Would I be disappointed?

[Silenceisgolden]

My Disco 4 is 6 months away from the end of the extended warranty and I was considering trading it in for a new one.
However, the trade-in value offered was so low that I couldn't afford to do so.
The option is to trade it on a Freeloader. Would I be disappointed? I don't do serious off-road, I have a Defender and an Oka for that - what I want is a quiet, comfortable highway cruiser. Noise is my biggest issue - even the Disco 4 makes a bit of road noise on some surfaces, is the Freeloader likely to be better or worse?
Grateful for any opinions,
Cheers.

[the_preacher1973]

My Disco 4 is 6 months away from the end of the extended warranty and I was considering trading it in for a new one.
However, the trade-in value offered was so low that I couldn't afford to do so.
The option is to trade it on a Freeloader. Would I be disappointed? I don't do serious off-road, I have a Defender and an Oka for that - what I want is a quiet, comfortable highway cruiser. Noise is my biggest issue - even the Disco 4 makes a bit of road noise on some surfaces, is the Freeloader likely to be better or worse?
Grateful for any opinions,
Cheers.

Take one for a test drive.


I've driven all sorts of LR's. Discovery 1,2,3, Range rover, 110 County and a Freelander 2. The Freelander is the only one that didn't feel like a Land Rover. It didn't have that feeling of solidity that the others have. It felt like a Rav4 with better trim.


But you've already got Defender so perhaps that's what you need?

[Pedro_The_Swift]

If your D4 is noisey,, it could be your choice of tyre.
I had a ride in a 2013 two days ago with Hankook AT's on and it was dead silent in the cab.

[gghaggis]

Have you considered a Discovery Sport? I had one for 3 days and quite liked it - sort of a lower level (but more practical) Evoque.

Cheers,

Gordon

[Eevo]

If your D4 is noisey,, it could be your choice of tyre.

#1 factor in road noise.

[Ferret]

The Freelanders I've had when getting my D4 serviced I thought were noisier than my D4.

[BMKal]

I've had Freelanders and a Discovery Sport when my D4 has been in for a service. Not a lot of difference between the two really.

I've also had a new RAV4 as a loan car from Toyota for a week while waiting on delivery of my last (company) Playdo. The RAV4 is not in the same league as either of the Land Rover offerings - it feels like a cheap, Japanese small car.

Neither is as quiet as the D4, nor do they feel as big / solid. However, I quite like both. For what you are looking at using the vehicle for, I would seriously consider either a late model Freelander 2 diesel (have had a petrol and didn't like it) or a Discovery Sport.

The Discovery Sport is about the same size as a Ford Territory, and I found it to be a very nice car driving around Perth - though I never had the opportunity to take it out onto open roads. I would certainly consider buying one of these (as a second car, to replace SWMBO's Camry - I'd still keep the D4 for myself).

I'd also seriously consider a Freelander for the same purpose (for SWMBO). She has experienced both (only as a passenger) and prefers the Freelander.

[chuck]

I have been on LROCV trips with Freelander's & they are quite respectable off road.

[Grentarc]

If your D4 is noisey,, it could be your choice of tyre.
I had a ride in a 2013 two days ago with Hankook AT's on and it was dead silent in the cab.

I have Hankooks on my D4 and it is silent inside. I have not heard a hint of tyre noise from them.

[Silenceisgolden]

Thanks everyone for the replies, a lot of good info there. But as the Preacher says, the obvious thing is to take one for a test drive. But if it is even remotely like a RAV4 I couldn't live with it. Candidly, I would rather walk as once I did when they foisted a RAV4 hire car on me in New Zealand.

I am interested in the comments on tyre noise - that is the noise source on my D4, but I have only used the OEM type tyres. Could an AT tyre (the Hankook I presume is AT?) be quieter than a road tyre?

I will probably stick with the D4 - it is a fabulous vehicle and I can't see myself accepting the offered $30K for such a brilliant car.

Cheers.

[AnD3rew]

I was going to say, hang on to your D4 anything else will feel like going down in the world. I still have the D3 I bought new in 2009 and still love it.

[Nomad9]

Hi there,
I'm with Andy, if you have already got a great vehicle, you know the history of the vehicle buy a good set of silent tyres and keep on living the dream. Even if you have got a warranty the majority of the time when needed could well not live up to expectations. Better the devil you know.........etc etc

Cheers Marty.

[jonesy63]

I am interested in the comments on tyre noise - that is the noise source on my D4, but I have only used the OEM type tyres. Could an AT tyre (the Hankook I presume is AT?) be quieter than a road tyre?

Hi - if you've only used the Goodyear Wranglers, they do tend to get noisy - especially towards the end of their life. Re AT tyres being quieter - some less aggressive patterns are about the same as new Wranglers - like the Yokohama Geolandar AT/S. I've had a new set of Goodyear Efficient Grips for about 5 months - and they are a lot quieter than Wranglers. All of this is just from my personal experience.

Cheers,
Rob

[weeds]

I will probably stick with the D4 - it is a fabulous vehicle and I can't see myself accepting the offered $30K for such a brilliant car.

Cheers.


Would you take $31K

[PeterOZ]

Perhaps private sale is the way to go, dont put price up too high, enough to do what you need to do re new D4 plus a little haggling room.


Test the waters and see what bites you get. Probably a few on here would be interested.


Stealers will offfer crap at the best of times then wack a quick 25 - 30% on top and flog it off to the next punter.


I will need to think of another vehcile in about 2 to 3 years as the old MY08 D3 will be getting a bit long in tooth by then.


Won't be another LR as I can't afford them anymore, single so without the dual incomes I had back then it is just not feasible. :rocket:

[Silenceisgolden]

Thanks again for the advice. It was a brief madness thinking of going the Freelander route - I have no doubt that I would feel cheated after living with the D4 for four+ years to go to something that even remotely resembled a RAV4. If I can't afford a new D4 I will stick with the devil I know. Selling the D4 privately is not an option - we live rural far from capital cities and from past experience I know that city people won't travel to buy cars.

Jonesy, thanks for the suggestion on tyres - I had been considering trying Michelin Latitude Tour HP. They are expensive, so I might try the Efficient Grips.

Peter, I can't help thinking that an 08 D3 would still be better than anything you could buy with the money you would get selling the D3.

[Silenceisgolden]

Drat! I just checked, and I have the Efficient Grips on now. They are getting low, and they are quite noisy now. I will start a new thread on tyre noise.....
Cheers

[PeterOZ]

Take it to a LR specialsit, not necessarily a stealer but a good indie, also your local RACQ/NRMA or whatever you have in your state and get reports done.


Will give you indication of what might need doing on your current one. I did all of tht before I came off lease and extended warranty and got a lot of work done by LR at no cost to me. Stealers here were actually pretty good and identified a few issues that the RACQ report missed. In fact RACQ reports these days are a waste of time and money :twisted:


Agree you would feel very cheated downgrading the freeloader.


No real benefit in getting a MY09 D3/ I have a newish engine in my current one now, needs tyres and some suspension bits which I will do in due course. Trans had a double flush service not long before the old engine died so should be ok for a while. I do very few km these days, drive 3 mins to train station and get train to work. Bit of weekend driving about and odd trip up or down the coast. Sometimes the drive down the coast can be very odd!! :angel:


Body and interior is in very good order. Does not have all the gadgets like blue tooth streaming etc that the new Discos now have but I can live without that.


Take of fuel lasts me about 3 weeks. Sometimes more.


Once I have hte new airstruts, control arms and bushes done plus new tyres it will drive like new Disco again.


A month and still no quote from MR for the suspension work. Seriously how hard is it? :censored:

[Parkes]

I had a set of Pirelli Scorpion Zero on and they were very quiet. Soft compound so we only got a bit under 50k out of them but a fantastic tyre on the bitumen. Much more quiet than the AT's on at the moment.