Also nice walks in Far Forest at the top of Austens road

or if Bewdley is crowded a trip up river to Arley is worth a run up, only about 15 mins, nice (if a little scruffy) pub by the riverside

or if your feeling flush with cash take the Severn Valley steam train outing from Bewdley up to Bridgnorth

The walks are out for me Rog, arthritis in both hips now,
SWMBO is keen on the railway trip.....so maybe I can get her to treat me.  DAVE.

im starting to feel the effects of arthritis in lots of places too, the typical ex Army ailment

Met Austin (Bell Engineering) today,
Who took it for a test drive and diagnostic on the vibration I am getting,
So the answer is, it's not the PTU, Haldex or input bearing on the diff,
So as I was there I asked for a Haldex service, which was a surprise as
to how much the oil had degraded in 5 years!! so well worth doing.

Click image to enlarge

I had my 7 year service (at 54372 miles) and MOT at Main Dealer Guy Salmon Bristol.

MOT pass with just one advisory - Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement - Nearside Front Lower (front most bush. -- Garage advised me that no further action needed until next year.

Service Cost £740.83 inc Free MOT and Loan Car. Paperwork I received included check lists and full print out of my cars LR service History.

It seems that this will be my last free MOT. The car came with a transferable 'Guy Salmon Lifetime Free MOT Promise' sticker. Each year I have had to argue my case about my understanding of the word 'Lifetime'. This year, after being referred to top management, they would only honour it if they were allowed to remove the sticker. I was a bit annoyed about this as I believe a promise is a promise.

The drop off and collection, plus the Loan Car (21 reg Evoque TD Auto) hand over was very slick, and relatively quick.

I don't know why, but my car was not cleaned (normally -inside and out - included) and I have not got the normal Video Health Check yet. -- It is little extras like this that makes it normally worth paying the top dollar. ( I even had an oily hand print on my bonnet.

I will be able to tell them when I get the normal survey, and if not they will get an email asking why.

The Evoque seemed small and pokey compared with my FL2, not helped by a completely dark interior, including the roof lining. For me the seating position is too low and the windows like letter boxes, I was less confident threading my way through my local town traffic, as I could not see the 4 corners as you can in a FL2.

The although the instruments/infotainment system appeared impressive (3D Goggle Earth Sat Nav presentation), I missed my FL2's easily found, dedicated buttons. Finding function 'buttons' on the touch screen while driving seemed impossible.
If all modern car controls are like this, then there must be a need to take a co-pilot/navigator on the journey.

The harder suspension crashed and bashed a bit on our rutted town roads, and although the engine was much quieter than my FL2, there was still appreciable tyre noise/vibration at motorway speeds.

All in all, I am still pleased that I used the main dealer, although I think that post COVID they will need to bring back the little extras, (and perhaps my free MOT.

--- I don't think that the Evoque had the automatic collision avoidance fitted (or on?) as I had to brake exceedingly hard on the M5 from about 60mph, when a car about 2 cars ahead and travelling faster (in the outside lane), suddenly had some kind of failure and turned left across in front of a car just off my offside front wing (in the middle lane).
This car braked and came across into my lane, and somehow we missed the original car, which now appeared to be shooting towards the hard shoulder at right angles to us. All this happened in rush hour traffic and the last I saw of the offending car was it coming to a halt at the edge of the motorway in my mirror.
Luckily, I am unable to have to report how good the LR Loan Car Insurance is. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 79k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

I still have main dealer servicing and have a full main dealer history on my Nov 13 car. That said, non routine work goes elsewhere and I stopped using Guy Salmon for servicing in 2018 when they serviced my car and then MoT test failed it for ‘obviously worn rear discs (but luckily, they could fit new discs and pads and it would pass) despite the discs being perfectly serviceable at greater than 10mm all over. Until then i’d had three year servicing contracts with them too.

I think new car sales were in the doldrums at that time and the workshop was the primary income generator. I’ll not be going back to Salmon’s any time soon.

I took 6 Builders Bags of hedge trimings to the tip. 2 bags at a time would just fit in

Picked up a full set of genuine rubber mats for the Freeo.

$70 for mats in near new condition - bargain. Stored in a shed from the amount of dust and crap on them. Cleaned up great.


 MY11 SD4 SE Auto

Went to Independent Land Rover Services in Rossendale for new timing belt and water pump as well as service price was similar to the old LR fixed price menu for cars over 3 years old, well pleased .

Replaced rear discs/handbrake shoes & did a dump & fill on the gearbox. Three litres dropped out at ambient temp (22°C). put 3.5 ltr back in & drove it whilst monitoring g/box temp, got home at bang on 60°C fluid temp. Car perfectly level & remove level plug with it idling, .5ltr of fluid drained out.
Handbrake is not holding particularly well so will have another play with them tomorrow, especially as we are now in a weeks lockdown!  (Now Sold). 2008 Freelander 2 (Nazca Sand) SE TD4 Auto. Statutory write off & on WOVR for hail damage but still road legal.
171037Km as of 09/05/22
Superchips Bluefin Flash
Nanocom Evo II (also sold)

ozjeff62 wrote:

Picked up a full set of genuine rubber mats for the Freeo.

$70 for mats in near new condition - bargain. Stored in a shed from the amount of dust and crap on them. Cleaned up great.

Full set of rubber mats ???? what you, and a lot of people, haven't got is the extended rubber floor mat for when the seats are folded down. See photo below. these are like gold dust, even in the UK.

Click image to enlarge

Changed the haldex filter and oil. Hadn’t been done over the 170k by the looks of it. Unfortunately wasn’t able to get the pump off for a clean. Corrado VR6 Mystic Blue - Gone
Freelander 2 Orkney Grey

Finally made a start on fitting the twin lamp pod kit (LR004088) that I bought six years ago. Of course I’m only fitting it because I’ve decided to move it on after seven years of ownership.




 (Now Sold). 2008 Freelander 2 (Nazca Sand) SE TD4 Auto. Statutory write off & on WOVR for hail damage but still road legal.
171037Km as of 09/05/22
Superchips Bluefin Flash
Nanocom Evo II (also sold)

Hi, I fitted a set of these lamps, but I didn't remove the front bumper. All work needed can be completed from the outside of the vehicle.

Haha, removing the front bumper is the easy part, plus I needed to replace the broken L/H bumper bracket.  (Now Sold). 2008 Freelander 2 (Nazca Sand) SE TD4 Auto. Statutory write off & on WOVR for hail damage but still road legal.
171037Km as of 09/05/22
Superchips Bluefin Flash
Nanocom Evo II (also sold)