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im a defender owner thinking of converting to freelander what do i need to look for?

rickyrooo1

rickyrooo1

Overdrive!
hi all at the moment i drive a 2002 defender 110 td5 hard top county
after a change in personal circumstances i may need to come over to a smaller more car like landrover.
i will initially be looking to sell my defender or part ex it etc.
questions are what can i expect from a freelander mpg wise?
i would initially want a diesel because i have never had a petrol car but i wouldn't rule out the right vehicle if it was petrol
is it true the bmw engine is duff? is that the td4?
do i go for the old rover lump in the diesel?
are there any other varieties etc etc
what year/plate did what engine start/end is the petrol as bad as they say?
what is the major worry with these cars are they heavy reliant on electrical items like my td5?
or are they if i have an older one just like an old fasioned car easy to fix etc?
any help would be good as i've never been in one but don't want to give up on 20 years of landy ownership.
 
The petrol 1.8 is the duff engine,they have major problems with headgasket failure. The TD4 is what I have, and is generally regarded as the best engine with few engine problems apart from a few turbo issues. The old rover diesel unit is good and reliable from what I have heard. There are quite a few electrics in freelanders.
Would you want to take the freelander off road? If so there are various mods around for it and see www. mad-freelanders. org.uk for what they can really do!

Don't know much about the 2.5 v6 petrol but im sure doobreydog will be along soon to fill you in on that!
 
MPG for the TD4 is anything from 35-45mpg.
The BMW engine is the pick of the bunch, a truly lovely engine also used in the BMW 3 Series. Few prevalent problems with it and easily servicable by a DIY mechanic.
The L-series is simple, reliable and bomb proof but not so exciting.
The 1.8 petrol is the Rover K-series engine that has had a lot of bad publicity about head gasket failure in the Freelander/Rover 200, 400/Lotus Elise, etc.
There is also the 2.5 V6 which is probably the most fun on road but is also based on the K-series and is the worst for fuel economy. Possibly only available in auto?

The only other major varient is the "Sport" which is a lower, stiffer, more road-biased version of the later Freelanders.

Earlier versions have suffered well publicised transmission problems, usually due to the VCU (viscous coupling unit) seizing and then going on to damage the IRD (intermediate reduction drive, i.e. transfer box). Weaknesses were ironed out in later versions and problems are relatively easy to spot.

If you are a Land Rover fan then you will engoy the road manners, comfort and economy of the Freelander and it still "feels" like a Land Rover.

It's a smaller vehicle, but not much smaller than a Disco 1/2 and has way much more elbow room than the Defender. Very tall drivers aren't accomodated well. The boot is tiny.

Good as the Freebie is ... One thing is for sure ...

You'll miss the 110.

Cheers

Blippie
 
thanks so far guys,
so am i right in the way i've read this?
there are 3 diesel options in the freelander?
rover 2litre di....l series??
bmw
and td4 variant?
if so what reg years were all these from/to?

if so i'm not gonna worry about petrol...k series?? unless i'm desperate cos i've heard the head gasket thing before,but i guess if it's been done properly it's ok.

and yes i probably will miss the 110 but its 25-30 mpg is killing me and 2 seats is a struggle at the moment.
 
I have driven both TD4 (freebie) and the 2.0 TDI L series (MGzs) And i found that the TD4 was a nicer engine to drive with!

So if your going diesel I would certainly go for the TD4
 
true 25-30mpg is poo but thats what i get town driving and driving to and from work etc,once did a good run on mtorway never over 60 and got 34.5mpg.i guess its a heavy thing and being brick shaped is not a good thing..plus i do have a heavy foot lol:D
 
When I was looking I trawled the net for info on these cars. I looked at about every Freelander and Land Rover website I could find. Based on my findings I came up with the following conclusions on the different engine variants.

1.8 Petrol engine is lovely, quiet and smooth, but sadly destined to die at some point. Engine design is faulty and you may get away with a new head gasket but the steel liners eventually eat into the block and necessitate a new engine in the worse case scenario.

V6, similar tales of woe to the 1.8 Petrol engines.

Rover 2.0L diesel lump is a good reliable old plodder with a good reputation. Power, like any diesel, can easily be boosted up a bit, but it's still quite a noisy and crude engine. Simple as a diesel can be and good for mucho miles.

TD4, more powerful and refined but not a fault free reputation. Responds very well to tuning and this also makes the auto box work better.

I bought the 2.0L diesel as although fairly high mileage it was well specc'ed and had good service history. I would have gone for the TD4 but couldn't find anything worth having within budget. At no point would I have considered any petrol engined variant.

Overall these cars have a dreadful reputation. But when you start trawling the net you will find cases of happy owners. I found many cases of happy petrol engined owners who had never experience the expected problems, although to be fair I found a hell of a lot more that had! I finally succumbed to my wife's desire for one of these beasties and bought our one. Based on the Freelanders reputation I expect ownership will be a costly affair, but we are prepared to pay as it's a car "we" (stupidly ;) ) want to own.

To date we have been plagued by a vibration problem that no one can find and is tainting ownership, but I'll nail the problem eventually. Apart from that and a weird bearing noise which was cured by two new tyres, it's been ok, touchwood!

My Wife loves the car and finds it very comfortable. Being tall I find the steering wheel is quite far back, but I'm used to that now.

Biggest drawback on the FL is how small it is! I just never realised! My Wife's previous car was a MK2 Renault Scenic. This had much more boot space and generally speaking more room all round! If space is an issue look at one carefully first! My Wife struggles to fit a weeks shopping for a family of four in the boot space, although due to her love of the car she denies it's a problem.

Bottom line, no I don't regret the purchase so far. But I can't really enjoy the car until the vibration is sorted. If I pretend that has been then yes I like the car. As a Land Rover owner you'll forgive it a lot anyway and they are quite a refined ride compared to some of the other LR models, its much more car like. Feels more like a Jap car compared to my old Discovery! ;) :)
 
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taipin is your vibration problem only at idle or is it from the drive train? I had the problem with a vibration as did the LRO diesel freelander, and both cars have had an injector replaced which has cured the fault so that might be the problem

I have a td4 freebie and the only real problem apart from that is the fact my gearbox isnt perfect, it kinda 'locks' in 5th gear, i.e. when you come out of 5th after a long motorway run you have to knock the gear leaver over to centre it again as it wont self centre...very odd but prob just a tired spring or whatever but it does only happen when warm. No problem in any of the other gears
 
Jimny33 said:
taipin is your vibration problem only at idle or is it from the drive train? I had the problem with a vibration as did the LRO diesel freelander, and both cars have had an injector replaced which has cured the fault so that might be the problem

I have a td4 freebie and the only real problem apart from that is the fact my gearbox isnt perfect, it kinda 'locks' in 5th gear, i.e. when you come out of 5th after a long motorway run you have to knock the gear leaver over to centre it again as it wont self centre...very odd but prob just a tired spring or whatever but it does only happen when warm. No problem in any of the other gears
Click to expand...

Hi Mate

My vibration (more of a shudder now) comes in when driving between 1500-2000 rpms and peaks at 1750 rpms. More destails in this thread. Its not a unique problem as I know of 3 others that are suffering from the same problem/symptoms, with te added issue of a slight pull to the left? Sadly none of us have found a cure yet. I'm currently replacing engine mounts as these are suspect.

Taipan
 
Taipan said:
When I was looking I trawled the net for info on these cars. I looked at about every Freelander and Land Rover website I could find. Based on my findings I came up with the following conclusions on the different engine variants.

1.8 Petrol engine is lovely, quiet and smooth, but sadly destined to die at some point. Engine design is faulty and you may get away with a new head gasket but the steel liners eventually eat into the block and necessitate a new engine in the worse case scenario.

V6, similar tales of woe to the 1.8 Petrol engines.

Rover 2.0L diesel lump is a good reliable old plodder with a good reputation. Power, like any diesel, can easily be boosted up a bit, but it's still quite a noisy and crude engine. Simple as a diesel can be and good for mucho miles.

TD4, more powerful and refined but not a fault free reputation. Responds very well to tuning and this also makes the auto box work better.

I bought the 2.0L diesel as although fairly high mileage it was well specc'ed and had good service history. I would have gone for the TD4 but couldn't find anything worth having within budget. At no point would I have considered any petrol engined variant.

Overall these cars have a dreadful reputation. But when you start trawling the net you will find cases of happy owners. I found many cases of happy petrol engined owners who had never experience the expected problems, although to be fair I found a hell of a lot more that had! I finally succumbed to my wife's desire for one of these beasties and bought our one. Based on the Freelanders reputation I expect ownership will be a costly affair, but we are prepared to pay as it's a car "we" (stupidly ;) ) want to own.

To date we have been plagued by a vibration problem that no one can find and is tainting ownership, but I'll nail the problem eventually. Apart from that and a weird bearing noise which was cured by two new tyres, it's been ok, touchwood!

My Wife loves the car and finds it very comfortable. Being tall I find the steering wheel is quite far back, but I'm used to that now.

Biggest drawback on the FL is how small it is! I just never realised! My Wife's previous car was a MK2 Renault Scenic. This had much more boot space and generally speaking more room all round! If space is an issue look at one carefully first! My Wife struggles to fit a weeks shopping for a family of four in the boot space, although due to her love of the car she denies it's a problem.

Bottom line, no I don't regret the purchase so far. But I can't really enjoy the car until the vibration is sorted. If I pretend that has been then yes I like the car. As a Land Rover owner you'll forgive it a lot anyway and they are quite a refined ride compared to some of the other LR models, its much more car like. Feels more like a Jap car compared to my old Discovery! ;) :)
Click to expand...
hi mate,thakns for your very informative thread,i myself think the same as you i doubt i can afford a td4 unless its been abused or high miles are involved.i'm not fussed about the crudeness of the rover 2.0l engine as i don't intend to speed about,did that in my youth lol how many m.p.g do you get from the rover diesel? cheers rick.
 
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rickyrooo1 said:
hi mate,thakns for your very informative thread,i myself think the same as you i doubt i can afford a td4 unless its been abused or high miles are involved.i'm not fussed about the crudeness of the rover 2.0l engine as i don't intend to speed about,did that in my youth lol how many m.p.g do you get from the rover diesel? cheers rick.
Click to expand...

Hi Rick

MPG wise I think we worked it out at approx 35mpg when we first got it? My Wife is a slow driver though. We're no longer using it due to vibration issues so I couldn't give you a more recent figure.
 
Hi Guys.. New Owner signing in with a bit of a different opinion and my buying experiences..

I personally looked around at all the various options, and narrowed it down to 2 vehicles.. 1 a W plate Rover Diesel and an S plate 1.8. Both same spec and history, but the 1.8 was in better condition than the diesel.. The only real difference was the diesel was priced at £5795 and the 1.8 at £3795! £2k difference. Found a T plate diesel and that was double the mileage of the petrol, and still £500 dearer! so I immediately dis-regarded that based on the mileage..

So I worked out approximate costs...
Based on 400 miles per week, and MPG of 28 for the petrol and 35 for the diesel. At current fuel costs and servicing costs, it came out at £239.20 per year cheaper for the diesel, nothing in it really..

So off to the 2 different dealers to test drive them (I test drove the W plate diesel and the S plate petrol) and after test driving both of them at over various types of roads and a good run down the motorway (neither are particularly quick off the mark) the petrol felt a lot better and quieter at motorway speeds, and as thats where I spend most of my time I chose the petrol..

The petrol engine has taken some slating on most of the websites, but *cross fingers* i'm at week 4 of ownership and nothing has cropped up yet!
 
Depends on what you want to do with it??? My own (biased must admit) opinion for a good alrounder is 2.5l V6 with LPG conversion...Power to weight amazing ..fuel consumption equivalent to 45+mpg ... LPG eliminates HGF problems and keeps engine running cleaner...Auto only with manual mode that is far better than any other box ive used...Great on road, with a few mods even better off it.

If you are looking for a nearly new lifted Td4 with all the off road mods shout and will forward link. (Not mine but nice)
 
Mpg wise, we had a2.5 v6 for just over a year and an honest avg figure was 18 mpg. More on a steady run up to 25 mpg not really going over 70 with a light foot on acceleration. Strangly it could often feel quite gutless driven normally in full auto, lacks low down torque. We replaced it with a late model TD4 manual box, quite honestly we thought the fuel guage was broken in the first week ! Under the same use and conditions it returns 38 mpg without fail. Better bottem end power makes it easy and lazy to drive round town. hope this helps. Btw always check the electric sunroof works they often break cables and its a pig of a job to fix ! easily overlooked everything else, normal rules apply. cheers
 
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