Freelander diesel purchase

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Freelaner said:
mine too was in 2wd briefly when I removed my vcu whilst it was being refurbed.
steering was light, it was nippy and the tc worked well but i prefer the feel of 4wd albiet still biased to the front in normal conditions.

v6 is a superb engine and, like the 1.8, a much maligned motor ;)
Click to expand...

This^^^^
The worst thing about the V6 is the gearbox and it's programming!!
A manual V6 would be a perfect Freelander IMO!!
 
Funny thing is with my dithering over what to buy (Disco vs Freelander) the video link for the 'What Car' road test swayed me toward the Freelander with its modern easy to use off road abilities etc etc and I sort of got taken in by the spiel from the presenters but all in all what I want is a half decent presentable Land Rover of almost any model but it must be ideally £1500 or less and reliable and fairly economic (in as much as it can be) on road trips which I guess does bring me back to either a Disco or Freelander with a possible inclusion of a diesel P38. :-/
 
bukko said:
:clap2:







But where to get one?

I'd donate my car as a guinea pig if someone wants to have a go!



(As long as you give me time to buy another one first - only L series or V6 for me tho)
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....and I still have a spare L series gearbox...


Would you mind donating your v6 to "kizzeh wants a v6 to play with for a couple of months but refuses to spend over a grand" cause?
 
britishwardog said:
Funny thing is with my dithering over what to buy (Disco vs Freelander) the video link for the 'What Car' road test swayed me toward the Freelander with its modern easy to use off road abilities etc etc and I sort of got taken in by the spiel from the presenters but all in all what I want is a half decent presentable Land Rover of almost any model but it must be ideally £1500 or less and reliable and fairly economic (in as much as it can be) on road trips which I guess does bring me back to either a Disco or Freelander with a possible inclusion of a diesel P38. :-/
Click to expand...


In my opinion, and remember everyone has one, it all depends how handy you are with spanners and what you want to use it for.
I originally wanted a discovery but I came across my freelander. A discovery does mid to late 20's mpg, disintegrates in a cloud of rust every year (especially for 1.5k) but then again has a good tow capacity and the ability to carry 7 people.
The range rover is much the same but more to go wrong, especially electrics.

My freelander may only be able to tow 2t, but it can seat 5 adults comfortably, has a drop down window for the dog, does just under 40mpg. For snow or a slippery grass field a freelander with t/c would arguably be better but for deep ruts and towing your cows around with 6 other people a disco would be better.
 
Kizzeh said:
....and I still have a spare L series gearbox...


Would you mind donating your v6 to "kizzeh wants a v6 to play with for a couple of months but refuses to spend over a grand" cause?
Click to expand...

Hehe possibly, but bear in mind what you'd be taking on.
There are plenty of things wrong with the car thanks to local butcher mechanics.
You probably wouldn't want it to drive on a regular basis!
 
Ok so we're slowly reaching a conclusion re' my dilemma, the pro diesel argument has definitely won me over and I'm hoping that by Tuesday/Wednesday I will be the proud owner of a Freelander, I'm looking at 2 XEDIs (5door) and a nice Td4 3 door with removeable hard top, the first two are classifieds and the 3 door is local ish to me on eBay and finishes late on Sunday, one would assume the Td4 being a newer engine would be better but although many of you have said the L series lump is good is it as good as the Beemer one?
 
Yes you more or less got it. It's all a matter of taste. The bmw is more refined. It goes a little faster, it stops a little better and is a little quieter. The l series is still a very strong motor but easier to work on, less sensors to go wrong. I own both. The missus drives the td4 and she prefers that and I prefer the L series. What ever you get you will be happy.
 
I've just spotted a Td4 advertised at a good price but with a couple of known faults one of which is that the remote central locking doesn't work (works ok on key) now this may be something as simple as a flat battery in the fob but I'm not that lucky and assuming it isn't what could the problem be and what cost implications would there be to sort it?
*update* missed the end of the auction, car went for £1020 which I probably would have been happy to go a little bit beyond.
 
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Personally, I can't see any reason for buying a 1.8 and the refinement/power benefits of the V6 wouldn't get anywhere near swaying me from a diesel.

So in my book its between the Turbo Diesels - Rover or BMW. For me L Series wins, its bullet proof, simple and very ecconomic. Plus I love driving a British car with a really great British engine.

In the last week I've put a couple of thousand Ks on it travelling around the country. A real mix of open roads, city and mountainous climbs / decents. Its performed fantastic, its quite slow away from the lights, but over the hills and overtaking it pulls great. For the trip it returned 39MPG. No boat or camping gear on the back this time, but when we do, it performs fantastic.

People have said how comfortable it is. Definitely compfortable for front seat passengers (although the dash structure does get a bit to close to my knees/shins), for rear seat passengers, the feedback I've been given from the kids is that its not as comfortable as the Disco.
 
Fantastic mate-just the sort of info I was after, luckily I've found a decent looking '97 XEDI only ten miles from me and I'm hoping to look at it on Monday but that's if I don't win a Td4 on eBay tomorrow!
 
We'll that didn't go as planned, went to look at the XEDI local to me and apart from a worn drivers seat bolster and a niggly problem with the rear door glass not lowering to shut door (you could push the glass down the short distance to close door then it went up on its own power once closed) it wasn't going too badly then I pulled the sunroof blind back and found the metalwork in front of the sunroof absolutely rotten which was not visible from the outside, shame really but we move on!
 
Right, won a nice looking (picking up on Tuesday so will report back once collected) Td4 3 door hardback ('03 plate) for £1550 let's hope it's everything the seller promises!
 
Good luck. No matter how good the seller says it is, I'd suggest you do the 1 wheel up test pretty soon to guage if the VCU is OK. Also make sure its got tyres that match and are all inflated to the same (correct) pressure.
 
Yes good advice, when I spoke to the seller today it appears that he hasn't owned the car all that long but claims not to be a dealer (hmm!) and that he was selling because he didn't use the car and had several on his driveway and needed room for his wife's car, it has only done one mile since it was MoT'd which it passed with no advisories apparently and the seller also said it had recent documented history of a visit to a local LR garage for some work but without digging out the invoices couldn't remember what was done, needless to say no money will be changing hands if I suspect something is amiss but I'm not expecting a vehicle which won't at some point need work-it is a Land Rover after all!
 
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