chicken george wrote:

Im not wrong in saying that the diff can be dodgy and it certainly isnt the tow proof diff, that people often assume they are getting when they buy a 4x4

apparently the diff reliability depends on its construction ,who tightened the bearing up , to what torque and was it Fri afternoon, hence varible results and some diffs lasting whilst being abused by heavy caravan loads.


not so much of a boulder on my shoulder, just facts , extra loads cause more wear tear on already slightly suspect diffs clutches DMF's

SakoQuad wrote:

I have a 2010 pre face lift XS auto with roof rails and tow bar - sadly no leather seat upgrade though! I tow a 1350kg van.

Looking at MPG posts on here the differences between the 2010 and 2011 are small and could easily be equalled by tyre choice and pressures, driving style, journeys done etc so not sure if bothering too much about. Later models again have a significant difference it seems to me. I get 30 - 32mpg normally and around 25 - 26mpg towing. You are talking about a Td4e which I imagine should give a better consumption figure than mine however.

The 2011 has the DPF I believe and that according to some can be a pain though the £40 reduced tax must help to compensate.

I've driven mine some 20k in two years and love it. Towing the van is a breeze and easy to forget it's there.

Tempting fate I know but so far it hasn't dumped any of the big stuff on me like Diff failure and long may it remain so. FSH and one previous owner might be a clue that the one you are looking at is a good 'un, three previous owners might be a clue in the other direction!!!!!

My personal view would be to buy the car that has the spec you want, with as low a mileage and as few owners as possible with a FSH that reads right and a list of repairs and replacements that is short. With luck it won't be a Fri pm or Monday a.m. car. I personally wouldn't be too bothered about the pre / post face lift question, both models have their issues and good points.

Whatever you decide good luck and happy driving

Thanks for the info.

I have had a look through the first 10 pages of the MPG thread and I have to say that, taking an average of the posted figures, the pre vs post facelift MPG's are 38 vs 39 respectively. Not very scientific but a reasonable indication. The annual road tax of £45 difference is of little consequence. I plan to keep this car for a number of years so long term costs (MPG) would become a consideration.

The car I am looking at is an ex demo with only one other owner with full LR service history and 46K on the clock. There are receipts for work (servicing) but I have not seen them. I have also managed to speak to the previous owner who said it had been a good car, which is substantiated by the fact that he has replaced it with another Freelander.

The provenance of the car is not really in question, just whether waiting for the slightly newer model would be better.

I have struggled find a newer car with the spec for the available money. I have a second test drive tomorrow so if it all goes OK then I think I have to go with this one........ I think......

or Tiguan

Call me jaundiced but although I really like the FL2 when it's working, my family have had 4 FL2s and 3 of them have had significant (different) problems in the last 3 years.

throttle body
2 x gearboxes
rear diff
haldex
clutch
front drive shaft
2 x power steering reservoir
hesitation
2 x going into reduced performance mode

All cars less than 50k miles and had a service history and 2 were LR approved.

Apart from that they are brilliant

Unnecessary quote removed

Stories like this worry me, three out of four cars having problems. To be fair, we tend to only hear of problems on forums, people tend not to post about how everything is going really well. However, when I am planning to cough up 19K these stories do not help to inspire confidence.

It helps, though, that I will have the 2yr LR warranty if I purchase.

Surprisingly the first one we bought (at 60k) 08 reg from an independent dealer ran to 100k miles with hardly any problems. The next (10 reg) was bought with just over 30k miles 3 years old from small garage and proved an expensive nightmare after the 3 months warranty ran out so a year ago we traded it in and got 2 LR approved FL2 with 2 year extended warranties. Both of these have been back for a variety of warranty jobs. As I said before I really like the car and its brilliant on and off road but my son (whose job depends upon having a reliable vehicle) will not have another. I am retired so not such a problem for me. Whatever happens get a good warranty.

PS I don't thing the problems are towing related, cars 1,3 and 4 had tow bars which we removed on delivery.

Unnecessary quote removed

The warranty you have, was it the 2yr warranty that was supplied by the LR garage? If so, has it proved to be a good one, covering all the issues you have seen?

Yes it's the LR extended warranty with assist. With a LR approved vehicle you got 1 year and I extended it for £290 for the second year as part of the deal. I get the car serviced at the same dealership and they have always been positive and helpful. The dealership has been very good, supplied courtesy cars (varying form a Peugeot 208 to an FL2 and an Evoque) never any discussion about paying for diagnostic work etc which some have reported. Can't fault the dealership (Yeovil).

I had a 2010 td4.e with stop start.
It was by far the most economical freelander
I ever owned. 40+mug was a reality.
Now I have a 2013 sd4. It's terrible on fuel.
22-33 Mpg. 

I have a 2008 I bout as a approved used car 43000
I now have close to 70000 miles, no problems
That I have not asked for,

Thanks to all who have taken the time to reply and post your opinions, I am off to look at it again today.

The comment has been made that the reverse gear on the FL2 is quite high which can lead to overheating the clutch when reversing with a trailer/caravan.

Can anybody confirm if this is a problem with all FL2's, or only pre or post facelifts? In other words is the gearbox the same?

Thanks
Mark

I was told that manual gearboxes are the same except for those with stop/start which have a neutral sensor.

as for the reverse ratio I don't know the actual numbers but manual FL2s (and FL1s) have a very low 1st gear to make up for lack of low ratio. So by comparison reverse may seem a bit "high"

If I was you I would go for an SD4 - after driving both the TD4 and SD4 I was hooked on the SD4. The TD4 is a fine car but the SD4 had me really smiling! I was recently quoted £16000 for my 2011 SD4 GS with 24k miles on the clock against a new Metropolis so I would have thought with your budget you could get something like this.
As for MPG if you are that concerned about the fuel consumption why buy a 4x4, especially a Freelander? I average 30MPG, doesn't seem to matter how a drive it, but I don't care one bit! For an average mileage it will cost you about £200 extra per year over something that does 40 MPG. Given that it probably costs about £3k-4k per year to own a Freelander this extra cost is irrelevant. Eg a 4th years service is costing me £417(with discount).
Just buy one and don't worry about Fuel Consumption...you will love it!

Just to add a small observation if I may ..
I just got a 60 plate facelift TD4 GS, with 55K on clock, my first FL and first ever diesel. It had one owner since new and serviced by the LR dealer each year.. and they told me they had no problems with it when i checked its history.

It is the base car with no tow bar or rails, so no towing. So perhaps reliability depends on style of driving as always, whether towing or playing off road in mud... plus proper servicing, although with bills of £460 each time I am not looking forward to the next one.

As to mpg.. my first 4x4 was a RAV petrol and I only ever got 24mpg round town with 30mpg on a motorway run. My Focus 1.6 petrol I just stopped using would give 33mpg average so i expected better with the new eco diesel FL.. but was shocked at 30mpg the first week, then got 42mpg on a country drive using a very light driving style.. so early days but now averaging as others at 38mpg. It is def not a town car if you want economy... but certainly users on here seem to love them and prepared to bear the cost of running.

Hi all,

Well after all the above I test drove the pre facelift 60 plate and really was not entirely happy. Something was bothering me.

I then went to look at a post facelift 62 plate XS with full leather for more money and loved it. After stretching the financials I have put a deposit down on it. Phew!

Thanks again for all your help.

Mark

Hope it all goes well. I'm on my third Freelander (one FR1, a TD4 and now an SD4) and they have all been great cars. 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.