Looking to buy a Freelander help and advice needed

Hi,
I'm new to the forum and looking to buy a project 1.8 Freelander. I have found a 2002 ES station wagon with a couple of issues which need sorting. I can get the car at the price I want to play however I'm concerned that I might be throwing good money after bad when I go ahead with the purchase.

I'm looking for advice and some pointers and costs involved on which way is best to proceed with the fixes.

Ok the landy in question has some damage to the A pillar which s dented along half its length up to the curve that goes to the roof.

It has a good service history with 80 + K on the clock without any record of HGF the engine sounds smooth with no sign of hgf.
The brakes all need overhauling and the rear passenger window does not operate which is common. When I depressed the clutch I could not select any gears as the brakes have a leak and the fluid just pumped to the floor.
However prior to this I could select every gear with ease. Do the brakes and the clutch share the same fluid reservoir
it also needs two new tyres
It has a couple of dents n scratches which is expected of a car of his age.
Its not on any register or categorised as far as I know. I will need to check this out befor I part with any cash.

Is this worth a punt and putting back on the road?

All thoughts and opinions welcome.

if you listed your location there might be members will to go with you for a view i would if u was local to me

also introduce yaself in the correct section before you get grilled by others lol

Cheers matt
I'm Steve from Northumberland
Ill do an introduction thread in the correct section. :dizzy:
Ill put some detail in my signature if you get that option on this forum.
Thanks

Walk away from body damaged freelanders is my rule.

There are plenty of freelanders on the market with purely mechanical issues that are going to be easier to fix.

The clutch and brake systems are totally seperate. I would expect that the clutch slave cylinder or bracket has failed.

Brakes are an easy fix so are windows.

Thanks for the reply
I may just leave it, its not a lot of money though.
so does the clutch not use the same reservoir? It was a bit strange as the gears would select no problem then not at all then start to selecting again without any issue the brake bleed from the rear passenger hub area may have just been coincidence!

Top right shows the damaged area.

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LandOthefree said:

so does the clutch not use the same reservoir?

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All separate. Not aware of any car that shares the same reservoir. certainly not the Freelander.

Epicuser said:

All separate. Not aware of any car that shares the same reservoir. certainly not the Freelander.

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Most fords share a reservoir.

Yeah thought so...it was something I picked up on what the bloke said who was selling it. I might have picked it up wrong but it sounded like he was trying to flim flam....

The more I look at this I'm thinking to just walk away. I cant think how you can damage the a pillar in such away....

The pillar damage would not scare ME from it. It all depends how much cash you have to part with. IF the negotiated price + ALL recon work = >80% of the "wholesale value" in your area, I'd do it.

It's all about the math. IF you end up with the different formula ......negotiated price + recon work = average retail in your area,...it's not worth dealing with repair shops, and auto body guys. Dealing with people that would do recon, will cost you gas and time, and that should be compensated somehow.

Yeah - that pillar damage doesn't look too bad, I would be happy driving a car with that damage but getting it to look good is more difficult.... If you want an off-roader then it ain't too much of an issue I guess.

But a garage/body shop is gonna charge a fair wedge compared to the price of a 2002 1.8 especially when you factor in the other issues, and as you can't test drive it.. What is the ird and vcu like? Expected life of a vcu is often quoted as 70k........

ZDomZ said:

Most fords share a reservoir.

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Wasn't aware if that. Not had a ford for a long time.

I would be doing most if not all of the work myself
Its still on 4 wheel drive and does drive ok timing belts and water pump have just been done other work is recorded to throughout the service history
I can get the car at a steal it will only be usd as a second car for winter and camping hols with the wife n kids If I spend 500 quid on parts I'm still well within the resale price.
I dunno is it worth a punt?

LandOthefree said:

I would be doing most if not all of the work myself
Its still on 4 wheel drive and does drive ok timing belts and water pump have just been done other work is recorded to throughout the service history
I can get the car at a steal it will only be usd as a second car for winter and camping hols with the wife n kids If I spend 500 quid on parts I'm still well within the resale price.
I dunno is it worth a punt?

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If you need a project, something to keep you busy, and the total "investment" is still under average retail (personally I don't buy ANYTHING at retail), ....go for it. I just resurected the 02 V6 for the wife, and I'm in it for 5K US. That's about a grand more than the average asking price in my area. I did it ONLY because wife fell in love with it. But she has her Hippo, and I know every inch of it very personally. If some fool would offer me to bail out (5k), I wouldn't sell it.
I have a "parts car" without the engine and tranny, and I can't give it away! Nobody wants it in California. I will end up stripping it down, and junk the body. It's a shame, because it's a straight and clean body, but I don't think I'll need it.

LandOthefree said:

I can get the car at a steal it will only be usd as a second car for winter and camping hols with the wife n kids If I spend 500 quid on parts I'm still well within the resale price.
I dunno is it worth a punt?

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How much is a steal? You'll blow 500 really quickly.

I can get it for £500 is it a steal, or is it.....?
Will the damage to be a pillar be an MOT fail?

LandOthefree said:

I can get it for £500 is it a steal, or is it.....?
Will the damage to be a pillar be an MOT fail?

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In my opinion it's not worth it at 500 with that amount of damage and that age. It's prime time on that car for expensive things to start breaking. I was in the exact same position as you about 4 months ago and I bought a 2003 Kv6 with no damage for 450. I quickly spent 300 before the realisation set in that I was going to keep pouring money into it.

I know it's tempting but there will be better ones out there. Try and get it for silly money (£150) and use it as a donor because if worst happens you should get your money back by stripping it and ebaying the good bits.

I could of got an extremely tidy 3 door with below average miles and full service history for 800 last month off eBay close to where I live! I almost went to view it until I realised it only had the two seat rear seats fitted. We need 3 seats in the rear. Hence the 5 door td4 we have now.

So basically, 500 in my eyes isn't really a steal, certainly not with that pillar damage. Also, it should not affect the MOT unless it's integrity has been compromised, i.e. rusted through.

There are plenty of cheap FL's which require work and have have great bodywork. I'd search a bit more if I was you. But that's my opinion.

Dan

Thanks for the input gents. I would really prefer the diesel engine to the petrol, for obvious reasons. This would be a gamble, once I start to throw money at it It will need to be a keeper. I feel I could be on borrowed time with the head gasket too. These are all things I need to weigh up.
Once everything has been done I think this will clean up nicely and has the potential to be a nice little runabout! But its all down to cost at the end of the day. For what I'm about to spend on the car and parts I should be able to pick up a diesel without the damage but where is the fun in that. I like tinkering with motors.
I'm still on the look out.

On another note....You say this one needs 2 tyres - have a read up about mis matched tyres and the damage they can cause to the drive train ...you will probably end up needing to buy 4 for it