The Missing Years!

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GrumpyGel

GrumpyGel

Well-Known Member
Posts
26,393
Location
Christchurch, New Zealand
I have noticed a lot of Freelanders for sale here (in New Zealand) as 2002 vehicles - but they obviously aren't. They are the earlier ones with yellow indicators and ribbed wing mirrors - those are the the 2 ways I tell anyway.

This car has come up for sale...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/wrecked-cars/auction-953175456.htm

Checking the registration database, it does show it as "New Zealand New First Registered Jan 2002". Its VIN is SALLNABC7YA555392, so it is at the latest a 2000 car, possibly a '99.

SAL Manufacturer code: Land Rover
LN Model: Freelander
A Wheel base: 100.6 inch, standard trim
B Body type: 5-door station wagon
C Engine type: 1.8 litre petrol, LOU spec (K series)
7 Steering and transmission: Right-hand drive (RHD), 5-speed manual (LT85, LT77, LT77S, R380 or other)
Y Model year: 2000
A Assembly location: Solihull, UK
555392 Serial number

Does this occur in the UK?

I wonder what happened to it in the 'missing years'!

There are bonafide cars in this period, I just got a 2001 Freelander and it is 'really' a 2001 car with clear indicators and smooth wing mirrors.
 
GrumpyGel said:
I have noticed a lot of Freelanders for sale here (in New Zealand) as 2002 vehicles - but they obviously aren't. They are the earlier ones with yellow indicators and ribbed wing mirrors - those are the the 2 ways I tell anyway.

This car has come up for sale...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/wrecked-cars/auction-953175456.htm

Checking the registration database, it does show it as "New Zealand New First Registered Jan 2002". Its VIN is SALLNABC7YA555392, so it is at the latest a 2000 car, possibly a '99.

SAL Manufacturer code: Land Rover
LN Model: Freelander
A Wheel base: 100.6 inch, standard trim
B Body type: 5-door station wagon
C Engine type: 1.8 litre petrol, LOU spec (K series)
7 Steering and transmission: Right-hand drive (RHD), 5-speed manual (LT85, LT77, LT77S, R380 or other)
Y Model year: 2000
A Assembly location: Solihull, UK
555392 Serial number

Does this occur in the UK?

I wonder what happened to it in the 'missing years'!

There are bonafide cars in this period, I just got a 2001 Freelander and it is 'really' a 2001 car with clear indicators and smooth wing mirrors.
Click to expand...

Maybe they have been 'Govrnmt issue' vehicles for a couple of years,
Would that effect your MOT or warrant of fitness at all ?
 
That one in the link had a registered mileage in 2002 of 12km - so it hadn't been used.

II just checked another 1, VIN SALLNABA7YA538144, first reg Feb 2002 and had 15km.

Funnily enough it does affect the WOF, if it was a '99 car it would need WOFs every 6 months, but 2000 onwards cars only need a WOF every 12 months.
 
could be they were in a large storage yard. then shipped to NZ. How does your registration work? year when first registered or year of manufacture (vin)
Every so often Here you will find a dealer thast has gotten/found vehicles that are New, never licensed with warranty that are 2-3 years old for a heck of a savings
 
It would have got here quicker on a £10 ticket steam ship!

I was thinking maybe one of those dock side stock piles - rusting away from day 1!

I remember the Rover 220 Turbos had a ship load of cars that were sent to Japan and while in transit Japan changed their regulations. So when they got there they hung around for a while before being shipped back to the UK. Where upon they sat around while Rover pondered what to do with them. They're quite well known in 'Tomcat' circles and obviously weren't sold till a long time after production. So I was wondering if there was a similar batch of Freelanders that nobody knew what to do with, and eventually they were dumped on the Kiwi market.

Interestingly, that info I put in the first post was taken from the VIN by the Clifton.nl CalVIN checker. I just ran the VIN through this site....

http://www.vindecoderz.com/EN/check-lookup/SALLNABC7YA555392

It came back with....

VIN: SALLNABC7YA555392 Build date: 25-Oct-2001
Model: Freelander / L314 Selling dealer: 49741
Model year: 2000 Warranty start date: 25-Jan-2002

I don't know where it gets its info from, but it recons its a '99/2000 spec car built in Oct 2001?
 
Just checked 555392 and despatch date was October 2001 with a registration date of January 2002. And it's a 2000MY car.

It has 315Mhz remotes so will more then likely be a Japanese car and it was around 2001 when Ford bought LR so could have been a car caught up in all that changeover!

Interesting they ended up in NZ - guess your emissions regs may not have been the same (less strict) as other RHD markets at the time
 
td4van said:
Just checked 555392 and despatch date was October 2001 with a registration date of January 2002. And it's a 2000MY car.

It has 315Mhz remotes so will more then likely be a Japanese car and it was around 2001 when Ford bought LR so could have been a car caught up in all that changeover!

Interesting they ended up in NZ - guess your emissions regs may not have been the same (less strict) as other RHD markets at the time
Click to expand...
You may be right with the emissions.

A lot (possibly most) of the Freelanders over here are ex-Japan. They come over as used vehicles at about 5 years old. This one has obviously never been on the road in Japan - but as you say, maybe it was originally destined for there.

As I say, I've seen a few of these 2000 model year cars registered here new in 2002 - I can't for sure say they were all 2002, it possible some may be 2001 - but around that early 2002 and possibly late 2001 period. I can't believe they ran the 2000MY cars through the production line 18 months after it finished - the changes would have been enormous.

That website I checked on said a "Build Date" of Oct 2001, your description "Despatch Date" of Oct 2001 is probably more accurate.

My latest one is a 2000 NZ New car (not 2001!) - its 'pukka' 2000 with a VIN of SALLNABA71A580582. So LR here obviously did shift the model years at the right time, but then went back to selling 'old stock'.
 
SAL is Europe UK land rover,
LN is freelander
A is wheelbase
B body type freelander 5 door
B engine code 2.5l 4 cylinder diesel
7 gearbox 5 speed RH drive
Y year 2000
A build code, solihill uk
The last lot is the unique serial number
 
I would have said import and possibly japan but they normally leave japan earlier than 5 years.
The problem you have is the records are split across 2 countries or more. Mine is 2001 build but first registered in the uk in 2003 due to import. It came with 315Mhz remotes/receiver anorl which I changed to 433 to comply. Also had the territory settings set to uk spec. Low mileage doesn't mean much. In the uk it's perfectly legal to reset the miles to 0 when fitting a new engine.
 
These are not imported 2nd hand Hippo. They are all 'new' cars registered here a couple of years after production but having been 'nowhere'. They are registered with negligible mileage - eg 12kms - so have not been driven.
 
Build date and first registered can be miles apart, if you buy an X military vehicle they have never been registered and can lead to confusion
 
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