had my 1.8 for 70000 miles the only thing that let it down was the clutch mastercylinder but it was 10 min job as slave and master is a sealed unit. to counter the head problem i put 2 products called " K-Seal" and " waterwetter" in the water system. The first is a long term radseal that is made up of copper particals and other fliuds that stays in the water for life, and any leaks are plugged straight away. I have used this on many cars to cure leaks from rads to headgaskets with very good results. The other product breaks down the surface tension of the water which makes the cooling sytem much more efficient. I now own td4 mainly to offset the cost of fuel, and it goes better.
Had 2 Freelanders a 1.8 then a V6...BOTH from Stratstone Gloucester (Green Lane) when i bought them. Many words to describe company (Land Rover) and Freelander but better not use bad language in public!!! BOTH engines went, 1st under 60k 2nd under 35k!!! Land Rover have major problems with petrol engine Freelanders and know they have to 'pay off' disgruntled customers BUT we had to fight them for cost of replacement engine which took 3 weeks of hell! They are not customer friendly. These Freelanders are USELESS just read comments on te forum on this preloved site, you will see in detail the problems SO many people are experiencing! There are even comments from a Land Rover mechanic on here...very usefull as we got a lot of technical advice here before we started to take legal action against LR!!! PLEASE SAVE YOUR MONEY AND SANITY DON'T BUY FREELANDER...Have finally had replacement engine fitted and got rid of the damn thing...bought German and sticking to a company that cares about customers and proud enough of their vehicles to sort a line problem out instead of fob off customers...PLEASE BE WARNED!!! Have lost a lot of money twice and VERY STRESSFULL!
I currently own a freelander bought from a company called Parks of Ayr, which are a francise for Landrover. Since purchasing the car ive had nothing but troubles with both the car and Parks.
After 3 months the car tapits went and had to be replaced, ive also had rust popping up on parts of the car especially the car locks.
Ive reported this to Parks and Landrover and they both seem to be singing from the same hymn sheets(nothing new there).
All i can say to people out there reading this stay well clear of Freelanders XEi models as they are in my opinion the worst car out on the market.
I am Freelander 1.8(model June 2000) owner from Taiwan. I had experienced head gasket failure and replaced new thermostat. I try to figure out what cause the head gasket failure, so I had installed some sensors to monitor the water, oil temperature. The followings are my test results. 1. If air condition is on (the fan is starting), the water temperature keeps 90 degree Centigrade. 2. If air condition is off (the fan stop), the water temperature may rise to 110 degree Centigrade during traffic in rush hour, then the fan starting at low speed and when water temperature is up to 115 degree Centigrade, by then the fan rotates at high speed. (Regarding to the You also ) 3. Driving on the highway (no matter the air condition is on or off), the tachometer is over 3000rpm at 100km per hour speed for 2 hours. The water temperature almost keeps at 90 degree Centigrade due to the force convection of heat transfer, but oil temperature will rise up to 110 Centigrade and driving longer the oil temperature higher. From test result, the followings are my opinions: 1. If air condition is off, the water temperature may rise up to 110 degree Centigrade and above, then the fan starts, its to late to cool down the engine. The coolant is almost boiling (hot spots), this is one of the reasons causes the head gasket overheating. 2. When driving on the highway, oil temperature will rise up to 110 Centigrade and above. The oil is almost decomposed by high temperature, this is a possible reason causes the head gasket overheating. (Suggestion: oil cooler is needed. I had installed an oil cooler and run well, the oil temperature keeps at 80-90 degree Centigrade, some severe condition the oil temperature rise to 100 degree Centigrade. ) I hope that my test results will help to solve the freelander problem and ask Land Rover to modify faults.
URGENT message for Lin in particularly & all Freelander owners who've had problems. Please get in touch with us asap it costs nothing. We might be able to help at LR Action Committee via our website at
We are the LRAction Committee a group of very disgruntled PAST &PRESENT Freelander owners who have banded together to take seek recourse for our past & present losses from LandRover.
Please join us its free & as well as there being a lot of free advice to be had theres strength in numbers.
You can access us via the following web site which is operated by a Freelander Owner http://freelander.webhop.net
Have L R freelander 1.8 k at 36k miles head gasket failure and Has blown the engine, costing £3,500.00, was on the way to sell at the time, Land Rover H R Owen at Park Royal are refusing to pay as they say I do not have a full service history but I am in dispute with them because it is a known fault and was sold the car by Twyfords Mercedes Garage in Acton as having a full service history, it seems to me they are using any excuse to get out of it. I have had the car 10 months it is out of its warranty and cost me £8,700.50. Now Land Rover are charging me £35.00 a day to store my vehicle, as I havent the money to pay for repairs. Can anybody help me with my next step, have any of you been successful in your fight for goodwill compensation, have now been without a car for almost a month, and my job depends on it? please contact me.
Hi everyone, Have read many of yor comments and complaints about the freelander. I too had a 1.8 station wagon,Petrol engine K series,T Reg,49,000 milage.Bought it in 2003 from a Car showroom(not Land rover) I bought a warranty also thinking that would cover any major problems.How wrong I was! Have had a catologue of problems with the thing,Air conditioning,Hydrolics,mounting problems,and lastly and most costly Head Gasket failure! Mine blew at just over 49,000.And was told by a Land rover dealer it needed a new engine,cost about £3,000! Because I had already decided to get rid of the car,I shopped around and got a garage to fit a new head gasket for alot cheaper.One week after getting it back,awful knocking sound and told the engine mountings had gone,so towed to the garage,more expense! I had been advised by them and the several AA men on the many callouts to "Get shot of it as soon as possible!" That thankfully I have now done and part exchanged it for a VW Golf.
I've owned my freelander 2004 model for about 16 months now. The head gasket has gone. Spent £300 to fix, need to take it back again. I had a VW Golf before, should have kept it - much less hassle. Stay away from the Freelander - cute to look at, rubbish to own. joy
After picking my brand new car up with 5 miles on the clock, and braking down at 10 miles alarms bell should have rung.The main fuse for the fuel injection system had given up the ghost. At 6 months i had to have a new gear box fitted. At 3 years i had to have passenger window motor replaces then 2 weeks later i had to have the drivers window motor replaced. Also 8 new tyre ,God only knows why ,i only have 28000 on the clock and i am a careful driver, especially as i have my children in the car. And just to top it all at 4 years old ,i have just been told i need a new head gasket. Well as far as i am concerned if you are thinking about getting a freelander , think again . Get something that is going to be reliable.
could anyone......EVERYONE.......who has had this head gasket problem with a freelander email me at [Log in to view email] I am going legal shortly I could share my experience.
Just an update to my post on 19th January - head gasket fixed ( £440 ) and the car advertised for sale. Then the idle speed developed a mind of its own, varying between 750 and 2800 rpm ( very embarrasing when in traffic ! ), so another trip to the garage and another bill, this time for £220 for a new idle control valve. On a positive note, I'm picking up a W reg. Frontera 3.2 V6 next Saturday, assuming the Freelander doesn't pack in again on the trip to trade it in. Taking in the difference between what I paid for it and what I managed to sell it for, and adding repair costs, it has cost nearly £3000 to own a Freelander for 8 months. The Frontera is the same age as the Freelander was when I bought it, has cost the same, and comes with a lot of things the Freelander Xi doesn't have like trip computer, cruise control, CD player, sidesteps, A-bar with spotlights, a big boot, a proper transfer box with High and low ratios, and a lovely V6 engine! Just a final thought - LR made a big issue of the Freelanders Hill Descent Control, but without a low ratio how were you supposed to get UP the hill in the first place ?
we have owned this car for 7months and have already had to replace the exhaust and just recently the head gasket blew. it now looks like the heater matrix has gone. am not happy, it was bought second hand and i think the garage knew there were faults..
It seems that the only people making positive comments are those with newer vehicles that have covered less miles. 90% of owners of '99 and older vehicles seem to have had nothing but grief. The XEI model is obviously an absolute nightmare. That engine is an absolute sham, can you imagine having to have one replaced with only 30k on the clock??!! td4 may be the only model worth getting, it seems to have better reviews and at least the engine is better. I wouldn't touch a Freelander after reading all this.
Mind you there are actually several models as recent as 2002 that have suffered the dreaded head gasket issue. What a total piece of crud that engine is. It amazes that people can still praise the car as being reliable up to that time when the engine died at 30k!!
POXY FREELANDER'S ! ! ! ! ! I bought a TD4 with the 2.0 BMW engine & BMW automatic gearbox. It was 18mths old when i bought it. The last service cost £850.00 (that was just doing the brakes, air-con, and little things).
At this stage (it's still less than 4 years old) it has had the following... Fuel pump problems (twice, the second time they got BMW to fix it because they couldn't find the priblem), warning lights (2 times, both because sensors went wrong), engine gasket gone, and now the gearbox has gone. It was changing down a gear instead of up to the next. Then the warning F-4-F-4 was displaying. The dealer checked teh oil and said somethings broken inside the box. How can a modern spec-style vehicle with an auto box (so it can't be thrashed or thrashed around the gears) go wrong at 60k.
Before i had a 3 series bmw (no major problems), i've even got a manky old diesel van that has been used and abused and hasn't seen a onze of maintainance that hasn't gone wrong in 5 years !!
The last RAC man to flatbed the thing off to the garage said he thinks it's one of the most un-reliable cars on the road.
ADVICE TIME - DON'T THINK BUYING A BETTER SPEC FREELANDER MEANS YOU GET LESS PROBLEMS.
FREELANDER 1.8i S/W. S REG. 37,000 miles I have had the car for two years. The exhaust pipe system has been replaced and the exhaust pipe itself after rusting. The back compatment storage is always full of water and damp. The reverse gear goes with a clunch noise. On saturday there was a pool of oil when I opened oil was comming out of the Anti freeze the garage says the Head Gasket is gone. They have changed quite a few freelanders. The latest one was a 16,000miles freelander!! I just dont know what to do?
Head gasket scenario. Blown at 42K on R reg see below.
Land Rover UK offered to replace the engine free of charge or give me fair Part Ex and an additional 1500 quid towards the diesel model I wanted.
So I have had a satisfactory outcome, incidentally my dealers were able to proce match What Car's target price, in fact slightly better it so that was also good news.
I insisted that the owner of the 1.8 s, had the gasket checked before I even thought about buying it. Everything was checked, changed as required and I was happy. Now after 3500 miles the head gasket has blown. I imagine I am pretty well shafted, service were not carried out by LR Dealer, although that does not seem to matter, they braek down just the same. I really am at a loss what to do next. I cannot afford to carry out many repairs. I cannot sleep I am so full of dispair.
After owning 4 Vauxhall Fronteras over a period of 10 years, my wife decided she wanted a change, and picked a 1999 Freelander Xi - what a mistake. The passenger electric window required 4 visits to the garage before it was finally repaired succesfully ( so far ), the Hill Descent Control warning light flashed on a few times before finally staying on ( 1 visit to fix that ), the TC light occasionally comes on but goes off after restarting the engine, the drivers heated mirror needed replacing due to corroded contacts ( do you know these heaters are on all the time the engine is running, even in summer ! ), the radio display has partially failed, and just before Chrismas the head gasket went, dumping a mix of coolant and oil all over my drive ! As soon as its fixed ( £350 quoted ) we're looking for another Frontera ! As an aside, the local garage reckon they do between 3 and 6 K Series head gaskets a month, and have actually started recommending to customers that you change it every 30,000 miles !
I have owned my 1.8 xei for 18 months, its done 61k and it seems that I have the same problems as all of you aswell. Digital clock on dash started to fade last year and guess what?....... On my way home from work today and my head gasket has blown aswell. I use a mobile mechanic and have to go without a car until Friday when he can come out, will keep you posted with the damage!!!
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