Not so much an introduction as a reintroduction, as I was on the forum briefly back in 2006 when I had a Series 3. I replaced that with a Series 2a a few years back, which I still have.
Anyway, my wife decided that she fancied a change from her BMW convertible which would allow her to more easily transport the dog. My initial preference was a D5 Volvo V70, but this was decreed to be 'too big' and I was directed towards a Freelander.
My research (reading on here mainly!) turned up a few warnings about IRD and VCU problems, but I decided that if we were to have a Freebie it would have to be a later model facelifted TD4, either manual or auto.
Afetr a couple of fruitless weeks on eBay I found one on Autotrader about 15 miles away and, to cut a long story short, I bought it at last weekend for £2,800.
Good points;
It's shiny - looks good from a few feet away!
HSE spec
One owner from new
Full (mostly Land Rover main dealer) service history
Everything seems to work
Drives well, with no noises or rattles
VCU and IRD seem OK (but what do I know)
Matching set of Pirelli Scorpion M&S tyres
Cup holders everywhere
Bad points;
A few scuffs here and there, most of which I think will polish out (although this one won't...)
A boot full of water
Looks like someone has spilled a tin of emulsion in the boot
A duff battery (already changed)
160k miles with no receipts for any clutch work, so a potential big bill looming. The bite point seemed low when I first drove it, but seems OK now. Might need bleeding (or changing )
I've already had the rear carpet out and dried it, and the paint came out with a mixture of steam cleaning and pressure washing. There's still some paint on the remaining carpet in the car which I need to attack next, as well as a proper valet. Changed all of the filters at the weekend, rain stopped play with the oil change though - maybe next weekend...
Pleased with it so far though!
Anyway, my wife decided that she fancied a change from her BMW convertible which would allow her to more easily transport the dog. My initial preference was a D5 Volvo V70, but this was decreed to be 'too big' and I was directed towards a Freelander.
My research (reading on here mainly!) turned up a few warnings about IRD and VCU problems, but I decided that if we were to have a Freebie it would have to be a later model facelifted TD4, either manual or auto.
Afetr a couple of fruitless weeks on eBay I found one on Autotrader about 15 miles away and, to cut a long story short, I bought it at last weekend for £2,800.
Good points;
It's shiny - looks good from a few feet away!
HSE spec
One owner from new
Full (mostly Land Rover main dealer) service history
Everything seems to work
Drives well, with no noises or rattles
VCU and IRD seem OK (but what do I know)
Matching set of Pirelli Scorpion M&S tyres
Cup holders everywhere
Bad points;
A few scuffs here and there, most of which I think will polish out (although this one won't...)
A boot full of water
Looks like someone has spilled a tin of emulsion in the boot
A duff battery (already changed)
160k miles with no receipts for any clutch work, so a potential big bill looming. The bite point seemed low when I first drove it, but seems OK now. Might need bleeding (or changing )
I've already had the rear carpet out and dried it, and the paint came out with a mixture of steam cleaning and pressure washing. There's still some paint on the remaining carpet in the car which I need to attack next, as well as a proper valet. Changed all of the filters at the weekend, rain stopped play with the oil change though - maybe next weekend...
Pleased with it so far though!
