I knew there had to be a solution to the unavailablity of new commercial Freelanders. LR have not built them for over two years now.
A brand new GS sourced through Drive the Deal at list minus 9%. Stock vehicle unregistered 12MY. All parts required for the conversion available from our sponsers Duckworthparts. Job done two weeks to go.

Sponsor not sponser!

9% is a good discount! Anyone done any better? JT Upgraded to an ex demo, 7 mth old, Rimini Red/Ebony Napoli Auto HSE on 28th Jan 2011, added roof rails, mudflaps and side strips.
Gone - A great 57 Plate, Auto SE, Bought Feb 2009, Roof Rails and Mudflaps added on purchase. Blue colour, anything but drug dealer black.....

10% in July 11....

January this year got 10.6%, was 9% initially but got partial leather seats cheap.  2015 BMW
2012 Freelander 2 GS Red (gone)
2004 Discovery TD5 Landmark Silver (gone)
2000 Freelander XEDi Red (gone)
1996 Discovery 300TDi S Blue (gone)

Have you got it reclassified as a commercial for VAT purposes or ws it just the practicality that you wanted.

Just out of interest?

James

We will carry out the converstion ourselves using the prescribed LR parts kit. The vehicle will then not have rear seats, blanked out windows (plastic inserts on the interior side) and a bulkhead. We then reclaim the VAT in full and have the best 'van' ever.
Downside it can only ever resell as a van with VAT applied, but we will keep it in the company for at least 5 years. I have just relegated my Freelander 1 to a colleague which is a bona fide factory commercial. We can run that for at least another 2 years and still looks good.
Insurance on the origional FL1 is no issue as it is listed on the system by all companies, however initial inquieries on the FL2 are proving problematic as we may have to insure it as a 'modified estate carrying goods'
Unless anyone has any leads in this area?

A factory FL2 commercial should show as category N1 on the V5 - it would also qualify for the reduced RFL (£180?)and confirmed commercial status for VAT; whereas a passenger car would come with a V5 showing M1 - I assume there is a DVLA process to have it changed but can't imagine they make it dead easy!

I only know about the categories as I bought a 'commercial' D3 which had been fully converted from new but after it left the factory - however the V5 said M1 and it was never changed - the owner had treated it as a commercial for tax purposes but HMRC (after three years in!!) decided they were not happy about that and wanted the VAT & three years worth of benefit in kind repaying on the basis it was always a car not a commercial - as shown by the V5 category! On the pos side I got my D3 for a song as the owner simply wanted rid of it - that was about three years ago so maybe the rules have changed.

Another aspect to maybe consider (but only if you will tow) is that if you have a company owned vehicle and you tow with it - for hire or reward as part of your business - then I understand that VOSA now say you need a operators licence if the combined weight of the vehicle & trailer is 3500kg or more - not hard to exceed as FL2 is about 1800kg or so and has a tow capacity of 2000kg.

I'm no expert on all this - just what I have learned/heard along the way

Sounds like a cracking deal, maybe I could do the same, use my current Commercial for parts and fit the seats from the new one in it and sell as a car
Simples!
In fact I suggested that to a dealer and just got a blank stare and a shake of the head, no imagination

Also if you're towing you can join my Tachograph debate

hi,
I intend on using mine for work, but as I need the rear seats, I wont be doing the full conversion & v5,
but, I am / would like to obtain window covers for the rear boot , if you ever think of selling a set ...
as I will be stacking stock & tools right up to the roof..

sparkyfletch wrote:

We will carry out the converstion ourselves using the prescribed LR parts kit. The vehicle will then not have rear seats, blanked out windows (plastic inserts on the interior side) and a bulkhead. We then reclaim the VAT in full and have the best 'van' ever.
Downside it can only ever resell as a van with VAT applied, but we will keep it in the company for at least 5 years. I have just relegated my Freelander 1 to a colleague which is a bona fide factory commercial. We can run that for at least another 2 years and still looks good.
Insurance on the origional FL1 is no issue as it is listed on the system by all companies, however initial inquieries on the FL2 are proving problematic as we may have to insure it as a 'modified estate carrying goods'
Unless anyone has any leads in this area?

I believe the deal you can get very much depends on when you ask, My wife has just bought a Mercedes A class, she phoned up for a second hand one but the dealer said it had been sold, But hold on we might be able to do something, he came up with the same spec but brand new with a 25% discount provided we took it by the end of the month, the same price as the used one. They needed the sale to meet their target so we got a great deal. I think all dealers work the same.

Any pictures?

I would be great to see a Freelander that has been converted into a van.

I would love to but can't work out how to insert a picture  2012 GS Converted-
The Best Commercial by Four by Far