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[w3526602]

Hi,

Most of you will be aware that I have a Land Rover Freelander TD4. One previous (business) owner, full service history, a tidy car, But, it has developed what sounds like a transmission noise, but I can't work out where it's coming from, and the clutch is starting to slip if I give it too much welliy. I have not managed to make contact with my local LR specialist (recommended by Gibbo).

It has just stood in my front garden for several weeks, though I have no doubts that I could just climb in, and drive away.

I paid £2,000, with plastic (settled at the end of that month). If it was worth £2,000 then, it is still worth £2,000 ... apart from the clutch and noise (Perhaps one "hit" will solve both problems?)

What are my options?

OPTION 1. Just bite the bullet, and pay to have both jobs done. But as yet, I have no idea what that will cost ... but I would hate to finish up paying £4,000 total, for a truck worth £2,000.

OPTION 2. Trade it in against a new car. Probably affordable, though it might hurt, and I would be unlikely to get anything with 4WD, and room for 4 adults and Wilkie, at a price I'd be happy to pay.

OPTION 3. Just bite the bullet, and sell the Freelander for what I can and buy an interesting 4x2, like a one owner, FSH , exempt everything, SAAB 900i ... they do appear, frequently, for not a lot of money. But Barbara wrote off two such cars ... lorry undertaking on M4, then changing lanes too soon (the Supermarket eventually paid, when our insurers took them to court) ...  and ... Barbara turned the key, SAAB ran amok in reverse, wrote off itself, my Disco, and the van parked on the other side of the road. LV were wonderful.  But would I be provoking evil spirits in buying another SAAB?

OPTION 4.  Just put the Freelander into an auction, spend the proceeds, plus what I'm saving by not fixing the Freelander, and buy a cheap Disco?

Answers and/or suggestions in a postcard, preferably involving a 4x4, and preferably a Land Rover.

602 (Milton Keynes)

[Alan Drover]

602 I think you've got a soft spot for it. Why not find out exactly what's wrong and how much it will cost and then decide.

[Wittsend]

It's worth northing until it's fixed ....

Try putting it in "we buy any car.com" and see how little it's worth.

You'll get little as a part exchange.

A fully working vehicle will be far easier to sell and move on.


 

[Genem]

It's worth northing until it's fixed ....

Try putting it in "we buy any car.com" and see how little it's worth.

You'll get little as a part exchange.

A fully working vehicle will be far easier to sell and move on.

 

"We buy any car" do - but they offer below trade-in prices and then find reasons to offer even less on the day... Very much a last resort I'd say.  Best bet is to engage "patience" and get hold of that LR specialist garage to find out whats wrong and what they'll want to fix it.   

[Youngun]

Aren't Freelander (first gen) prone to a common fault with the viscous coupling in the 4WD system?
Usually resolved by dropping the propshaft out and running it FWD only

If that works, I'd fit a new clutch and keep truckin' 

Neal

[w3526602]

Hi Neil,

Soft spot? We considered buying a Freelander when they first came out (wouldn't have been impossible, but might have been an effort), but were put off by the access  problem, having to dislocate vertebrae Nos 1&2 to get my head under the rain channel ) I have a long back and short legs.  I might have shrunk a couple of inches since then.

My first love is an S1 88" with s2 or S3 underpinnings.

Sensible soft spot? Probably a Disco diesel, but prices seem to have gone up since Barbara destroyed my last one.

I was quite impressed with my present Freelander ... it pulled well, started instantly, stayed with the traffic, wafted round Milton Keynes' roundabouts, and exceeded 30mpg. Tidy condition, inside and out.

Will my insurers live with me disconnecting the drive to the front axle? Am I risking anything by asking them?

The only time I'm likely to miss 4WD, is in snow. But if I can make my way from Croydon to Eastbourne and back, every evening, in a 1959 Singer Gazelle convertible, to visit Barbara and our brand new daughter, in 1967, when the South Coast was cut off by snow, I guess I can manage three miles each way, into Milton Keynes.

I'll ask.

602

602

[w3526602]

I'd at least get the recommended garage to have a look at it first.

Hi Paul,

Sound advice.

I will try, once again, to make contact with the suggested garage ... I have tried emailing, and telephoning, but got ...
 
... "No answer!"  was the stern reply.

I drive into Bletchley most every day, so Wilkie can have his walk (and Grandson earn some pocket money), but I'm reluctant to leave Barbara for longer than necessary. I have driven across Arabia with more confidence than driving down the back lanes into Whaddon. All the road signs point to places I've never heard of. It's probably time to test my Xmas prezzy Sat-Nav.

602

[RobS]

If you want something economical (doesn't sound right in the same sentence as 4x4) you might want to consider a Suzuki Swift Allgrip, we've had one (well 2) for the past 5 years, great in snow / ice (far better than my Countryman All4) it has 5 doors, access is good as my mother in-law could get in it easily enough, she has / had limited mobility (totally knackered now as she's got long Covid). The best bit is they do 53 mpg (petrol) and the later models are hybrid - best little car I've owned for a long time.

[w3526602]

Hi Whoever (my PC screen is playing up, and refuses to centralise, so I can't see your name. I understand there is a new lap-top in the post)

There is a Zuke dealer two hoots and a holler up Watling Street, so I will take a run out (leaving Barbara unattended) to see what you are talking about. I suppose we could always trade in her Hyundai IX20 (close on 30 months old, about 3,000 miles from new) ... tell her the Zukle is hers, she likes lots of toys. No promises, mind.

Can she still get into a car? Dunno! She has been unable to exit the house since the day before "lock-down" started, apart from one aborted attempt to use a Mk.1 ramp, and one successful attempt on a Mk2 ramp (about 600mm longer, so less steep, than the first), but not since. She would be unable to access most houses, including our daughter's house.

I will try to persuade her to come to a pub-meet, when they resume. I understand that the Three Cedars is wheelchair friendly.

602

[w3526602]

Hi again,

A quick Google reveals the Swift is available NEW as as a 5-door, auto, hybrid, for something over £15,000. Can it tow? 

No mention of 0% finance, nor scrappage (Freelander)

I will investigate.

602

[w3526602]

Hi,

Yesterday, following Barbara's orders, I had the Freelander collected by the local Land Rover specialist, with instructions to replace the clutch, and sort out the strange (to me) transmission noise. (it sounded like the exhaust hitting the chassis when under power, and cruising, but not on a trailing throttle),

Our builder (also called Dave Gibson) came in, removed the uPVC front door and side window, moved it forward about two inches, so it could drop down the front of the red tiled step a couple of inches, then "nailed" it in place. The object was to lower the height of the bottom frame (found on cheap replacement doors), so Barbara does not have to go UP three inches, before dropping the same three inches plus six inches down to the next available step. I doubt that she will be able to walk out, seeing as she can'r walk anyway, but it has virtually eliminated the short steep ramp (1:4?) from the hall to over the frame.

I also received a letter from the Eye Clinic, saying that there is not a (diabetic) problem with my retina.

All in all, a productive day.

602

[diffwhine]

Judging by your description, it sounds like your Freelander is suffering from one of several possible very common faults. The rear diff mounting bushes can collapse a thumping sound on acceleration as the differential moves against the failed bushes. Incidentally - Mr Pedantic here again, but technically it doesn't have a chassis - its a monocoque with fore and aft subframes. - hence your bush noise as a possibility. Others are things like the rear prop shaft carrier bearing breaking up - again a rubber mounting.
Hopefully it won't be the financial haemorrhage you probably anticipated, but watch the costs on the clutch - does it definitely need doing?

[w3526602]

Hi,

I dropped in on the garage that are looking at my Freelander, spoke to the Proprietor's sister ... who seemed to have Executive Authority, only to find she had spoken to Barbara by telephone, only a few minutes before I arrived.

To fit a new clutch, and call in a specialist to fix something or other in the gearbox (or thereabouts, I didn't know what she was talking about). £1,500.  I said "Do it!".  (My dinner wasn'tt in the dog when I arrived home).

Should I tell you this? The yard outside the workshop was full of very dead Series, but I didn't try to work our which models, other than I didn't see any S1s.

We've instructed our builder to lay a brick drive across our front garden, from the existing drive to the dropped "invalid buggy" dropped corner. That's about 9m wide, with the track being 2.5m wide, but laid the other way. I'll drive in across the corner, and exit through the existing gateway. That way nobody can say it's dangerous.

Is Gibbo able to comment on the strength of the footpath adjacent to a wheelchair crossing?

602

PS Does anybody know how small a gap that a cat in a hurry can get through ... but a Jack Russell can't? If I need to have a gap between my house wall, and a gate/fence post, I might as well make the gap a useful width.

602

[Gibbo103]

I’ll try and pop in one day next week. Dave

[w3526602]

I’ll try and pop in one day next week. Dave

Hi Dave,

You will be most welcome to come and view our Rift Valley.

Our Irish builder, with a degree  (also called Dave Gibson), has dug a shallow trench,  about 2.5m wide, across the front garden, from the drive to the corner next to the "wheel chair" accessible dropped kerb. The drive will be brick paved. The area on the blind side of the bungalow will be fenced (2m high), probably with double gates, just in case, but for the foreseeable future, it will be Barbara's "tub garden".

Er ... my Freelander has been with Cowley Garage for two weeks now. I assume there is no need to worry?

HTH

John.