Hello from a first time Landy owner :D.

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Elizabeth-landygirl

Member
Posts
15
Location
Ayrshire
Hi everyone! Can I begin by saying how brilliant to have this Landy community forum - especially for novices like me. I live in Ayrshire in Scotland and regularly travel many miles up over mountains in the highlands and snow and ice, blizzards too can be a real problem. For this reason I bought a 2008 Freelander TD4s in Sept 2014 and it feels so comfortable and positive to drive. My only concern is that it has already reached 110,000 miles and I'm hoping I will get many more miles/ years from it - am I being too optimistic perhaps? It's just that I'm beginning to hear lots of negative stories about freelanders :(. I'm due to buy a warranty for it (£300) from the garage i bought it last year but unsure if this is the right thing to do? Or perhaps upgrade to a younger, less mileage freelander with a warranty though the local dealer says Freelanders are selling like hot cakes at the moment. Any thoughts/ ideas gratefully received. Thank you :).
 
A lot depends on how much you can do yourself. These warranty schemes you pay into, whether it's a washing machine or a car, are designed to make the proprietor a profit. If you or someone close to you are good with their hands, it's probably better to bear the risk yourself and fix the problems as they come along. A breakdown service membership is probably the best value, as it's useful to have someone to come out and take you home if the car does conk out.
 
Brown said:
A lot depends on how much you can do yourself. These warranty schemes you pay into, whether it's a washing machine or a car, are designed to make the proprietor a profit. If you or someone close to you are good with their hands, it's probably better to bear the risk yourself and fix the problems as they come along. A breakdown service membership is probably the best value, as it's useful to have someone to come out and take you home if the car does conk out.
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That makes good sense, thank you. I should try and find a good, reasonably priced Landy mechanic instead of using a general garage maybe?? As i have a few concerns. Does this forum list Landy mechanics in Ayrshire? I'm with the AA and have full breakdown cover, I had to call them out last December, car was losing power, apparently failed fuel filter. I had to be towed back home because the AA guy said access to filter was difficult. Warranty covered car thankfully and garage repaired it. The last six months I have reported to garage that there is a noise from front passenger wheel, they have tested it twice and reckon its tyre noise??? I'm not convinced and i'm worried that once warranty has expired it will be a bearing problem. Its so noisy that even the radio doesn't mask it. Apart from that car feels great to drive although couple of occasions has felt like it 'slipped' or 'swerved' slightly on a few bends?? I asked garage to carry out full service last month - they told me that they felt a full service was pointless and recommended just changing the oil filter instead; recommending a full service be done next year. I hope that was correct advice, particularly as its their warranty covering the car till the end of this month :/. Hope this makes sense.
 
John S said:
More importantly.Has the timing belt been done?
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Thank you. I'm not sure, have checked the service portfolio and it doesn't state this. There is one document showing recommended changes at 150k renew ancillary driving belt and 150k renew camshaft drive belt, tensioner and idler pulley. Car has approx 110,000 so does this mean it would be fine for a while???
 
Well, if it was me, I'd jack the relevant corner of the car up and see if there is any slack or roughness in the wheel bearing or steering swivels. And all the others come to think of it - I'm always checking for bearing slack on mine! That's a start at least. A lot of people on here (including me) are fans of changing the oil and filters regularly on the various Land Rover engines. I'm not familiar with the service schedule on your engine, having a TD5 myself, but I seem to remember the cam belt change interval is 60,000 miles on a 300 TDI, so 150,000 sounds quite a lot. If that's what the manual says it should be OK for another 40,000 miles though.
 
Brown said:
Well, if it was me, I'd jack the relevant corner of the car up and see if there is any slack or roughness in the wheel bearing or steering swivels. And all the others come to think of it - I'm always checking for bearing slack on mine! That's a start at least. A lot of people on here (including me) are fans of changing the oil and filters regularly on the various Land Rover engines. I'm not familiar with the service schedule on your engine, having a TD5 myself, but I seem to remember the cam belt change interval is 60,000 miles on a 300 TDI, so 150,000 sounds quite a lot. If that's what the manual says it should be OK for another 40,000 miles though.
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Thank you :). I will look through paperwork again. It does seem high.
I take it a timing belt is costly to renew? I wish I could check bearings but I have no adequate knowledge on this. Hopefully i can find a Landy mechanic locally to help inspect car. Totally agree with changing filters - any car I've owned I've always had them serviced regularly. Thanks again Brown :).
 
Hello local person!
I go to Reid's in Paisley (Glasgow Commercials) for MOTs and the occasional stuff I can't manage myself. I followed their mechanic from his previous workplace which was a Land Rover specialist, which shall remain nameless (they don't exist anymore anyway, but that's another story).
I've been meaning to nip in to this place for a cuppa and a wee look around too: http://gibsonsautos.co.uk/
 
wattfield said:
Hello local person!
I go to Reid's in Paisley (Glasgow Commercials) for MOTs and the occasional stuff I can't manage myself. I followed their mechanic from his previous workplace which was a Land Rover specialist, which shall remain nameless (they don't exist anymore anyway, but that's another story).
I've been meaning to nip in to this place for a cuppa and a wee look around too: http://gibsonsautos.co.uk/
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Thats brilliant!!! Thank you! Just checked the link. I go to Cumnock regularly for home visits (NHS) so will def check them out. Will let you know how I get on. Thank you again local person :D.
 
hello & welcome,firstly i think the freelander will be fitted
with a timing CHAIN if its a bmw engine,not a belt,this in
my opinion tends to wear longer than a belt.
about the noise if you can get a friend to jack up one wheel at a
time at the front,whilst one is jacked up put your hands in the quarter
to three position & try moving the tyre/wheel backwards & forwards
then do the same with your hands at 12 & 6 top & bottom,if there is
a lot play whilst doing this it could well be a wheel bearing,do the same
with the other side,once you have lowered the first one you did,
probably i will get stick for my suggestions off of some of the old
landy owners on here,but its a starter to test the bearings.
regards vinnie.
 
I'd just be picking names of the internet in that part of the world I'm afraid. There's Gibsons in Cumnock as I recall, but that's all I know. Some members here are from the south of Scotland and might know better than me.
 
stannswhite said:
hello & welcome,firstly i think the freelander will be fitted
with a timing CHAIN if its a bmw engine,not a belt,this in
my opinion tends to wear longer than a belt.
about the noise if you can get a friend to jack up one wheel at a
time at the front,whilst one is jacked up put your hands in the quarter
to three position & try moving the tyre/wheel backwards & forwards
then do the same with your hands at 12 & 6 top & bottom,if there is
a lot play whilst doing this it could well be a wheel bearing,do the same
with the other side,once you have lowered the first one you did,
probably i will get stick for my suggestions off of some of the old
landy owners on here,but its a starter to test the bearings.
regards vinnie.
Click to expand...

Thank you for this. Will see if I can get help to try this. This site is so helpful. So glad I joined. Thanks again :).
 
Brown said:
Oops - looks like Wattfield's beaten me to it. Everybody's falling over themselves to be helpful.
Click to expand...
I know it's just amazing the knowledge on here. Makes me feel more confident about running a landrover when folk are so nice on this forum. Thanks Brown for checking that out for me. Top man!
 
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