Dead Freelander!

[kenbro]

Hi,
Not sure whether I should have posted this under Jokes & Funnies.
Just over 3 years ago I bought a high mileage 2007 Freelander2 (Puegot 2.2 diesel, HSE Auto) from an SD member and more than once I’ve praised it on SD for being trouble free and not needing engine oil topped up between MOTs even though it’s done 260K miles.
Well, on Friday just as I got to the end of the slip road to join the M66 the engine cut out, no misfiring or spluttering, just quiet.
Called a local breakdown company and less than an hour later I arrived home on the back of a truck.
Breakdown driver said his BIL was a mechanic and gave me his number.
Called him and he came out next morning and plugged his machine in and diagnosed ‘No fuel to engine.’
He said it might be a process of elimination as could be the fuel pump in the diesel tank, diesel filter, high pressure pump or even (But unlikely) an injector problem. Estimate anything up to £900.
He’d traveled 5 miles to me and spent half an hour working and said he wouldn’t accept any payment as he couldn’t fix it on the roadside.
Said he would come and take it to his workshop but said he honestly didn’t think it worth spending (Potentially) that much money on a near 20 year old car.
I phoned a friend who phoned his retired Land Rover specialist friend and they agreed with the first mechanics prognosis was probably right.
What do you think?
Is it worth spending up to a grand on a 18 year old Freelander?
12 months ago it had 4 new tyres and a new AGM battery that cost £195.
KB.

 

[buckfever]

If been good up until now and not cost much apart from wear and tear then worth fixing. Just put another turbo on my 07 rodeo . Cost about £2000 replacing turbo. Just use the motor for the dogs and shooting but been a good motor up until then. Thought about just scraping it but would end up just buying someone else's problems and cost even more. Been there done that

 

[Stuart Mitchell]

I'd spend it.

Better the devil you know.

You could very easily be buying trouble.

 

[wb2710]

Less to repair than replace, wish I had kept mine.

 

[Druid]

If it costs a grand and it gives you a year or twos use then that is cheap motoring. (Assuming no other big issues are apparent)
What else are you going to get for a grand?

 

[wytonpjs]

Agree will all the views above, especially as I gave up on my FL2 before I should have

 

[tarponhead]

If it costs a grand and it gives you a year or twos use then that is cheap motoring. (Assuming no other big issues are apparent)
What else are you going to get for a grand?

Another one that runs?

 

[ruger77]

Fuel pumps only £80 should be a cheep repair I fitted a fair few in tank pumps on FL 2s

 

[Chris Richardson]

get rid

 

[Liveonce]

just make certain its not the timing belt first, as a new engine could be very expensive.

 

[Druid]

Another one that runs?

For a grand it isn’t going to be much and it will be an unknown with potential for big problems.
I had a similar conundrum 18 months ago, car worth 1k needed work to stay on the road, at a cost of 1800. I’d had it quite some time so knew that apart from that one issue it was fairly sound. Good tyres etc
18 months later still on the road so justified the spend compared to spending 1800 on another car of unknown provenance

 

[lochty]

Personally, I'd fix it. What else are you going to buy for the cost of repairing it?

 

[Donkey Basher]

£900 to repair vs. £000s to replace - let me think about that one

Assuming no other issues with the car then spend £900 on it.

As others have said, buying anything secondhand as a replacement is taking a gamble as it too may have an issue - why was the owner selling it in the first place?

Certainly spending £1k would, imo, be like tossing a coin at best.

Even spending £5k is no guarantee of getting a good motor.

Alternatively, buy something from a dealer & take the same risk but for a higher purchase price & with the inevitable ‘sorry that’s wear & tear so the warranty doesn’t cover it’ when something does go wrong.

Just my opinion of course.

 

[Lever357]

I had a Freelander 1 diesel and that started cutting out every now and again but would restart. I took it to a non-franchised LR specialist and they said no fault codes came up but it sounded like classic fuel pump issues and could last 6 weeks to 6 months. Well, nearly 6 months to the day, I pulled out of my mate's farm on a Friday evening, went about 200 yards and the engine cut out. And it wouldn't restart so the tractor towed me back to the farm. The Freelander only had 56,000 miles on the clock.

 

[Mr. Gain]

I wish I hadn't read this.
My 2007 FL1 has had several times its barely 3-figure value spent on keeping it going over the last 2 years, and with an MOT and re-taxing looming, and a new set of tyres likely needed in the next few months, I'd reluctantly decided to send it on its way and put the cash saved into a newer vehicle .... and yet it's done less than half Kenbro's mileage. Now I'm wondering if I can really double its life by sucking up a few more bills, or is this just the sunk-cost fallacy in action? ....

 

[Stuart Mitchell]

If you decide to replace it, I'll give you £50 for the old one

 

[Apthorpe]

Another one that runs?

Or just as likely, a lemon with an expensive problem.

 

[Apthorpe]

I wish I hadn't read this.
My 2007 FL1 has had several times its barely 3-figure value spent on keeping it going over the last 2 years, and with an MOT and re-taxing looming, and a new set of tyres likely needed in the next few months, I'd reluctantly decided to send it on its way and put the cash saved into a newer vehicle .... and yet it's done less than half Kenbro's mileage. Now I'm wondering if I can really double its life by sucking up a few more bills, or is this just the sunk-cost fallacy in action? ....

The sunk-cost fallacy needs balancing against the probability of a replacement being trouble and cost free. You know what you've fixed and what else might break - those things might still break on the replacement.
The cash saved buys you nothing except the car dealer's margin on the sale. And you wouldn't save the tax anyway. If the newer vehicle doesnt have good tyres, which is more likely than not. Do you have candidate cars in mind which will cost you none of the above?

 

[Taff]

No fuel is easy to figure out, get it fixed.

 

[Mr. Gain]

Great questions.
- The new tax would be half the old tax.
- The tyres on the candidate (excellent term ) are good, but that's not really a good thing as they're not the type I need, so either I wear the existing ones out before I tackle a wet field or lose some value there.
All in all, it's looking like a definite spend of £7K less a couple of hundred tax for the "candidate" vs. the opposite in tax, and the unknown cost of fixing whatever future problems are presaged by the FL's current set of creaks and rattles.
Looked at that way, the unknown seems more inviting.
What I may not be admitting to is that I'm getting soft in my old age and fancy some additional creature comforts beyond those that fixing the FL's "climate control" would provide.