Advice please - is it time to get rid of Freelander 1 and go for Freelander 2?

Hi all

My wife has an 02 plate petrol Freelander 1, which she loves, and it is a nice car - but the problems at the moment are:

• Power steering pump seems to be on the way out.
• Clutch or gearbox are starting to play, getting in to reverse is tricky, and first is also starting to get harder.
• 3 amigos are lit up on the dash
• Only one propshaft is fitted to temporarily fix some drive issues, which may be linked to the above.
• Sunroof leaks, and front headlining on drivers side is getting soggy due to I guess another leak
• It's done 152k miles

My choices are I guess throw money at an old car to fix the above, and it doesn't seem cheap, or get rid of it and go for a Freelander 2 - I see some nice ones going for between 6-8k at the moment.

Has anybody been in a similar position, or can anybody offer any advice on what would be the most sensible way to go?

Many thanks,

Simon

Obviously you could have all those problems fixed for a fraction of 6k. A 5 to 10 year younger car 'should' be more reliable, but F2's do have some complex issues that can go wrong with them and cost a lot of money to fix (by the time the problem is actually fixed).

Ultimately its your decision on whether you want to upgrade the car and take the gamble on a more complex modern car.

GrumpyGel said:

Obviously you could have all those problems fixed for a fraction of 6k. A 5 to 10 year younger car 'should' be more reliable, but F2's do have some complex issues that can go wrong with them and cost a lot of money to fix (by the time the problem is actually fixed).

Ultimately its your decision on whether you want to upgrade the car and take the gamble on a more complex modern car.

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Hi GrumpyGel

Thanks for the response, yep I know it's down to my decision and I have had plenty of problems with more modern Landrovers, but trying to work out when is a not worth spending more money on an older vehicle - although my Defender 90 is a similar age and I wouldn't think twice about spending on that!

I think if I could find somewhere or somebody that would take the F1 in, have a look and give me a quote to get it back in shape I'd have a better idea - I'll have a look around.

Many thanks,

Simon

Fl2 all the way, auto and the best spec you can afford, GS and up

I went from a 50K miles V6 FL1 to a D3 a few years back. I needed to get a larger 7 seater to transport my disabled dad about. The D3 I bought cost me just under £6K, was 8 years old, had 140K miles on the clock and full LR service history. My observations over a 2 year period were this. By comparison to the FL1, the D3 is in a different league as far as driving experience goes. It's very comfortable, very quiet and reasonably fast. It's got more powerful brakes and lighter steering, too light really. I found the steering far to sensitive to minor wheel movements, which was a pain on the motorway.
Living with the D3 was much harder than it ever was with the FL1. It's sheer bulk made it a pain in carparks and narrow Cornish roads. The D3s thirst for maintenance was in another leage too. I spent around £3K on replacement components over the 2 years I had it, although that did include £400 for set of new Pirelli Scorpion ATR tyres. I found many components were simply not up to the job. I had to replace all the suspension arms, all the brake discs, the track rods and half the brake pipes. I also had to rebuild the front diff, replace all the transmission fluids and undo countless bodges where clips were broken and substituted with zip ties.
I also had to buy a comprehensive but expensive diagnostic device, simply because modern Land Rovers are so dependant on electronics.
After living with the D3 for 2 years and Dad getting to frail to get out and about, I decided to sell the D3 on and went back to a late 05 FL1 TD4 SE. This is a move I've not regretted and I'm currently enjoying driving a vehicle that is considerably cheaper to maintain.


Now I know the FL2 isn't a D3, but parts for them appear to be similarly priced and both are much more expensive to maintain than the FL1.

So bear in mind a newer LR will cost more to fix and potentially be more complex in comparison to the FL1

Simon Moore said:

Hi all

My wife has an 02 plate petrol Freelander 1, which she loves, and it is a nice car - but the problems at the moment are:

• Power steering pump seems to be on the way out.
• Clutch or gearbox are starting to play, getting in to reverse is tricky, and first is also starting to get harder.
• 3 amigos are lit up on the dash
• Only one propshaft is fitted to temporarily fix some drive issues, which may be linked to the above.
• Sunroof leaks, and front headlining on drivers side is getting soggy due to I guess another leak
• It's done 152k miles

My choices are I guess throw money at an old car to fix the above, and it doesn't seem cheap, or get rid of it and go for a Freelander 2 - I see some nice ones going for between 6-8k at the moment.

Has anybody been in a similar position, or can anybody offer any advice on what would be the most sensible way to go?

Many thanks,

Simon

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If you enjoy working at cars then call it a project and get stuck in but it will still cost more than the car is worth to fix everything, if paying a garage then it will cost you a fortune so forget it.
You could always buy another F1 for much less money than a F2, you pays yer money and takes yer chance.

Fl2 has nowhere the the running costs of a disco 3, and yes I’ve had both, the fl2 only needed its servicing , the disco 3 was servicing and, regular brake maintenance, 2egr valves, 2front hub brgs, wishbones, compressor etc

Time to get the spanners out fella

IMHO, if you can do the work yourself, or are willing to learn, then keep the FL1 - far simpler, better the devil you know etc..

Otherwise, you're stuck on the treadmill of electronic carp and garage's having your trousers down....

( with the right diagnostics, modern stuff is DIY'able, but as mentioned above, the parts prices can be eye watering)

My two pennorth. The F1 is a much maligned vehicle that is in reality a sound and sturdy daily use car with excellent off-road capabilities where needed. Sure , there have been some well publicised technical issues but if you have a well looked after example you really can’t go wrong.

Just look a the number of F1’s still on the road. My own car is a 2005 td4 and I’m constantly delighted with the joy of driving it. I have to remind myself that I’m driving a 13+year old car it’s that good. I can see myself driving this car indefinitely.

So the only vehicle I would consider “upgrading” to would be a F2, but only when my F1 has become uneconomical to maintain in service compared to its value to me. As others have pointed out your own F1 may now cost you more to repair than its worth, but consider what it’s value is to you when repaired. Anyone with a F1 over say 15 years old wouldn’t fit new tyres if they only considered worth.

That's a lot of time, effort and cash to throw at a car that will be worth no more at the end of it. What happens if you sink, say, £2,000 (or more) into sorting it out and it something catastrophic breaks the following week; at just what point do you stop? If you're looking at PS pump / gearbox / clutch / drive gear and 3 Amigos, I'd say that you've already passed that point.
Or what happens if (God forbid) it's written off, or stolen, the week after and you still only get the minimum payout for a 15 year old FL1, with over 150,000 on the clock? The money that you've spent won't be reflected in an increased insurance payout.
Throwing proper money at it could be throwing money away,

Bonkers said:

My two pennorth. The F1 is a much maligned vehicle that is in reality a sound and sturdy daily use car with excellent off-road capabilities where needed. Sure , there have been some well publicised technical issues but if you have a well looked after example you really can’t go wrong.

Just look a the number of F1’s still on the road. My own car is a 2005 td4 and I’m constantly delighted with the joy of driving it. I have to remind myself that I’m driving a 13+year old car it’s that good. I can see myself driving this car indefinitely.

So the only vehicle I would consider “upgrading” to would be a F2, but only when my F1 has become uneconomical to maintain in service compared to its value to me. As others have pointed out your own F1 may now cost you more to repair than its worth, but consider what it’s value is to you when repaired. Anyone with a F1 over say 15 years old wouldn’t fit new tyres if they only considered worth.

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Tigger Eeyore & Roo said:

That's a lot of time, effort and cash to throw at a car that will be worth no more at the end of it. What happens if you sink, say, £2,000 (or more) into sorting it out and it something catastrophic breaks the following week; at just what point do you stop? If you're looking at PS pump / gearbox / clutch / drive gear and 3 Amigos, I'd say that you've already passed that point.
Or what happens if (God forbid) it's written off, or stolen, next week and you still only get the minimum payout for a 15 year old FL1, with over 150,000 on the clock? The money that you've spent won't make any difference to an insurance payout.
Throwing proper money at it could be throwing money away,

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these people speak sense. Look, I'll do you a deal, save you the heartache of fixing it only for I thought to go wrong again, and I'll take it off your hands if you pay me - I dunno - say a couple of grand... ;-)

Or, in the real world... Shiny and new is nice, but if you have the time and inclination to spanner it yourself, then a well supported vehicle like the Freelander is a better choice than most. And in spite of the 'humorous' asides, it seems you don't actually *have* to be a transsexual to drive one...

I've been through this conundrum myself recently. The posts above all make for interesting reading on both the for and against keeping it arguments.

Mine had reached 120K. It was in 2wd (prop removed by me some time ago after noticing the vcu getting tight). Two window regulators had gone. The sunroof leaked. The speakers had gone duff. One power-fold mirror was not working. It had a leaking rear diff and an oil leak from turbo drain pipe. The list went on.

When my crankshaft pulley packed up I thought "that's it. Get the pulley fixed and get rid!" The problem was I really liked the car, and aside from those issues, it was a decent motor. I'd already invested a fair bit of time, care and money in it - including a number of the more expensive but standard FL1 problems. I very quickly realised that the car was worth far more TO ME than it was to anyone else. The upshot was that I decided to keep it and have since invested a fair bit more money and time on it and will be keeping it for some time yet. IRD checked out, diff and engine oil leaks fixed. New VCU about to go on. A couple of mods in the pipeline and all the little fixes to be done. The sunroof will be last.

Obviously the issue with such a decision is where do you stop? If the turbo goes or the auto gearbox develops a major fault I'll be in trouble, but I made my decision on having owned the car for six years, knowing it well, and having recently borrowed someone else's car for a bit and realising how much I actually like my FL1. I decided I would have a purge on the issues it had and get the car back to how it should be, and that I'd do as much of it myself as possible.

I'm well on the way to sorting them but time will tell if I sink or swim.

Hi Simon,

I agree with the comments above: the F1 is actually really easy to work on and the parts are pretty affordable. I bought mine as a spares and repair off ebay with a load of faults that would likely have sent it to the scrap yard if you were minded to get a "professional" to work on it. Because I'm weird like many here, I enjoyed rebuilding the engine, the front suspension and brakes, fixed the three amigos (ABS sensor and Yaw sensor on mine) and have a really nice, cheap to run runabout that's good for green-lanes

None of the problems with yours sound that difficult to fix on a DIY basis. Mostly pretty straightforward I'd imagine (I've not had to battle with leaking sunroofs though - mine's a three door )

BUT if you need a mechanic to do the work, I can imagine the repair bill will be into four figures very quickly...

Good FL2? Might be worth a punt - but you may not get much for your problem stricken FL1 in P/EX