Greetings from Essex

Hi all,

Just thought i'd take the opportunity to say hello on the basis that if I was nice up front, i'd get more help when asking a lot of inevitable very silly questions in the future!

Tomorrow I will be the proud owner of the cheapest TD4 Freelander I could find with a legitimate service history. So obviously, I will immediately set about ruining it by adding bits (towbar is first) and generally fiddling with it as is my want.

I appreciate I have taken the 'easy' route into Land Rover ownership by purchasing a Freelander and no doubt will incur much scorn from all of you 'serious' series owners, but this is hopefully the start of a beautiful relationship (or not).

Seriously, having browsed the site I am extremely impressed with the knowledge and helpfulness of its members, so rest assured, as soon as I have any problems I'll be straight back.....

All the best

Dave

Greetings dave, welcome to loonyzone. Or awright geez, as they used to say down that neck of the woods when i stayed in brentwood. Which part of sunny essex do you hale from?

Thanks for your reply landy10. I am based in Colchester, which is closer to Suffolk really so no one uses the word 'geezer' around here, honest. However I work in Southend or to pronounce it correctly 'sarfend', now that's a completely different matter......

i used to pass colchester on the bypass when goin to woodbridge to work in the mornin, 90 odd miles just to get to work in mornin thank god i dont do that no more!

hello and welcome

Thank you Dan, a fellow Essex person!

I must admit that I am pleased to see that the discrimination against "hippo's" by real men who have proper Land Rover's (such as your Defender) doesn't extend to all members, but merely a narrow minded few.

You are to be congratulated.

we dont discriminate against "hippoos" - we just been there, got the Tshirt (and the scars). we is just trying to save ya pocket. At the end of the day its yo loss - not ours.

And we certainly don't discriminate against the owners We might not be impressed with your choice of vehicle. But that doesn't mean we'll treat you differently to any other member on here. Be nice to us and we'll be nice back. Start making sarky comments and you'll get em back.

At least with the TD4 you've chosen the best of a bad bunch.

caravanlander said:

I must admit that I am pleased to see that the discrimination against "hippo's" by real men who have proper Land Rover's (such as your Defender) doesn't extend to all members, but merely a narrow minded few

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I dunt have a problem wi yer ownin a hippo,

But a "CARAVAN" FFS!

welcome anyway!

Thank you gentlemen. As a newbie, I would not dare openly be sarcastic within this fine forum and the decades of hard earnt knowledge it represents. My comments were very much tongue in cheek as I have enjoyed much of the fine banter on this forum and couldn't resist it!

I am active on other threads at the moment and can not fault the knowledge and helpfulness of members. To be fair, I have been amongst the numbers who have taken the p*ss out of Freelanders for years only to end up as the proud owner of one, so there's irony for you. We all choose our cars based upon our own individual needs and budgets and I am hoping I have chosen wisely based upon mine, only time will tell. (I'd still like a series three though).

Keep up the good work.

Dave

mondo said:

I dunt have a problem wi yer ownin a hippo,

But a "CARAVAN" FFS!

welcome anyway!

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Now that's more like it - Thanks Mondo!

(I love my caravan by the way and make best attempts to be considerate and never hold up other motorists - unless they deserve it ).

best way to achieve thats is t leave the fookin thing at ome !

caravanlander said:

I love my caravan by the way and make best attempts to be considerate and never hold up other motorists - unless they deserve it .

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What did ya go an buy a freelander for then?





Or are ya expecting to spend yer life on the hard shoulder outta everyone elses way?

Welcome to the loonyzone. I hope yer freelander is a good un.

is it a manual - or auto - coz if its an auto - get an extra oil cooler fitted..

The Mad Hat Man said:

is it a manual - or auto - coz if its an auto - get an extra oil cooler fitted..

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Is that the voice of experience I can hear?????
When you gonna start 'The Mad Hat Man's top tips fred' ?

Even pikey as is own fred!!!

The Mad Hat Man said:

is it a manual - or auto - coz if its an auto - get an extra oil cooler fitted..

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it's a manual. I like automatics, but when choosing the car (apart from the fact it was cheap), I thought steptronic + 1500kg caravan might be asking for trouble. I am sure my fears are groundless and all the TD4 auto owners out there will now be snarling and reaching for their keyboards, but just my personal paranoia.... Does the auto tend to get a bit hot when towing?

yup - mine was a KV6 (which only comes in auto) and towing to France n back dint do it any faves - an the gearbox guy told me that ....
a) they are prone to running hot (read overheating)
b) there is an aftermarket HD oil cooler avail.
c) it is VERY recomended to fit if towing with an auto Hippoo.

unless yu fancy replacing boxes on a regular basis.

yawn

ratty said:

What did ya go an buy a freelander for then?





Or are ya expecting to spend yer life on the hard shoulder outta everyone elses way?

Welcome to the loonyzone. I hope yer freelander is a good un.

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Thanks ratty, I sincerely hope you don't turn out to be prophetic in the first respect.....

I actually bought a Freelander because I spent a lot of my caravanning time previously asking very nice Land Rover owners to tow my rig off of the field, because the 2WD towcar I previously had was bloody well stuck in the mud again.....

Further respect for Land Rover owners out there, especially the ones who helped me.