Car advice

[Skerry Packer]

been offered a very nice Landrover Freelander 3 door. Problem is roof rack is set well back because of sunroof which would mean an overhang of boats ar the rear by about 7ft. Anyone carry boats with this set up, Landrover as far as I know do not do roof rail extensions for this vehicle. Any thoughts.
Gerry

[sleepybubble]

been offered a very nice Landrover Freelander 3 door. Problem is roof rack is set well back because of sunroof which would mean an overhang of boats ar the rear by about 7ft. Anyone carry boats with this set up, Landrover as far as I know do not do roof rail extensions for this vehicle. Any thoughts.
Gerry

More important is it petrol or Diesel, if petrol then turn it down and walk away quickly.

Mark

[Skerry Packer]

2004 SE petrol, 56000 mls FSH what would be the problems.
Gerry. By the way just back from Lewis on Saturday with a dozen MacLeod & MacLeods black Pudding and a couple of Charlie Barleys.

[hants]

Convert it to autogas and enjoy cheap driving.

[allan09]

Have a Freelander 5 door TD4 - 2005. Have carried 2 kayaks on the roof with roof bars no problem. The rails should allow you to fit the bars at reasonable spacing IIRC. You say that the sunroof would limit this? If its only cause you cant then open the s/roof then its not a problem - I never use mine. Have done 70 mph with the 2 boats on the roof - no issues. Perhaps the 3 door set up is differnet to the 5 door though? Not sure.

Update - just had a look at the 3 door and the rails are different from mine. However I still think it should be fine to carry boats on. Maybe have more hang off towards the front and tie front and back end to the car also?

[Canoe-Cowal]

Put centre of kayak over cab and put front bumper uprights on it.

This will take the weight of the plastic rear roof.

You could also pput bumber uprights on the rear too. This will allow you to take the roof of and pose.

J

[tommfuller]

I know two people who regularly carry sea kayaks on their freelanders - no problems.

Cheers,

Tom.

[MikeB]

2004 SE petrol, 56000 mls FSH what would be the problems.
.

1: It's made by LandRover. That should be warning enough.
2: Known issues with the Rover K series engines - the 1.8's blow head gaskets, the V6's suffer from similar problems, and the liners are know to move in the block. If it doesn't have a Rover engine, then it should be less trouble.
3: There are issues with the transmission - certainly on early ones.
4: Electricals - don't ask.

Lots here - http://www.freelanderspecialist.com/use ... ok-out-for

I assume that by "being offered" the vehicle, someone is giving it to you for free? In which case, still walk away. Mind you, you might have found a good one. MIke

[sleepybubble]

2004 SE petrol, 56000 mls FSH what would be the problems.
.

1: It's made by LandRover. That should be warning enough.
2: Known issues with the Rover K series engines - the 1.8's blow head gaskets, the V6's suffer from similar problems, and the liners are know to move in the block. If it doesn't have a Rover engine, then it should be less trouble.
3: There are issues with the transmission - certainly on early ones.
4: Electricals - don't ask.

Lots here - http://www.freelanderspecialist.com/use ... ok-out-for

I assume that by "being offered" the vehicle, someone is giving it to you for free? In which case, still walk away. Mind you, you might have found a good one. MIke

All of the above. Check the tyre storage spot in the boot, under the carpet. If its full of water then the back door leaks, badly (it will) talking of the back door, expect the electrics that shut the window to fail intermittently. The TD4 was a nice engine, I'm not sure what ford were putting into the Freelander when they owned Land Rover after Premier Automotive Group (aka. BMW) did. The Rover K series engine is a great engine, but severely troublesome. Any freelander that has already had the head blow or required skimming already in its life will be scrap the next time it happens which will be within two years.
I'm not anti Landrover in any way whatsoever, I own a 10 year old 110 Td5, its just you have to enter the world of Land rovers with your eyes open I believe. You either have to be rich and know a good mechanic or be a good mechanic yourself.

The good things; parts are cheap (because they fall to bits so much), The automated 4wd traction control system in the freelanders is actually quite good, you never see any other make of vehicle still tootling around at 50 years old, but you see plenty of Landrovers from the 70's and earlier still on the roads nowadays.

As to your question, if you were a true aspirant Landrover owner then you wouldn't be worried about whether the roof bars were going to work for you or not as by now you would already be re-engineering them in sketch form and talking to your mate with a welder to knock something up for you.....

So yeah, step away from the rust bucket.

[MikeB]

[---- its just you have to enter the world of Land rovers with your eyes open I believe. You either have to be rich and know a good mechanic or be a good mechanic yourself.

- - and be able to weld - -

The good things; parts are cheap (because they fall to bits so much), The automated 4wd traction control system in the freelanders is actually quite good, you never see any other make of vehicle still tootling around at 50 years old, but you see plenty of Landrovers from the 70's and earlier still on the roads nowadays.

Been there - - but we're talking about "proper" Landies - I had a 109 and two 110's - I loved all three of them to bits, and spent an inordinate amount of time fettling and fixing them! Each one rusted badly, despite being pampered. The last of them was really in need of a new chassis at 10 years old. All it's doors had been replaced, and the bulkhead had had major repairs.

As to your question, if you were a true aspirant Landrover owner then you wouldn't be worried about whether the roof bars were going to work for you or not as by now you would already be re-engineering them in sketch form and talking to your mate with a welder to knock something up for you.....

Yep, that's the joy of them. But perhaps not quite as practical to do with a F/lander.

Mike.

[Stoney]

I used a 3 door landrover some years ago (before becoming a sea kayaker). I did carry WW boats on the roof bars you are describing, BUT I think as your origonal post describes, they would be too far back to carry a sea boat comfortably.
As far a s I know there is no way around this.
The other points people have made about the petrol engine are true. Theyre either good and give no trouble, or theyre rubbish and will be a pain.

[Skerry Packer]

Thanks for all your comments. To put you in the picture, I had been offered this cheap and know it to be a reliable car but the roof rack put me off. I know my way around Landies and rebuilt my old series 3 on a galv chassis in 96 but she now needs a re do so got rid. Sold my LWB Defender last month as I no longer need it and it leaves me driving a Navara around the country, a great load carrier but heavy on the fuel. looking for something smaller so thought the Freelander might do for a couple of years. As has been said, I could fabricate something to extend the bars but at my age now I feel that I am past the DIY and the welding units are well tucked by. Have enough cash to get a decent kayak/camping vehicle but am getting tighter as I get older and right now don,t know what to go for. Thanks again for the replies.
Gerry

[Jim]

Yes very different roof bars on the 3 door compared to 5 door - I noticed the different racks a while ago and asked a freelander driver and that's what he told me! Most people don't even realise there are different versions!
Also note that unlike a series or defender the freelander is not a chassis based lego kit but a monocoque car type construction so it's not so easy to strip it down every few years for major overhauls.

I know nothing of reliability issues etc. if you hang out in car forums you meet the small % of owners who have problems, and they are usually serious problems so you can get a skewed view of how good or bad the car really is. On the other hand land rover people usually know lots of other land rover people so the experiences are probably more widespread (each will personally know several people that had the problem) and a better guide.....

As for the basic roof rack issue you would need to check to see if it is possible to get a kit to mount a single bar over the front doors, if you can't there is bound to be another car out there wioth similar geometry but working out which it is and what clamp kit to get will be near impossible.

[nickcrowhurst]

Have enough cash to get a decent kayak/camping vehicle but am getting tighter as I get older and right now don,t know what to go for.

In the unlikely event of my being persuaded away from my 23 year old rust-bucket Land Rover, I would be tempted by a Skodia Octavia Estate diesel, like this one: http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/ ... iesel.html
Plenty of sea kayakers use them, and my local pals who are mechanics say they are excellent for corrosion and mechanical reliability. I have no personal experience of the vehicle, but one might suit your purpose.
Nick.

[Skerry Packer]

Funny you should say that Nick as it is a car I had thought about. Most taxi drivers around here use them.
Gerry

[tannys]

We have an Octavia (almost a passat) at the moment and will be probably getting another, no problems at all with them and about 14 ft long

[Ken_T]

Just for balance, I had an 07 Octavia diesel estate, it was the most unreliable car I have ever owned, but 1 instance is not statistically significant, I sold it & bought an older car which has been so far totally reliable (& better on fuel).
Ken

[Incayak]

"Landrover! . . . always sick, never dead"
Quote from Dutchman I met driving his 110 from Holland to South Africa. Seems to bear up here too.

[MikeB]

I never, ever, was let down by my Landies. I was, however, always doing something to them, or planning to do something. Great vehicles, but you really do have to "love" the things.

[stevegod]

I'm a little late to this thread, but in terms of the roof rack - you could look at using something like the Heavy Duty V bars from Ultimate Kayaks - http://www.ultimatekayaks.co.uk/accessories.asp They give great support to the boat even when your roof rack/bars are quite close together...