Looking at a 53 plate Freelander 5Dr Estate Serengeti for £3,900 from a dealer.
HPI state vehicle worth £3,450?
Anything to look at when i view & test drive the vehicle??

Thanks in advance.

Hi,

Run over to the introduce section and then do a search, this has been covered many times and there is a thread called something along the lines of

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f69/freelander-everything-you-need-know-171195.html

ask for a test drive first and while you are at it find a car park that is empty and do a slow reverse to test the vcu if it feels like braking then the vcu is shot also look for any oil drips front and back and ask what warranty is on it , also how many miles has it done and what services has it had, if it is auto has it had the gearbox fluid change at 60,000 miles check tyres are all the same make and have tread on them as if it has different tyres this can ruin the VCU the back diff and the ird. you have been warned but if these are all good then take the plunge and you will find plenty of help on here if you get into trouble once you have introduced yourself

I'm a tad confused re' the 'braking' effect of a shot VCU when reversing, I recently fitted a recon VCU from Bell engineering and since then have noticed said braking effect (albeit not wheels locking but noticeable resistance) when reversing on full lock-according to someone from Bell who is on here this is normal operation of a serviceable unit, can anyone shed any further light on this matter?

Just wondering did you fit the vcu yourself. ...if so can you see what they have done to it....Are there any new fill drain holes that you can see, does it look like its been opened up at all.....a high res photo from all angles of the vcu would be great...

As for your stiffness on turns problem......I've heard there is a bit of braking effect on new vcu's..... but this could be also due to variations in your recon vcu.....depending on how they do it. .....Im pretty sure they wont all be the same....

If they just drain the fluid then, then there will be variations on what they can get out, whether the plates are damaged etc.....

If its been opened up then you have a better chance of getting it accurate between vcus..

So the photos would be of great help.

Hiya, yes I fitted it myself but to be honest this was done before I'd spotted the thread about refurbishing them yourself and didn't take any notice, if I remember I will crawl under and see if there are any obvious signs of what they did and post back-probably won't be today though.

Ok no problems......thanks