FreeLander 2.0 TD4 Sport Advice

Hi all,

First post so sorry if im going over covered ground.

With a new baby on they way myself and my wife have been looking at new cars with a bit of space and good looks.

The FreeLander TD4 Sport 5 door in Java Black seems to tick all the boxes for both me and my wife who will be using it mainly.

Can anyone give me a review of this car who owns one and is it considered a nice motor for the money?

The only extras we would have is the Stainless side Tubes and Full leather as the standard options are very good to start with.

Also Ive been told the Stainless spare wheel cover only fits upto 17" wheels and therefore not the standard 18" on the sport? Is there a suitable aftermarket one around that looks better than the Vinyl Cover?

Thanks for you help

PaulN

Ps its been a while since i had to look after a Black car, what are peoples thoughts?

The new, facelifted Freelander does look good in black, but black cars are a pain to keep looking clean and tidy - usually end up looking dusty all the time. Also they really show up the scratches and I'll always specify metallic cars from now on.

We use one of our Freelanders as a 90% road car, with the odd farm track and greenlane thrown in. I think that if the Sport model had been around it would have been a good option for us. If you anticipate any greenlaning or off roading then the Sport version isn't for you!

The TD4 is the best engine choice, all round.

Can't say that side steps are my thing, but that's a matter of taste.

The front of the cabin feels roomier in some aspects than the Discovery, as long as you are not over 6ft, I certainly prefer it to the Disco in terns of elbow room. The rear seats are accesible for kiddy seats, etc., although the middle seat is uncomfortable.

Do have a good look at the boot - it's not as spacious as you might think and if you need to load it fully then please consider a dog guard as a safety option. These are available in black as OEM items much cheaper than getting the dealer supplied grey version.

www.carseatcovers.co.uk do good Freelander covers for all manner of child-created mess.

These cars don't seem to crop up much on the nearly new market which is an indicator that their owners are relatively happy with them.

Good deals expected this year as there is a new Freelander out in the Autumn!

Cheers

Blippie

Hi Paul,

For what it's worth here my input. I myself own a MY01 5door Td4 Steptronic SE which has the 16" rims and tyres 215/65x16, my neighbour did a testdrive with my car and he was so enthousiast about he ordered one for himself, except that he went for the 3dr Sport. After delivery of the car he told me, a couple of weeks later, that his car was much harder on the road than mine. This is because of the Sport edition, the suspension is slightly harder I believe and also the 18" rims with the lowratio sidewalled tyres don't improve things. So if you go for a testdrive and you look for a comfortable ride don't forget to also testdrive the non Sport version. (As it was mainly my neighbour's wife who told me about the harshness and since your wife is mostly going to drive yours..... ). Good luck and cheers.

willo said:

Hi Paul,

After delivery of the car he told me, a couple of weeks later, that his car was much harder on the road than mine. This is because of the Sport edition, the suspension is slightly harder I believe and also the 18" rims with the lowratio sidewalled tyres don't improve things (As it was mainly my neighbour's wife who told me about the harshness and since your wife is mostly going to drive yours..... )

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not really a bad thing if she is pregnant, it might get her started then she can have the baby and he gets rid of the violent mood swings

Hi Guys,
New to this forum, and only just found this minefield of information. I bought a metalic black sport in March after trading in a RAV4. I got the dog guard and black side steps with chrome edges as extras, and also went for the optional paint treatment (maybe stupidly, I know). It looks great, and I'm currently still cleaning once a week to keep the good looks. The black looks fantastic when clean, but takes me twice as long as the old silver RAV since the water marns really show so it needs a soft cloth polish after every clean.
I find the ride good, as 95% of my driving is on tarmac. I recently had a week in Devon and managed to get her off road on sand and muddy tracks when the Mrs wasn't with me moaning in my ear! The cruise from Norfolk to Devon was no problem cruising at 85mph.
The seats are very comfortable and after 5 hours at the wheel no uncomfort at all, a big improvement on the RAV. So far the kids sticky chocolate and sweets messes on the leather/alacantra seats have wiped off no problem.

To summarise my opinions...
Good
1. Looks great in black with the 18"ers and side steps.
2. Side windows not quite privacy glass but very dark tint. Dark enough to be called a pimp and drug dealer more than once.
3. Very comfortable, but at 6`2" my head brushes the rooflining until I snuggle down a little. No problem once underway.
4. Quiet cruising once warmed up.
5. Standard 6 disc sound system is great.
Bad
1. Dated switch gear
2. Only 1 12v socket.
3. Slightly hesitant pull aways. Had a few stalls.
4. Diff interferes at full lock manouevring (feels like the breaks are half on).
5. Turning circle is quite large.

None of the notorious reliability problems yet! and overall a very enjoyable motor.

sport model in black or silver i find looks the best, defo chrome tubes over the steps for me,
yes the sport is a slighty harder ride due to it slightly lower suspension but looks better than a standard one .
if you needed a 2nd 12v socket you can have one fitted at the back of center console the wiring is fitted so you will just need to buy the trim and socket.

Got to agree mit der Willo on this one think the harder ride is more for tarmac, the 16 inch is just right, like the Willo i have the jatco auto box and can not fault it, the best motor is the v6 without a doubt, but for economy and reliability its the TD4, however on the wheel size its what will suit yourself really,its your shout. . .

Hi,

Thanks for the posts, its been a great help, i wanted to get an owners feel regarding the sport and its certainly helped.

I hate to say it, but ours wont be going near a field so the sport option is ok, also my other cars have a very hard ride so i think we will be fine with that too.

Regarding the colour i think the Java black is metallic, but i could be wrong, also im sure with a few coats of good wax it will be less likely to scratch.

Also Black doesn't really worry me because i tend to wash our cars at least once a week depending on the weather through the week! I realise this may slip a little with a new born unless its keen to wash the wheels with daddy.

I spoke again to our dealer last night and checked about service costs can anyone give me the prices for the first 4 years service? They said on average its £350 per year.....

Canary,

Can you send me or post up some photos of your Sport clean? Theres a good selection around but just wanted a few angled shots for the wife.

Thanks again for all your help

PaulN

Hi there and welcome - Im just going into my second month with a Black Freestyle 3dr Auto -

I was about to order a Sport when I did some comparative costs on a maintenance package between the Sport and the Freestyle - BEWARE, costs of tyres and suspension parts are a LOT more on the Sport, this was done through a car broker that my company have used for the last 5 years so I tend to get honest feedback from them - turns out that the Sport tends to eat through larger tyres quicker, ergo more expensive running costs.

I went for the Freestyle mainly for this reason and also because I think the standard wheels on the Freestyle look much better. I opted for the chrome side steps and I'm glad that I did. I have to agree with the comments about the diff interference on full lock, its bad enough to stall the auto from cold . I have posted quite a few pics if mine if you want to have a look - very little difference except for the wheels and the 'stance' of the car is slightly different.

The ride of the Sport is pretty harsh in comparison to the none sport. You are probably aware of this but you do realise that the 'sport' part refers purely to the wheels and the stiffer suspension dont you? - there is no difference in power (or lack of ) between the two.

All in all, two months and 5,000 miles down the road - great car!!!

I,m not a great lover of the tubes as i had them on a nother motor i had [a sort of tractor ]and found that if wet can be very slippy and if you have young uns have to be carefull , find the steps a better thing,and you can get them with crome tubes on the rim. . .

PaulN said:

Hi,


Canary,

Can you send me or post up some photos of your Sport clean? Theres a good selection around but just wanted a few angled shots for the wife.

Thanks again for all your help

PaulN

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Will do, but at the weekend since I'm in Norway until Friday night.

LR GUY said:

sport model in black or silver i find looks the best, defo chrome tubes over the steps for me,
yes the sport is a slighty harder ride due to it slightly lower suspension but looks better than a standard one .
if you needed a 2nd 12v socket you can have one fitted at the back of center console the wiring is fitted so you will just need to buy the trim and socket.

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I have such a 2nd socket in the back of the center console, probably this was standard back in 2001 ??

These are the options I have on my car, the best of them is in my opinion the central armrest (# 1.), the three others are just esthetical updates (including the mudflaps front and rear as the car still as filty with as without them). In the past I used to wash all my cars once a week but now since I'm retired I manage to wash the Hippo once every 2 to 3 months...

hey willo, that passenger seat is filthy, it looks like brown leather instead of grey

yella disco said:

hey willo, that passenger seat is filthy, it looks like brown leather instead of grey

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it could be an effect of the driving on the passenger that has gotten the seat this colour

That's the brown leather passenger seat upgrade. It was done so you could tell which side the passenger went. The back seat should be green.

Have the wiseguys finished with mocking around ?? Yes ?? Let me tell you the passenger (my wife) has nothing to do with it, as we on the continent drive on the correct side of the road (right.... right ) the steeringwheel is left thus the seat you are all referring to is mine and mine alone. It's probably a result of the way many people drive overhere, they scare the sh.. out of you sometimes... . Seriously, that must be a shade of something or should I clean my seats one of these days ?? In real life it doesn't show at all that way, maybe (probably) a picture reveals more, as for my sparecover when looking at it one wouldn't say it's that dirty as it's shown on the picture.

marksurry said:

That's the brown leather passenger seat upgrade. It was done so you could tell which side the passenger went. The back seat should be green.

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Hi Mark,

As a matter of fact my backseat is more magenta-ish, if it is true it had to be green these louzy doublecrossing LR sharks have given me a previously refused backseat. Unfortunately too late to complain as the car has over 5 years, if only I knew that some years back....

well thats what yer get when yer buy from shady belgian car salesmen.

yella disco said:

well thats what yer get when yer buy from shady belgian car salesmen.

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Hi yella,
Yes, but I bought it from a genuine LR dealer (who also became a Jaguar dealer as well now) funny thing I noticed though, in the showroom on the counter there are two plates showing the prices they count per hour for repairs/maintenance, a price for LR and one for Jaguar where the Jag one is some 20% higher than the LR one. The work is done by the same techs. though. How about that ?? Besides the funny color of my backseat nothing to complain about the garage, except they are a little too expensive in my opinion. For the oil, which is no doubt of good quality but which they get from 200 liter barrels they count you double the price as if you go for the best premium oil in 1 liter can at an autoparts shop.