Freelander1 facelift td4 potential purchase

Good Afternoon,
Having put my first post into the introduce yourself section, I thought id put my 2nd post here.
I currently have a vw transporter T5 kombi van, which is now my daily driver having just sold my mk5 golf. I Now fancy a Freelander1 facelift either 2004 or 2005 with winter pack. Question is should my budget of 2000 pounds get me a nice one, or am I better selling my T5 so that my budget would allow the freelander 2?

Gareth

You can get a reasonable example manual box FL1 facelift in for around £2K. You'll be looking at £4K for a perfect example with under average mileage. I paid £2K for my 05 SE auto with the winter pack. My body isn't perfect with little nicks and dinks on the doors. It's my daily hack and general work horse, so the condition of the paint isn't my primary concern. It only gets scratch the moment it goes off road anyway, so it's of no consequence to me. I'm a bit of a perfectionist where mechanicals are concerned, so I have replaced all the brakes, including the pipes. The engine is maintained to perfection and I've replaced all the front suspension wearing components too. The 4X4 system has also been checked and all fluids replace, along with the auto transmission fluid.

It's wise to check the propshafts are fitted, as many are removed for "economy". This normally means something in the 4x4 system is faulty and removing the propshafts hides this. For reference, removing the propshafts makes zero difference economy, so smell a rat if the props are missing.

Im also a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my cars( I dont understand people that ignore or neglect to keep their cars in tip top mechanical condition).
Im quite lucky that I work for main dealer selling cars, so have work colleagues/friends to look after the mechanical side for me.