Diesel or V6 Petrol?

My whole family have land rovers. I'm looking to buy one as a second car.
I'm stuck with which one.
Freelander 1 2006 2.0TD4 129,000km for £5k dark silver, cream leather
Freelander 1 2006 2.5 V6 148,000km for £3,700 blue, cream leather
Both have full options.

The road outside my flat is being redone and will take a year. I have a Smart Forfour Brabus with 205bhp. I know if I keep using it on the big mess of a road outside my house it will cost me to repair.
Options sell the Brabus (could take awhile) and buy a newer freelander. Or keep it and buy one of the cars above.

What do you guys think?

Expat Chris
Lublin, Poland

That's nice and easy:

1st Choice - Sell the smart, buy a newer Freelander 2. With a decent FL2, you won't want the Smart anymore anyway!

2nd Choice - Buy the Freelander 1 diesel.

104th Choice - Buy the Freelander 1 V6, but only after all other possible options have been exhausted first!

Thank you for the quick reply Tigger,
I do really love my Forfour Brabus. It's one of the best hot hatchs I have ever driven. I probably will need a 2nd car in 6 months if i sell it.

Why would you say diesel over the V6? I have read the full review on here.
Both have problems, I know. My company will pay fuel, so that doesn't worry me.

Why do you recommend not getting the V6?

The V6 is infamous for having fragile cylinderhead gaskets and associated coolant leaks. Rover never got on top of it before they stopped making them. It'll be a labour of love keeping on top of it. The cylinder heads might already be damaged and bodged back together.

I bought a new (308bhp) Ford Focus RS, back in 2010. When my first FL2 arrived a year later I hardly touched the RS again; I virtually always took the Freelander instead - I simply preferred driving it!

I might go look at both cars this week, plus I'm going to see if anyone bites for the Brabus.

If they do I'll try for a FL2.

My little bro had the Focus RS, was powerful but wasn't as enjoyable to drive as the Brabus,
I've driven my parents New freelander and that's what turned me to the freelander, even tho they have just got the new discovery sport.

Good luck with the hunt and the sale of the Brabus.
It's interesting that you've got experience of the RS. It was good looking, had a fair bit of power (but could have used more!), but wasn't as much fun to drive as it should have been. The TD4 in the FL2 had more torque and was easier to keep up quick point to point times across country when the roads weren't great.
I hope your parents are happy with their new car, but I'd still happily choose a late FL2 over a Disco Sport...

I'd get a Hyundai v6. Much more poking fun at the family with their greasy hands

If your company are going to pay the fuel bill, then go for a car with a huge petrol engine. They're cheaper to buy and avoid modern diesel complexities such as EGR's, DPF's, DMF's. For your 5k budget you could get yourself a Porsche Cayenne.
If you do go down the F2 route, go for the 3.2 petrol.