buying used suv

[julianc]

I'm looking to purchase a used vehicle that is 1-2 years old,I'm interested in either a Land Rover Freelander or a Jeep Liberty.
If anyone could provide me with their opinion on these models I'd appreciate it and if there are any problem area's with them that I should be looking for.

[woohoo!]

Well, although the Land Rover has an impressive off-road capability, it's reliability is suffering. The Jeep is as capable, and is less prone to break (less).

[The General]

woohoo! is right. The Freelander is one of the worst compact SUVs around. It may be capable off-road but if it can't even take you there...

[chelios_24]

Buy a RAV 4 or CRV.

Both JEEP and Land Rover have serious quality issues.

If you don`t mind going to the garage alot they fine..buy a FREELANDER.

The FREELANDER! Hugh! What a rip off!

[The General]

Listen to Chelios_24. He just did a lot of shopping for an SUV and got one of the best ones: a Honda Pilot (bigger but still a Honda).

Avoid unecessary headaches. We are way to busy nowadays to waste time at the dealerships...

[ruim]

Looking at the size of the SUV's you are interested in buying the Nissan Exterra is an excellent choice. I presently have a '94 Pathfinder SE "Warren Miller" edition with 198,000 km and I was playing around with the idea of a Land Rover. They are very nice BUT have a very poor reliability rating and resale value. The new LR3 (Discovery) is nice but very expensive and has not yet proven itself. It sound like Land Rover has improved there reliability since 2000 but unfortunately it shows up as insufficient data on consumer report from 2000 on. I decided to wait off a while and see if Land Rover has improved or not before changing my Truck. I have owned 3 Nissan's and this Pathfinder has been the best thus far. It sounds like the Exterra was built the same in some ways around its reliability.

[The General]

Nissan's are generally quite reliable. Since 2001 though, quality overall has suffered for most of their models. The problems with the X-Terra is fuel consumption and the ride. The 3.3L V6 is, now, very old and outclassed. Wait for the 2005 with the 4.0L, it should represent a better bang for the $$.

[ccaddy]

I have just bought my second Rav 4 .
fjirst one was 98 .
I bought it with 97,000 Klms on it and when it got totaled last week, it had 139,000 K's .
I only had to replace a water pump on it .
Other then that , perfectly reliable .
I seriously looked at the Santa Fe , but found a 2000 Rav at the Hyundai dealers used lot with only 80,000 K's on it .
If I had more money to work with , I would have gotten the larger Santa Fe but because of my experience with the first Rav , I felt I could do no wrong in getting another one .

[gibsonguy]

No SUV,

I do however have a great '97 Plymouth Grand Voyager AWD, w/ 160,000kms and it still runs great (it's very much like a truck, heavy AWD and way more space than ANY SUV could ever offer), but if you must... Have you considered the Mazda Tribute? It looks great, and from the articles I've read, it drives great too. It is the platform used for the Freelander, however the engine is the same as the Ford Escape (3.0L V-6)

[cranker]

Just wondering how your search went and what you decided on...I am in the process of deciding on a used 2003 Liberty Sport and looking for an opinion...thanks

[kilby]

I have heard it said that owning a Range Rover is like owning a Harley Sportster, the two best days are the first one and the one when you sell it. Seriously they seem like a nightmare to own, there are so many for sale that are just out of warranty (at least in Vancouver papers) Jeeps have their share of problems as well. I am not an SUV person and don't see why anyone would need one, we have been skiing for years and drive small cars with ski boxes on top, have NEVER been stuck in snow but have seen a lot of SUV's off the roads...overconfident? If I had to have a 4X4 it would be a Subaru, Honda, Toyota or Nissan, as small as one as possible.

[Crash]

Let me first say that I am a big Land Rover fan, a LR trained technician and the owner of quite a few LR's including Range Rover, Discovery and a few Defenders and I'm going to say this..... "DO NOT BUY A FREELANDER"

The Freelander is no longer sold in Canadain dealerships, so I don't think that LR will mind me saying that.

If It was me and I wanted to buy an SUV, after recentley spending a week reviewing the Toyota FJ Cruiser, I wouldn't think twice. It might look a tad strange but value for money and off-road ability for the money, I don't think that anything at the moment can touch it.

Oh dear, LR might not like me saying that!