Freelanders (ducks and hides)

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SouthWestWhippet

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I have fallen in love with a 1998 2.0 diesel freelander.

Although it has 146,000 miles on it, it drives lovely and only has a few 'quirks' which you would expect on a car this age.

These are... Aircon doesn't work, driver side glove comparment doesn't shut and the sun roof doesn't open fully - the only worrying things is a slight knock in the front left suspension but my friend is going to look at this and it has just passed a full MOT.

The engine is sound and the service history has had the right stuff done at the right time. At the price I am looking to pay (around £2500) it is one of the nicest cars I've seen and it drives beautifully. .

So... I am looking to you guys to burst my bubble. A work colleague is raving about diesel freelanders - thinks they are the dogs B***cks.

I'm not looking for a towing vehicle persay although it will be expected to occasionally tow ONE horse in a LIGHTWEIGHT trailer (not a rice or an ifor).

Please dont' tell me to buy a disco as I can't afford to run a proper 4x4 - it would be much too large and impractical for what I want. My other option was to by a VW Passat and tow occasionally with that but I think a Freelander would be a better bet for occasional light on-road towing.

So.... what are your experiences?
 
You've obviously read earlier posts about Freelanders & their ability or not to tow trailers & you know what will be said as you have pre empted it by saying:
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it will be expected to occasionally tow ONE horse in a LIGHTWEIGHT trailer (not a rice or an ifor).


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Basically they aren't great for towing but you appear to have made your decision to buy one with several faults, a knock on the front being a major one. All I'll say is don't be fooled into buying a vehicle just because it's got 12 months MOT because that doesn't mean the vehicle is a good one...ok
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Basically they aren't great for towing but you appear to have made your decision to buy one with several faults, a knock on the front being a major one.

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Ummmmmmmm,
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I have made no decision at all. Aware that knock is potentially serious which is why I said my mechanic friend was going to look into it as it could just be a bush (easy to correct) or possibly more serious. My budget it not going to afford me a brand new fault free perfect vehicle, I need to accept whatever I buy is going to have some faults - brocken AC and a missing catch on the glove box is not serious enough to bother me - a damaged suspension is.... Maybe I'm being sensitive but the tone of your reply is somewhat agressive, not sure what I have done to upset you...

In terms of the towing, yes I have seen refernces made by people to the effect that they have been shot down for suggesting they tow with a freelander. I have not read the treads themselves but I know that DISCO is better as are most of the other 'proper' 4x4.

However I have some friends that tow with freelanders and say they are fine (although not wonderful) and I've towed with various larger estates.. again something that is not popular on here but not everyone has the luxury of being able to run two cars or even one 4x4.

I have not 'pre-empted' anything, merely wanted to make it clear that I wasnt buying a freelander under the delusion that i'd be able to take two 17hh hunters out hunting 4 times a week in an Ifor. I want it to commute/shop/visit family etc so that was more important. Occasionally taking the horse out and about to the odd HT or RC rally would be useful.
 
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Do you know if it has got the BMW engine in it? If it has, then thats a different story.

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I don't know that, I will try to find out. the BMW engine is better persumably. I do like the passats as well, I saw a lovely one the other day but it had been sold when I rang up about it.

thanks!
 
Given that you want a 'car' that you can occasionally tow with, I would get the Passat.

I am not sure why people think they must have a 4x4 (or 4x4 style) car to tow. A huge number of people do it, but a normal car is often a better towing platform as it has a lower centre of gravity and a better power to weight ratio (it has more GO!).

I used to motor race and have towed a variety of racing cars to venues all over the UK and as I had company cars at the time, this was all done behind a normal saloon car, and I never had any problems.

For the money you have to spend, you could get a pretty decent Pajero diesel.....just a thought
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It IS a buyers market, so buy whatever you like the best, but just be careful, horse traders are pussy cats compared to motor traders
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Experiences - well, 3 days after my warrenty expire the viscous coupling and ird packed up - £3K later it was fixed. Have you reversed it a fair way, was there any clonking, if so beware. I would recommend you ahve a trained LandRover tecnician look it over, or check the Land Rover Forums to see how dodgy the pre 2000 Freelanders are! Some owners tried to take LandRover to court because of poor design! It was horrid towing too..sorry my ecperience was bad and after the event I was inundated with I told you so's....
 
never had one but my brother who works for a national breakdown company says he gets called out to more freelanders than any other vehicle and 3 of the ladies at my yard who had one have now either gone for another small 4x4 like the Rav 4 or an estate for occasional towing because of reliability
 
2.5k seems alot for a freelander of that age and milage, I've just had a quick squzz on autotrader and there are a fair few 1998 and over actually with less miles than this one has done for under 2k!

theres a 2002 one with 158K on the clock for less than £2.5k!!
 
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Given that you want a 'car' that you can occasionally tow with, I would get the Passat.

I am not sure why people think they must have a 4x4 (or 4x4 style) car to tow. A huge number of people do it, but a normal car is often a better towing platform as it has a lower centre of gravity and a better power to weight ratio (it has more GO!).

I used to motor race and have towed a variety of racing cars to venues all over the UK and as I had company cars at the time, this was all done behind a normal saloon car, and I never had any problems.

For the money you have to spend, you could get a pretty decent Pajero diesel.....just a thought
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It IS a buyers market, so buy whatever you like the best, but just be careful, horse traders are pussy cats compared to motor traders
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Ah, two points: The reason most people choose a 4x4 to tow horses is because of the extra weight. A trailer with a horse or two in is not a stable load *groan*, and you don't want to end up in a situaiton where the trailer takes charge of the car. With something like a Disco there is loads of room for error, with a towing capacity of 3.5 tonnes, whereas the Freelander has one of 2 tonnes. As for towing with a company car; we used to tow a very heavy caravan with ours, because it didn't matter!
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The wear and tear was someone else's problem...
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Pajeros/Shoguns are fab tow cars and really nice to drive on road too.
 
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buying a car is about 100000000 times harder than buying a horse

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Yeah, but cars are easier to fix. The 'vets' bills are about the same though!

Same rules apply, take someone with you who knows what they are looking at.
 
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Ah, two points: The reason most people choose a 4x4 to tow horses is because of the extra weight. A trailer with a horse or two in is not a stable load *groan*, and you don't want to end up in a situaiton where the trailer takes charge of the car. With something like a Disco there is loads of room for error, with a towing capacity of 3.5 tonnes, whereas the Freelander has one of 2 tonnes. As for towing with a company car; we used to tow a very heavy caravan with ours, because it didn't matter! The wear and tear was someone else's problem... Pajeros/Shoguns are fab tow cars and really nice to drive on road too.

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YUP I'd agree with all that, but for an occasional tow of a single horse, a decent 2 litre diesel estate would be a peach.

Also a Paj fan, that's what we have
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I drove a LWB Paj back from Bavaria to Somerset in one long (14 hour) trip, with a sick friend in the back (his car). When it was time to replace our Fourtrack, we went straight to a Paj and no regrets.
 
i might be wrong but if you have not got a lot of money so are happy with one with a few issues i feel this is a false economy . the older and more mileage they have the more they seem to go wrong, this does not sound like it has been looked after very well. as for pajero do not even go there . i had one that i was lucky to get 25mpg out of. even less when towing. only kept it a few months .
 
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2.5k seems alot for a freelander of that age and milage, I've just had a quick squzz on autotrader and there are a fair few 1998 and over actually with less miles than this one has done for under 2k!

theres a 2002 one with 158K on the clock for less than £2.5k!!

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Are you looking at Diesels though? i've found them to be more expensive and harder to find.
 
I had a Freelander diesel 2.0i V reg. It had done 72,000 miles.
I LOVED it, it was fab to drive
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BUT
Its true what you hear, there are always something going wrong with it. The electrics are dodgy, electric windows going down when you don't want them too
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etc etc Mine ended up with the Turbo blowing on me whilst towing a small pony in it.
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I would never have one again - take a read of this website Freelander problems
 
Honestly? A ten year old Freelander, with 146k on the clock and a series of faults? Up to you, but as long as you don't need to rely on it, and have plenty of money for repairs, it'll be fine.
 
In terms of the Pajero, i have looked at these but I've been told they are expensive to insure as they are imports.

Insurance is an issue for me as I only have 1 years insurance history as I was on a company policy before so no No Claims. On top of this, I have 3 points from a speed camera and I rear ended someone about 2 years ago (again, my first and only accident) but my insurance premiums are not low.

Gosh I sound like the worst driver in the world, I'm not I just had 2 'stupid careless driving' experiences in the space of a year, once at a junction when I bumped someone behind thinking they were pulling out and once at a speed camera coming off a dual carriageway. I have been very careful since
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I would never have one again - take a read of this website Freelander problems

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[reads]
[cries]

Ok, I am beginning to think that a Freelander is a seriously BAD idea. thanks everyone. Will go back to my hunt for the Passat... or similar
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I have a Freelander, slightly younger than yours and it's the dreaded petrol engine! I don't think the BMW engines were until 2004 although I may be wrong.

I love mine! I've had a couple of minor problems with it - new exhaust was biggest - but far less than I had with my previous two Fords.

I don't tow with it - personally don't think it's got the guts or stability, but then it is the smaller engine and the 3 door version, so isn't as big as the TD4's and diesels.

My dad threatened to ex-communicate me when I bought it and frogmarched me to our mechanic who pronounced it one of the best engines he'd seen for the age, and has never failed to point out to my dad that it's far more reliable than his Mondeo!! Passed its MOT with flying colours last month - again, more than could be said for my Fords!

I've had the RAC out for it once - when I got a puncture and couldn't find the locking wheel nut thingys......

I find it good to drive, maybe more like a car than a 4x4 but has held its own when I've taken it off road (which wasn't particularly sticky!).
It's pretty good on fuel - around town especially, it is excellent - but is noticeably more juicy on motorways.

The one thing I don't like is that it doesn't feel great at speed in high winds, they really seem to buffet it - this weekend I came back from Cheltenham on the M40 and it was a bit of a battle! Another reason why I wouldn't be confident towing with it.

Before I bought mine I listened to everyone sl*g them off and did what I usually do and bought it anyway - haven't regretted it for a mo, love my funky Frieda the Fabulous Flying Freelander
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i have a freelander that is nearly five & a half years old , i've owned it most of its life & its got full MDSH , i've never had a bit of bother with it , has been completely reliable , only extra maintenance has been a spark plug & a bulb! even still on the original tyres! its good in the snow & for occassional towing of one horse does just fine , i know ther are some horror stories about but i wouldn't hesitate to recommend a well looked after one for the purpose you state
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Friend had a Freelander and in her words 'it wouldn't pull a shopping trolley'!! Nuff said! she sold it after only having it 6 months, from new and bought a kick A**s Shogun!!
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By the way she fell for the Freelanders looks not it's capabilities!
 
She didn't tow with the Freelander, even if she had wanted to! She got a good price for it and put it towards a nice IW trailer and her older Shogun which I have been in when she has towed and you wouldn't think there was anything attached to it!! OK the Shogun isn't as pretty but it does a blooming good job!
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I've recently bought a freelander - it's an X reg and has only done 84,000. It's just had two new front tyres on it and I had to have the back door sorted out as it wouldn't shut properly.

TBH, I wish I'd bought it sooner and I defintely wouldn't be without it now. When I'm driving my OH's car which is a Vauxhall Vectra, I feel very vunerable and very low down, near the ground.
 
Freelander TD4 post 2000 (I think) have the BMW engines

'honest John' website http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm and parker's cars (can't be arsed to find that, but google it) will give you just about all the info you need to know

bottom line: don't touch anything that's not a TD4. They seem to be OK

and as has been said - lightweight trailer and a lightweight horse will be fine with a TD4

One of the 4x4 mags that's on sale now just did a review of 5 *lightweight* 4x4s including the Nissan X-trail and the Freelander came out top easily...

good luck, whatever you do

E
 
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