Looking to buy a Freelander - help?!

My Wife's after buying a Freelander, don't want to spend too much - we see plenty of early-ish ones coming up at about £3,500 (2002ish I guess), 5 doors, and less than about 70k is preferable.

Is there anything in particular to look out for or be aware of?

What year did the facelift happen? Do facelift bumpers fit easily on the earlier models? (I did this on my 2004 Volvo v50 and made it look like this years model for about £200!!

There's one local to me on ebay that looks very cheap - HERE
It's got leather too, but it's probably a W-reg. Judging by the comment that the headgasket has just been done does that mean it's one of the ones to avoid that I keep reading about?

TBH it's probably too old for me anyway!

Any tips would be appreciated!

If anyone is selling a 2003 5 door in black with leather let me know! That would be the ideal one!
Thanks

been covered many times, byut basically

choose a doozil - TD4 preferred - DO NOT TOUCH A PETROL ONE.
2002 or later.
check it has propshafts underneath
check the tyres are not "sawtoothed" search
check that it drives forward and reverse on full lock easily
check for any clonks and bangs on take-up.
try and get one with FHS.
get as long a warranty as yu can (and make sure it includes all the drivetrain).

What's wrong with the petrol ones? The wife isn't a fan of diesels (doesn't like the noise or smell - personally I love the torque of a diesel)

Diesels will cost more won't they?

When you say 'check it has propshafts' why would it not have them?? They're all 4x4 aren't they?

What year did the facelift bumpers come in?

:search:

BenB said:

What's wrong with the petrol ones? The wife isn't a fan of diesels (doesn't like the noise or smell - personally I love the torque of a diesel)

Diesels will cost more won't they?

When you say 'check it has propshafts' why would it not have them?? They're all 4x4 aren't they?

What year did the facelift bumpers come in?

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No, diesels won't cost more to run, they will be less even if you do spend a grand extra on one buying it. Search K-series & head gasket failure to read up on petrols. Your wife would very quickly not become a fan of the petrol engined models.
Facelift came in on late 53 plate & yes you can do the upgrade which will add value & take years off it but you'll struggle to do it for anything like £200, more like £500 using secondhand parts & getting the bumper sprayed unless you have a scrappy mate. Muply is the guru re facelifting, run a search here, it's a well covered subject.
It would not have propshafts if the vcu & ird have failed & a dodgy seller removed them to offload it quickly. You'd then have a very nice 2 wheel drive freelander which is useless in snow as many people have found to their expensive cost.

Thanks... I'm reading about headgasket failures now! You're right guys, I wouldn't dream of buying a petrol one now!

The propshaft would be quite obvious wouldn't it? One main shaft running front to back?

As for the TD4 diesel engine, it's worth pointing out that it's actually built by BMW. It's the same engine found in the BMW 320D E46.

The engine is excellent and because of this, it won multiple awards at the time of launch and it is still a good performer by modern standards. In normal conditions, it produces only 5nm less torque than a Land Rover Discovery 300Tdi!

To be honest, if it wasn't for the fact that I put diesel in my Freelander, I wouldn't know it's a diesel. It performs better than my old 2000 BMW 318 1900cc petrol! There's no turbo lag, it's responsive and it pulls like a train. If you treat it with respect, it will also produce reasonably good fuel economy considering it weighs 1600kg. (37mpg combined) Only thing I don't like is that it takes a little while to warm up, but that's not really anything to moan about.

The Diesel does sound great - but looking around, for a 2004 diesel model, the dream of a FL less than £3,500 has quickly evaporated. :-(

From what I gather once the headgasket has gone on a petrol engine- once the damage is usually done so it's likely to keep happening? Is that right? or have more recent gaskets made a better fix of it? Ar 03-07 petrol engines just as bad as the early ones?

What I mean is, if I did go for a petrol model is there a particular one that's more reliable?

BenB said:

The Diesel does sound great - but looking around, for a 2004 diesel model, the dream of a FL less than £3,500 has quickly evaporated. :-(

From what I gather once the headgasket has gone on a petrol engine- once the damage is usually done so it's likely to keep happening? Is that right? or have more recent gaskets made a better fix of it? Ar 03-07 petrol engines just as bad as the early ones?

What I mean is, if I did go for a petrol model is there a particular one that's more reliable?

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DO NOT GET A PETROL GAYLANDER.. Now is that clear enough?? If you want a smaller sized 4x4 and it must have a petrol engine. get a slitty.

It's a no-brainer - go the extra wonga for something you'll be very happy with (preliminary checks notwithstanding). No, you won't get one for cheap but that's the way with quality/low mileage vehicles. Suggest reading all the stickies re freelanders - lots to help with your decision-making.

If you wanna spend more money after and/or use up many hours fxing it yourself then petrol is the way to go, despite all the advice not to!

i think you will struggle to get what you want for the budget you have, especially in the winter 2004 td4 black, leather 70k is gonna be 5-6k i would expect. sorry, you might get a 3dr a little cheaper or a commercial if you have no kids cheaper still but good luck.

there is a reason petrol ones are sooooo much cheaper dont be foolish

BenB said:

From what I gather once the headgasket has gone on a petrol engine- once the damage is usually done so it's likely to keep happening? Is that right?

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It the actual design of the engine that cause HGF unless you can redesign it your gonna keep having same problem.

Anyone who buys ANY gaylander needs help.

redhand said:

It the actual design of the engine that cause HGF unless you can redesign it your gonna keep having same problem.

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There is an "upgrade" that positions the thermostat better and places a thicker gasket on the head.

Some have no issues with petrol versions however HGF is too common a problem not to take notice.

Right, for your budget it's got to be a slightly older car & you'll have to do the front upgrade if you fancy the newer front end.
There are no reliable petrols but there are cars out there in your range.

2001 LAND ROVER FREELANDER 2.0 Td4 GS Station Wagon 5dr Diesel

or if you don't mind the excellent auto

2002 LAND ROVER FREELANDER 2.0 Td4 GS Station Wagon 5dr Auto Diesel

chromiumuk said:

Right, for your budget it's got to be a slightly older car & you'll have to do the front upgrade if you fancy the newer front end.
There are no reliable petrols but there are cars out there in your range.

2001 LAND ROVER FREELANDER 2.0 Td4 GS Station Wagon 5dr Diesel

or if you don't mind the excellent auto

2002 LAND ROVER FREELANDER 2.0 Td4 GS Station Wagon 5dr Auto Diesel

Click to expand...

And the first has decent tyres. Shame about the colour though. That's what you call a Gaylander at its finest!

hiya

i bought a FL 2002 TD4 auto for just over 2K.

however it had just under 170,000 miles on the clock but came with full service history

the body style i got was a 3 door commercial FL which was considerably cheaper ,

it then cost me 400 to put the seats and trim into it, including cutting in the side windows.

i was very worried about getting such high mileage FL but knew with the BMW engine and a full service history it was well maintained.

i really like the way it drives being an auto and a diesel,i even saw a second hand engine on ebay that had 40,000 miles on the clock for £500.

to this day ive owned it for about 6-7 months and would defently buy another one

dont know is this helps you

gary

Sounds good Gary, just be careful about the extra seats - they need to be declared to your insurance company and to the DVLA.

hiya,

i actually rang them up prior to me insyalling them and it only cost me an extra £50.00 for the year,

i dont know if this is good but costs me £450 fully comp per year for my wife and i ,thats with the aa

they did advise me that if i wish to fit a towbar it will cost me an extra £100 which i asked why and they advised me due to the extra damage i can do to another car in an accident.

gary

gary

£450 seems a little expensive mines only £200 fully comp, im 35 but live in wales with a good post code area