Every day 4x4

[Redeemer]

As many of you may have seen on the news recently, here in sunny Scotland we have had significant flooding along the east coast. A small town called Stonehaven in paticular was said to be the worst hit place in the UK.

As luck would have it I ended up being caught in Stonehaven during the flooding, and I found myself in a precarious situation involving my wee car (a Ford Ka) attempting to bury itself in mud and rapidly rising, fast flowing flood water.
I ended up having to decant and was thankfully picked up by a kind passer-by in a Land Rover.
I have now decided that I need a better car for everyday use that can cope with flooding, snow and mud. A balance between off road capability and a useful everyday runabout.
Unfortionately I have a very limited budget and the best I can afford is a 2002 Land Rover Freelander.

I have heard mixed reviews though, the online comunity suggets that the Freelander is badly made and a fuel hog, however people I know locally who own them say they are wonderfully capable and fairly economical considering their size.
I figured the best people to ask would be yourselves, the survival community. Is this a car worth buying considering my needs? Have you had any experiences with this paticular car?
Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.



Red.

[bowdrill]

dont heap of cack pick a lovely pajero up for less quite heavy on juice but reliable but at the end of the day its up to u but hell no lol even discos are better than them not had one but have driven them nice in my opion


bd

[Highlander]

I would like a good landrover, but the only one I would buy if I could afford would be the Defender.... personaly I wouldnt touch the Freelander, I talked at length a couple of years ago to our garage when I was looking for a new car,...and they said they wouldnt entertain them

.... but I couldnt afford a Defender, but I am pleased with my compremise.... its cheap to buy, cheap to run, and perminent 4 wheel drive,... and I have never heard as much as a cough from it in the two years I have owned it

The Hyundi Santa fee

[BDG]

Freelanders are not bad at all. They are very good at what they do, but what they do is not the same as a Disco or Defender.

People fear them because of the K Series petrol engine and its 'head gasket problem'. I have owned two rovers with the same engine, my Father three. Once the head gaskets were changed for the last type Rover designed and the oil rail and coolant pipes and thermostat were done, their was no reason to worry whatsoever.

The K series engine is made form the same alloy that Merc use in AMG engines, Lambo, Ferrari and the rest use. The problem with the K series was that the cooling system was desinged in such a way that when the engine had warmed enough to open the thermostat, a load of cold water was dumped into the cylinder head. This caused thermal shock, expansion and contraction issues and the old style gasket was not up to it.

With the new style gasket, all should be fine, with the oil rail and new coolant piping and thermo set up, all will be fine. I would be surprised if it did not have the new cooling set up.

The viscous coupling unit can also go - but I would have expected it to be replaced by now. This is basically a central diff - and I shit you not - works by the input and output binding together by torque working on a plastercine like substance.

As I say, that should have been changed by now. Take some tight corners and listen for bangs or a tight feeling (like a 4X4 with no centre diff winding itself up). Try the same in reverse. The problem puts a load of stain on the rest of the transmission and adds damage to it.

If the general condition of the car is good, it has little to no rust and it passes the above tests, I would get it. If it is the 2l diesel even more so. If it is the 2.5 v6 how many miles has it done and when was the cambelt last done as that is a big job?

Basically, its a Rover. 2002 was the bad year for head gasket models as there was problems casting then, but if it is 10 years old, I would bet its fine or has had a replacement engine. I think LR did replacement engines under warranty but rover would not. You might have some niggles, switches that break and so on, but if you know a scrap yard with some 90's rovers in, most of the stuff is the same.

[Tarrel]

Freelanders consistently come out top in off-road capability among the "soft-roaders". Ensure you get one with the TD4 engine (which is most of them), and go for a five door for the luggage space.

If you want more capability in a road-friendly package, go for a Series 2 Disco. Immensely capable and loads of space.

If the reliability issues of Land Rover worry you, you could consider a Subaru Forester. Again, very capable off road and very reliable. The Kia's, hyundai's, etc. look nice but won't give you the off road capability of a Land Rover or Subaru.

I remember reading an off-road comparison test of soft-roaders once. The Nissan X-trail came out very well. Almost as good as the Freelander. No personal experience though.

[Geordie_Rob]

My dad has the petrol 5 door freelander & hasn't had a spot of bother in the 4 years he has had it. It's either 51 or 52 plate (sorry I'm not certain) & he pulls his caravan around the country & launches his trailer boat into the tidal river no problems with it. He hasn't gone off road as such but the road leading to his boat yard is a dirt track full of pot holes & it handles this no problem at all.

[Juice]

I have a Nissan Xtrail 2.2 Dci, very economical, lots of space, 2 ton towing capacity, six speed, good clutch control, nice drive.

If you want an auto, you have to go petrol for the early ones - the diesels give off to much torque for the auto box.

Notice how many there are on the roads; lots with high mileage - I wonder why...!

SCV - suction control valves do go but easy fix. DIY £100/£200 max
Turbos can have problems - do your research, Xtrail owners have a very helpful forum. DIY £5/600
Intercooler's leak - very easy fix DIY £300, see ebay for replacement/exchange.
Fuel pumps at the rear are exposed to the elements and can rust - easy fix.
The rear end floor is prone to rust - spray with engine oil/wax oil.
------------

Had a Freelander few years ago, nice cars
Viscus couplings go; you can tell when they are on the way by listening for tyre screech when going around an island/corner. Feel for tread pickup by running your hand over the tyres - the edge of the tread is slightly raised. Price in two new bearings when you have the coupling reconditioned or replaced.

I had a petrol and yes gaskets do go.
On diesels Td4 injectors have problems - BMW!

See here for diesel oil + two stroke oil
http://forum.survivaluk.net/showthread.p...885&page=3

Cheers Juice

[Straight Shooter]

i am with bowdrill on this one...2.8 pajero lwb (chain ) timing...it is a thirsty bugger ..but will go anywhere..but for everyday i could not afford to run it...BOV only ....but i do like to play...freelander i would NEVER buy..... defender is best so i am told.....even when i sale by em ..lol....pajero,s are the best buys for what you get for little money. had a xtrail..had a bad time with it (oil sensors ) nice truck and not bad on fuel..but i am back to the bitchy

[bigpaul]

I think if i was looking for a vehicle like this, i would go for an OLD farm type land rover, not a modern defender or whatever, stepdaughter had one and it cost a bomb in repairs-she's just sold it and bought a Subaru!! my favourite vehicle would be a Suzuki Carryvan (yes, i know its not a 4X4) 1300cc Petrol, large enough to get LOADS of stuff in the back, small enough to get down the Devon deep-deep lanes (if you've ever been to North Devon on holiday you may know what i mean)

[Titsonafish]

I purposely steered away from anything Land Rover due to their 'reliability issues'. I dont know if thats the case with the whole range, but My brother had a defender 90 and he was never done having to fix it. I have mates with various Discos, Defenders and even a range rover and they all have no end of hastles. After a LOT of reading I opted for Toyota. I had a Mk4 Hi-Lux 2.4 and it was the business...... never missed a beat. I now have a Mk5 but I would swap it out for a Mk4 again in a heartbeat. I want reliability and reasonable sturdyness and not TOO bad fuel economy (for a big 4x4 pick-up) and i think hi-lux gives you all of this (certainly the older ones do anyway). I had a land cruiser.... thirsty bugger as is the 3l hilux surf I have.
I know a lot of people with various L200s too and they have several issues that would stop me buying one. Turbos prone to blowing when pulling heavy loads regularly. VERY thirsty (compaired to hilux with same engine size). I know of three people who have had the clutches go on them. They just seem a bit 'soft' IMO.
Hi-lux Mk4 2.4 TD would be my choice.