Freelander or RAV4 | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Fri 30 Jan 2004 13:06

Freelander or RAV4 - Big Cat

Which is best, the Freelander or RAV4? We want a second hand 4x4 for mainly light off road use, up to three years old. Have heard that the Freelander can be unreliable but are these reports relating to the older models? I like the new RAV4 but the LR seems a lot cheaper. We would be looking for diesel power.
What other smallish 4x4 models should we look at?

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Fri 30 Jan 2004 13:52

Freelander or RAV4 - Nsar

We have a new model Freelander but after 2 months its too soon to tell, but it was a joy in this week's snow and a five hour drive - that should have taken less than three-was no trouble.
HJ's Car by Car (see left) raves about the X-trail and we looked at one but found it a bit too agricultural.
How much are you planning on spending?

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Fri 30 Jan 2004 17:57

Freelander or RAV4 - Woody

I had a "newer" Freelander, a TD4 Station Wagon which I bought new in October 2000.

It was great in the snow, smooth on the road, pulled like a train and offered comfort and refinement to be admired. But it kept going wrong....

Rear window leaked despite numerous attempts to fix it.

Rear offside door leaked despite dealer adjusting it inwards and upwards to resemble a cut and shut.

Fuel pump failed.

Steering rack replaced (blamed on speed bumps)

Loss of brake fluid (unexplained).

Oil leak.

All warning lights on sometimes, whilst driving along - fault never traced/solved.

New CD Player

Clock replaced.

These Freelander horror stories are just too frequent to be a falacy or coincidence. I say do not touch one out of warranty and only touch one new if you live next door to the dealer and have another car to fall back on.

The dealer was useless and the courtesy cars uninsured ("arrange your own sir" - yeah right.)

Second hand Diesel SUV 4x4 has to be RAV4, XTrail or possibly a Jeep Cherokee. Personally, I prefer the RAV4 for looks, but XTrail more an off-roader.

Woody

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