9th Mar 2003, 19:19

The tyre wear IS caused by faulty IRD units and IS well known by Land Rover. I have just had my IRD unit replaced at Land Rover's expense despite my vehicle being out of warranty. I am continuing my battle to have the tyres replaced as well.

It's like drawing blood from a stone, but can be done.

24th Jul 2003, 10:33

I have just had the IRD unit of my Freelander 2.0 diesel replaced at Landrover's expense. The vehicle was 6 weeks out of warranty and had done 45000 miles. I have been hearing a worn-bearing-like rumbling for a long while and had to replace the scrubbed rear tyres 2 months ago. Landrover authorised a parts and labour 'good will' repair, but have advised me to take out their extended warranty as they may not be so generous next time. I have enjoyed the car, but am very nervous about buying another Landrover.

6th Aug 2003, 03:33

Since I bought my 2000 Freelander 2.0Tdi, I had problems of the rear tires wearing off on the inside.

I was told by tire companies that it was the wheel alignment which I believed and replaced the tires and set the alignment, but the same happened again, causing a sound like a failing bearing. At 100 000km the rear diff failed, Land rover replaced that under warranty, but 13000km later I had problems with the diff again, which Land rover inspected and assured me that there was no problem, 1000km later the IRD unit failed which Land Rover are busy to replace under warranty.

It is only now after reading all of this comments that I know what the actual problem is and I have now decided to sell this vehicle.

14th Aug 2003, 02:54

Dear Sirs.

I am contacting you to seek your comments on a Land rover Free lander 1.8 that I have had very costly problems with. I have owned the vehicle for approximately 1 year. It was purchased from a local car supermarket. It had 3 months warranty, and two weeks out of the warranty the head gasket went, causing such damage to the cylinder head that it had to be replaced by the local deal at a cost of £1500.

This week I have had serious problems with, can you believe, a cracked fuel tank. I think you will agree this posed a serious safety hazard, I had a child in the back and there was petrol pouring out of the tank. We are not just talking a loose nut or worn brake pad here, there was fuel going everywhere. I mean, in this hot weather and people throwing cigarette ends out of their car window - which has recently featured in the news! It does not bear thinking about what could have happened.

The vehicle has been with the local dealer since the beginning of the month. I do not know when I will get it back. They say it will cost £490 plus VAT to carry out the work, BUT they could not locate a new fuel tank anywhere in the country! They now have their Vehicle off the Road team on to the case scouring... wait for it... "the whole world" for a petrol tank!

This vehicle has a full service history and has not been involved in an accident.

What a great advert for the Land rover Free lander. I think not.

Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous? I would be very grateful for your views.

Yours faithfully.

Miss Sharon Senior.

19th Oct 2003, 02:48

Dear Sirs,

I have now owned a 1.8 xei Freelander for two years, to be honest not much has gone wrong with this vehicle.

The tyres do have a wear problems, but this is easily resolved by swapping the tyres back to front regularly.

My Freelander has been used off road, and towed a trailer for most of its life, it has just reached 110000 miles and suffered a blown head gasket.

I don't think that is too bad!!

I will replace the engine and hope for another 100k!!

L ACTESON.

27th Jul 2004, 09:47

Where should I begin. My wonderful new Freelander 2L diesel - paid for all the extras, just in case I decided to go bush. So far I have taken it to Fraser Is for a day trip. Other than that, it is always on sealed roads.

The tyre wear problem is definitely "very" common knowledge among ALL LR dealers and repair shops. Shame LR don't have to reveal these things prior to people purchasing their vehicles.

The biggest problem is related to the IRD and Viscous Coupling, as mentioned by many above - neither work, causing severe edge scalloping of rear tyres - and the resulting grumbling noise they create. New tyres always fix the problem, but only for about 20,000km - even with tyre rotating.

Since 1998 when purchasing my new Freelander I have paid out over A$10,000 in general repairs (including 3 hydraulic clutch components with 2 new clutches) and replacement tyres. Yes! LR did replace 2 sets of rear tyres before the warranty ran out. A warranty that started out as 40,000km back then. In the USA they are given 3 years or 100,000 miles.

I will NEVER purchase another LR - even though I still really like the Freelander. I just couldn't afford to own another.

13th Oct 2004, 09:40

The IRD of my year 2000 Freelander literally melted down and seized up last August after losing it's oil. Worse, the resulting failure damaged the gearbox, right front axle and rear differential, resulting in a 5000 Euro bill.

Land Rover France have refused any particpation in repair costs because the 1) vehicle is out of warranty, 2) there has never been a recall on the IRD and 3) the car was not serviced by Land Rover at 80000kms. What's really rough is that the diff failed 300kms after picking up the car at the garage. The Land Rover repair agent didn't notice anything wrong with the rear diff when they repaired the IRD/Gearbox and did the 10000kms service!

So I've more or less replaced all the transmission for a failure which I feel is due to lack of quality in the IRD and transmission.

Any suggestions on how I can get Land Rover to participate?

By the way, Land Rover told me that they do not make any margin on the parts (they say the repair shop does). Is that true?

Anyone manage to get Land Rover to pay up for an IRD failure outside warranty? Please let me know, it'll help.

22nd Oct 2004, 06:13

Hello from Slovenia.

The same problem with IRD. I was taking care for my car bought in 1999, never push it to the limits. Now it has 92000km with IRD failure. So, this is the car from legendary Land Rover that you should drive for years?

Now I have to pay for bad product again. OK... How long will I drive till the next failure?

Right now I'm looking for a new car and it won't be some Land Rover!

Good luck with Freelanders!