Well thats it

Just got my Freelander 1.8 XEi lego made car back from the Garage after the magical wizard came a blew fairy dust on my headgasket!

Yup, just after buying car (in France as we moved here ) found out about 'that' problem. "Hmm" we thought - not much we can do, will keep an eye and look after car as best as possible, It had 50000km on the clock.

24000km later, on the day after the six month warranty ran out, BANG! Off goes Mr Headgasket to the sunny world above.

Goes back to dealer (Opel I'm afraid) - "sorry Warranty has run out - go to LR about 10 mins over there"

Goes to LR - (say in french accent) "Sorry but your headgasket has gone (!) and you have no warranty - why not take it to your local Citroen dealer!"

Goes to local Citroen dealer (45 mins ride back from LR) - "No No Monsieur, that is a 4x4, we dont touch those!"

Goes to local Renault Garage - "ok - we pick it up and look"

So they did, 4 months later and we have it back (after a feeble attempt at 'talking' to LR) - luckily (!) for us the head did not have to be skimmed after the Renault garage took back to LR to have it checked out.
So , new gasket, waterpump, thermostat, cambelt and other things including some things I havent translated yet and 1800 euros later, it is back.

Trouble is - when I got back in having driven our friends Rover 600 for 4 months, it was SO much nicer!

My head says - SELL IT NOW! My heart says - ahh, it's such a nice car....
The kids love it (they hated the Rover 600) and so does the dog.

But in real world, it has to go to some other poor sucker to take on.

LR are truly the worst.......all those years I wanted any sort of LR and this is what happens

Plus our other friends with their brand new Discovery 3 monster have had to take that back cos it is overheating.

Oh why did I ever sell my japanese car? Bring back my Toyota now

Have you no sense of humour, you can't get rid of it now after spending all that money on it, and you would be letting the side down in front of the frogs.
Stiff upper lip old chap, at least get a diesel one if it must go, or even a disco
If you really want something the kids and dog will love, thats reliable, and help you fit in...........get a 2CV van.

fredlander said:

If you really want something the kids and dog will love, thats reliable, and help you fit in...........get a 2CV van.

Click to expand...

but make sure it has that big window of no use in the side

How come the Freelander can have this hold over its owner? I'm getitng mine back next week hopefully after head gasket job. Common sense says "Get rid of the thing" but my heart says "give her one more chance, she's lovely". Dam my stupid heart, I think the Freelander is getting one more chance, or two, not sure yet

You'll be amazed at how few 2cvs there are to buy - we looked around for a 'second car' and they are all taken!!

Going out today in the Freelander - don't know why I do it to myself

@marksurry they're like naughty puppys arent they.

Fredlander, you're so right. Me and the misses were looking for a potential replacement but couldn't find one. Honda CRV is too Japanese inside (plastic overkill and strange column gear shift). Honda HRV is underpowered. Toyota Rav 4 is too cramped inside.
We agreed the Freelander stays as it's a lovely looking beast, fast and a level of comfort that blows the opposition away

I did have a Toyota Lucida before this (8 seater Jap import) - the only advantage it had was the rooooomm!

@pinewoodblue, My freind has a Toyota Hilux Surf and that's the only thing that came close as a replacement. Get a 10 year old jap inport for good price. Trouble is, the misses thought it was too big. Very nice to drive though and very quick for it's size (3 litre turbo diesel intercooled)
2CV's, strange little cars but fun to drive. 1st gear where 2nd should be and 2nd gear where 3rd should be.

I also looked at the surf 3 litre, and they are quick, but the inside feels dated,and nothing beats the Freelander for looks.

i tend to think jap imports are expensive for the age. yes, you get a good spec on them, but i also agree with fredlander that they are a bit dated on the interior and parts are expensive too, plus the main dealers wont supply parts for them. i think this is why we used to call them grey imports because they are a grey area

Well the Jap Import was actually quiet reliable once the first fuel pump fuse problem disappeared! Drove to France and back 3 times with no problems - and got a sofa in the back with sundry paint etc!

It was very nice but we had to get rid as there wasn't a left hand drive version around which meant no proper lights for la Francais....

We even got a ping-pong table in the back!

So we looked around and kept seeing the Freelander and kept going back to it....if only we'd known

And I went out in it yesterday and today and it was lovely!