2000 X reg 1.8 Xi. Head gasket blew on Dec 16th 2003. 44k. Only 12 days left on the extended warranty. The car was taken to James Edwards Chester who, in fairness, have been pretty good about it. The problems I have encountered are with Carcare who handle the LR approved extended warranty. Their engineer covers such a large geographical area that he did not get to assess the car for a week. The Carcare engineer then mis-diagnosed the real problems and only endorsed a head gasket replacement. Unfortunately a cylinder liner had lifted so James Edwards recommended a new engine. Waited another week for Carecare engineer to endorse work. No new engines available so Carcare engineer instructed JE to rebuild the engine with new liners and liner seals. I can understand why engines are hard to come by looking at the quantity of replacements. Finally got the car back on Monday 12th Jan 2004.
TOP TIP. If buying a pre 2001 Freelander make sure the cooling system retrofits have been done. The retrofits include remote mounted thermostat. This is the fix for the head gasket probs.
I'm pleased to say we are shot of it! We now have a Ford Focus. Boring but reliable ( I hope). The Freelander looks good but that's all. The engineering is shoddy and the back up a disgrace. Whoever heard of a land Rover which won't start in the wet?!!!
Lets hope the class action works, I'm not giving up till I get every penny back.
Just been reading the other comments. Guess what - R Reg Freelander, 52k miles, never a problem with it until the HEAD GASKET blew requiring a new engine! LR are prepared to pay 50% of parts only leaving me with a £2,900 bill! The car is at Guy Salmon at the moment and is staying there until this gets sorted! I have joined the class action with Irwin Mitchell but I don't know what to do at the mo as I do not think that I should have to pay. I spoke to Trading Standards who informed me that as this is clearly an inherent defect, my contract was with the dealer and therefore I should seek recompense from them. Obviously the dealer couldn't care less and passing the buck to LR! Help!! Any suggestions feel free to contact me on [Log in to view email]
Hi... what can i say, i was freaked out with everyone elses problem with the freelander, i have an s reg freelander that has a problem which i am really upsetting myself over... The car would be driving fine one minute the next it would start juddering, decelerates and stalls even while on the motor way doing 50 mph WHICH IS DANGEROUS!!!. I have changed the fuel pump which cost £265.55!!!! the car at which point would not start then i called the AA out and they could not tell an exact fault luckily my bro opened the distributor cap and found that it is wet so cleaned that and it started now the thing still judders and drives rough!! and it was the LR people that felt or suspected the fuel pump had a problem!! i can not get from A to B without worrying that i may break down... This car has been the most unreliable, and most expensive for me... i intend to sell it asap... i liked the drive and the jeep type feeling BUT i am never buying a freelander again!! i promise!!
re gasket problems,and my previous comments on this site. i now have been informed that we should make a claim against the dealer, from where the car was purchased. the car has an inherent defect which puts the seller in breach of contract. unless the dealership, now called guy salmon, agree to pay all costs, i will persue this in the county court in uk, under the small claims scheme where i believe costs are minimal.this seems likely as they are unwilling to initially accept any responsibility. anyone need more info please contact [Log in to view email] i also am persuing with the group action with irvine mitchell and suggest others should register with them. tel 0870 1500100
Brought a 2000 1.8 xei freelander from heathwood in June 2003, Just done 25k guess what on christmas eve the engine blew another head gasket prob. I was in a hire car until yesterday.The dealer HR.Owen still has my freelander and I have no transport, Customer service awful, H.R.Owen worse never return call and told the job was not prioity !!! even though they have had my car since christmas eve . Don't know when I will get it back, of even when the work is to be started. Be warned don't buy a Freelander or deal with H.R.Owen !!!!!!!!
am i pleased to find this site!!i need help. I have the gasket problem but with a difference. i now live in spain and landrover are saying if i lived in the uk, they would pay for the repairs but because i am in spain they wont. i am convinced this is against all european laws. car was bought new from uk three and a half years ago, had various things replaced by warranty ,its only done 24000miles, fsh by landrover, last service end of november, i have done about 100 miles since and on the first trip over 10 miles, BANG ! landrover in uk initially said it was a probem for landrover spain, but they , correctly say ,that as it was bought in the uk its a uk problem. to cut a long story short no one will accept responsibilty, so i spoke with the legal dept. of AA in uk. they say i should take the garage i bought it from to the small claims court, as they have an obligation under "SALE AND SUPPLY OF GOODS ACT 1994". have spoken with the garage and of course they reject this. has anyone tried this route. i am in the process of speaking with irvin mitchell, to try and get compensation. the repairs are costing about 3000 euros.i am prepare to take this as far as possibe on all matters. i would appreciate any help or [Log in to view email]
I've been away for a couple of weeks, came home to find that my 1.8 Freelander won't start.
The battery was low, I connected another battery via 'Jump Leads' the engine turns over, tries to start , firing a couple of times & just turns over again.
Phone call from the garage, and yes it needs a new engine but the garage James Edward Chester are being very helpful to make it as painless as possible well done JE
Yet another Freelander head gasket only had it 1 month picked it up in the Auto Trader for 9,500 S-reg (Jan '99) 1.8 XEi 50th blew its head gasket two days ago after 37,000 miles. It had been regularly serviced by LR dealer and. Until now I liked it and it was reasonably reliable but very underpowered. At the moment, LR James Edwards Chester are looking at it to see what repairs need to be done head gasket or engine i have phoned Customer Care at L/R and they will pay 100% parts and 50% labour costs, will let you know the outcome
LR have now paid half the parts cost, after two weeks of mainly one sided discussion. Apparently the only link between LR and their agents on this subject is by email! They cant phone them ( maybe they are inundated!) which they take ages to reply to. Anyway the rule of thumb seems to be; If the engine has done 100k then no contribution. If it has done 0k then you get 100% contribution, but it's not fixed, depends on how good the dealer is and if they think you are going to buy a another car!!!!!!!
The question you should ask is, 'what could I have done to prevent this from happening? The answer, in most cases is nothing. I am lead to believe they put an experimental engine in the first Freelanders, we were the Guinea Pigs . Why should I pay anything? Even if they pay for the bits, why should we have to pay for the labour?
Come on Irvine Mitchell, put the case together, there's an army here waiting to claim.
LR have now paid half the parts cost, after two weeks of mainly one sided discussion. Apparently the only link between LR and their agents on this subject is email! They cant phone them ( maybe they are inundated!) which they take ages to reply to. Anyway the rule of thumb seems to be; If the engine has done 100k no contribution. If it has done 0k = 100% contribution, but it's not fixed, depends on how good the dealer is and if they think you are going to buy a another car!!!!!!!
The question you should ask is, 'what could I have done to prevent this from happening? The answer, in most cases is nothing. I am lead to believe they put an experimental engine in the first Freelanders, we were the Guinea Pigs . Why should I pay anything? Even if they pay for the bits, why should we have to pay for the labour?
Come on Irvine Mitchell, put the case together, there's an army here waiting to claim.
Yet another Freelander head gasket story! My S-reg (Aug '98) Freelander 1.8 XEi blew its head gasket two days ago after 40,000 miles. It had been regularly serviced by LR dealers and by a LR specialist. Up until now, I liked it and it was reasonably reliable (if a lot underpowered). At the moment, LR Customer Care are saying that because it is "so old" (ie 5 years) that they will only cover the cost of the parts (ie maybe a few pounds for the head gasket or at best/worse many thousands for a new engine). The labour costs will have to be covered 100% by me: these will be huge either way.
Clearly this web site details a range of responses and "goodwill contributions" from LR on this issue: varying from the disinterested and rude through to the helpful and "....will cover 100% of the costs"). I am curious to know how much I can expect LR to contribute to the repair costs? I don't know what these will be as I have yet to get a diagnosis of the extent of the damage. I assume the costs will be anything from £1-4k depending on whether it needs a new engine?
I have already registered with Irwin Mitchell for the class action against LR on this issue but if anyone has any short-term advice as to how to get LR to admit responsibility for a clear design flaw in the K-series engine and cough up 100% of the costs, I would be keen to hear from them!
I will keep this site posted as things develop but my heart sinks as I am sure I now face a long battle to convince LR to accept full responsibilty.
Clearly, the range of different contribution LR have made to therepair costs of cars of similar age and use to mine makes me think it depends on how much fuss you are prepared to make. I would like to do this the easy way but I fear LR will tryu to fob me off. Oh well, here goes......
I own a Freelander 1.8 with the blowing-up engine too!! It's been sitting in Pentland LR (Edinburgh) for nearly a month and although (because it is JUST in its extended warranty period) LR are paying 100% ofthe repair...as they should, the customer service I have been receiving from both the dealership and LRUK is absolutely appaling to say the least. I was given a hire car from LR assitance because my engine blew up. They took it off me on Friday and then tried to charge me for its use!! ...No! The dealership refuses to tell me when I'll get my car back, I've had it for less than 1 year! Only done 27000 miles. Don't know what to do, writing a letter tonight, but really don't know what it will acheive, customer service is terrible. NEVER BUY A LANDROVER!
Sorry to hear so many of you are still having trouble with Land Rover who agreed to pay 100% parts and labour for my 98 S reg Freelander 1.8XEI which needed a new engine at a cost of £4,000. The key may be to take it to an approved Land Rover dealer (like I did) and tell them it will remain there as you are not paying for it especially when the fault is clearly theirs!
My TD4 is now 32 months and 65k miles old. Although I was disappointed to need a replacement clutch at 38k at least I got a 25% 'goodwill gesture' from the local dealer (Ripon Land Rover have been excellent). But I do tow a heavy trailer around the Yorkshire Dales quite regularly so 'standard' users should expect more miles from their clutch. I don't think I would find anything else that combines the same mix of economy (40mpg, 30mpg towing), space, comfort, and off-road ability. In particular it both climbs and descends the unadopted 1:5 hill on which I live even when totally icebound and tackles forestry roads with ease. I'd certainly have another, but only a TD4. But then I won't buy Japanese on principle anyway, whilst Britain has its own motor industry.
Just found this site, am buying a 2000 freelander diesel 2.0 ltr. is this a better engine for head gaskets ? Anybody know when the bmw engine came into the range? Thanks, Worried from Herts!
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