Freelander buying advice

Hello

I'm looking for a Freelander a soft overlander project.

But need some advice and imputs from you guys.

I'm looking at 2 different cars at the moment.

1. Freelander 2,0Td4 HSE from 1/2006 with 165000km Price 65000dkr = £7335
2. Freelander 2 2,2Td4 S from 8/2007 with 241000km Price 85000dkr = £9591

Both cars have manuel gearbox. Service historie OK.

Is the freelander 2 much better than the old freelander 1?
Its going to be used as a everday car and greenlaning/camping trips in the weekend.

Links to the two cars:

http://www.bilbasen.dk/brugt/varebil-inkl-moms/land-rover/freelander/20-d-complete-van/2915206

http://brugtbilsliste.autoit.dk/det...fa1-a4bf-47b8-8144-5bce2cef71c2&ent=0&lang=dk


Hope to hear from you guys..

If I had paid £7,335 for a Freelander 1 it would have to be because the boot was full of gold bullion.
I assume Freelanders are expensive in Denmark.
The Freelander 2 is a nicer everyday car but, for nearly £10,000, I wouldn't want to lane it. I'd be worried about scratching it all the time!

I don't know how good the FL2 is off road compared to the FL1, but I've heard that it's not so agile. The FL2 is however better on road because it's based on the much more modern Ford EUCD platform. The wife's for Kuga is also on the same platform and has good road manors compared to my FL1. I do find the steering on the Ford to be too twitchy for my liking however. The Kuga isn't great on mud and has been stuck, needing Freelander 1 assistance to free it. I'm guessing the FL2 is better than the Ford, but off road, I know the FL1 is good.

I am relatively new to FL1's, been told FL2's are more reliable. Perhaps they are, but then again they are newer.

Seem expensive to me, but perhaps that is the market in Denmark.

TBH - if I was going overland, I'd wouldn't want to be reliant on a complex thing like the Haldex to give me traction. The rear diffs are of poor quality on the F2 and the Haldex units can have problems - there have been stories going through here of Haldex problems which just continue even after its been replaced.

The F1's VCU for all its detractors works very reliably and isn't just going to stop working, it degrades over time. The rear diffs are strong and the IRD is strong so long as you look after the tyres. Probably means an extra spare on the roof if you're going to remote places for any length of time. You'd also want to travel with some spares that can knock a TD4 F1 out of action - eg fuel lift pump, filter and analyse the limp mode and rough running threads on TD4 - you may need things like cam sensor etc.

So I'd haggle down the price on the F1 - it is way to high. Prices here are high and that F2 price is decent (although high mileage) - but that F1 price would be laughed at here.

Thanks for your advice...

Unfortunately the cars in Denmark are very expensive. (180% registration tax)

But after trying both the FL1 and FL2... I'm leaning to the FL2. Just a bit worried about all the electronics in the FL2.

I'll keep looking.... I'll bring you an update later.