Shopping for a Freelander, advice welcome!

Hi,

Having left Bahrain because of the dire political situation and now Disco and Freelander sold out there (for peanuts :-(, I now have the cash to buy a TD4 Freelander here in the UK. I'm after a 3 door auto, SE spec or above, age not too much of an issue as long as the mileage matches age and it has a FSH.

I've seen a few potentials on Autotrader and Gumtree including a 2004 that had a new engine put in at 69000 miles. It has done 11000 on the new engine. Should that ring alarm bells? Does it mean the car was badly treated by its previous owner for what is supposed to be a very strong engine (TD4) to go pop? The current owner has kept on top of its servicing and has a FSH from when he bought it but its earlier life is a bit of a mystery.

I guess the big thing to look for is the VCU problem then. I know about tyre wear but what if the owner has recently replaced the tyres to disguise the problem?

How much thirstier are the V6s? It was never a concern to me out in Bahrain! There seems to be a lot more choice of V6s on the market.

Any advice would be most appreciated!

Unless you can buy the freelander2, rather try and buy a defender, freelander is ****, full of endless problems, ask any freelander owner that is not lying to themselves and they will confirm this.

willa said:

Unless you can buy the freelander2, rather try and buy a defender, freelander is ****, full of endless problems, ask any freelander owner that is not lying to themselves and they will confirm this.

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yu have to be joking! It depends what he wants it for.

No joking, my honest opinion. Haven't met one Freelander owner who doesn't say that the freelander is an endless money pit.

I wouldn't say no to a Freelander 2 but I would have to get finance for it wheras right now I want to buy a car cash and be done with it for a while. Surely not all Freelander 1 owners are unhappy with their cars, I was very happy with my V6 facelift in Bahrain but had sell it as was no point bringing it back to Blighty.

willa said:

No joking, my honest opinion. Haven't met one Freelander owner who doesn't say that the freelander is an endless money pit.

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I've had a 06 TD4 auto for about 18 months and apart from servicing, changing fluids and checking VCU regularly haven't had any problems and love it !!

Mine is definitely crap. After all these years reading everyone's problems convinced me, that it wasn't only mine that is crap but in general. But it looks to me that I am wrong, so my apology. Don't get me wrong, when it is going it is lovely, but brake downs are very costly and always but always a battle to find the problems.

I put some tips to look out for on Page 2 of this thread:
http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/first-freelander-need-help-160856.html

Peeps may have a few more to add for ya!

Ignore ebay VCU's (presently £999) and have a look at Bell Engineering, £260 including new bearings and delivery/collection. More than happy with my TD4 just routine DIY maintenance that has to be paid for on any vehicle (don't believe in maintenance by breakdown/defect)

Pre-emptive servicing! the kind of guy I'd like to buy a car from, you're not selling, are you?

I think Freelanders have to be treated with care, serviced regularly and it pays to know what goes on under the bonnet of these babies. If you do that, you'll be rewarded with happy driving.

darange said:

I think Freelanders have to be treated with care, serviced regularly and it pays to know what goes on under the bonnet of these babies. If you do that, you'll be rewarded with happy driving.

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good luck
Stick to a TD4

darange said:

Hi,
How much thirstier are the V6s? It was never a concern to me out in Bahrain!

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darange said:

They do 10/11 mpg less than a TD4 Auto.

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I have had my Freelander nearly eight years and always service it regular not had many problems definitly NO major ones it is the way you look after and drive the car I used to be a mechanic in my early days and that tought me TD4 Auto 163000 miles and still counting

Sorry to disagree, Teddy, but enough peeps on here have had Hippoos and have looked after them well. The peeps I am thinking of are not fools, and, in fact, are are very knowledgeable automotive peeps and still have had catastrophic failures . Glad yours is a goodun tho.