buying a freelander td4 with 70K on clock

ponythegringo · Feb 3, 2016

Hi All , i am thinking of buying a freelander1 2litre di td4 2003 with just under 70 k miles on the clock .
My thinking is that it should be a good buy with such low mileage , 2 owners and full service history
What should i ask the owner / inspect for when going to view ?
I have an icarsoft diagnostic code reader thingy and have worked on restoring a 2000 diesel freelander recently so can do most repairs needed as maintenance .
Am i mad or is there a chance that a well looked after freelander td4 can be a viable and fairly reliable vehicle?
I have read loads of posts filled with warnings but i am not intimidated by maintenance repairs and would love to own one if i could get my hands on a good un'

Thanks guys for any advice or input

LandyMan · Feb 3, 2016

Sounds like a good buy. just check the usual stuff (VCU, IRD, Brake Pipes, etc).

Mine has been very reliable, and still is (touch wood). It's got 160k on the clock now!

The good thing about freelanders, if something does go wrong, they're easy and cheap to fix.

davidsmith1307 · Feb 3, 2016

This is a support forum - the only people who post are those who need support (and us sad lads). The vast majority of drivers are happily freelandering about with no real issues.
The car sounds good, follow the advice from @LandyMan and enjoy it. It's your money though, so check it until your satisfied!

Skinny Mike · Feb 3, 2016

Give it a good look over as with any other car. Rust can creep in on the rear door handle and at the Base of the wheel arches, but generally there shouldn't be any. Drive it slowly in reverse, it shouldn't feel like the brakes are on. Check the rear prop shaft is there! Check all the doors lock and unlock on the central locking. Try all the electric windows. All lights on the dash board should extinguish after about 5 seconds. Drive it up to 70mph it shouldn't lose any power and still pull. Put it in 1st gear and press the hill decent button(Base of gear stick) drive slowly not more than 5mph the light should stay on and not flash. Td4's will last so long as you look after them. Mike

ponythegringo · Feb 3, 2016

Thanks for that , should i replace the vcu and bearings with a brand new set from ashcroft if i buy seeing as it is close to the 70k mark?

LandyMan · Feb 3, 2016

Depends, I only changed mine at 150k ... 99.9% sure it had never been changed.

I probably didn't need to change it, but I did some work on the props so thought I might as well update the lot.

Skinny Mike · Feb 3, 2016

Get hold of the prop behind the vcu and push and pull quite hard, it shouldn't move any more than a couple of mil each way. If the bearings are on the way out you can hear a whum whum whum noise as you decelerate. My vcu is on 133,000 miles, so only replace if needed. Mike

Skinny Mike · Feb 3, 2016

BTW is it manual or auto?

LandyMan · Feb 3, 2016

Skinny Mike said:
Get hold of the prop behind the vcu and push and pull quite hard, it shouldn't move any more than a couple of mil each way. If the bearings are on the way out you can hear a whum whum whum noise as you decelerate. My vcu is on 133,000 miles, so only replace if needed. Mike

Yeh, the bearings could be buggered, but the VCU could still be ok. There's some tests you can do to see if it's working ok. If it is but the bearings are shot, they're quite cheap and easy to replace.

ponythegringo · Feb 3, 2016

it's a manual gearbox

davidsmith1307 · Feb 3, 2016

Make sure it has 4 matching tyres - make, pattern, size and condition.
If not then that can cause VCU stress and the risk of failure is higher.

Skinny Mike · Feb 3, 2016

ponythegringo said:
it's a manual gearbox

ok, don't need to do auto box faults

ponythegringo · Feb 3, 2016

yeah i know about the different tyre sizes , thanks mate .
Bought a 2000 freelander with a banjaxed vcu . The bloke had put 3 diferrent sizes in four wheels. I took the prop shaft off and fixed it up to the point of driving it down the road about 5 mile and it has developed a problem where the slave cylinder cant push the clutch lever and neither can i with a crowbar. so anyway i think clutch is banjaxeed and probably drive input bearings if not the ird itself. Gonna have to take the gearbox off to check all that . hey hum.

davidsmith1307 · Feb 3, 2016

Life's rich pageant etc etc.....

Nodge68 · Feb 3, 2016

A properly looked after TD4 will be fine but do the One wheel up test for VCU condition testing. Otherwise you'll just need to do normal servicing, possibly a recon VCU from Bell and budget for clutch at 90 to 100K

ponythegringo · Feb 3, 2016

Wanted to ask about the cam belt, at what mileage should that be replaced?

LandyMan · Feb 3, 2016

td4's don't have a cam belt, they have a chain. It will probably never need changing, but have a look. if it looks worn then change it.

ponythegringo · Feb 3, 2016

yeah thought that but just read something that said the opposite, does the chain need replacing at a certain mileage?

LandyMan · Feb 3, 2016

I don't think they have a recommended mileage change thing, its a BMW engine & will probably last forever

ponythegringo · Feb 3, 2016

( rubs hands with maniacal look )

buying a freelander td4 with 70K on clock

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