SWMBO still wants a Freelander - (Sensible) Advice please !

[Rocket88]

In my experience, I've dragged marginally fewer of them off the hard shoulder than Discoveries...........which are by far the most "recovered" vehicles I've dealt with. In 6 months recovery work, 26% of all the stuff I've recovered was built by Landrover.....................

[UltraWomble]

Friends had a 2.0 T or was it L series Diesel and gave them no problems aside from the viscous coupling / prop shaft issue solved by removing the prop.

 

Then they bought a later TD4 and had all sorts go wrong with it - mainly electrical, but they had issues with the clutch too which took no end of farting about to fix.

[dieselnutjob]

We bought a TD4 a couple of weeks ago. I will tell you what I know.

 

The L series diesel is cheaper and stronger, but they are older which means that they have different ratios front and back.

 

On these older ones it is essential that the VCU (viscous coupling) is free enough otherwise you get transmission windup which destroys the IRD (transfer box).

 

Some time around 2001 or something Landrover changed the ratios so that the front and back turn at more similar speeds which means that a stiff VCU is less likely to destroy the VCU.

 

Another problem with the TD4 though is that the clutch slave is inside the bell housing so if that goes it's a problem, on the other hand the L series has it externally but it's a totally sealed system so if there is any issue you have to replace master and slave in one go.

 

The TD4 seems a nice engine and doesn't have the swirl flaps like a BMW which is a good thing.

They have a DMF but unlike Fords they just don't seem to go wrong.

 

The VCU is supposed to be changed every 70,000 miles but no one ever does.  As far as I can tell you will just have to factor in that whatever you buy you will have to spend 200 quid on a VCU so that it doesn't lunch the IRD.

 

If a VCU is solid it will feel like you have put the brakes on if you reverse and and turn on full lock.  I think that they all do it to some extent so it is a question of how badly.

 

To test an IRD you should accelerate to highish revs and decelerate again (maybe going downhill) so that the weight of the car is driving the engine.  One that I drove made a grinding / buzzing noise when I did this, and I walked away.

 

Also you need to go backwards and forwards and full lock left and right, and again if there are knocking or banging noises then walk away.

 

Once the IRD is checked out everything else is just like any other car really and probably no worse.

 

Once you have found one with a good IRD you should probably then check and/or change the VCU to keep it that way, it's just a sort of Freelander tax.

 

I quite like SWMBOs new one but I prefer my 607.  The FL seems to have quite low gearing so it isn't a great motorway car.  It corners well enough with nice brakes and steering.

[Alan_Green]

Buy an older Suzuki Grand Vitara, choice of Mazda and Peugeot diesels.....

I did not know that.  I see now that some Grand Vitaras have the Peugeot/Citroen DW10 2.0 HDi engines.  That sounds like a superb combo. That fact is well worth knowing and is duly stored in my memory banks. 

 

PS - More anecdotal evidence. Friends Freelanders were nothing but hassle. Even when they were newish. Petrol and diesel.

[I_am_Diesel]

Mrs Diesel has a Td4 Freelander as her daily and touch wood it has been pretty reliable. I had to do some work on the starter motor, replace the back box and change 4 tyres. The fuel filter is a bastard of a job to change. Apart from that, dare I say it hasn't been too bad.

 

Personally I don't like it.

[Forty-two]

I am tooling around in freelander 2 which has been utterly reliable. It is sporting over 142,000 miles and drives nice.

 

It's only weakness is going backwards with a trailer on. The gear is a bit high and it is possible to cook the clutch if you are trying to reverse anything with some weight uphill, guess how I know this!

[J-T]

My dad bought a 50th anni 5dr L series when it was about 2 years old - it leaked like a seive into the lockable box in the boot so was always steaming up and the blowers are crap and couldn't clear the screen. It went back to LR twice and was never fixed.

 

Then I foolishly bought a ropey one about 5 years ago - exact same model. Had the exact same water ingress issue there and through the windows in the rear doors. It blew up its IRD - my own fault as it had started clonking on full lock in reverse and I kept promising I'd replace the VCU and I never did, so it ended up 2wd. The elec windows are a pain in the arse all runs off cables and will likely need replacing now if not done already, you can get kits to do it but they're fiddly. The central locking was crap with only various doors working as and when. Lots have problems with the rear door handle so then the rear window doesn't drop to allow you to open the tailgate. The rev counter only worked when it wanted to on mine. They all seem to have smashed wing mirrors as they are massive and they go for good money for this reason. It was dog slow as they only have about 90bhp.

 

All in all it was a typical LR product - looks nice but feels like almost every component was the cheapest supplied and was thrown together and no one was arsed about it in any way and it was up to you the customer finish it off.

 

We also had a 3dr RAV4 auto which was better in every conceivable way. Built properly, everything worked all the time, lovely to drive - engine and box were really suited and it did 33mpg no matter how it was driven. For this reason they still seem to cost about twice the equivalent 3dr Freelander abs they are worth every penny!!

[andrew e]

Mrs drives a recent Grand Vitara (the 05> shape) in petrol POWAR and it's been bulletproof bar tyres and a set of brake pads. Doesn't squeak, rattle, steam up, etc. No rocketship mind.