Trader Dreamer: Land Rover Freelander I

To say the Evoque has been well received is a bit of an understatement, from what I've been reading it has fantastic looks, it isn’t bad to drive and it has all the premium image you could want for. Thing is, the price is pretty premium too, kicking off a little shy of £30k. So if you don’t have that sort of money there is a vastly cheaper alternative, and that’s a used Land Rover Freelander.

 Picture From 'kenjonbro'

You can credit the Evoques fantastic looks to the genius that is Gerry McGovern, a car designer who I have huge respect for. His portfolio includes cars like the Range Rover Sport and MGF, both big sellers, and of course the Freelander. There’s certainly no shortage of them, it was a best seller for several years. Familiarity may have led you to ignore them, but take a second to check the picture above out. This quote from McGovern himself sums it up; ‘Most of all, it’s an absence of gimmicks. Look at the cars we consider classics: the proportions are right from all angles, and they don’t need much ornamentation. That’s the secret – no gargoyles’. You can certainly see the Evoques lineage in there; this is a great looking car. From the driver’s seat you’ll be looking at one of the best interiors to come out of Rover in the 90’s and the facelift improves it further. It’s a rather good drive too, and don’t think it’ll be a useless softy off road either; this car competed in the Camel Trophy with very few modifications.

So it’s good looking, good to sit in, good to drive and good off-road. However it hasn’t the best reputation for reliability. If you know your cars, you’ll know the infamous K-series engine, and it’s disdain for its own head-gaskets. This is of course an over-simplified view, I myself have owned a K-series car and had no problems, look after the engine well and it will look after you. In-fact the K-series is nothing short of a fantastic engine, but in the heavy Freelander it’s a little overstretched and not the best suited to the car. You’re much better of selecting one the cheaper to run and more reliable diesels.

Two separate 2.0 TD units can be found under the Freelanders bonnet, those badged as Di (1997-2000) feature the Rover L-series diesel. Another engine I have experience of, it has a well-deserved reputation for being very strong mechanically, while not the most powerful diesel in the world you can still make reasonable progress riding the 154 lb/ft of torque it provides and there are plenty of tuning options for it, should you want to go quicker. Make sure you check the MAF sensor (a cheap to replace part), a dirty one will cost you a lot of performance. Also check for smoke on hard acceleration, this could be any number of things, most often a leak in the intercooler/turbo system. The other diesel, badged TD4, is actually a BMW engine. This more modern common rail unit is only marginally quicker, though can be re-mapped for more performance. It too is a reliable engine, especially in this low state of tune, here sensors are going to be the most likely cause of any problems, while low pressure fuel pumps found in the engine and fuel tank are said to fail every 100k, so look out for lumpy idle and smoke from the exhaust. The car itself has a few problems, watch out for wet carpets as both the foot well and boot and check for clutch slip as well, as the hydraulic clutch system can be hard to adjust.

All in all this is a car that shouldn’t let you down, and will offer you a broad range of talents. While it’s not as stylish as the Evoque, you will at least have a time proven elegance, and for the price of that Evoque, you could buy yourself 30 of these!

Here's some I found:

This Freelander comes in at mere £750, it’s done 210k miles which is testament to the strength of the L-series diesel, paintwork needs attention but apparently it drives like new. In any case, at this price it’s got to be worth a look.

Another beige 3dr hardtop here, this time for £1,699, that extra money buys you half the milage, service history, long MOT and a host of options. The green, beige leather interior looks nice to me and you’ll also get air con.

Another £200, buys you two extra doors, as well as a full service history. Mileage is undisclosed but the car looks tidy enough, ‘nightfire red’ is a great colour on any car too.

This super-clean 5dr silver Freelander brings you the later Td4 BMW engine with 130k on the clock. Again you get a long MOT as well as full LR service history, leather interior, and my, doesn’t it look fresh in sliver? Yours for £2,990.

Another great looker, this is the sport model again in silver with the BMW diesel engine, 130k and full service history. The sport model, as well as having the facelift interior/exterior gains large alloys and a better on road drive, this particular one has a white and black Autobiography interior, making it a veritable mini Range Rover Sport, surely worth £3,995 of anyone’s money?

Specs
Di
0-60 14.6 seconds
0-100 N/A
Top Speed 96mph
Power 97bhp @ ????rpm
Torque154 lb ft @ 2000rpm
Weight 1525kg
Insurance Group 10
MPG 36.6
TD4
0-60 13.2 seconds
0-100 N/A
Top Speed 102 mph
Power 112bhp @ ????rpm
Torque192 lb ft @ 1750rpm
Weight 1619kg
Insurance Group 11
MPG 37.2
Warrenty Direct Reliablilty Index 237
How many left 10000+