Facelifted TD4 Mk1 should I buy?

Hello all, having sold my P38 in Feb last year I now find myself wanting to get back behind the wheel of a Land Rover. My initial thoughts were to get a late Mk1 version of the Freelander, mainly due to the fact it offers good MPG for a permanent 4 wheel drive, however, I was surprised to read the list of common faults included of all things, cracked chasis. Now I'm used to the perils of Land Rover ownership so expect things to go wrong from time to time but there seems to be more issues with this model than I would have imagined. I cannot scrape to the cost of a Freelander 2 so this is out of my list of possibles, I suppose the question is, would you buy another Freelander 1? My only other options are Defender of Discovery TD5

jdennington said:

Hello all, having sold my P38 in Feb last year I now find myself wanting to get back behind the wheel of a Land Rover. My initial thoughts were to get a late Mk1 version of the Freelander, mainly due to the fact it offers good MPG for a permanent 4 wheel drive, however, I was surprised to read the list of common faults included of all things, cracked chasis. Now I'm used to the perils of Land Rover ownership so expect things to go wrong from time to time but there seems to be more issues with this model than I would have imagined. I cannot scrape to the cost of a Freelander 2 so this is out of my list of possibles, I suppose the question is, would you buy another Freelander 1? My only other options are Defender of Discovery TD5

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I think late 05-06 a best of bunch and should have a lot of the faults corrected that plague early models (IRD ratios etc) and it's a fairly newish car. I'd hope it would be more reliable than a P38!

We have an '06 TD4 HSE manual <28k (not even run in yet), done all the standard mods on here.
EGR bypass, Synergy2, BMW breather, silicone intercooler hoses (only hoses not the full replacement pipes mod), towbar with 12N & 12S, Auxilliary socket for charging 2nd battery and cruise control.
Expecting to get the usual transmission probs when the milage gets high but that will take us many years.
If you do high milage expect increasing service costs if you don't then expect a motor that will last a long time.
Read up about the tyre sizes and options for off road tyres if thats your thing, some std wheels like our 17" have little choice and they're all expensive!
Ours didn't get heated screen of FBH - that stopped around 05/55 - if you want those you'll be looking for an older one or one with factory fitted upgrades when it was bought.
LR only fitted CC to petrols and pre 05 auto doozles.(may be a little later?)
Hope it helps.

I started of with a 2001 Freelander 1.8 (in 2001!) then a Discovery TD5, short 7 month break away from 4wd then bought a 2005 Freelander TD4 - would I buy another....well I did last month - a 1998 1.8 as a winter run-around for me as my wife generally uses the TD4.

IF you buy well you should get a good late one

Thanks to you all for the very constructive post's this has certainly helped. Looks like I shall carry on looking for an 05/06 model, ideally HSE

Go for it ! ive had my 55 td4 for over a year and its done everything asked of it ive learnt how to service it with some help from this forum its not perfect but its the best motor ive had i love it!

Once I got the td4 little tweaks done (breather, turbo filter and egr) it became the car I'd been hoping for! I got a 55 Sport cos it looks great and drives sharp, loads of grunt and comfy.
Prior to above wee jobs it was sluggish on take-off and prone to stalling at low revs but is luvverly now. Join us!!

td4 2002 on is a good motor . . . . . .fl2 so far seems even better but time will tell

ming said:

td4 2002 on is a good motor . . . . . .fl2 so far seems even better but time will tell

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theres a few probs - and a couple of recalls, Minge.

i had an early l-series diesel and it was a great motor.
if i needed a car for lots of road use i'd buy another diesel freelander over any other landrover.