Great all road 4x4 (Land Rover Freelander in general)

Member Name: Chris46

Product:	Land Rover Freelander in general
Date:	26/05/09 (295 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good off road, great load space, no major problems to report in later models

Disadvantages: Earlier models have problems, not a city car

Landrover Freelander 2L TD4 55' plate commercial. Cost £7999 + VAT

Having heard the bad press of the freelander i was very reluctant to even view this vehicle when my girl friend spotted this at our Local stratstone dealer. But it did tick all the requirements i needed for a work vehicle.

Good load space in the back. ( it doesnt differ in praticallity to my old Renault Kangoo van)

Able to tow a decent sized trailer. (towing weight 2000kg)

Good offroad reports

Looks the business

Great MPG, i had 38mpg off road ing and can get 41mpg if being ultra careful

And girlfiend liked it!!!

Oh and space for the dog!

Bad reports
Heard reports of head gaskets going, CV joint problems, leaks in the rear door area, IRD problems and hilldecent control issues etc etc.

On test driving, it drove well, like driving a car, other landrovers i had driven were very agricultural. But this, even though its a commercial, felt like drving car.

Anyway speaking to the sales man and reading through old offroading mags discovered that the TD4 engine was the best to have and if serviced regularly and if used for what its mean to be, (4x4/offroading) then alot of the reported problems can be avoided. So long story short the price had been reduced and it seemed the girlfriend was right. So i signed the dotted line and it was mine.

So two weeks later the freelander is running well, we had a few dealer issues to begin with. But they were sorted swiftly. So we're in cornwall and a green lane is calling so the girlfriend dog and i head out. The lane was worse than we expected as there were some rather large ruts which we didnt think we would get through it as we were still on standard road tyres. But I was surprised on how well the ol freelander coped.

We didnt even use four wheel drive, On the freelander for those who dont know it is two wheel drive all of the time until a wheel loses grip and spins it then sends the power from that wheel to the wheels with grip in order to get out.

Also even though the lane was badly rutted the suspension coped rather well and the ride wasnt that bad considering the state of the road.

Since then we have been greenlaning more and have uprated the tyre to grabbers, the best of both for road and off road driving. This time we were with other freelanders some standard some not a new Discovery and a defender 90. Well im please to report even though it was very rutted and muddy the freelander coped really well and hill decent control works brilliantly, It basically keeps the vehicle travelling at about 10 miles per hr using the brakes you dont have to touch any of the pedals. Oh and on the lane a defender done up to the nines recover gear and all got stuck and the Freelander had to pull it out.

i would recommend the Freelander to anyone but here a re a fee points to watch out for.

Rear seal leaks, the compartment in the boot were tools are stored sills up with water. The later models are a lot better than the earlier ones.

TD4 engine is the best to have avoid the early 1.8 unless the head gasket has already been done.

Keep the services up to date also a little one to remember the oil breather pipe can leak, if it does have it replaced asap.

To avoid problems with the IRD (Intermediate Reduction Drive) and the hill decent controls use them!! If they arent used or over used this is what causes the problems.

Fantastic in the snow and icey conditions the 4x4 kicks in when you lose grip. But to be honest it only lost grip once maybe twice in the bad snow in Feb. Girlfiend never missed a day at work.

Ok, so basically this motor is great is used what its deigned for as a 4x4 or so ive heard a good towing vehicle. If you want a 4x4 but have no intention of using it off road then this is not the vehicle for you, also if you want to use completely off road the this isnt the one for you either. But is is great if you do a bit of both like me. The early models have a lot of faults but from what i have found so far this has been sorted out by the later models such as mine.

i hope this review helps anyone who is thinking of purchasing one.

Summary: Great 4x4 if used as its meant to be!!

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