Gear Knob Wear

Hi,

Perhaps an odd question but i was viewing a Freelander Td4 ES Station Wagon today.

It has an alleged 34000 miles on it.

The general condition is really good and looks like a low miles car. Steering wheel, seats, carpets, handbrake lever etc all look and feel fine except for the gear knob. The leather gear knob has been worn to the point where the digits are very nearly illegible. Is that normal for the mileage? i've never had a leather gear knob before so don't know if they wear excessively.

B.

The previous owner possibly drove with his hand on the gear lever. Often doesn't do the gearbox any good.
Be careful.

I think it's fairly common for people to drive with their hand on their knob

probably where the AA man had to keep driving on and off the recovery truck so often.

maybe had a replacement 2nd hand gear box fitted ?
maybe just the knob ?

does the mileage stack up against the MOT's / service book ?

yes, mot just expired so dealer will get new one when sold, no service since last MOT but only done 2k miles in that time. i'm always a little skeptical when dealers say cars have done next ot no miles since last MOT/record of milage as it always makes me think they have just rolled it back the lowest number they could get away with.

for all i know it could have done 20k towing a cathedral since last MOT and he just rolled it back.

Beffheart said:

yes, mot just expired so dealer will get new one when sold, no service since last MOT but only done 2k miles in that time. i'm always a little skeptical when dealers say cars have done next ot no miles since last MOT/record of milage as it always makes me think they have just rolled it back the lowest number they could get away with.

for all i know it could have done 20k towing a cathedral since last MOT and he just rolled it back.

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Or stood up doing nothing cos it has had problems and the owner lost faith when driving it

Or was owned by somebody as a second car so didn't get used much.

I have 2 vehicles. My economical vehicle does 12k miles a year my landy does 2k-3k.

my ecenomical one does about 3k a year, my discovery does 12k... mind you it is on lpg so not much less economical than the other one anyway

i'll be looking elsewhere... seen a few today, some with much higher mileage and none had a gear and none had a gear knob anywhere near as worn as that one.

is the hill decent worth having? don't think i'd use it often, if at all, but if its good in terms of resale then maybe worth choosing one with it.

not intending on doing any serious off-roading... mainly towing a caravan in and out of grassy fields, possible wet/water logged.

Beffheart said:

mainly towing a caravan in and out of grassy fields, possible wet/water logged.

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and if that is downhill then HDC would be brilliant...

Did the ones without HDC have TC? If your towing a caravan on grassy fields you may be glad of that.

All TD4s have Traction Control and HDC - its a side function of the ABS.

So only decision left is Manual/Auto

An Auto gear knob is unikely to have the wear, and is the better car offroad/grassy field, but they can get a bit warm when towing near the max 2 tonne limit.

On early Freelanders HDC was an option, I don't know about TC, so the question.

and my disco has abs but no hdc or tc

i though they all had HDC ???

thanks guys but i think i am going to have to change my mind mind of the freelander and have a rethink. I don't think it will deliver the fuel efficency i need.

Working out the price of fuel /mpg versus my current petrol car and i would be no better off than i am just now - which is costing over £250 per month - so back to the drawing board.

will probabaly end up with another estate.... ho hum...

Thanks.

Optimus Prime said:

i though they all had HDC ???

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Misread an earlier thread, by the time the Td4 came out I think they all did, but when they first came out the entry level model didn't have HDC.

Beffheart said:

thanks guys but i think i am going to have to change my mind mind of the freelander and have a rethink. I don't think it will deliver the fuel efficency i need.

Working out the price of fuel /mpg versus my current petrol car and i would be no better off than i am just now - which is costing over £250 per month - so back to the drawing board.

will probabaly end up with another estate.... ho hum...

Thanks.

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bye..bye................

maybe the owner was a manual worker with hands like sandpaper is the wheel worn as well?