Farewell Land Rover

[DionM]

Well today we traded in our Freelander. Bought her Sept 02, brand new (V6 Auto). It started off great - great car to drive, great engine, excellent ride and the quality felt there. ... but then problems started and the whole experience has left a sour taste in my mouth, sadly. I was a huge fan of LR and the Freelander ... but now I'm not so sure.

Sorry Land Rover, but you've lost a big fan and repeat customer.

[McDisco]

Ok...adios! Enjoy.

[hiline]

next time don't buy a freelander and things will be ok :D;)

as i say all the time if i bought a freelander for the wife :angel:
my mechanic and long time friend would shoot me where i stood:o

[rangieman]

Yes buy a real landrover not a girlies car next time :p

[harry]

sorry to hear that you didn't have a good time of the freo'
but what did you trade it on?

[abaddonxi]

Sorry to hear that DionM.

Cheers
Simon

[101RRS]

Yes buy a real landrover not a girlies car next time :p


oye :mad:

[loanrangie]

Yes buy a real landrover not a girlies car next time :p

LOL :D

[Defender=1st]

if you were a real landy fan then why did ya buy a Freeloader ??

[Michael2]

Yes buy a real landrover not a girlies car next time :p


sorry garycol, I got to agree with Rangieman.

Buy a Land Rover designed by an engineer, not an interior designer ;)

Dion, I'm sorry about your bad experience.

[Ken]

Well today we traded in our Freelander. Bought her Sept 02, brand new (V6 Auto). It started off great - great car to drive, great engine, excellent ride and the quality felt there. ... but then problems started and the whole experience has left a sour taste in my mouth, sadly. I was a huge fan of LR and the Freelander ... but now I'm not so sure.

Sorry Land Rover, but you've lost a big fan and repeat customer.

You cannot be serious a Freelander is not a real Land Rover

A Series A Defender A Discovery theses are real Land Rovers

You cannot judge a Marque such as Solihull Sweetness by using a Freeloader
as a benchmark

Bah Humbug I say Good Day to you sir :D:D:D:D:D

[LandyAndy]

Not sure that a FreeLander is that bad,all us TD5 owners also have a grenade with a faulty safety pin!!!!!
Then again,all the same vintage!!!!
Andrew

[DionM]

Comments about the Freelander's LR cred or the like aside (I have been around Land Rovers since I was 6 years old, I'm now 29, spanning SIIAs, RR Classics, Series III Stage 1, and my Freelander), the issue was with LRA's eventual refusal to acknowledge and fix properly two problems - 1 with poor cold starting (since it was 1week old), the other a severe loss of power under acceleration (almost like the brakes were jabbed on, but of course they weren't ... had many close shaves with cars almost running up the back of the vehicle in traffic when this happened).

They did little more than simply wait for the ECU to log a fault code - which it never did; so in the end I had a service manager tell me they would no longer investigate the problem anymore ... insinuating I was making it up.

That was the final straw. We were very close to buying a D3 (had the lease package all arranged and ready to go) ... that atttitude changed our minds instantly.

They could have fixed it. Looking at US forums it looked like the throttle body was a likely suspect. But they just wanted to wait for a fault code.

And yes, I bought a VW sedan.

And guys, lay off the stupid Freelander comments. I got out there and used it, and it was a true Land Rover in that it set the benchmark in design and 4WD capability for it's class - just like it brothers the Defender, Disco and Rangie.

I'm not posting as a bitter owner, I'm posting as a sad former owner.

[dullbird]

the freelander could 4wd:eek: :wasntme:

sorry never been a fan of the freelander and probably never will, i dont think freelander enhanced landrovers image at all or really set any bench marks.....i nearly changed my mind when i saw the pics of the new one until i saw it in the flesh at the motor show.

sorry to here about your experiences with great landy customer service mmmmmm thats the only thing that bothers me about buying a new defender that we have all that crap to come.......

good luck with your new car maybe one day you will return:)

[AndyRevill]

I'll sympathise with you DionM - we owned a Freelander before the Disco - we loved it and it took us places we'll remember long past the Freelander. I do think LR missed the boat with it - they had the chance to have another worthy member of the family - instead they stuffed it:(

All the best with the Vdub

Andy

[Redback]

:spudnikwaving: enjoy Overlander

[incisor]

sad to see you go mate...

hope the new one does the right thing by you..

PS.

FWIW i think some of you fellows are being more than a bit harsh...

DionM has been a good supporter of LR and been helpful to the rest of the LR fraternity over time if my memory serves me rightly...

[hiline]

i wasn't trying to bag him at all :o

just telling him what my mechanic would do to me :angel:

if i bought a freelander


but i do agree some of the comments are a tad over the top


sorry to see you go Dion

[DirtyDawg]

Well cmon a freelander isnt a real landrover anyway, porr Jap imitation with LR badges....:eek:
Now a classic Defender..you wont have a single drama:angel::angel:

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Land Rover Freelander 2 proves a hit with UK customers
27 June 2007
http://www.easier.com/myads/images/124500-1.jpg

The all-new Freelander 2 is proving a real hit with UK customers since launch in December 2006. Sales for the award-winning compact 4x4 are up 20 per cent compared with the same time last year.

The Freelander 2, built at the acclaimed Halewood manufacturing facility in Liverpool, has sold 7532 units in the UK so far this year – 95 per cent of which are diesels with a fuel economy figure of up to 37.7mpg and nearly 30 per cent are top-of-the-range HSE models. It now leads the Compact 4x4 segment outselling rivals such as the new Honda CR-V and the BMW X3.

John Edwards, managing director, Land Rover UK said: “The all-new Freelander 2 is now firmly established as the premium compact 4x4 of choice in the UK. This is a testament to its great design, high levels of quality and improved fuel economy.”

He continued: “The Freelander 2 is the foundation of our business in the UK and will help us to deliver our best ever sales result in the UK this year.”

Land Rover UK has sold over 24,000 units this year. Sales of the Range Rover are up so far this year by 13 per cent – mainly driven by the new and refined TDV8 engine – the Discovery 3 and the Range Rover Sport are currently selling twice as many units as their nearest competitors, and the Defender 07MY has seen its best UK May sales result ever.

“The Land Rover business is in great shape – not just in the UK but across the globe. It is now solidly in the black, with two successive record sales years and it is on target for yet another this year,” said Phil Popham, managing director, Land Rover. “We sell to 147 markets around the globe, and more than 40,000 cars into emerging markets like China and Russia that we weren’t selling in five years ago.”


Good luck with the VW Dion,:D

[Cap]

wow - thats a 'positive' article for a change. Ive been lurking around reading all the horror stories (including DionM) and thought how bloody stupid LRA are regarding customer service. Hope this will change soon.

[mcrover]

Sorry to hear that your out of the Landrover world now Deon, and Im not surprised that a Freo was the straw that broke the camels back.

It is a pitty that some dealers treat customers like idiots and then the customers dont get the back up from LRA to be able to push for a proper repair.

No matter what anyone says, all cars have their faults. Even Defenders have problems that show up from time to time as do Disco's but the freo got a boot load of them and no one wanted to take charge of fixing them and thats how they have lost another customer.

I doubt that I will ever upgrade to another Landrover unless it is a Fender from my D1 for this very reason, and it is one part of the market that the Japs have it sown up, after market service sells cars in the future rather than trying to look at the bottom line now is how Mazda, Nissan and Toyota look at it.

Hope the Vwee does you well, wont be quite as good off road but a nice car all the same, just take a bigger run up lol.

Damo

[Greylandy]

the freelander could 4wd:eek: :wasntme:

sorry never been a fan of the freelander and probably never will, i dont think freelander enhanced landrovers image at all or really set any bench marks.....

The Freelander did bolster LR's coffers by becoming the top selling small SUV in Europe in early 2000. It came at a critical time when Land Rover were once again on the ropes. The Freelander might be the bastard child but it kept LR afloat and able to produce some of its modern offspring.

I agree with Dion, if LRA didn't want to support him .. why should he support LRA by sticking with the brand. Dion, enjoy the VW and get yourself an old S3 SWB to play around with. At least LRA will not see any of the cash you pay for it!

[FenianEel]

Sorry to hear your woes Dion, I'm neither a fan of the Freeby or LRA, but I wouldn't drive anything else - I am a sad article:D

Hope the hitlermobile looks after you well and we see you back with a green oval soon.

All the best and Good Luck mate ;)

[mudmouse]

Dion, that's a shame after your long association with the marque, and no doubt it's been an expensive little episode. My wife and I looked at a few diesel Freelanders but NONE we looked at (ranging from 70,00k's to 130,00k's) inspired any confidence - wierd noises etc... Maybe our expectations were in the wrong place.

So, i hope you fire off a similar letter, to your thoughts on the forum, to Land Rover Oz. It might end up in the 'one way fax' but it also might add weight to many complaints, not only for Freelanders but Td5's etc...

Anyway mate, sorry to hear that. Best of luck with your next set of wheels.

Matt.

[BigJon]

It is a pitty that some dealers treat customers like idiots and then the customers dont get the back up from LRA to be able to push for a proper repair.

freo got a boot load of them and no one wanted to take charge of fixing them and thats how they have lost another customer.



We recently replaced a complete vehicle wiring loom in a 5 year old Freelander TD4 to rectify an intermittent rough running fault. Many many hours of diagnosis, most of the diesel injection system replaced, ALL of it done at NO CHARGE to the customer (not the original owner, bought the vehicle outside of factory warranty), LR paid for the lot even though the vehicle was well outside of the warranty period.

Good things do sometimes happen!!

[Pedro_The_Swift]

and its good to hear about them;)

[mcrover]

We recently replaced a complete vehicle wiring loom in a 5 year old Freelander TD4 to rectify an intermittent rough running fault. Many many hours of diagnosis, most of the diesel injection system replaced, ALL of it done at NO CHARGE to the customer (not the original owner, bought the vehicle outside of factory warranty), LR paid for the lot even though the vehicle was well outside of the warranty period.

Good things do sometimes happen!!

Good to hear BJ, LR may just be starting to notice that there may be a problem with the freo.......

Mrs Mcrovers big boss has a RR sport, major rear end problems, wears out $1000 each tyres in under 30,000km's, just on the inner edge.

On a long drive ended up with a blowout just over the SA border after picking it up from the dealer to have 2 new tyres fitted and a rear alignment the day before.

Apparently he had the wrong tyres fitted, but they fitted them and they were the same as what was fitted in the first place brand new.

He lost a court case against them as he didnt specify to them what sort of driving he was going to do or something of that nature and they came out with he was told to have an upgrade done but they didnt have the part in stock.

He did tell them he was going to drive it interstate and was told that it would be fine with an alignment but when that was brought up in court it was only hear say and wasnt on paper.

Her other boss has a V6 freo which has had loooooooooooots of hastles and her partners car is a P38 so all 3 of them wont be buying LR again any time soon.

Hope LRA is learning about customer service, maybe BJ has someone who can pull the right strings or something as down here and in Sydney it seems like you cant win with LRA.

[Michael2]

We recently replaced a complete vehicle wiring loom in a 5 year old Freelander TD4 to rectify an intermittent rough running fault. Many many hours of diagnosis, most of the diesel injection system replaced, ALL of it done at NO CHARGE to the customer (not the original owner, bought the vehicle outside of factory warranty), LR paid for the lot even though the vehicle was well outside of the warranty period.

Good things do sometimes happen!!

I'd say that if anyone has warranty issues, it would be worth the drive to Alice Springs.

Life is so much simpler when you buy a 2nd hand Land Rover that's had all these things sorted out.

[DionM]

I was patient with them ... very patient. I fired off many letters, met with the state manager, all that stuff. But it was all talk and no action. They were good in extending support past end of warranty ... but what good is that when all they did was look at it?

It was - and still is - disappointing how it ended. But I just got frustrated - here was a vehicle my wife (rightly) refused to drive because of the power loss (she feared for someone hitting her when it came to a halt in the middle of traffic), and there was nothing being done to fix it. They just didn't understand the importance or the safety implications - it was as if I was complainig about a little rattle in the door or something.

I was fine with the problems we had while owning it; I never had an issue with all the problems that came up and they fixed (we had quite a few, but I wouldn't say the vehicle was a lemon ... they were mostly 'known' issues). I never got annoyed at the frequent visits to the dealer, because problems were fixed and I knew that was part of owning a Land Rover - other things about the vehciel made up for it. If they had fixed these other outstanding problems like they should have, we'd probably still have it.

So it was never to do with the number of problems we had, nor the frequency of them ... it was the fact these problems were never fixed. I mean, 4.5 years of poor cold starting? Approx 2 years of severe power loss? Ridiculous. Perhaps I was patient for too long? Anyway, it was that latter unfixed safety related problem was the straw that broke the camels back.

I didn't understand why they did that. The vehicle was serviced meticulously (every 6mths, even though it only 'needed' 12mth services according to the schedule). Always serviced by LR. Never abused. I kept it immaculate (even the guy doing the trade-in valuation remarked on how clean it was), always fed it PULP or higher octane fuel. There was no reason for them to stall on it, but all they did was just tell to bring it in, they'd drive it around, download codes for a while and say "no fault found". Now I can understand intermittent faults are had to diagnose, but after the 10th trip I made in there you'd think they would start doing something more. And from what I understand, the FLs engine management does not log anything to do with the fuel system, but they never checked anything with the fuel system, so if the fault was there ...

I only hope the next owner has more luck getting the problem fixed, LRA just wore me out. They won. They ignored me long enough and I gave up. At least the dealer I traded it with is part of the same chain who owns the LR dealer who sold & serviced it, so all the history is there.

[Frenchie]

He lost a court case against them as he didnt specify to them what sort of driving he was going to do or something of that nature

What sort of BS is that? :mad: So now you have to tell the dealer when you want to go interstate? or go offroad?

[mcrover]

I only hope the next owner has more luck getting the problem fixed, LRA just wore me out. They won. They ignored me long enough and I gave up. At least the dealer I traded it with is part of the same chain who owns the LR dealer who sold & serviced it, so all the history is there.

I would have gone as far as possible from the dealer that was looking after you with the Freo as it is normally what they tell the manufacturer is what the manufacturer basis their fault diagnosis on.

I was thinking while reading at the start that the service manager is probably making out like there isnt a problem other than the person turning the key.

They tried doing this to me at the Ford dealer I posted about earlier and were caught out as I got a freind at Ford Oz to print out copies of their reports on the faulty Trasmissions, rear spring hangers, diff problems, immobiliser problems and LPG computer problems with comments from the service manager along the lines of I had over loaded it and damaged by driving it extremly hard.

They put a fault recorder on the ECU at 1 stage that would tell them when it recorded faults that wouldnt normally be logged and also record engine revs and road speed, this logged that at a cirtain time (I was on the geelong freeway) it recorded revs at 6000 RPM at a speed of 269kmh out of an AU 3 dedicated gas 6 cyl ute with tool boxes and close to a tonne of tools etc in it.

What it didnt log was that while on that drive it was jumping in and out of lockup and back to 3rd every few kms.

Their solution to this was to write a letter to my boss (as it was a company car) saying they had logged my car traveling at 269kmh and this was why we were having so much trouble with it.

Luckily my boss was a smart bloke and said before I believe that you will have to proove that the ute will do 269kmh which they then realised it was a mistake.

Dont trust their service department, go somewhere else is my advice to you, they will try to get out of fixing it anyway they can.

Good luck Deon

[mcrover]

What sort of BS is that? :mad: So now you have to tell the dealer when you want to go interstate? or go offroad?

Well thats what they told him and thats what got them out of paying for the damages.

Another dealer has sorted half of the problems but it is still chopping out tyres.

[dungarover]

Shame you're leaving the LR fraternity. Hopefully you find what you're looking for in another make even if it's dull and boring :D

Best of luck,

Trav

[DionM]

Shame you're leaving the LR fraternity. Hopefully you find what you're looking for in another make even if it's dull and boring :D


Well yeah that's the thing, I still need a larger 4WD than my Jeep. So it looks like I'm off to Nissan or Toyota, not because I want to, but because they are not a Land Rover. Sad really.

[DiscoTDI]

Its sad to hear Dion, I have to say I did bite the bullet with the woes I had and went for the D3, mainly for the trade in value but have not regreted it. I for one can understand the disapointment that is LRA and personally wouldnt **** on them if they were burning. I hope you dont turn your back on the world of LR forever, the brand still has the heart its just the bastards who dont know how to market it.


Oh and eveyone who bags a freelander is just as bad as a toyota driver bagging a landy owner:p:twisted:

[PAT303]

I'm a long time LR and VW owner and hope that VW buy's LR as they make a solid car.Don't think for a second that toyota is any better at warranty issue's,two of my mates and two men I work with have had problems that toyota will not fix,that is one reason I bought a LR.My mates troopy has so many drama's If it was mine I would run the toyota manager over with it. Pat

[HAK]

Comments about the Freelander's LR cred or the like aside (I have been around Land Rovers since I was 6 years old, I'm now 29, spanning SIIAs, RR Classics, Series III Stage 1, and my Freelander), the issue was with LRA's eventual refusal to acknowledge and fix properly two problems - 1 with poor cold starting (since it was 1week old), the other a severe loss of power under acceleration (almost like the brakes were jabbed on, but of course they weren't ... had many close shaves with cars almost running up the back of the vehicle in traffic when this happened).

They did little more than simply wait for the ECU to log a fault code - which it never did; so in the end I had a service manager tell me they would no longer investigate the problem anymore ... insinuating I was making it up.

That was the final straw. We were very close to buying a D3 (had the lease package all arranged and ready to go) ... that atttitude changed our minds instantly.

They could have fixed it. Looking at US forums it looked like the throttle body was a likely suspect. But they just wanted to wait for a fault code.

And yes, I bought a VW sedan.

And guys, lay off the stupid Freelander comments. I got out there and used it, and it was a true Land Rover in that it set the benchmark in design and 4WD capability for it's class - just like it brothers the Defender, Disco and Rangie.

I'm not posting as a bitter owner, I'm posting as a sad former owner.

When I had my 01 freelander the last of the 4's I think it was 01, look it wasn’t a bad car but it was a suburban want to be four wheel drive the only fault mine had other then badly needing another gear was that the throttle body was made of plastic and of coarse when the motor got hot it got stuck almost killing me and the car

Why the freelander to begin with I asked my self every day at the time my wife worked for trivett and a bunch of bastards they are another story for another day

I was told that they can do anything a larger 4wd could do (BS) anyway it was the first 4wd I ever bought took me from Sydney to WA with out hitch

In closing they are what they are a suburban city slicker

[DionM]

Just to update this one ... I got a call from the dealer who bought it auction (different to who I traded it with), asking me had I ever replaced the engine, because the engine number didn't match the rego papers ... and they were more different than a simple typo.

I certainly never knew of the engine being changed ... but then again, the vehicle was delivered without a compliance plate so who knows what happened before I got it.

I see she's on carsales.com.au now ... feel sad seeing it there. Poor little Freelander. Hope she goes to a good home.

[Grizzly_Adams]

Mate, I'm sorry to see you go - I'm sorry to see anyone go - but I understand.

I hope you have better success in the future with whichever vehicle you end up purchasing (in case you have already told us then it shows that I have only read the first post and this page :angel: ).

To be brutally honest I would never deal with LR directly. I bought my baby when she was 2 years old and she's never been to an "authorized LR dealer" and I would never touch one due to just the sort of service you talk about - I've always had her serviced from specialty mechanics like RoverTech or M.R. Auto and I've been nothing but thrilled by their service.

LR dealers are interested in selling the vehicle and that's about it. Specialist service mechanics really want to look after her for you because repeat business is their business.

Australian law states that you can get your vehicle - even from brand new - serviced anywhere you feel like it; only warranty repairs need go to LR themselves and your mechanics will tell you which repairs need to be sent off to LR.

I would suggest next time, no matter which vehicle you end up with, find yourself a good mechanic who knows the vehicle type well and get the vehicle serviced there.

I can't apologise for the way LR has treated you, I only hope you find a vehicle that you feel is safe, reliable, and treats you and your family well.

[DionM]

Australian law states that you can get your vehicle - even from brand new - serviced anywhere you feel like it; only warranty repairs need go to LR themselves and your mechanics will tell you which repairs need to be sent off to LR.


Yeah but it was at LR often enough for warranties might as well get it serviced there :eek::D



I can't apologise for the way LR has treated you, I only hope you find a vehicle that you feel is safe, reliable, and treats you and your family well.

Mate, don't apologise. I'm was sad to see her go, and still feel sad seeing similar ones when they pass by (I feel really sad at present having seen her for sale). Weird that, how I could get so attached to a car. I guess that sorta tells why I've been a Landie fan. Maybe time will change things ... but yeah I'll be staying away from LRA.

[DiscoTDI]

Mate, don't apologise. I'm was sad to see her go, and still feel sad seeing similar ones when they pass by (I feel really sad at present having seen her for sale). Weird that, how I could get so attached to a car. I guess that sorta tells why I've been a Landie fan. Maybe time will change things ... but yeah I'll be staying away from LRA.

I know the feeling, felt real bad seeing my old D2 on the web for sale:(

[hopperoo]

Hi DionM,

You probably don't want to know, at this time, but I just sold a two year old VW Golf Comfortline (one of the early production 2005's) with 60,000kms on it because of the continual warranty problems I was having with it.

To compound the warranty issues was the fact that each time parts were required, the incorrect ones arrived (mostly in about 4 weeks) so they had to be re-ordered again!

FWIW, I'm on my third Pajero and apart from problems with the old 2.8TDi motor, these vehicles have been almost trouble-free.

Dennis.

[DionM]

Hi DionM,

You probably don't want to know, at this time, but I just sold a two year old VW Golf Comfortline (one of the early production 2005's) with 60,000kms on it because of the continual warranty problems I was having with it.


Fair call. However I didn't sell because of problems (would have done in the first month if so) but their delay tactics in fixing stuff.



To compound the warranty issues was the fact that each time parts were required, the incorrect ones arrived (mostly in about 4 weeks) so they had to be re-ordered again!


Heh been there done that! They ordered a TD4 fuel pump for my V6 ... another time they ordered the wrong ECU ... etc etc.

[Captain_Rightfoot]

Well today we traded in our Freelander. Bought her Sept 02, brand new (V6 Auto). It started off great - great car to drive, great engine, excellent ride and the quality felt there. ... but then problems started and the whole experience has left a sour taste in my mouth, sadly. I was a huge fan of LR and the Freelander ... but now I'm not so sure.

Sorry Land Rover, but you've lost a big fan and repeat customer.
Sorry mate. The freelander was always a problematic car, from it's troubled birth on. :(

I think you'll find that Ford would never let them do that again.

However I can understand (from experience) that a troublesome one can put a bad taste in the mouth and no amount of brushing can restore the trust. You've always got that lingering suspicion. :(

Maybe in a few years time give LR another go.