top 7 tips when buying a freelander 1

Another tip. Buy one that's had only one owner from new if you can with FSH and no expense spared.

You find that cars with more owners generally have been less reliable, hence the hot potato effect.

Tip #8 : If is wet, check that the doors are still on

I seem to remember that the 1.8 had an upgraded oil rail that should be changed same time as a HGF.

My VCU has completed 140K but I'm considering changing it now just in case, esp as it's only £200 for a recon unit.

But the thing that gets me is how much work and replacement other LR owners will do without a quibble at cost then point a finger at Freelanders and say how expensive they are to fix!!!

essexpestcontrol said:

It's a good list, but lets talk about this 70k lifespan of a VCU, as my way of looking at it
say you have 2 brand new freelanders, 1 gets bought by a farmer who will be using it every day off road, the other one is bought by a nun, it'll never see mud whilst she owns it

now you cant tell me that both VCU's will pack up on, or after 70k, and as most of us that buy 2nd/3rd/4th hand, will never really know how the car was driven before us being the owners, taking the 70k as gospel is not my doing,

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What if the Nun was in fact a covert 'Mud-Head' who -as the designated driver-simply couldn't resist taking a 'cross country' route she'd discovered whilst on her weekly shopping sortie to Sainsburys?
As such sinful indulgences would be seriously frowned upon she'd clearly have to hide the evidence from her Mother superior and thus have the vehicle hand washed whilst engaged up her shopping (and would also no doubt use her Nunley influence to cajole the boys into pressure washing the underside as well)

Upon such a basis, Sir, I suggest that your reasoning is flawed!!

howardo said:

just copied this from another site;

If you are looking to buy any vehicle you should be aware of the problems that tend to be common to that type of vehicle, and Land Rover Freelanders are no different. So here are the top seven tips to watch out for when buying a Land Rover Freelander (The rest of this posting snipped)

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Nice one. Whilst my 99'er is currently in dry dock, and being aware of the fact that she's also exhibiting one or two symptoms on this list I'm now going to make a call and highlight the relevant issues to the dealer.

Thank you Howard.

bobbzie said:

Nice one. Whilst my 99'er is currently in dry dock, and being aware of the fact that she's also exhibiting one or two symptoms on this list I'm now going to make a call and highlight the relevant issues to the dealer.

Thank you Howard.

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happy to help, despite me being a cnut

My Freelander 1 td4 built in 2003 has done over 140,000 miles and still original VCU.
Should I be worried that it's done twice the mileage it's supposed to do?

Kalahari_Pete said:

My Freelander 1 td4 built in 2003 has done over 140,000 miles and still original VCU.
Should I be worried that it's done twice the mileage it's supposed to do?

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Depends on if you've tested it or not.

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/tests-new-freelander-1-owners-should-do-on-their-car.312863/

I wouldn't test anything that seems to be working ok

Kalahari_Pete said:

My Freelander 1 td4 built in 2003 has done over 140,000 miles and still original VCU.
Should I be worried that it's done twice the mileage it's supposed to do?

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How the VCU has been treated is more important than the mileage.
If it's always had identical tyres all round, kept at the correct pressure, with new identical tyres fitted to the rear only, then the VCU has a very long life.

Kalahari_Pete said:

I wouldn't test anything that seems to be working ok

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How do you know it's working correctly without testing it?
Testing the VCU is important. Testing it regularly will give you advanced warning of it stiffening, so preventing a destroyed IRD.

Nodge68 said:

How the VCU has been treated is more important than the mileage.
If it's always had identical tyres all round, kept at the correct pressure, with new identical tyres fitted to the rear only, then the VCU has a very long life.

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It had a mix of different tyres when I bought it three years ago.
It now has two sets of two different tyres fitted earlier this year.

Nodge68 said:

How do you know it's working correctly without testing it?
Testing the VCU is important. Testing it regularly will give you advanced warning of it stiffening, so preventing a destroyed IRD.

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It works obviously because I have 4WD and no noise/vibration issues.
Whether it works 100% I do not know but I am not in the habit of testing things that appear to be working properly. Just like I wouldn't remove my water pump or alternator and test it.

Kalahari_Pete said:

Just like I wouldn't remove my water pump or alternator and test it.

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Testing the VCU is a non invasive test that requires no dismantling. If you search the one wheel up test.
@Nodge68 is suggesting leaving it to fail will cause significant and expensive secondary damage, unlike the alternator or water pump (mostly !!).
Routine testing is very worthwhile. Also, from experience, they can degrade very quickly sometimes. I tested mine at a pass and a few months later it went very tight and I had to take action. Depends on mileage, type of use and probs many other factors we don't understand.

andyfreelandy said:

Testing the VCU is a non invasive test that requires no dismantling. If you search the one wheel up test.
@Nodge68 is suggesting leaving it to fail will cause significant and expensive secondary damage, unlike the alternator or water pump (mostly !!).
Routine testing is very worthwhile. Also, from experience, they can degrade very quickly sometimes. I tested mine at a pass and a few months later it went very tight and I had to take action. Depends on mileage, type of use and probs many other factors we don't understand.

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Okay, I'll have a go at the test and see what's what.
Thanks for your advice chaps.

Kalahari_Pete said:

It works obviously because I have 4WD and no noise/vibration issues.
Whether it works 100% I do not know but I am not in the habit of testing things that appear to be working properly. Just like I wouldn't remove my water pump or alternator and test it.

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If the VCU goes stiff, you'll still have 4 WD, it'll just be active all the time, which massively reduces the life of the IRD.

Oh and it's wise to have 4 identical tyres, or it shortens the life of the VCU, which as a secondary issue destroys the IRD.

Nodge68 said:

If the VCU goes stiff, you'll still have 4 WD, it'll just be active all the time, which massively reduces the life of the IRD.

Oh and it's wise to have 4 identical tyres, or it shortens the life of the VCU, which as a secondary issue destroys the IRD.

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So if I test the VCU and there's nothing wrong with it are you still going to make that claim? I mean what time period/mileage are you going to specify because really what you're claiming means the damage starts as soon as there's not 4 identical tyres fitted.
My F1 has done 135,000 miles on original VCU and mixed tyres for at least 2 years since I've had it and for however long the previous owner had them.

Kalahari_Pete said:

So if I test the VCU and there's nothing wrong with it are you still going to make that claim? I mean what time period/mileage are you going to specify because really what you're claiming means the damage starts as soon as there's not 4 identical tyres fitted.
My F1 has done 135,000 miles on original VCU and mixed tyres for at least 2 years since I've had it and for however long the previous owner had them.

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lol, I'm sure you'll keep making arrogant posts - then all of a sudden go very quiet when your car's ****ed.

Good answer

Kalahari_Pete said:

So if I test the VCU and there's nothing wrong with it are you still going to make that claim? I mean what time period/mileage are you going to specify because really what you're claiming means the damage starts as soon as there's not 4 identical tyres fitted.
My F1 has done 135,000 miles on original VCU and mixed tyres for at least 2 years since I've had it and for however long the previous owner had them.

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Ere we go again...

The truth is you do not need 4x tyres which are the same make, model and size. What you need is 4x tyres of the same circumferance, and therefore radious, with nearly the same tread pattern. The vcu can take out a bit of difference between them if its of good health.

Problem is two tyres from different manufacturers can be different sizes. Their numbers may be the same but the overall circumfrance when fitted and under pressure of weight of said Freelander, can cause the tyre to 'seat' differenly on the ground. Hence a differing radius. The way to get round this is to fit 4x tyres of the same make, model and size. That way we take out any variations of how tyres bend when supporting yer Freelander due to their design. Its easier to use the make, model and size rule as opposed to fighting ourselfs over which tyres are a good match for others.

If you have tyres of mixed tread depth the deepest tread goes on the rear.

The theory of testing yer vcu is down to peeps like me getting upset at how many had vcu failures which caused expensive damage to transmission components. Ird and rear diff mainly. So we came up with a relatively easy test to follow (some still struggle) so we could all compare our results, with the hope we could come up with a standard to work too. My results in me signatre below. I have probably tested more vcu's than any on ere, not including thems who do it for a job.

It is also good practice to test yer vcu regular, in order to track its timing. If the time suddenly starts to increase then either somefink is wrong (like hand brake catching fer example) or yer vcu is starting to seize up. When that happens it causes additional stress in yer transmission that can end in somefink expensive snapping. Like the ird or rear diff.