No trade-in 2002 SE

[Shermie]

Well to put the icing on the cake, I drove my 2002 SE Freelander to the Ford dealership .... yes... in hopes of finally trading her in for a 2008 Ford Escape...

Well was I dreaming or what. The appraiser took my car out for a spin and returned the key with a "NO WAY" we would accept your car, and by the way, did you drive here in that same car? You guys are brave!,... they said

The second dealer drove the car, about 15 min later, same resopnse... "NO WAY" we are not accepting Land Rover cars. The last Land Rover we took in as a trade, took more than 8 month's to get rid of.

Finally ... with my hopes smashed.... the 3rd attempt at a trade-in resulted in a visual only refusal:

"Is that your car out there", I said "yes, why?", well they said "We don't accept Land Rovers as trade-in no matter the year and model".

Crash and burn... guess this Freelander car is like getting ******; I need to learn to live with it. The highest bid so far for her was $2500 USD firm.... heck for a $35K Car back in in 2002, and she looks as good as new still.

The only problem is .... A new Jatco transmissionm costs $8k to replace at the LR dealer. A rebuilt Jatco one will run me about $2.5K + install (1K) = 3.5K replace and return the core.

If all I can get is $2.5K for my Freelander and the registration is good until December, I will drive until the Jatco finally fails. When the Jatco box finally collapses I will sell for parts on Ebay. I can probably get more by taking her apart than keeping this Modern Edsel together... and yes she still leaks coolant, and the Aircon will actually blow this into one's face when driving, the car now spits at me !

I wonder if TATA knows what they are getting themselves into.................

 

[joey]

Remember, LR renamed and refaced the freelander to the LR2, so no worries now... everyone knows the Freelander isn't being sold anymore.... hmmm I think I let the cat out of the bag.

 

[Shermie]

Well it finally happened!

After 6+ years of suffering, constant maintenance, all oil changes with expensive 0-W40 Mobil 1 Synthetic, etc., etc. my motor died today at 7:46 am.

I was lucky to have opened a AAA membership and not have been driving fast at all, I created a small traffic jam. Amazingly the Police came and helped me push the car over, kudos to the PR Police, they saved me from all of the people screaming insults at me.

Tow truck came, took her into the shop. I just called the shop manager and he said that the news is not good. Neither camshaft turns and the timing belt, replaced at 43kmiles is intact at 80kmiles, so it has to be something internal, a sprocket, etc.

Had EVERY concievable service LR offered done, all recalls, etc. My wife says I don't treat her as well as I have this car...

Paid extra for "ALL" recommended Freelander maintenance interval checks. Not cheap, last one was about $600.

The bitter end. I can now scrap her for parts. Jatco gone, Motor gone, interior material falling off from the roof, and now the final straw, the motor broke.

It's no wonder why NO dealer wants these LR cars for trade in.

As I said before and repeat again, it's amazing how much damage a glossy brochure has done to my cash flow. One look at consumer reports and I can see that there are other brands than LR with no data available. NEVER AGAIN!

If I can find any humor to this, I will post again to let you know the final verdict. I leave Sunday to Europe on a business trip.

I have spent a total of about $60K on a $35K car over the last 6 years.

Back on Saturday the 24th with the eulogy .

 

[Shermie]

Final 2002 SE White Gold Freelander chronology:

- 12/31/01 New Freelander $ 34,850 USD @ 5.5 % interest; 60 mo loan
- 1/1/02 to 5/16/08 nothing but trouble
- +35 times in the LR dealer for problems
- 5 recalls performed
- Hard shift on 3rd gear never corrected
- Jatco returns F1 indication at 32kmiles, no problem found
- Sunroof replaced twice, radio once, side view mirrors once
- Thermostat replaced 5x, Intake Manifold 2x under warranty, 1x $myself$
- All recommended maintenance intervals, each and every $one$
- New front brakes rotors and pads every 6-8 month's
- All oil changes Mobil 1 0-40W Full $ynthetic
- All recommended Jatco ATF checks level, etc.
- Timing belt changed at 45miles
- Paid off car at 54kmiles; total damage $ 55.800 USD
- Jatco transmission gone at 58kmiles, 3rd, 4th and 5th slip; F4 indication
- Motor fails, what started as small grinding noise, got worse, the camshaft failed frozen

Price offered as-is for parts $1500.00

Conclusion: Car was bad to the bone from the get-go.
Suggestion: RUN don't walk from any LR dealership and please spread the word so these guys finally go out of business.

 

[richpike]

Shermie - I feel your pain, and I'm sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience, but it sounds like you got a lemon from the get go. To be frank, you can go on ANY forum - Toyota, Lexus, Acura, Honda, w/e - and you will hear similar stories about cars that died terrible deaths and how you should stay away from brand XYZ. Unfortunately, as you say, some cars are "bad to the bone" from the get-go.

I wish you luck on your future car purchases.

-Rich

 

[Shermie]

Thanks for the reply to my last post.

About 1 hour ago, my mechanic called and accepted my sell price of $1500 dollars for my 2002 SE V6.

Wow, a fitting end to a terrible ownership and dealer experience.

I would have to only add to what has been said, the complete Freelander product line was a lemon. We all know about missing coolant, slipping Jatco's, frequent brake jobs and bad motors with a faulty design that mixes coolant. This is only topped-off by the famous plastic Thermostat and leaky Heater Core, and cracked intake manifolds.

Yet this lemon did have a very nice ride.

Just 2 weeks ago, after taking several SUV's out for a spin, I can safely say that the Freelander suspension was the only thing in my car that held-up very well, and after 6 years feels better than some new SUV's.

2002 SE V6 "RIP" and good luck to all Freelander owners who will inherit parts from this donor vehicle.

And to all of you great people on this forum, bye bye for now.

What did I finally buy? Well we are the proud owners of a new 2008 Mitsubishi Outlander LS, AC works better than my Freelander when new.. and so far after 1 week of use the service engine soon light has not come-on and off as it did on my 2002 SE at least 50+ times over 6 years.

And guess what.... no hard shift on 3rd gear, oh ... it must not be a Jatco