ford kiga or land rover freelander?

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scazz28

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i am about to buy a small 4x4 and with my budget i have worked out i can either have a freelander or a ford kuga. does anyone have either of these and do they recommend them? what is the kuga like to tow? i have had a freelander before, a very old one, and it was great to tow with but was very unreliable. so does anyone have the new freelander and have they had any problems with it? any advice would be great as making the decision is proving to be difficult. thanks :)
 
My friend has a Kuga and my dad has a freelander. I would say the Kuga boot is smaller. Neither tow with them so can't help with that :(

Have driven my dad's and it's very luxurious and speedy for a big car
 
I would consider an X-trail.

Very cheap to run but still safe to tow with.

I don't think the Kuga (although it is beautiful) or Freeloader have the teeth to tow with safely.
 
agree, would def go for an (even if older) x trail than either of the two you mention if you are considering towing. X trails are good on and also off road (unlike eg Honda CR-V which is more of an on road specialist. They are also popular so there is a decent supply.

If buying from a dealer, see if you can get any warranty even if a used buy - the only thing to watch out for is turbos going, not cheap to repair, so if you can get that covered, all the better.
 
I have a freelander2 and I'm really pleased with it. I used to have an older freelander and that was v reliable and they tow really well. But you'll only be able to tow 2000kg max (from memory) inc your trailer and horse(s) so if you want to tow 2 horses you'd need something bigger like a discovery.
 
I have an 04 td4 freelander! Never missed a beat so far! And towes really well! Even up the hills! I tow a 505 But only ever one horse!! I will not risk both! Mine are only 15.1 and 15.3 tb types!
 
lachlanandmarcus said:
also I think the newer Freelanders are able to tow less than the older ones as the vehicle is a lot heavier than it used to be.
Click to expand...
The usual case is that the heavier the vehicle the greater the towing capacity

1800 for the early freelanders
2000 for the later freelanders
 
china said:
I have an 04 td4 freelander! Never missed a beat so far! And towes really well! Even up the hills! I tow a 505 But only ever one horse!! I will not risk both! Mine are only 15.1 and 15.3 tb types!
Click to expand...
The towing capacities for vehicles are carefully set by the manufacturers so loading your 505 with two 500 kgs horses will be fine if the freelander has the 2000 towing limit - perhaps a bit too tight on weight if the freelander has the 1800 limit (on a B+E licence)
 
My dad had a Kuga and he bought it brand new a few months before the snow last winter...
After the snow he took it into Land Rover and told them it was a pile of s*** and swapped it for a 2nd hand Freelander 2. The Freelander has been good so far though we are yet to tow with it. But I don't think the kuga would even manage a small caravan. It's like a mondeo with big wheels.
 
I have Freelander 1 TD4 and love it. i tow most places on my own with a Wessex Olympian and my horse and have done so for the past 6 years. The car gives a fab ride an i never ever get any whipping. I borrowed a friends Grand Cherokee jeep to tow horses and hated it. Whilst it had the power, the car really seemed to drift an the trailer whipped. I feel that the Freelander has a real gutsy working engine (diesel).
 
I did consider a Kuga when I was looking for a tow car, it had about the best fuel economy in it's class and I think 2.1 tonne towing capacity which is fine if you have a fairly light trailer/light horses. It was out of my budget though (and have never seen one tow in the flesh so couldn't vouch for how good they are). I went for a Hyundai Santa Fe which I have had over a year now and am very pleased with. It does drink more diesel then I would like (though there are a lot of worse 4x4s for this) but it is a lovely car, lots of space for kit, strong enough for what I want and so far has been reliable. Didn't go for land rovers as their reliabilty is not great and also they tend to be gas guzzlers!
 
thanks for all that guys, a freind suggested about a jeep cherokee, does any one have an experience with them?anyone recommend them??
 
Theres law and theres safety.

Safety wise the recommendation is not to exceed 85% of the legal capacity.
Also for a safe and comfy ride the towed trailer shouldnt exceed the weight of the thing thats towing them.

Which means the Freelander might legally tow two, and might be safe if very careful, but ideally would tow one.
 
lachlanandmarcus said:
Theres law and theres safety.

Safety wise the recommendation is not to exceed 85% of the legal capacity.
Also for a safe and comfy ride the towed trailer shouldnt exceed the weight of the thing thats towing them.

Which means the Freelander might legally tow two, and might be safe if very careful, but ideally would tow one.
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The 85% thing is for caravans only due to their design
ALL other trailers do not have this recommendation sited
 
ROG said:
The 85% thing is for caravans only due to their design
ALL other trailers do not have this recommendation sited
Click to expand...

I am new to trailers and 4X4s....Can I ask you to do the math for me as I struggle with numbers?

My car = 2004, 2.2ll, Tdi, Xtrail
Trailer = 2004, IW401 (no front ramp).
Horse = 650kg

I was pleasantly surprised how easily she tows as I was a bit dubious (being a bit of a Landi person). Is she at her limit already, or would she be capable of towing two horses?
 
I used to have a petrol 1.8 freelander 2002, i now have a diesel 2004 TDi, petrol cost a fortune and very unrealiable, tdi fantastic, cheap to run and never goes wrong. so my vote would be a tdi freelander :D
 
Oberon said:
I am new to trailers and 4X4s....Can I ask you to do the math for me as I struggle with numbers?

My car = 2004, 2.2ll, Tdi, Xtrail
Trailer = 2004, IW401 (no front ramp).
Horse = 650kg

I was pleasantly surprised how easily she tows as I was a bit dubious (being a bit of a Landi person). Is she at her limit already, or would she be capable of towing two horses?
Click to expand...
ANSWERED HERE POST NUMBER 467 :)
 
Mypinkpony said:
I used to have a petrol 1.8 freelander 2002, i now have a diesel 2004 TDi, petrol cost a fortune and very unrealiable, tdi fantastic, cheap to run and never goes wrong. so my vote would be a tdi freelander :D
Click to expand...

i used to have a 2001 2.0tdi freelander, was very unreliable, sometimes just would not start for no reason. have you have any problems with your 2004 one? just wondering if maybe they have changed the engines or anything as dont want to buy another and then have the same problems all over again!! thanks :)
 
My frontera tows fab, dad is a lorry driver so knows is stuff and has towed with a few different cars but he said the frontera is the best he has ever towed with....its a x reg 2.2 tdi limited. Its my beastie :D

Dont go for the freelander mys sister had alot of trouble with the gears as in she would be driving alony and
 
Stupid phone where was i......oh yea, driving along went to change gear and nope you are not going into third and no im not lettint you back into second either.....
 
I have a Kuga but I only tow a single trailer with it. Don't think it has the legal capacity to tow a double trailer. I haven't yet had it on a muddy field but it is fine on roads, yards etc. Fuel wise,it is good for a 4x4 as it does 37mpg
 
ROG said:
The towing capacities for vehicles are carefully set by the manufacturers so loading your 505 with two 500 kgs horses will be fine if the freelander has the 2000 towing limit - perhaps a bit too tight on weight if the freelander has the 1800 limit (on a B+E licence)
Click to expand...

It has a 2000 limit. I would only be comfortable to do that if it was short journeys somewhere local.
 
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