pigeon predator Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Hi guys! Have any of you either got or had a freelander? Just want to know what you think of them? Things to look out for? Any good off road? Do they have Hi and Lo range gearboxes? Those sort of things. Lookin forward to your posts chaps! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 I have spent a lot of time in my mates 2006 Freelander II. He's had a few niggles, electronic mostly and involving the All Terrain System but nothing drastically expensive to sort and mostly done under warranty. Off road it is very capable and goes anywhere my L200 goes, the hill descent function is useful but it does not have a low ratio gearbox which means you are riding the clutch at times, crossing ruts or rocky streams for example. With the seats down he's had 600kg of bagged wheat in it without complaint, it tows a couple of tons (from memory) and drives very well on the road. Fuel consumption is around the 30mpg mark, or just over, but that may be falsely reduced by the amount of time his spends crawling about off road. Hope that's of some use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozzy518 Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Freelanders have been debated at length on here...do a quick search and you will find the posts.. I had one a 2000 Millenium edition ..all the toys but the dreaded 1.8 petrol engine...Head gasket failure twice in a year was very expensive. Tyres not cheap..They also have problems with the viscous coupling unit and intermediate reduction drive which is part of the constant 4x4 drive. Mine was making grinding noises on full lock an early warning of later problems. I have never owned a car which lost so much value in 5 years as this one did.....10k. However, i liked the drive, and it was a very comfortable car and quite capable off road. I miss it , but not the maintainance bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Fox Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 My old man had a HSE 2005 model, had it from new - and He only kept it 12 months (company car) as It was plagued with Electrical faults, rear window would drop on its own, the cubby hole in the boot used to fill with water, its the only car He has had that has let Him down so badly (was alot of Money as well), had a fair few recovories from the AA. The funny thing is, when it was ok we all loved it, I use to borrow it a fair bit and it was a nice car, just the right size for dogs and guns. I would buy one as I think We might have had a Friday afternoon job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJN Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 the freelander II is a lot better than the earlier ones, check out www.freel2.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver pigeon 3 Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 My Dad has a 2004 model - and it is awful. He has had it 2 and a bit years and in that time it has had 2 re-con gearboxes and 1 new gearbox, the coupling in the drive shaft, a brake master cylinder and various oil cooler pipes. The rear window opens by itself sometimes (not good when you have dogs/guns with you) and the boot is constantly full of water. It spends more time off the road being fixed than it does on the road and the only reason he won't get rid of it is that it now owes him so much money. We work in the car repair industry and he should have known better but bought the thing anyway, all my mechanic friends think they are one of the worst cars around. Saying that the Freelander 2 is meant to be a lot better. I have a battered old 1998 Frontera and in the time he has had all the grief with the landy all i have had to do to mine is brake pads, oil and filter. In my opinion whatever your budget there are better motors around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radar_uk Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Had a FL2 now for over a year and covered 35,000+ issue free miles, well I had one issue that the cigarettle lighter socket stopped working and they fixed it under warranty but that's not exactly a proper issue ! Averaging 35+ MPG (diesel) though I do a lot of motorway driving, it was invaluable in the recent snow whilst I was up Derby/Nottingham way and coped with it no issues whatsoever. Servicing costs are slightly higher than other cars though not as high as some ! Overall I would buy another one, there are some good deals to be had out there if you are prepared to look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
955i Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Get a Disco instead, not much more to run, more room, all the same toys, but if you get a slightly older model (I have a 2000 Series 2) parts are pretty cheap and a lot of the work is easy to do yourself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon predator Posted February 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Thanks for your posts chaps! I'll give it some serious consideration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quist Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 I've got a TD version. It ****** over everything else in the recent snow without exception. Only niggle is the indicator stalk switches the main beam on too easily and when you turn the light on, you sometimes flash the car in front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shropshire_Lad Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Have had a 52 td4 for 41/2 years, 117000 on the clock and its been great, this winter its been fantastic in the snow and ice pullling out our transit up some steep drives no problem. It is luck of the draw though, get a good one and all is well but some do seem prone to a lot of problems. If money is tight you would not want to be faced with any huge garage bills even though the car was cheap to buy. atvb Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diceman Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 I've had a couple, and I quite like them, drive well on and off road. There is knack all room in the boot with the seats up, though, the main reason I got rid of the last one. Water in the rear cubby box is very common, it either leaks in through the door seals (easy but fiddly fix) or condensation due to I think the routing of the exhaust (heat source) and the rubber mat keeping all the water in. Most of the 1.8 petrols should have the head gaskets sorted by now, but as others have said the IR drives do let go quite regularly. V6 is very very thirsty. I'd buy another, but either make sure it was cheap or try to find one with the common faults already fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gixer1 Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 i had a 2001 model and it had about 50+k on the clock when i sold it, very capable offroad with pirelli scorpions on and a fantastic family car, although the guy i sold it to did have the headgasket issue with it but that was the 1.8 k-series model, the TD4's have very few complaints. i'd have another one... regards, Gixer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon predator Posted February 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Thanks chaps for the posts, sound like generally there decent motors but like any car you get dodgy ones, I've got a 06 Vauxhall zafira, a month after warranty expired the dual mass flywheel went, £1600 to get it back on the road, it took out the clutch and alternator when it went Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrikirkby Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 (edited) I have got a 2000 reg 3 door model and is surperb for lamping as the back unclips and you have an open top 4x4 mines even got the roll cage bit around the back. We were using it the other night after a couple of days of rain and it still got round the headlands and dirt tracks ok even though it was mud city. just get some good tyres on it and make sure the VCU isn't seized and make sure nobody has taken the front to rear propshaft/vcu off as this will point to a nackered IRD box and cost lots of pennys ! As said before go for a deisel if you can. As with most things you only here of the horror stories on the internet but there are heaps of them on the road so take from it what you want ? Edited February 22, 2011 by mrikirkby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tosspot58 Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 in a word mate their ****.wudnt pull the skin off a rice puding.for off roadin go 4 a discover or a trooper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazzer Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 we have one for sale m8 if your interested..although you in stafford (just noticed) a bit far away..we have the td4 in green on a 53/54 plate..mint inside and out...lots of work been done,runs like a dream ,low milage and reliable,great in the snow but missus is downsizing now to my old saab convertable....you are a fair distance away but more than free to view and test drive.worth 5 grand all day long but we want 4 for a quick sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfletch Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Ive worked on a few older ones and for me there a NO NO central locking problems rear door window with a mind of its own head gasket problems clutch slave cylinder dropping off. Trooper or Disco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Elvis Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Had a 2000 3 door for A YEAR no real problems, never been stuck in normal shooting conditions, 2 litre deisel so reliable and I love it!! Just bought some nice side steps and an a bar for it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurchers Posted April 12, 2011 Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 i have a w reg 2000 model diesel low miles and its a cracking motor.ive put all sorts on it and ive had a few discos but its getting go ones of them thats why i got the freelander it gets me everywhere i want to go and parts are cheap for them.if you need any bit go on ebay and look for freelanderspareuk or here is the number 01915266767 and he will sort you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Posted April 12, 2011 Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 My mums got a 52 plate td4 and its been pretty good, no major problems just the odd little thing here and there and I have to say its pretty good off road aswell (compared to my fiesta ) but its as good as the defender which is on road tires Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pavman Posted April 12, 2011 Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 Had one from new 2007 to 2010 nice on roads fairly rubbish off them, they try to engineer the driver out by making switches take over from the person behind the wheel in 4X4 mode, would never have another one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted April 12, 2011 Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 Like all modern Dual purpose 4x4 they are essentially a executive car with 4 wheel drive...fine on Tarmac and light snow but really no bloody use off road with out the selectable low gear box of the Suzuki or Discovery....This applies to all of the Psuedo 4 x 4 models...If you want a proper off road vehicle the Grand Vitara really would be the best alternative choice for on and off road work. I have had both Freelander and Vitara in the last 10 years...I do like the drive of the Freelander when it was on the blackstuff and not ill, but unfortunately it was ill more often than not which is why I got rid of it...Despite what anyone says to the contrary the Suzuki is a better all round dual purpose vehicle, has few reliability issues and is genuinely good off road. Would I buy another Freelander...? No. not unless they took the Engine,gear box and transfer out and replaced it with a proper 4x4 unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chard Posted April 12, 2011 Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 (edited) I had an 02 plate 2 litre diesel for 3 years from new. It was **** First alarm bell was a new gearbox after 7000 miles :lol: Outstanding. Closely followed by IRD Unit and some shaft or other. Several little niggles. All done on an excellent warranty incidentally, but I would NEVER own one of these ****ers out of warranty. Biggest hoot was driving through a puddle at 70mph and the engine cutting out for 24 hours due to drowning some electric ****. I pointed out that one of their adverts at the time showed a Freelander driving through a ******* river up to the doors. :lol: :lol: Laaaarf, they had all the answers, can't go through water fast, it forces water in where water shouldn't go. Yeah, yeah, yeah Nice to drive, wasn't bad off-road though I didn't do any extreme stuff. Would I have another? **** off Edited April 12, 2011 by Chard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Logic Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 we had a mark 1 for three years, and it was actually reliable, TD4, one of the last of the old model. Boot was rubbish though - far too small for lamping gear and stuff, and I struggled to drive it as the driver's seat isn't height adjustable and head was in the roof. Personally I don't like them, but ours was mechanically reliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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