- Joined
- Feb 17, 2006
- Messages
- 17,470
- Car(s)
- '12 MX-5 PRHT, '02 Freelander, '90 Disco 1 Bobtail
I double-dare you, monkeyfarmer.
Yes, it's happened again. My fascination with older Land Rover products knows no bounds, not even common sense. After many years of mocking the Freelander when it came out, I was overcome with the urge to buy a shitter. Truth be told, I think I might've failed and I might've got deceased-spec instead.
So why am I back to three cars again? Well I got the Miata in October and after a very short time it became British winter, which means a lot of rain, mud and road salt. As much as I've tried to only drive the Miata on dry days when it hasn't been cold (so the salt has washed away), it turns out that trying to do that with a car that's essentially your daily drive is really bloody difficult. I wanted something that would take a bit of winter abuse. Bugsy filled this role in the pre-Tesla days, however I'm not prepared to jump back in to a world of failing air suspension, hydraulics and leaky sunroofs. Which is why I didn't buy an old Range Rover, along with the need for this to be cheap.
The Freelander seemed like the ideal choice, still giving me the ability to do some light green laning in the summer but able to drive distances and with much less to go wrong. Ignoring all of that, the hippo-faced Freelander has been growing on me like a wart for years now, especially the 3-door model with the removable roof. With my dad getting a Freelander 2 a few years ago the idea of having an earlier car has tempted me, it just wasn't possible or necessary when I had the Model 3.
Anyway, meet Geoff the 2002 Td4 Freelander. Geoff because of the GF on the plate, meaning he originally came from Maidstone in Kent. I was able to get these photos between rain showers this afternoon so it's wet. There are some scratches on the paint that are hidden by the drops.
I really think the 3 door looks handsome in black. Bumpers need a little work from the heat gun.
Seats fold down to make a decent amount of space in the back. Rear plastics are all a bit scratched, it doesn't matter as I'll be chucking stuff in but I'll make an effort to bring them back a bit. One of the POs replaced the green and gold Freelander badge with a black and silver one, suits the car very nicely.
All 3 windows go up and down, not a certainty for an old Freelander. The ability to roll down the rear window is great, especially with a 3-door. More on that in another post.
Interior smells a bit but is otherwise quite clean and pleasant. Being a pre-facelift Td4 (actually listed as facelift on the JLR classic site) it has the black interior with silver accents rather than beige and turquoise. I don't usually like all-black interiors but there's enough space and light in here to compensate. Cigarette lighter has never been used. Seat cloth material is called 'Jungle Trek'. A pair of manually operated flip up sunroof panels means no mechanisms to go wrong and seals can be easily checked and cleaned.
Limited Edition badge was put there by a previous owner and was around a fiver on eBay, it's hilarious enough for me to leave it on.
Toolbox cubby was a little damp but not full of water as some are, critically the lock mechanism isn't all rusted to shit. The toolkit is complete and looks untouched. Some spare bolts included.
As he's called Geoff, a sticker saying such was necessary.
Geoff was cheap. Even if we only look at inflation since 2011 and not car price increases beside that, he was cheaper than Keely was in 2011. He's also younger, has done fewer miles and is in better condition than Keely was. Okay so a Disco will be worth more than a Hippo, but you get the point. Despite the initial appearance there are, of course, issues with Geoff. First, here's a list of what I used to haggle the price down to almost half of the original asking price:
The lack of rear propshaft can be seen as good or bad. It means that Geoff only has front-wheel-drive, a disadvantage for off road work but not for what I plan to use it for. There are three components of the transmission that deal with the rear drive, and all of them can fail over time. The VCU (Viscous Coupling Unit) only has a lifespan of 70,000 miles and usually fails first (Geoff has done 123K miles), then a combination of this VCU locking up and maybe mismatched tyre sizes will cause the IRD (Intermediate Reduction Drive) on the back of the gearbox and/or the rear differential to fail. Unless you know the history down to when the tyres were replaced then it would be sensible to replace these components anyway, it's just hard to get a seller to accept this. Telling them that the rear prop and VCU is missing gets the price down much faster. I do plan to replace those parts eventually but they're expensive.
I'm planning to use Geoff as a 'dog car' and will chuck a bike or camera gear in the back to go a bit further than I would in Bob. As I said, I don't plan on doing serious off roading but may install a snorkel just to make sure any water crossing on green lanes or big puddles on the road don't catch me out. There are still some jobs to do, as you may have seen from the photos:
This should be fun. There's a bit of torque steer and the gearbox could probably do with an oil change as it can be a tad confused sometimes but otherwise it drives well. No smoke at all after starting which is surprising. Look out for more posts soon as I've already started several things and bought some parts.
Yes, it's happened again. My fascination with older Land Rover products knows no bounds, not even common sense. After many years of mocking the Freelander when it came out, I was overcome with the urge to buy a shitter. Truth be told, I think I might've failed and I might've got deceased-spec instead.
So why am I back to three cars again? Well I got the Miata in October and after a very short time it became British winter, which means a lot of rain, mud and road salt. As much as I've tried to only drive the Miata on dry days when it hasn't been cold (so the salt has washed away), it turns out that trying to do that with a car that's essentially your daily drive is really bloody difficult. I wanted something that would take a bit of winter abuse. Bugsy filled this role in the pre-Tesla days, however I'm not prepared to jump back in to a world of failing air suspension, hydraulics and leaky sunroofs. Which is why I didn't buy an old Range Rover, along with the need for this to be cheap.
The Freelander seemed like the ideal choice, still giving me the ability to do some light green laning in the summer but able to drive distances and with much less to go wrong. Ignoring all of that, the hippo-faced Freelander has been growing on me like a wart for years now, especially the 3-door model with the removable roof. With my dad getting a Freelander 2 a few years ago the idea of having an earlier car has tempted me, it just wasn't possible or necessary when I had the Model 3.
Anyway, meet Geoff the 2002 Td4 Freelander. Geoff because of the GF on the plate, meaning he originally came from Maidstone in Kent. I was able to get these photos between rain showers this afternoon so it's wet. There are some scratches on the paint that are hidden by the drops.
I really think the 3 door looks handsome in black. Bumpers need a little work from the heat gun.
Seats fold down to make a decent amount of space in the back. Rear plastics are all a bit scratched, it doesn't matter as I'll be chucking stuff in but I'll make an effort to bring them back a bit. One of the POs replaced the green and gold Freelander badge with a black and silver one, suits the car very nicely.
All 3 windows go up and down, not a certainty for an old Freelander. The ability to roll down the rear window is great, especially with a 3-door. More on that in another post.
Interior smells a bit but is otherwise quite clean and pleasant. Being a pre-facelift Td4 (actually listed as facelift on the JLR classic site) it has the black interior with silver accents rather than beige and turquoise. I don't usually like all-black interiors but there's enough space and light in here to compensate. Cigarette lighter has never been used. Seat cloth material is called 'Jungle Trek'. A pair of manually operated flip up sunroof panels means no mechanisms to go wrong and seals can be easily checked and cleaned.
Limited Edition badge was put there by a previous owner and was around a fiver on eBay, it's hilarious enough for me to leave it on.
Toolbox cubby was a little damp but not full of water as some are, critically the lock mechanism isn't all rusted to shit. The toolkit is complete and looks untouched. Some spare bolts included.
As he's called Geoff, a sticker saying such was necessary.
Geoff was cheap. Even if we only look at inflation since 2011 and not car price increases beside that, he was cheaper than Keely was in 2011. He's also younger, has done fewer miles and is in better condition than Keely was. Okay so a Disco will be worth more than a Hippo, but you get the point. Despite the initial appearance there are, of course, issues with Geoff. First, here's a list of what I used to haggle the price down to almost half of the original asking price:
- Tyres need replacing
- Windscreen is cracked
- Tailgate didn't open
- No service history
- Rear propshaft completely missing (FWD only)
The lack of rear propshaft can be seen as good or bad. It means that Geoff only has front-wheel-drive, a disadvantage for off road work but not for what I plan to use it for. There are three components of the transmission that deal with the rear drive, and all of them can fail over time. The VCU (Viscous Coupling Unit) only has a lifespan of 70,000 miles and usually fails first (Geoff has done 123K miles), then a combination of this VCU locking up and maybe mismatched tyre sizes will cause the IRD (Intermediate Reduction Drive) on the back of the gearbox and/or the rear differential to fail. Unless you know the history down to when the tyres were replaced then it would be sensible to replace these components anyway, it's just hard to get a seller to accept this. Telling them that the rear prop and VCU is missing gets the price down much faster. I do plan to replace those parts eventually but they're expensive.
I'm planning to use Geoff as a 'dog car' and will chuck a bike or camera gear in the back to go a bit further than I would in Bob. As I said, I don't plan on doing serious off roading but may install a snorkel just to make sure any water crossing on green lanes or big puddles on the road don't catch me out. There are still some jobs to do, as you may have seen from the photos:
- The right-hand finisher on the back of the hardback is broken and needs replacing. Available from LR Classic.
- There is some corrosion in the bracket behind the top hardback finisher that also serves as the outer seal for the window. Not completely unobtainium but not cheap either, will see if I can find a good price. Not critical as the window doesn't leak.
- The roof once had the bars fitted and they have been removed, however the rear mounts are still in place and the blanking plates haven't been fitted to the roof. Likely it had the roof bars from the factory. Available from LR Classic, I could 3D print them but for £5 each it's hardly worth it. Currently one is taped but the other is not
- The far left vent is missing it's little button to adjust the angle, maybe a 3D print or scrapyard job.
- It's missing floor mats. I plan to buy genuine Land Rover items from LR Classic as a full set is actually cheaper than a set of decent rubber aftermarket mats.
- Paint is fading from the LR emblem on the front, will re-paint with silver.
- Some scratches need touching up, I have already done some with a paint marker but they need polishing in.
This should be fun. There's a bit of torque steer and the gearbox could probably do with an oil change as it can be a tad confused sometimes but otherwise it drives well. No smoke at all after starting which is surprising. Look out for more posts soon as I've already started several things and bought some parts.
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