# Freelander TD4's



## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

now, mr brother is after one, his mate is a freelander mechanic, so he told him not to buy one wthout a full service history, his budget is around £3500 - £5000, now looking around, there seems to be a few good examples, so far we have looked at 8, and each one seems to have something wrong with them, the first one we saw was a beauty, hardly a mark on it, started it up, ticked over ok, however, the traction control light was on, and the hill descent light was on, and for some reason i said to him to put his foot on the brakes, and there was no brake lights. also the rear door seal had gone as the rear tool kit well had water in it

chap said "thats all right, we'll get it all done, shall we do a deal?" :wall:

all the rest were like some service history, one rear passenger window upright divider rusted through.

the best was the first, condition wise, interior was almost immaculate, seats looked like they had hardly been sat in, but of course the electrical stuff was a worry.

that one was £5000, so what we were wondering is, should we offer the full £5K *IF* they got the electrics sorted at a Landrover garage, with a proper paper invoice so if it went wrong again, we can go back to the landrover garage which done the work?

dont trust the garage where it is to do a proper job, and feel they would just bodge it for a sale


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## Kiashuma (May 4, 2011)

I would think if the electrics were fixed then they would be covered for a period of time.

I has this sort of issue when I got the Santa Fe. It was from Halifax and when I bought it the cruise control didn't work, as part of the deal I wanted this fixed along with the timing belt done. When car was delivered he had forgotten to fix the cruise, so it was put into a local Hyundai garage (who washed it with a brush  ) and it was repaired and covered under warrenty for 12 mths.

My dad has a TD4, I was looking for one but could not find a good one for the money, so got the Santa Fe instead.


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## Guitarjon (Jul 13, 2012)

Hi mate I have recent experience of td4 ownership. 

I bought the 2001 version though. To cut a long story short, needed a cheapish car to run around in as current car was on finance and I got made redundant. Anyway, with redundancy money I had 2.5k. Much budget for the car was initially 1800 but I upped this to 2k if I found one in really good condition. 

I ended up with a 2001 td4 auto which in all fairness was one of the best I looked around. I looked around about 10 and started to give up. The one I had looked a little worn inside but I had started to replace these parts bit by bit. The outside was good and mechanically sound. 

I did have a few problems though mainly electrical problems. I serviced it and I don't think t had ever been serviced but this is probably due to the owner not the car. 

A lot of them leak, a lot of the electrics go funny. The td4 is the best engine but the auto box is painfully slow. They are called a hippo for a reason as the roll like one. 

I had it for about a month and got rid, I lost a bit of money on it as I had spent a few hundred getting it almost up to good condition and serviced, spent two days detailing it, taxed it and put a stereo in. Whoever got it got a good car. I got back the 2k I bought it for though just not the bits.

So I'm not saying dont get one but I am saying tread carefully, check all electrics etc and check for water tightness.


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## Guitarjon (Jul 13, 2012)

Oh ad many 4wd systems have broken so check that it hasn't been converted to fwd as this could be a sign its broke, some people do remove the 4wd to save mpg though. Surprising how many sellers didnt know they only had a fwd car at the time thou.

Also if the 4wd system is starting to go it costs a lot of money to service those parts.


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## SteveTDCi (Feb 8, 2006)

The brake lights/tc/descent button is jst the switch on the pedal, dads went ages ago. He run his for 10 years and 40k, it cost him just the switch, a battery and the rear passenger window needed the cable replacing which was £10 from eBay. 

Not the quickest thing and the mst fuel efficient but he liked it and swapped it for the freelander 2.


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## SteveTDCi (Feb 8, 2006)

http://www.regentcarsales.com/used-...t-station-wagon-5dr-tonbridge-201306277518494

That's his old one, it was px'd in Peterborough at marshal land rover, he got 4k for it.

Look out for viscous coupling units, they tend to go first, if not they take the transfer box. Rear diff mounts go to. The biggest weakness is the bmw engine, but it's like everything in the world of the Internet, you only hear the bad.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

SteveTDCi said:


> http://www.regentcarsales.com/used-...t-station-wagon-5dr-tonbridge-201306277518494
> 
> That's his old one, it was px'd in Peterborough at marshal land rover, he got 4k for it.
> 
> Look out for viscous coupling units, they tend to go first, if not they take the transfer box. Rear diff mounts go to. The biggest weakness is the bmw engine, but it's like everything in the world of the Internet, you only hear the bad.


yeah, he knows about the faults related to them :thumb: so he knows what he's up against, im sure the BMW deisel is the same as i had in the Rover 75 taxi, properly serviced should be a sound engine :thumb:

was your dads a good one? as that one looks great :thumb:


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## Guitarjon (Jul 13, 2012)

Yes it's the same as the rover 75. Pretty good engine in all fairness, its the rest. However, a lot of people will tell you not to bother. I half want to say it but I got rid just because it wasn't really me and I decided to stick with the nimble 2 seater sports car.


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## CoOkIeMoNsTeR (Mar 6, 2011)

I've got one and I love it, the mrs drives it daily and ours has 162k otc now and goes like a trooper. Some people don't like the BMW diesel, but I think it's the engine to have and I'd get an auto next time as they are better geared for off road and the clutches aren't a strong point.

Chances are the hdc/tc light will just be the brake pedal switch, it'll be no biggie. Water in the boot is common, it's not a Land Rover unless it leaks :doublesho Watch out for the Intermediate reduction drive/viscous coupling fault, on the test drive find a good sized, quiet roundabout and boot it, if the steering wheel shakes violently, the system is on its way out, expect a £2k bill to fix, or just remove the rear propshaft, so make sure that is still connected and you should be away :thumb:

Here's mine





It's the top spec ES Premium model with full cream leather, sat nav, heated bums, the lot :argie: Its an 03 plate BTW :driver:


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

he'll like the look of that ^^


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

im liking steve's dad's old one


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## Kiashuma (May 4, 2011)

/\ me too, there was nothing of that standard about when i was looking, all buckets at mega miles for 6k


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

Should be looking at it tomorrow


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## PaulN (Jan 17, 2008)

I’ve still got my Sport. Had it from new and imo it’s a nice motor, I have a little problem currently with an intermittent start up, it’s the start motor solenoid, but hoping to have that fixed tomorrow.


I don’t understand why someone posted the bmw td4 engine has the most problems.... errr 1.8 petrol or stinkers.


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## andystevens (Dec 12, 2011)

I had a 1.8GS 3 Door Hardback from new in 2001. I liked the car though it had a few minor niggles that never got sorted. 1.8 is woefully underpowered in the FL1 but I had the very same engine at the same time in a new MG ZS120+ & that was excellent.
The TD4 is the best in ecconomy etc but in the Rover 75 the fuel pump/s (BMW item) are very unreliable.
The KV6 auto is the nicest one to drive.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

andystevens said:


> I had a 1.8GS 3 Door Hardback from new in 2001. I liked the car though it had a few minor niggles that never got sorted. 1.8 is woefully underpowered in the FL1 but I had the very same engine at the same time in a new MG ZS120+ & that was excellent.
> The TD4 is the best in ecconomy etc but in the Rover 75 the fuel pump/s (BMW item) are very unreliable.
> The KV6 auto is the nicest one to drive.


Hmmmmmmm, not sure about the fuel pumps problems, although I have heard about both sometimes failing, I however, only ever changed the one under the bonnet in all the miles I had her (the 75 that is). is it the same fuel pump set up in the LR then?


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## CoOkIeMoNsTeR (Mar 6, 2011)

Think so, my underbonnet one has failed and was replaced, it does happen, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. I think I paid £250 odd for mine last year, and that was from LR :doublesho

Fitted it myself though...


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

If its the same design, was quite easy to do IIRC, paid £140 ish I think through ECP, there was a cheaper one but I didn't want to risk it, and it was fine, no problem after that


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## roscopervis (Aug 22, 2006)

Get an X-Trail. Seriously, much better cars.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

Too late, the quest is over, he's got Steve's Dads old one :thumb:

Could well be a thread about it at some point soon


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## SteveTDCi (Feb 8, 2006)

Wooohoooo


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

makes a heck of a difference when someone knows a bit of history to the car.

cant wait to get my cleaning kit onto it :detailer:

:lol:


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## andystevens (Dec 12, 2011)

roscopervis said:


> Get an X-Trail. Seriously, much better cars.


On road maybe but I doubt if they are off road. The FL1 wasn't without it's faults (like most cars) but it was the best selling 4x4 in Europe so it can''t be that bad & was very capable off road.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

Ended up covering 222 miles yesterday, and it was the 10th one we'd seen


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## roscopervis (Aug 22, 2006)

andystevens said:


> On road maybe but I doubt if they are off road. The FL1 wasn't without it's faults (like most cars) but it was the best selling 4x4 in Europe so it can''t be that bad & was very capable off road.


Just generally as an ownership proposition.

If you were looking for a proper off roader you would choose neither, though both are surprisingly good off road. The right tyres help a huge amout it has to be said.


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## CzechRich (Jul 25, 2008)

Nice looking, but generally quite unreliable and expensive to fix.

The BMW diesel is a bit rough, and can have problems with blown turbos and inlet manifold flaps being ingested wrecking the engine, have a look at the 3 series section on www.bmwland.co.uk

Water in the boot is common, and back door windows dropping out.


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