? I assume it's a 5 seater? Can't find any picws of the interior other than the front 2 seats so no idea how the boot is formatted, my Dad usesd to own a Range Rover parts business and i know Discoverie's have 7 seats but i have no idea about Freelanders.

Any other comments about reliability/maintenance/fuel consumption with this edition would be very welcome.

I am paying around 6k for it, seem reasonable?

Many thanks

Hi.

Do a search for Head Gasket Failure (HGF)

Should tell you all you need to know about 1.8 and V6 Freelanders.

Dave

DONT !

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/poll-160-what-faults-have-you-encountered-your-fl1.html

I wish I had been on theis forum before i put a hundred quid deposit down.

I can't beleive i didn't know about this. I did read about HGF before I put the deposit down. I do note that some people have had no problems, but i don't know how many this is compared to the hundreds that have had problems.

Would anyone recommend writing that hundred quid off?

The car would be sold with a 3 month warranty (that I can extend..). I am going to call and check that the warranty covers the head gasket now, also that it has been serviced by Land rover specialists throughout.

HGF costs what 300-400 quid to repair?

In light of the warranty (assumnig it covers HGF) would anyone say it's worth buying? It's from Stockton Stratstone Land Rover.

just have a good read of the freelander section and make your own mind up, plenty of peeps will tell you to steer clear - a few will tell to you go for it

but just 3 months warrenty on a vehicle with known design faults ?

stephen.connor said:

HGF costs what 300-400 quid to repair?

In light of the warranty (assumnig it covers HGF) would anyone say it's worth buying? It's from Stockton Stratstone Land Rover.

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I bought mine for £550 with a non running engine. (HGF driven till engine stopped!!) I have rebuilt using the new gasket, oil rail and steel dowels. I have had 17,000 trouble free miles from the engine.

I have changed a wheel bearing (due to age), the rear diff mounts, a clutch slave cylinder mounting plate and also a central door locking motor. Last two mots have been passes (with me as the owner)

Some folk get off lightly and others seem to pay out thousands.

I know many ex MGR mechanics who can do the gasket replacement for parts and 4 hrs labour, so your figure of £300 - £400 is accurate.

Personally I would spend 6K on a diesel freelander or a Discovery 2, but if you have your heart set on the freelander, then ensure that you have some funds for wear and tear items.

With any vehicle, you could buy another brand and that could cost you in repairs too. By using these forums, most expensive repairs can be prevented or fixed for a fraction of the dealer price.

If my IRD, or VCU was to fail then I would have no issue about paying for a replacement as my freelander was a) a bargain and b) has covered many miles. In fact my father has spent more on his 2004 TD5 Discovery than me in the last year!!

Regards,

Steve

Sean said:

just have a good read of the freelander section and make your own mind up, plenty of peeps will tell you to steer clear - a few will tell to you go for it

but just 3 months warrenty on a vehicle with known design faults ?

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oooo yu is gonna stir up some wrath there, Sean

The Mad Hat Man said:

oooo yu is gonna stir up some wrath there, Sean

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oh you know me, set things on fire then sit back and enjoy the heat

would you not agree that the HG is a design fault ?

i wud agree with you on most things, Sean - but LR1796 maintains the only fault with Hippoos is the winda winda mechanism

The Mad Hat Man said:

i wud agree with you on most things, Sean - but LR1796 maintains the only fault with Hippoos is the winda winda mechanism

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What happened to the doors falling off???

apparently that isnt a recognised "design fault" - it just happens when they get wet !

The Mad Hat Man said:

i wud agree with you on most things, Sean - but Yoda maintains the only fault with Hippoos is the winda winda mechanism

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therefore it must be so, but we must be carefull as the dark forces at work here will tell you that the one known as Hippo is a truely reliable vehicle

you and I know differently, Sean - but they wont listen - at the end its their money.

for 6 grand you could provide a whole deprived african village with at least 8 fully functional land rovers

some people are so selfish these days, it's all me me me

Appreciate the advise.

LR Stockton assure me that it has been through quality checks in order for it to be sold through them.

They are going to call me back and run through the service history.

Also, I'm trying to get them to throw in the 12 months warranty, which they charge a inasane 650 for... If they can do that, they also assure me that HGF parts/labour are covered.

Even given this, initially i though paying over 5k for a 'hippo' that was from an LR dealer would ensure that i wouldnt get any problems but the discussions on here may necessitate that i write off the 100 quid (as i'm fairly sure they won't refund that deposit).

stephen.connor said:

may necessitate that i write off the 100 quid (as i'm fairly sure they won't refund that deposit).

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am sure they would transfer it to any other non hippo land rover product if you asked

Don't touch it with a barge pole.
Even if you get through a year with no major failures, at the end of that period, the vehicle is gonna be worth £2k tops.
Do you fancy that kind of depreciation?

£100 to save £3.9k is a bargain.

i've got a 53 plate 1.8 kalahari 3dr and apart from a few scares that turned out to be nothing at all and a few squeakes here and there mine has been ok.

strangely enough paid £6k for it with 41,000 miles. now got 52,000 and runs ok for now.

i've trawled though these pages and it is hit and miss with hippos but it could be a good one and work fine

Yep I reckon the depreciaton will be pretty bad too. At the end of the day i'm still considering it, because 5k is still relatively cheap. Also, I don't percieve HGF as a risk for loss of life, so therefore i'm offsetting that potential cost over the fact that the price is lower.

I'm sure all this has been discussed in the past but what are people's perspective's on the following:

"All Freelander petrol engined WILL suffer HG failure. The modern engine is expected to reach 100K without major difficulty. The Freelander will NOT reach these levels & that includes yours. "


This interested me also:

"
Land Rover introduced a new design Head Gasket and Oil Rail to improve the engine and decrease head gasket failures.
Go for Land Rover p/n
New headgasket LVB500190 approx ?44 + VAT (~£29+VAT)
New oil ladder LCN000140L approx ?52 + VAT (~£34+VAT)
pictures courtesy (Dr.) Dave ......... , see the original thread at mg-rover.org Forum and the *doctor's website *
Land Rover have redesigned the K series 1.8 head gasket and upgraded the lower rail that the head bolts screw into.
The head gasket has lost it's elastomeric beads and now has a laminated type of construction and the lower rail is beefed up - it must have an effect upon the clamping load. Head torque figures remain unchanged.
Picture three shows the very thin metal coated shim that is fitted on top of the headgasket

Has anybody tried wonderweld or Thermagasket Head and Engine Block Seal?
Thermagasket is a 2-part, Ceramic Fiber, Elemental Carbon and Iron Metallic Alloy compound suspended in a viscous liquid! It can be used in all aluminum, steel, and cast iron engine blocks!"

stephen.connor said:

Yep I reckon the depreciaton will be pretty bad too. At the end of the day i'm still considering it, because 5k is still relatively cheap.

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so are you saying that after reading all about the faults that you STILL think it's a good use of your money ?