Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Options
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
That was it for us.... we had already put way too much money into repairs for this crappy truck - so we gave that truck back to the bank (repo). UGH!!
Land Rover sells crap :mad:
Without boring you all with too much detail, it took two months of fighting with Land Rover and with Primus to finally get a new engine installed. It cost me about $1000 out of pocket, even though I had an extended warranty. (Primus is getting very good about finding things not to pay for).
A (reputable) local car dealer was cool enough to take a trade-in on my Freelander while it was still in the shop. I lost a lot of money in negative equity on this car. I made the investment hoping that I would have this car long-term. But I figured that it is better to spend the money to get out of it now rather than spend 7-10K on a new engine a few years from now when the second engine dies and I'm out of warranty.
My advice is to trade in this vehicle at the first sign of a coolant leak. Don't feel as though you're passing off the problem on to someone else -- you'd be surprised at the number of people who love these cars and are willing to put up with the trouble they cause.
Land Rover is very aware of this situation, and they are very prepared in how to fight customers that are facing this. They will not help you. Cut your losses and buy a more dependable car -- a Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen, or Subaru. I went with the Subaru Forester, and I'll agree with the Rav4 owner in a previous post, it was the best thing I ever did.
What disappoints me most is that Land Rover is not accountable to anyone for the cars that they manufacture. They supposedly discontinued the Disco and the Freelander in favor of the 'improved' LR3 and LR2. If you do a bit of research you'll find that these cars are money pits just as their predecessors.
If you've had a similar experience, write your state Attorney General, Land Rover North America, and your local Land Rover dealer. Let them know how disappointed you are with Land Rover products and service. :lemon:
I have a 2004 Freelander HSE with more than 73,000 miles. I bought it brand new. My vehicle was leaking coolant (at 60,000 miles) and I brought it back to the service department where I purchased the car. They couldn't find anything wrong with it. I had to keep the orange coolant in my car at all times. Finally I went to a local mechanic and he took a long look into the vehicle and found that the water pump had a crack in an unusual place. It had to be replaced so I had to spend approximately $1500.00 for the pump, thermostat (which got damaged from the leaking coolant) and labor. My vehicle was no longer under warranty. Perhaps you should have your water pump checked. Perhaps there was a flaw in the original water pumps in some of these models. If this stuff leaks out too much it can destroy the engine.
I have had weird electrical problems from day one. The car would short out starting with the directionals. The dealer tried to fix them but they recurred over and over until I got stuck in Myrtle beach, SC (I live in NY). A local stereo installer couldn't find anything but a tiny piece of plastic that broke off in the ignition switch box. Voila! I have not had that problem since. How weird is that?
Last year the car stalled and ran at about 1 mile per hour. I couldn't get it going faster. I was near the same local mechanic so I left my car on his lot. He said that the ground wire came loose. Now, a year and a half later the same thing happened and it was not the ground wire. It is still unknown. This is rather troubling as it happens without warning while you are moving.
I hoped to have this SUV for 200,000 miles but now I'm considering getting rid of it.
If there is a Class Action Suit against Land Rover, USA I would like to be a participant. I would like Land Rover to compensate me for the problems and repurchase my vehicle.
The landrover service technician who checked and diagnosed my vehicle said to check the oil cap and you will notice the gel'd up green [non-permissible content removed] which is the emulsified coolant w/ engine oil. He said there is no fixing of the problem, that only a replacement engine (which are not available) can be done to correct the problem. Replacing the head gasket only will result in another inevitable failure, as the design flaw is what is causing these failures.
Its unbelievable the number of vehicles resulting in these failures, one would think that would be evidence enough to the NHTSA that these vehicles are lemons.
I hope something comes out of all of our shared aggravation. We deserve our money back!
Just for reference, I had Land Rover fix this repair at a cost of $480 which included labor and the new regulator (I had this before the Head Gasket Failure caused the inevitable destruction of the vehicle months later).
My advice, do not spend $1 on repairs for this vehicle and trade it in as soon as you can for another vehicle, if you can. These minor repairs, which I had Gas Filter Assembly replaced, Window Regulator replaced, Air Filter assembly replaced, Replaced brake Rotors twice, etc, all are a complete waste in the end when the Head Gasket inevitably fails and coolant is mixed in with the engine block.
Get rid of the vehicle if you can, as soon as you can!
You may want to find out what the seller was aware of prior to selling the vehicle to you, not sure if there is any liability to that person.
The coolant leak is actually a failure of the Head Gasket, and you should check the oil screwoff cap and should see emulsified engine oil mixed with coolant like a paste stuck to the cap. If you are filling the coolant 3 times in a month, your next problem will be the engine service light intermittantly coming on & off as the pistons misfire due to the emulsified oil-coolant clogging the pistons. Your engine will have alot of piston-knocking and then you will need to get more and more frequent oil changes just to keep the thing from stalling/not starting at all. Lastly, the head gasket will eventually completely fail resulting in over-heating and then oil filling up your coolant overflow cannister. That is when the car is completely dead.
There is some talk of a Howard Getman in NJ pursuing a class action lawsuit, however this attorney told me a few months ago that he could not do anything for me but sue if I decided to replace the engine (at a cost of $7000-$10,000 if any engines were even available).
My suggestion would be to see if you can throw it back/sue the seller, that the seller likely knew the coolant leakage resulting head gasket failure. Otherwise, see if you can trade it in for any value at all, if you financed it, tell your financing company the vehicles problem. Nothing about this is easy, probably the most aggravation I've ever had with a vehicle.
I bought a 2003 Freelander, 32K miles, one year ago. When I drove it off the lot, the "service engine soon" light was on. I called the dealer (Tempe Mitsubishi, which has since closed its doors) immediately and he said their service department had just done the standard pre-sale maintenance and that they probably just forgot to reset the light and that it could be done at the next oil change. The light actually went off the next day so I didn't think anything of it. It's been engaged and disengaged numerous times since. Finally, when my car overheated at about 50K miles and it was clear that my anti-freeze/coolant was disappearing, I brought it to Land Rover to investigate in August 2008. While it was there, I had them replace the recalled brake switch, fix the inoperable rear door latch, repair the inoperable sunroof and resolve the "service engine only" light and the "T/C DHS" intermittent light. Of course, with the exception of the recalled brake switch (which was also the cause of the T/C DHS light), nothing was covered by my extended warranty. And I was advised that I needed to replace the coolant resevoir and cap. In addition to that, I had to replace the intake manifold and the vacuum inserts at at cost of $2,000. I was told this was not urgent and that it would only affect performance such as pick up etc.
October rolls around and my registration is expired. I try to renew and find that I need an emissions test in the state of Arizona because my car is now 5 years old. I go to emissions and am rejected because the DLC cable behind the dash (to the Onboard Computer) is not secure enough to proceed with the test. I go to Land Rover and have the bracket tightened. They tighten it without question or charge and I return to the line at emissions. I'm in line when my temperature gauge spikes again for a brief period of time. I get off line and return to Land Rover. They advise me that the heating coil need to be replaced (in addition to the intake manifold and the vacuum inserts) and that the service engine soon light will remain on until those items are fixed. My predicament: In the State of Arizona, they will not pass you through emissions with the "Service Engine Soon" light on. It's an automatic fail. So, now I can't pass emissions and I can't register my car if I can't pass emissions.
Following this realization, I go online and discover all of this is happening to all of you. Now I just want to unload this piece of dung even though it will probably cost me $10,000 to do so.
Here's my question: Will a dealer accept this car as a trade-in if it isn't registered?
Also, if I file a complaint with NHTSB, I have to enter my VIN number. If I enter my VIN on this complaint, will it appear on the CarFax for my car? I have no intention of selling it party-to-party, just unload it as a trade-in and get SOMETHING for it. I'm just not sure if it will appear on the CarFax and affect my trade-in value.
For your question, the trade-in value for the vehicle is already diminished due to the fact that so many of these Freelanders have the head gasket failure (which is your coolant disappearing, periodic over-heating and service engine light soon issue-- and you can quickly check you have that problem by just unscrewing your oil cap and looking underneath for coolant colored [non-permissible content removed] stuck under the oil cap-- that would be the emulsified coolant & oil mixture). So, as long as you own the vehicle and can pass clear title to the next dealership should be sufficient (as registration is required to be able to drive the vehicle but not necessarily sell the vehicle, hell you could decide to sell it to someone as the really big paper weight it actually is!). If you owe money on a loan on the vehicle, you seriously want to weigh all options, and contact the finance company on the issue. But if you just paid cash for it, then you can mix it in as part of a trade for a new vehicle, some dealers won't want it since they know it's junk/scrap metal, but others say, bring your vehicle in ANY condition and that might fetch you $1000 or so.
Absolutely report it to the NHTSA, which does ask for a VIN #. I do not know if it shows up on Car-Fax however this vehicles problems are so well know nowadays, it really wont make a difference. Most in the industry know this vehicle is crap and should never have been allowed to be sold to consumers.
This vehicle is a lose-lose proposition, weigh all your options, but dont try to fix the thing.. it just is not worth it. Better to spend the money on your next vehicle. Good luck!
I've seen people on here say to tell the finance company about the issue. What does that do though? It's not like they are going to help me with my payments. I'm still obligated to them for the loan.
I would really suggest talking to a lawyer about any and all options. That rapid devaluation and everything else about this whole mess just screams bad business and only through the legal channel will you be able to find any relief (correct, the loan company probably wont release you of the loan). I was told by the one attorney I spoke with to get all my service paperwork from the time I bought it, but in the end he couldn't do anything for me unless I paid the $7000-$10,000 to replace the engine (and he would try to recoup that cost in court). You bought the car used, so I would hope there would be some lemon law, liability issue on the dealer's owner (even if the dealer closed, there has to be some standing to sue), some means to go after the extended warranty company, or some other way the attorney might be able to help you. One person recently posted that CarMax who provided their warranty eventually settled on the vehicle after nearly 12 months of battling over the mess, maybe that is a possibility the attorney might suggest.
The only other ways out of the mess that I know all will destroy your credit, including voluntary repossession by financing company or bankruptcy.
I do wish you luck and hope you can rid yourself of the vehicle for some value without ruining your credit or resulting in being obligated for $15,000 on something that doesn't even work. This was the worst experience of my life, and I couldn't sleep for months because of it.
I am going to speak with the Better Business Bureau and see if I can't at least get them to have the parent company of the dealership refund me my extended warranty cost. That will give me another $1000 or so.
I have to pick up the car from Land Rover today. I am going to talk to my service guy, tell him what I know and see if LR can work out something with me...compensate me somehow - either by agreeing to a buy-back (not likely, I know, since they didn't sell me the car, even though they did manufacture it.) I might have to agree not to pursue the class action suit but I do plan to threaten them with it to see if I can get something back. If they refuse, I will proceed with the class action suit. I do know one thing: I will not agree, under any circumstances, to a new engine replacement. I'm done with this car and don't need these problems to renew themselves once the new engine starts acting up.
When I picked up my car today, the cashier asked me to sign a group of documents that didn't match the document that I received as a receipt. I asked her to make me a copy of what I was signing and brought it home. It contains all the history on my car....back to the original owner in Oregon. Included is the following details:
Warranty Cover
Policy: Expires: Distance:
Corrosion Warranty 14 Nov - 2009 999999
Federal Emission Warranty 14 Nov - 2011 80000
Paint Warranty 14 Nov - 2007 50000
Standard Factor Warranty 14 Nov - 2007 50000
I looked up the Federal Emission Warranty here:
http://www.epa.gov/oms/consumer/warr95fs.txt
It states that my intake manifold should be replaced at the manufacturers expense.
Can someone else read over this and confirm that I am not reading it incorrectly??
I have 53,000 miles on my car.
Anyone know what a P002K code is? It appears as a Field Service Action at Land Rover Scottsdale 3 months before I bought the car.
I also now have the name of the original owner as well as phone number. Would it be inappropriate to contact that owner and find out if there was a particular mechanical reason he got rid of it only 1 year after buying it?
I still plan to get rid of the car, but I'd LOVE to see Land Rover have to pay the expense to fix those things before getting rid of it!
Problem is, I'm in Bakersfield CA and there are no dealers here. Could anyone recommend a dealer in Valencia or Pasadena CA?
From everything I've read, we should consider trading this in and buying something else..but in the meantime, I know I need to do the required maintenance.
Any advice is welcomed. thank you! My son's car (my checkbook)
My maintenance experience was similar to many others who have posted messages on this board...new transmission 500 miles out of warranty, windows that quit working, cooling system issues, etc. I got rid of it when it was having a good day.
For the co-signer issue, yes if you stop paying on it, they will go after the cosigner for the payments and impact that persons credit. If you trade it in, I've read posts saying anywhere from $1000 (damaged vehicle) to $5000 (if it is in pristine condition, and the word is out on these vehicles, so Kellys Blue Book and other valuators dropped these vehicle values to next-to-nothing. You may want to see if the cosigner can be removed from the loan with the lender, sometimes they will allow that if you've made payments on-time and then you would be able to do what you planned. Otherwise, these vehicles are a legal fiasco waiting to happen and I dont know any easy ways out, other than consulting a lawyer for possible legal issues with the dealer or whomever sold you the Freelander.
If not and I trade the car in, can't I also cancel my GAP insurance and my extended warranty and get a prorated refund on both the GAP insurance AND my extended warranty? (Remember, I only bought the car a year ago. I paid $600 for GAP and $2300 for a mid-grade 36K/36 mo extended warranty that has covered next to nothing.)
(People can knock GAP and it doesn't make sense for cars that keep their value but I know three people who were virtually saved from financial ruin because of GAP insurance.)
~ Kelly
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
On that note, reading these forums I see all the talk about the Class Action Suit. Nothing has been formally been submitted on that yet, has it?
Wouldn't it be more productive, in the meantime, if we created some kind of standard form letter that owners can fill out and submit to their state's respective consumer advocacy groups or Attorney Generals? I think the sheer NUMBER of similar letters they receive in the same format would have more of an impact than individual personal letters here or there. They would see a more organized group of affected consumers. The form could include a list of all related repairs that are epidemic on these cars (i.e. disappearing coolant, intake manifold, sunroof, engine replacement, transmission replacement, etc.) Each owner can check the boxes of those problems they experienced that are specific to this car. Each form would contain a field for vehicle model, purchase date, mileage at purchase, purchase price, extended warranty cost. Another section would include "Out-Of-Pocket Repair Expenses" and "Warranty Covered Expenses". Total Damages for purchase, repairs, etc. It would also contain a field for "Voluntary Repossession", "Negative Equity on Trade" or "Estimated Loss of Value". It would contain another section for mental anguish (loss of sleep, stress during operation,etc.), "Income Loss". A section for "Land Rover Relations" (Customer service issues), "Land Rover Acknowledgements and Recommendations" (Admissions by Land Rover representatives of Engine Defects and their Recommendations ("trade it in"). LR owners would attach receipts, additional comments and copies of correspondence with other agencies, lawyers and Land Rover. Maybe we can create a "committee" of sorts to design the form and post it online for people to download by State, with instructions for where it is to be send for that state, etc?
I think it's important that all of these forms be sent to the SAME person for each state....the Attorney General and copied to the equivalent Federal counterpart. I think that we would be more effective if we were more organized. The Class Action Suit is a good step but timely.
Of course, you should also submit a report to the NHTSB complaint site as well.
I am now the proud owner of a brand new 2009 Scion XB. It will be my personal mission in life to make sure nobody I know ever owns any vehicle ever made by Land Rover.
If you are planinig to go ahead I will join you
Ps. my fuel pup just went out. estimate aroud 1000.dollars :sick: :mad: :confuse:
The above poster is correct that certain head gasket repair compounds such as Blue Devil and similiar products have on certain occasion corrected the problem temporarily, however those products will result in failure of the thermostat if not properly dont by a licensed mechanic. Blue Devil will also not cure any of the related issues with the gasket failure, such as warped piston head and the further emulsification of the coolant and oil which inevitably will result in the overheating issue as the gasket leak becomes a complete failure, the final failure having engine oil completely fill up your coolant overflow cannister and throughout the radiator system.
I do not recommend the gasket repair products, as they may temporarily correct the problem, but even state on the product cannister results may only last 6 - 12 months. Your best bet is to trade in the vehicle or discuss selling/legal or credit options to rid yourself of the Freelander. I understand a previous poster was successful in temporarily curing the gasket failure but it is like putting glue on broken cork, inevitably it will fail again.
Good luck.
Is there any new news about a class action law suit? I will join one if there is one filed.
I am actually going to Carmax today to see if they will buy my 2002 Freelander
for anything reasonable. I don't drive it anymore since getting the engine replaced among all of the other repairs for fear of the replacement engine going out and the thing being worth nothing at all. Anyone having any luck selling to Carmax?
Kim
Thanks
C
Dear Freelander owner, please take a few minutes to fill out this questionnaire. In an effort to compile evidence based on owning a freelander and your experience.
What year did you purchase your Freelander
What year was your Freelander
Did you purchase your Freelander from a Land Rover dealership?
If you did Purchase your Freelander from a Land Rover dealership what was the location?
How many miles were on your Freelander, at the time of purchase?
Did you lease your Freelander?
What was the purchase price on your freelander?
Was your Freelander under the original factory warranty, when purchased?
Who financed you Freelander?
PROBLEMS MILEAGE COVERED
BY
WARRANTY
Timing belt
Brakes
Transmission
head gasket
coolant leaking
brake light
head light
brake light switch
Did you purchase an extended warranty thru another company?
If yes, which comapny.
Did you contact land Rover North America
Number of times your vehicle was taken to the LR dealership, due to engine light coming on?
Do you have documented proof of the times your car was at the dealership?
Did they fix the problem on the first visit?
If not how many visits?
Did you contact the NHTSA?
Did you replace the engine in your Freelander?
If yes, what was the mileage?
what was the dollar amount quoted to you to repair the engine?
Was your Freelander under original factory Warranty?
How long did you have to wait for an engine?
Did they provide you with a rental car?