How long will you keep your freelander for?

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Gary j

Member
Posts
55
Location
West lothian
As the title suggests, how long will you keep your freelander for?
I reckon I can get another 10 years out of mine before parts become hard to come by. And as td4's are pretty cheep just now, it's maybe time to get a donor car to ravage for parts.

What are other people's thoughts on this?
 
I'm plan to keep mine for ever. Or as long as I can still afford to fund it.
 
Currently I would like to keep my 2002 td4 without props going as much as the government let me. But seeing the lettuce leaves followers are prominent with complaints and governments looking find victims. I wondering when I will be wearing sack clothes as I am whipped pulling my TD4 to the Scrapheap or worst to be crucified by Taxmen and mocked by LimpDems wet voters.
 
Sadly I think these 'disgusting diesel cars' will be taxed off the roads in the coming years, even though the alternatives are not really viable at the moment, and only hide the emissions elsewhere. Let alone all the unnecessary pollution caused by scrapping.

If the tax rates were to remain sensible, I'd be quite happy to run for another 100k, if I can keep it running well. I'm no Luddite, but the shape of modern compact 4x4s don't excite me at all. They all seem to look a very similar Quasqai dull characterless shape.
 
I have been thinking of getting rid of my TD4 for a while now. I have had it for almost 6 years and I love it, but am always thinking of how I might be penalised by various Cities when I drive in them.
I have just purcahsed a tax free diesel for the wife so I might go the same way, I just don't know yet. It will be a sad day if I do. :(
 
What annoys me though previously I had a V8 3.5 110 1988 on LPG but still got penalised with Insurance for modification. There are modkits and more the fuel company can do to reduce emissions to a level suitable. Yet the Lettuce Leaf lobby holds the sheep like public and government mindset. I think also the Car Companies are also involved with getting older cars off the road because they can see the profits tumble. L/R design floor with Freelanders are the length of the vehicle durability is akin to the Series or Defenders.
 
I'll keep mine as long as it's viable. I don't give a rats ass about my tiny emissions while airplanes pump far more pollutants into the air than diesel cars do.
Our family car is an 18 month old 2 litre diesel Ford Kuga. I'm quite happy to drive that, even if some ill informed people think it's polluting.
 
Well I don't want to get rid of it, we've had it around 15 years and it's like part of the family.
But you have to look realistically at hybrid/all electric vehicles. Currently I can't afford a 3rd hand one, but I soon will be able to as the prices drop. I could drive to work and back without using any fuel in a hybrid, or do a week's commute between charges with an all electric.
But I really want one of these:
http://www.riversimple.com/
You'll rent it and give it back when you want a different/new one. It really is the future, it's just us old uns are set in our ways.
That said, if I have the room and don't get taxed to death, the Freelander will still be in the family:)
Mike
 
Well I don't want to get rid of it, we've had it around 15 years and it's like part of the family.
But you have to look realistically at hybrid/all electric vehicles. Currently I can't afford a 3rd hand one, but I soon will be able to as the prices drop. I could drive to work and back without using any fuel in a hybrid, or do a week's commute between charges with an all electric.
But I really want one of these:
http://www.riversimple.com/
You'll rent it and give it back when you want a different/new one. It really is the future, it's just us old uns are set in our ways.
That said, if I have the room and don't get taxed to death, the Freelander will still be in the family:)
Mike

Hybrids are pointles imho. Not only are they stupidly complex and no more efficient than a decent diesel in the real world. They suffer from expensive battery failure at 5 to 8 years old. Coupled with that increased environmental impact of making the thing in the first place, it's far from green.
A piece of crap like the Prius doesn't become carbon neutral until it exceeds 150,000 miles. However it won't last 150K before it needs scrapping and replacing. So effectively they'll never be as green as they are claimed to be.
All electric is more eco friendly, batties aside, providing the electricity used to charge them is generated by renewable sources. Sadly if the electricity used to charge electric cars comes from fossil fuels. Then it's less damaging to the environment to drive a diesel and burn fuel at the point of use.

All electric cars still have environmentally damaging batteries that need replacement on a 5 to 8 years cycle. In the future, things will improve. But for the moment, anything other than petrol or diesel is flawed.
 
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@Nodge68 did you follow the link though?
That's the future, hydrogen, 4 wheel drive, capacitors rather than batteries. Yes it looks a bit odd currently, but that'll change.
In years to come we'll probably be working out how to stick a hydrogen cell into a Freelander without it going bang.
Mike
 
I just got my one on Friday but, it'll be here until I break it, or something newer that does the same comes along.
All the talk of ridding the world of diesel and petrol isn't going happen overnight, so I think the FL will be safe for a good while yet.
My other car is an Audi A3 3.2 sport quattro, so I think the FL is the least of the world's problems.
 
We're heavily reliant on diesel in the uk for trucks so it's not going to disappear any time soon. If yer not allowed to drive it in a city then don't go to one. Or drive to the edge and park. LR are working on electric only and diesel/electric. The later only uses electric for acceleration. Diesel for cruising. When diesel does stop in 50 years time we'll have worked out how to retro fit an electric setup by then. ;)
 
Suddenly I feel so much happier that my Hippo has the "legendary" K-series ;) But actually, because it is only Euro2 compliant, it won't be able to be driven in the cities of the future either. Hey ho.

Personally, from what I can work out, running and maintaining an older vehicle over a prolonged period of time is much more environmentally friendly (and certainly more cost effective!) than chopping it in every 2-3 years for the latest model. And that's before you get into arguments about how numbing and isolated modern cars have become... ;)
 
I currently have three. The wife's was the first one we got about two years ago. Then I bought a "doer upper" recently that lasted a few months but was ultimately just a lemon and is now a parts car. And finally, I bought a three door a few months ago which has it's own problems. Unfortunately, the Shetland climate takes years off the useful life of any car so I will only be keeping them for as long as it's cost effective to maintain them. If you buy a car in these parts as old as Freelander 1 it will be horrifically rusty on the underside no matter how lovely it looks on top and it makes them a nightmare to maintain. I really like my three door for the fact you can take the roof off which I do at every opportunity, and the wife's five door is a "Sport" which I really like for the much improved on-road driving experience. But they'll both have to go at some point in the near future as they both already are becoming a PIA to do any work on because of said rust.
 
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