Hi,
I'm considering buying a used Freelander TD4 (2 or 3 years old) as it seems like the ideal vehicle to cart my wife, baby and labrador around the New Forest. However, being new to the 4x4 scene, I've got 2 major concerns about buying a Freelander over, say, a 3 Series Touring or Japanese SUV.
1. Reliability - Freelanders have a terrible reputation founded (apparently) by the poor record of the early versions. Do the later TD4's have many problems and will it cost me a fortune to run/service/maintain relative to a 'normal' car?
2. Safety - how does a Freelander compare to a car in things like crash tests and is it affected by the widespread publicity about 4x4's being unstable on the motorway?
Any views on these or any other TD4 related issues would be VERY much appreciated.
Cheers,
Dave
I'm considering buying a used Freelander TD4 (2 or 3 years old) as it seems like the ideal vehicle to cart my wife, baby and labrador around the New Forest. However, being new to the 4x4 scene, I've got 2 major concerns about buying a Freelander over, say, a 3 Series Touring or Japanese SUV.
1. Reliability - Freelanders have a terrible reputation founded (apparently) by the poor record of the early versions. Do the later TD4's have many problems and will it cost me a fortune to run/service/maintain relative to a 'normal' car?
2. Safety - how does a Freelander compare to a car in things like crash tests and is it affected by the widespread publicity about 4x4's being unstable on the motorway?
Any views on these or any other TD4 related issues would be VERY much appreciated.
Cheers,
Dave