Freelander 2 - Freelander 2. To buy or not!

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Tue 14 Feb 2017 18:14
Freelander 2 - Freelander 2. To buy or not! - veloceman
I have the opportunity to buy a car that belonged to a deceased relative.
It's a Freelander 2 ES. 57 plate 2.2 auto, 80k miles with a good history and two previous owners.
Very tidy for about £6k.
I guess has potential to be a real money pit. Your thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.
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Tue 14 Feb 2017 18:45
Freelander 2 - Freelander 2. To buy or not! - RobJP

www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/land-rover/freelande...d

Read that, and then ask yourself if it's a good idea.

Personally, I wouldn't touch it. As you have already said, potential to be a real money pit.

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Tue 14 Feb 2017 19:33
Freelander 2 - Freelander 2. To buy or not! - Metropolis.

I know loads of people who have run Freelander 2s without issue, often in a farming environment where they are used offroad and towing. They do maintain them well though. Search any brand and you'll be able to find horror stories because people generally post about problems, not to report that everything is fine. If it has been well looked after, a car with a known history can be a real gem. Lots of Ford parts on this vehicle including the engine and chassis. Haldex is a Swedish company that have parts in all sorts of AWD vehicles. If it looks to be in good nick, go for it.

I did a search on auto trader and you're looking at near enough £2 grand off the usual asking price. I've driven land rovers all my life and never been left stranded. None have been money pits. At times it feels like the only car that gets recommended on here is a Honda Jazz..

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Tue 14 Feb 2017 20:15
Freelander 2 - Freelander 2. To buy or not! - SLO76
Depends on your ability to deal with the risk. If this is a lot of money to you and you couldn't afford to take a big loss in it and you can't afford the likely maintenance costs then don't touch it, they are well known money pits.

However if you can get it for a low enough price to offset the risk and you can deal with the loss of most of your investment via having to flog it at auction with a dashboard lit up like a Christmas Tree then it might be worth a punt. There's always someone who'll buy a diesel Freelander through the ring.

Bid £5k and no more than £5.5 assuming it's very tidy, has no real faults and a near full service record. If they trade it they'll get £4-£4.5k at best. But again don't touch it if you're on a tight budget! This is a risky punt which could go wrong big time st any moment.
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Tue 14 Feb 2017 20:39
Freelander 2 - Freelander 2. To buy or not! - veloceman
Thanks for all that.
WBAC have offered £5275.
To be honest I generally run stuff a year or two old but getting bored of new cars being totally dull.
Won't be running it on a shoe string either and can cope with the odd bill. Body and interior is mint and I there's a decent specialist near me.
Seams a fair price with ones at same age on autotrader up for well over £10k.
Only think is I personally would prefer a manual.
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Tue 14 Feb 2017 23:56
Freelander 2 - Freelander 2. To buy or not! - SLO76
The WBAC offer will be dramatically reduced when they physically see the car, there's no chance of them getting £5275 and there are several similar cars with dealers on Autotrader around £6-£7k. Dealers expect a substantial margin in these because of the likelihood of costly prep work so the true trade value in reality will be well under £5k.

Before offering, go with them to WBAC to witness the real offer then make yours slightly higher. It's not a bad initial price for a private sale but selling to you avoids a load of hassle for them but from your perspective you must offset the high likelihood of a costly failure by buying at least £1,500-£2,000 less than retail.

Auto Trader #DrivenByMe
www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20160922801...5

Auto Trader #DrivenByMe
www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20161214060...7

Edited by SLO76 on 15/02/2017 at 00:00

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