Big comfy cruiser - sub 2k

Freelander td4 - any good?

Well, after another thread on here, I've just thought of the mk1 freelander as a potential next car.

My needs are:
Comfort on long journeys and in town
Fuel economy
Fairly reliable or cheap-ish to maintain
Good "road presence" - sat higher on the road than a normal car
Ability to handle terrible roads with ease - speed bumps and potholes no problem with no knocks or bangs

I've seen a load of mk1s in swb/lwb form for 2k or even less - does anyone here have one that can comment? Thanks
 
The ones with the k series engines had a lot of headgasket problems. They were fixable with an uprated headgasket I think that was meant to sort the problem. I would have assumed most this sort of age will have had it sorted.
 
I can get on board with the Lexus suggestions. My GS300 with gas conversion has been both cheap and cheerful motoring. Be going soon, i'll be sad to see the old girl go.
 
Hi - think k series were just the 1.8 petrols? I'm after the diesel anyway which is a BMW unit if memory serves. I know the engine should be fairly tough and reliable it's just general driveability on the motorway and through town that is my main concern. I want comfort and a little luxury - so leathers would be nice.
 
Clarkey said:
Might ride good but surely you have to draw the line when you can't stand to look at it :eek:
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At £2k, for the kind of cars the OP wants, you're going to be left with sweaty dog balls of cars.

Ricochet J said:
The Saab 9-5 didn’t even cross my mind – I immediately wrote it off, as from images I hated the interior.

All of the cars I saw on the above list were completely shagged. They were dogs. Stains everywhere, dents everywhere, scratches everywhere, buttons missing, bits of trim missing here and there, spill stains on the seats (vomit maybe). It wasn’t an enjoyable experience.
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In fairness I have no issues with the interior now. It's perfectly fine for me.
 
I'd avoid like the plague tbh, my sister had a Freelander td4 from new and ditched it after 10 months after numerous breakdowns and failures, they went back to Land Rover a few years later with a new 15plate Discovery which was a dog, JLR agreed to a new 16plate after the numerous issues which again turned out to be a worse hound than the last one!

They have a 16plate X5 now.

Whilst you could argue they were unlucky, after their experience of a new one, I wouldn't entertain used, reliability and cheap to run these are not.
 
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Interesting, what would people suggest as a substitute at this budget? Sorry for the thread hijack but I am going to be looking at replacing my missus lupo with something much bigger with significantly better dog carrying capacity and minor off-roading ability.
 
I know three people with Freelanders. One of them treats their car as a workhorse and offroading car (raised suspension and proper off road tyres) the other two as a pure road car, kept in perfect condition and well looked after. None of them have had any major issues. I was quite impressed by just how capable the little Freelander is offroad too. It's lacking a low range box for the steep and slow stuff, but other than that it went everywhere the Defenders and my Sport went in the Dales and Moors.

I'm on my third Land Rover car at the moment and other than an embarrassing breakdown in the very first few days of ownership of the first car I haven't had a single issue since and would buy another without hesitation, especially over a fake 4WD like an X5.
 
I've driven a little 3-door diesel Mk1 Freelander a bit, borrowed from my father in law when one of ours was in for some work. It was certainly not worth much, less than OP's budget - probably £1k or so.

Did not enjoy it at all. Mrs Cheesyboy, on the other hand, rather liked it. It died from some terminal engine trouble 6 months later.
 
[TW]Fox;30050219 said:
I'm not sure I understand how an X5 is a fake 4wd?
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Quite. They're actually very capable off-road. Now sure, the only time you do see one off-road is when it's got two wheels up on the kerb outside a posh butchers but that's not the fault of the car ;)
 
Everyone I know who has had a Freelander had problems with it. They are nothing at all like the bigger/more expensive models, quality or driving wise.
 
mattyprice4004 said:
If you can ditch the 4x4 bit, a late Rover 75 estate diesel is a damn good car.
Lots of toys, BMW engine, pretty reliable on the whole.
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friend had one, i had a drive of it and hated it.

As i say, I want something with a higher seating position - I want to feel like im sat up higher on the road, have decent fuel economy and be in comfort. Im thinking X trail or FL TD4 and maybe nudging the budget to 2.5k.
 
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