buying a Volvo is the beginning of the end - everyone who I know who has one loves them and says they'll never buy another car from anyone but Volvo EVER again!

When Alfa's break it is generally a bit of trim comes loose which can easily be pressed back in. When the Deutch cars break it's MEGA expensive as it's the mechanicals gone awry!!!

Buy more dogs to fill the boot up

Volvo = quite nice cars these days in the smaller hatchbacks/estates but still have the 'sensible old man with pip and slippers' image

Alfa = the newer ones interiors are like Toys 'R' Us kiddies cars the plastics are that cheap

Audi/BMW/Merc/VW - nice but overpriced as the build quality and reliability are no better than Ford/Vauxhall etc but repairs and spares costs are huge by comparison

More dogs = nice option but not one that I can really fit in as the kids are on the way to their own lives so no one to look after new dogs while Im at work earning the money to pay for a rear diff

Surely a rear diff is going to cost less than a new car? Assuming you need one at all, that is.

I couldn't give up my FL for an 'ordinary' car - no way!

That's what concerns me now, going back to a relatively ordinary car. No more command seating, no more people getting out my way as Im a Land Rover driver

I just need anywhere near the space the FL2 has

I need to check my tyres this weekend for pressure etc, as it may that causing the droning and I need to have the tracking done as its a little off. So ill hold off until after then at least.

I think im just having a big dip in confidence on it since paying out a small fortune this month on it and still money to spend, with no warranty safety net.

I know this is getting off topic, but talk of Alfa's was bring back memories

back in the day............(about 1980) I had an Alfa Sud Sprint Veloce from new. What a car!! Fun to drive, fast for the time and fantastic handling

Unfortunately countless minor electrical faults. One I remember in particular having arrived home, switched of the ignition, got out, locked the doors and was about to leave when I noticed the engine was still running. Got back in, keys in ignition etc but couldn't stop it, so stalled it in gear and called the dealer!! After a service, it ran sweet as a nut for a few days and would then gradually start to go "off" tune. When I sold it 3 years later, the body was covered in little rust "blips"..........are there any Alfa Sud's still on the road??

Different times I suppose!!

Steve

A droning noise may be something or nothing. I have a droning noise which sounds just like a wheel bearing just starting to fail, except that it disappears the moment I take the summer ATs off and put the winters on.

Do you have Wranglers by any chance - they're known for getting noisy as they start to wear. Others report that if it's the diff bearing it will tend to get worse quite rapidly.


I'm another ex-Alfasud owner. Great little car, and I never had any trouble with mine - nothing I couldn't fix in a few minutes anyway. But one could just about sit and watch the rust eating it away!

english yeoman wrote:

buying a Volvo is the beginning of the end - everyone who I know who has one loves them and says they'll never buy another car from anyone but Volvo EVER again!

I previously had a Volvo V50,thinking it would be my forever change to Volvo ownership.Engine was a 2.4 five-cylinder diesel with auto box with 185bhp - hardly a pipe and slippers car performance-wise.But,it was a Ford Mondeo under the skin,afterall.It wasn't as reliable as I thought.
I appreciate your dilemma,because ,as retirement looms(3 years),I can't see anything out there that matches the Freelander,for reasons that have been mentioned previously.

I've been through the same dilema. Love my FL2 but had some unpleasant issues with it. Thankfully all sorted under extended warranty but still dents confidence.

I decided to renew the warranty and just enjoy the car. Still love it and will accept that the costs of changing car are likely greater than the next failure will be. Hopefully. FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - so many issues
2019 DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental
Now greatly regret selling the Outlander. MPG of the FL2 is atrocious and so are the fuel bills. Fun though 😎
Couldn’t afford the fuel bills so back to an older Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Significantly better than I remembered it to be…

I look back at my FL pretty much every time I walk away, so Im pretty sure any plans to change her should be shelved.

The FL2 ticks so many boxes for me, its just that I no longer have need for such a large motor. (I didn't appreciate just how big they were until I got ''relegated' to the back seat while my brother drove it and my son called shotgun before me

IF I was/am going to change then the only car Ive really short listed is the 2.0 CDTi Astra GTC but it has to be in the right spec and there aren't really any around at the minute that suit.

As for the droning noise, Im running on Grabber AT with 9mm tread still on them all round so would expect more noise than a road tyre regardless. I'll check all the pressures and wear patterns over the weekend to rule them out. Wheel bearings were all checked on service/MOT last month.

The droning does worry me in case it is something expensive like the diff, and when I accelerate from 55 -70 in 6th gear I get a lot of vibration through the seat/chassis (which it has always done but I hoped the DMF change would cure that)

In theory I dont need a 4x4 at all. But sod it. You only live once and it isn't really that much more expensive to run.

As for the drone, I had the same and it turned out to be the transfer box, which is a stupidly expensive part, at least at a main dealer. £2500 after parts and labour. Thank god for warranties! FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - so many issues
2019 DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental
Now greatly regret selling the Outlander. MPG of the FL2 is atrocious and so are the fuel bills. Fun though 😎
Couldn’t afford the fuel bills so back to an older Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Significantly better than I remembered it to be…

mine is 7 years old, with no extended warranty, and Ive just had a nasty experience with an after market warranty company ripping me off.
So any repairs come out of my pocket


does anyone have a clue what droning and vibrations accelerating in 6th at 50-70mph could be ?

RogB wrote:

Im running on Grabber AT ...

cheers Pab that helps quite a lot actually. My last FL2 also vibrated at the same speeds but that was on Maxxis road tyres that were fitted by LR dealer.

I do tend to drop it to 5th most of the time to avoid the vibration but wasn't sure if this could be accepted as relatively normal. 5th is a much better gear for the A/B roads that I mostly drive anyway, and on the commute up/down the A1 for 20 miles 6th is only rarely maintainable at those speeds due to volume of traffic and idiot car drivers

As previously said, I will check all pressures are at 32 all round this weekend and take it from there.

Cheers for all the pointers/advise/comments guys, you have pretty much made my mind up for me