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Freelander series 1 - would you or not?

17K views 17 replies 14 participants last post by  outcastjack 
#1 ·
Hi all,

I don't usually venture into this area, but a couple of mates and myself have been considering 4x4s. We've all moved to rural areas, and whilst hardcore offroading isn't a major factor, ruggedness is.

There are a lot of horror stories about the series 1 Freelander. Generally we've had a lot of advice that they weren't built properly in the first place!

What are peoples thoughts - bearing in mind what other 4x4 offerings are out there (specifically Honda and Nissan). We're thinking along the lines of a diesel, with a budget of £6k absolute tops.

Just to throw a curveball, two of us also do a lot of motorway mileage!

:)
 
#2 ·
If you fancy driving to Norwich my old TD4 Freelander is on sale at Hunters Land Rover for about your budget....it was a great car for me and will come with a years LR warranty I bet.

I loved my FL1 and hardly ever had grief with it....the worst was a breakdown caused by the BMW provided engine injectors. Other bits all tickety boo!
 
#4 ·
Cheers guys, I'm still torn over car vs. 4x4 - especially as I do motorway miles. Rav4s aren't as common as they once were, and I'm still not sure about the Freelander - one of my mates says I'd be better off with an Astra! I'm sure my local osteopath might agree...!
 
#5 ·
You'd get a freelander 2 for that money these days mate.. I bought myself a fl1 Di just before christmas and i have to say i love it.. its as flat as you'd expect a non-turbo'd diesel to be and yeah, they do have their problems but the more you look around the tinterweb.. the more you realise they all do! Its lovely to drive though and has more space than some folk's livingrooms! lol

If you stay away from anything automatic or petrol then you should be fine IMO.

ive only done a little motorway driving myself so far but it seems to cope with it pretty well - its the only time the diesel engine feels like its actually pulling lol.
 
#11 ·
I'd avoid an auto box as I'm not all that keen on them... my 200 lives in fifth anyway because of all the motorway miles :)

I didn't think a Freelander 2 would be in budget... last time I looked was about two years ago and even a V reg was about 4 grand :eek:mg:
 
#12 ·
If you need "a bit of ruggendess" but still do the motorway miles, you could do a lot worse than a Honda HRV. A bit of an oddball, but, liek all honda's, it's bomb proof, and because they're not all that popular they're as cheap as chips.

If you go all the way to your £6k you'll pick up a low mileage 2005/6 model. Available as 3 and 5 doors, 5 Door seems the more convincing car.
 
#13 ·
It's not even a sof roader though IMO. The Honda would be hard pushed to drive out of anything worse than wet grass. It has not got decent ground clearance or under body protection. It would be fairly well suited to road use, but then so would an Impreza WRX wagon!

The only thing thats great about the CRV is that if you find a written off one, you can Rob it's B20 block, to create a Honda Frankenstein VTEC engine!
 
#14 ·
Hi there, I've owned a 2001 1.8 petrol and and 2005 TD4 manual and both have been excellent. The petrol is quite nippy but is a bit thirsty and bear in mind the K series history of the head gasket failing (although most of these wouldn't have happened if the owners had checked the water regularly!)
The TD4 is pretty much bulletproof although the clutch WILL fail between 50-60k and you should budget around £600 at a LR specialist or £1200 at the dealers. This was the only thing that failed on me in the 2 years I had it, well built (despite what people say) rugged superb off road and great on road, as you can tell, I loved mine
 
#15 ·
I still miss my Freelander SE3. It had the KV6 engine and was a lot of fun. The only problem was getting the hardtop off and the the soft top up and down - not something that you wanted to do in a hurry.

I wouldn`t even consider a boring box like the RAV4 in the same breath as the Freelander and certainly not when you took it off-road. I was initially concerned about its off-road capabilities after having had a Discovery but I was surprised to find that it could handle most of what the Discovery and Range Rover could dp. On off-road days organized by the local dealer, the Freelanders followed 90% of the path taken by the bigger cars.
 
#16 ·
you`ll never get a freelander 2 for that budget. period.

i own an 04 plate petrol freelander and work for landrover. in all honesty, the whole landrover fleet is a nightmare to work on. the are ill thought out in the way off mechanics and electrics. that said, they are head and shoulders above any other 4x4 on the road. infact, i`ll put my neck on the line and say i don`t consider anything else a 4x4 on the road. honda crv? why not just buy a civic and some big springs? a rav 4? now that`s funny!

earlier freelanders are woeful for IRD boxes, props, clutches and many other common faults found in this section. however your budget will buy you a very nice TD4 with fairly low miles. as said, the clutches are soft, particularly if they`ve had a hard life towing caravans and what not. injectors do go occasionally as does the wiring harness to the fuel pressure regulator and fuel pumps. there`s no rhyme nor reason for them going. i`d go for a landrover dealer or something with dealer history. dealers know the faults, and good servicing ususally prevents most. make sure the crankcase breather filter has been changed at the last service. they should be changed every service as they swell, harden and can cause seizure from oil starvation. 99% of the time other garages do not even know the filters are there. also dealer services should clean out the front pads at every service, again this is a simple job but helps avoid the pads sticking and warping the discs.

if you are doing motorway miles, i`d avoid the petrols. the are very low geared, and i feel mine would benefit from a 6th gear no end! autos, again as said, zapp all power from the engine but motorway driving wouldn`t really be an issue. chips are widely available and offer a good more oomf when you need it! i`ve never had an issue with any fitted (yet) and they are straight forward enough that you could do it yourself.

your budget should see you good with a late model with all the toys mate, shop around and take your time. bear in mind they are quite expensive to maintain and repair.

good luck!!
 
#17 ·
i love my td4 sport.....the perfect car for my family and our needs.its tough as old boots,easy to clean inside and out and drives brilliantly both on and off road.

mines a 2004 facelift which i would recommend over the pre facelift models.its better screwed together and has better electrics and a new dashboard.

overall,the best all round motor that i have owned.i just dont know what to replace it with........freelander 2 has no opening rear window qnd the boot is too small and is too low for my german shephard to stand up in!
 
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