I bought my Freelander 3 weeks ago from a LR dealership it will be 3 years old in September. I obviously test drove the car and loved it. I soon read up on the controls and was happy I knew most things about it, but then I started having issues with it driving.

3 days after getting the car my wife borrowed it as she needed the extra space so 5 seats I borrowed her mini that only has 4 seat belts. We planned to meet at a swimming pool. She arrived at the pool after her first drive in my car to tell me she had smashed it into a low wall hitting both doors and lower plastic valance.

Well with £500 excess insurance I chose to get a close friend and his garage to repair it for £850. Anyway after this I started having trouble driving. At traffic lights I was having to rev the car harder than I imagined normal. This went on for a week. I even completed a 1,5 hour drive pulling a trailer for my canoe club. After that week I just told myself I need to take it back to my dealer. I then calmed myself down and put my thought process on, went through a check list in my mind. What have I done that could have effected the car?

I then checked the 'terrain response knob' to see it was set in snow mode. I turn it to normal and hey presto, all is fine. I can only image my wife while looking for the air condition or radio volume control, turned this instead. Gee what a worry that was. I notice when I turn this terrain response knob it gives a display saying what it was set to, but after a few seconds turns off the display. Sure the light displaces at the appropriate position, but during daylight this was not very clear and I had no reason to drive a night where I would have seen it.

Another small issue I need to get my head around, is that the car is due for an MOT in September, but the LR garage got it MOT'd back in March exactly 6 months earlier, why would they have done this?

Never really had cause to use the terrain response apart from a little play about with it but doesn't it revert to 'normal' each time the car is switched off and restarted? Also, can't be sure but doesn't it also show what mode it is in on the dash display?
One other thing - if it was MOT'd in March, it won't need another MOT until next March. Can't understand why it was MOT'd 6 months early but it could have been for a buyer who wanted a years ticket on it and then pulled out if the sale. Did you have it HPI'd when you bought it? Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

The terrain response knob is just a switch, its position is not important as it doesn't "point" to a particular setting. Once you get up to about 30mph it switches off and should stay off until it is reselected (at a lower speed).

If it was indicating snow mode it must have been selected after the vehicle was last started. I didn't think it retained a particular terrain mode once the engine had been switched off.

For an MOT due date check here; http://motinfo.direct.gov.uk/internet/jsp/...equest.jsp GONE - '07 TD4 GS manual Zermatt Silver
LONG GONE - '55 Norton Dominator 99 SS cafe racer

TR mode is retained for up to 8 hours after the engine is turned off iirc.

I did have one occasion when the car started up in M&R mode for no apparent reason, but usually this would be obvious from the dash display and the lack of throttle response. If its happening regularly there's a problem somewhere.

Lesson learned never lend the wife your car. FL2 SD4 Metropolis Auto Santorini Black / ivory completely stock.

It's true that light travels faster than sound, some people look quite intelligent until you hear them speak.


Stop global winging.

The "turns off after 8 hours" thing can be a bit erratic. Sometimes it stays on. The snow mode doesn't self cancel at speed - I've accidentally left it on on the autobahn and it does adversely affect the accel, but I was doing about 60 before I noticed.
These things may vary according to model. Mine was a MY07. Ex AA Series III LWB Safari - Gone
300TDi Disco (bought new - terrible car) sent back after 18 months
Freelander 1 Estate - leased, given back at end of lease
200TDi Disco (bought from a mate with 100,000 on the clock) - Gone
Disco 2 TD5 - sold and exported to France
FR2 TD4 GS - Gone
FR2 SD4 HSE - Now changed for a DS
New model ex-demo Evoque S 180 in white
Unable to order a new DS, so gave up. Now have a Volvo S90 Recharge.

Iliacus wrote:

The terrain response knob is just a switch, its position is not important as it doesn't "point" to a particular setting. Once you get up to about 30mph it switches off and should stay off until it is reselected (at a lower speed).

If it was indicating snow mode it must have been selected after the vehicle was last started. I didn't think it retained a particular terrain mode once the engine had been switched off.

For an MOT due date check here; http://motinfo.direct.gov.uk/internet/jsp/...equest.jsp

I think the earliest you can MOT a car these days is one month?

Dealers used to always put a ticket on if less than 6 Months remained.

Think it all changed when it went digital.

You can MOT a car any time you like - every day if you wanted but that would be silly. The one month rule you talk of is the one month before the old certificate expires that can be added to the new ticket, effectively giving you a thirteen month MOT.
Dealers do not MOT a vehicle until it it is sold. If it didn't come with a fresh ticket and the MOT wasn't due until it was three years old, perhaps it was sold and returned for some reason? Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.