Paradroid

There was quite a bit Monday morning here but it's all gone now. Just bitter cold. Apparently the predictions of it hitting us up north later this week (as much as it did down south a few days back) are incorrect and there won't be any more.

Right the one you've linked to there is a facelifted Mk1, not the new Freelander 2 with Ford engines. In that case the petrol model would be the 1.8 which could be problematic so I'd look at the diesel only. The one you're looking at is the diesel though, which is the BMW M47R engine, very good engine. I'd think mechanically it should be fine, but someone above mentioned electics being a problem too so check everything works.

Yeah but it handles well (my Sport does anyway) and the brakes are very good, so you can drive it quickly. Just don't race anyone away from the lights! The manual six speed box is very low ratio (even top is a bit low for the motorway IMO), so you can keep the revs up and get it moving along. I find most of the slowness comes from not being able to rush it changing up to second or third because it's a bit notchy. I like to try and change gear smoothly, which again is not easy going up to second or third I find. The notchy changes make me think the auto would be a better option, but it depends on personal preference.

You need to draw a distinction between the original version (Rover designed) and the new version that was re-engineered under Ford's ownership. The original one has either the 1.8K Series or the 2.5KV6, both Rover engines. The 1.8 does have head gasket problems in the Freelander, and I wouldn't recommend it. The 2.5 is a much better engine, but probably thirsty in the Freelander. It only really has one weakness, it's clever inlet manifold. If that goes, it's £550 for a new one. Land Rover designed some uprated parts to fix the head gasket issues on the 4 cylinder engine, which might work. The diesel versions of the original Freelander are either the Rover L-Series diesel engine on early models (reliable but not common rail so rough and probably a bit underpowered). Later versions came with the BMW 2.0 turbo-diesel engine which was also fitted to the Rover 75/MG ZT. A cracking engine, very similar to the engine in the E46 BMW 3 series. The newer version of the car "Freelander 2" might only look like a facelift but was a substantially improved car I think. The interior is a hell of a lot better. There is a 3.2 V6 petrol engine and 2.2 diesel petrol engine. They look like the same units that are fitted to the older shape Mondeo ST. Should both be good engines. If you can afford the newer shape I'd definitely aim for that. I don't think a 54 plate would the Freelander 2 though. 55 plate might be.

That's shocking. Doing that level of damage to a car and taking of is lower than low.

Happy Birthday :)

If you want a good CD player that is also a very good DVD player, check out this: http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/mo...Product_ID/3296 Check out that for a saving! I got one before Christmas to replace my DV88 (which was very good but picture wasn't great on LCD TV because no prog scan or upscaling). Very happy with it, especially at that price. I think the range may be replaced by something else soon, but in my eyes the styling is still great and the quality is very good too.

I spoke to Lexus Bolton about my 60k service (car only 4.5 years old though not 6), they said they would inspect but not change the cambelt, and quoted around £400. I reckon my local independent could do it for that including the cambelt.

Thanks dude, might give it a go once the month of being skint is over with :)

Just found some "reviews" here: http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.p...mp;#entry810364 I think I might give it a miss!

This is interesting as I have a few small marks on the bodywork of my Platinum Ice IS200, I took it to a bodyshop but they pretty much said it wasn't worth doing, I guess because it's silver and quite hard to match in. What would it look like if you used this tape, you'd be able to see the edges right?

Thats a nice one! Like that one! Me too. In fact I think that's the best one I've seen for the IS. I think I prefer that to the TTE bumper.

Yeah, more revs seems to be the answer. Even though the car pulls away happily with very little revs, the clutch doesn't seem to like it. It is worse when cold too on my car. I've learnt to adjust my driving style to compensate for it.

I think the Acer is amazing value at the moment. If you want a few more options here's a few examples: http://www.dabs.com/Article.aspx?&ArticleID=4997 Someone I know got one of the HP ones on that page, it's a really smart looking device, only trouble is it comes with Vista which is insane, netbooks can't run Vista properly because it performs badly. XP or Linux is the way to go, but Windows 7 should run ok on Netbooks when it arrives.

I would think the sensible option for Lexus to do would be to develop a six cylinder diesel engine, capacity around 2.7 to 3.0 litres. Maybe twin turbo. It would be powerful enough to make a good GS diesel, but also give them a really quick diesel IS. That should eat into BMW sales quite a bit, most of the 5-series I see on the roads are diesel now, as well as the 3-series. With the actual new IS diesel engine in the 220, is it a new engine or just a remapped version of the original? 50mpg would be good if it ever achieves it for customers.

This is interesting, I've got a rattle from my steering column and after looking at it on-and-off for a few months now I think it's the bottom universal joint, the one near where the column exits the cabin. Is that the same one as you mean? It's just occurred to me I should try some WD40 too and see if that helps. Mine is a 54 plate too.

A 2005 model would possibly be cheaper on tax if things stay the way they are. It's all a bit up in the air, but I can't see them hiking up tax on older cars now, not when it's been postponed which has made their case even worse.

Your tax should be £210 for 12 months, that's what I just paid and my car is the same year as yours. The ridiculous £430 a year thing is on hold, hopefully permanently :)

Congrats on the new car :) I think you got a really good deal there at 6.5k. I paid 7.8k back in June for similar car but 53k miles from a non-Lexus dealer, but I guess prices had only started to fall back then. They've fallen quite a bit now.

Yeah, some are, but yours isn't!!! And it would be worse on fuel I believe it was a proper Altezza (RS200)

My car has bad timing on the car tax, it ran out 31/12/2008! Bad time of year. But I got it retaxed for £215. When I bought my is200 in June the prices had dropped because of the stupid road tax regulations that they set up for cars as far back as 2001, I took a bit of a gamble that they couldn't seriously do it on older cars. So far I've been lucky, it's on hold for the time being :)

It was a 2004 car though with only 32k on the clock (if it's the one I'm thinking of). That's cheap. And the £400 tax is on hold remember, still £210 a year to tax.

Well you've got the Large Hadron Collider over there so it pays to be safe :P

Good move. I did mine just before Christmas and it looks a lot better. Before when walking to the car I always noticed the horns through the grill and it bugged me.

That is true retro! I have MAME installed on the Mac and it's a good version, works well. Only trouble is lots of my ROM files are out of date and won't play any more :(