I haven't posted on this forum for a while, not may of us diehards still around. I'm taking my beloved '03 Freelander into the shop tomorrow possibly for the last time. I am once again experiencing the disappearing coolant problem and only have a couple of weeks left on the extended warranty. I had the engine replaced last August (only 50K miles on the clock) after weeks of seeing the coolant slowly vanishing, I was topping off the bottle every few days. I was really dreading what the dealer was going to say, after reading all the horror stories about the blown head gaskets and slipped cylinder sleeves on this forum and others. It went from "we can't find any leaks" after an all night pressure test, to "we need to do a teardown to figure out what's wrong" to "you need a new engine" It took a couple of trips to the dealer's service dept before they could make the complete diagnosis. The extended warranty I purchased at the same time I bought the car, it has provem to be worth every penny I spent on it. Original and extended warranty covered 3 window regulators, warped front brake rotor, ignition coil, battery, transmission seals and of course the 'new" engine. I had all the campaign stuff done, the brake switch, A-frame piller, coolant expansion tank, plus a few things i don't even remember anymore. All in all it has been one fun ride in spite of the problems. Most of the serious stuff didn't start happening until last year. I was hoping to squeeze a few more years out of this car but now I'm starting to give some serious thought to getting a good used LR3. So this brings me to the point of my post, since it is a safe bet that there are past and current Freelander owners on this forum that have moved up to the LR3, I would like to hear what kinds of issues you've had, What has been the overall ownership experience, what have the maintenance costs been like for you, are there any lurking big $$$ service events for the LR3 I should know about like the 72K timing belt service for the Freelander? Thanks for listening and wish me luck.

Good luck.

I still have my Freelander, then I bought an LR2 (I put the Freelander 2 badges on it) but my dad has an LR3. It's an '05 and the only problem it's had was the air compressor for the suspension. There was a recall and any that you see now should have the problem fixed I would assume.

Servicing costs: I'm not sure, but I can ask my dad if you'd like me to.

Good luck with it!

the latest news from the dealer is they think it is the heater core, at least it can be fixed under warranty. Still, I'm really thinking it may be time to trade the car in while it has everything fixed on it, or maybe hang on to it another year. It's in really nice condition, it just keeps having all these weird irritating problems. It's been nice not having a car payment these last couple of years

Gotta have faith. 267300 miles

Glad to hear it was the heater core (again.) I'd be pretty upset if the new motor went after 50K. I have 10K on my new motor. Still running well. (Don' t know why I said that, it should be running well, low expectations I guess.)

actually it is the first time for the heater core, I had all the other well known issues. I think someone on this forum posted a while back about a new engine that failed soon after he got it, thats what makes me a little paranoid about trying to keep this car especially when no one seems to know if the "new" engines are indeed remanufactured (to fix the design flaw with the cylinder sleeves) , new from the factory, or just engines pulled from junked freelanders that may or may not last. Anyhow gotta count my blessings I guess.

Picked up my Freelander today at the dealer, heater core was replaced and they also replaced the coolant reservoir bottle (for the third time). All work covered on the extended warranty which runs out in about 10days. Then I test drove a pre-owned LR3 ('05 with low miles and Locking rear diff to boot!) very nice car, well taken care of, I think I'm falling in love again. what's giving me pause is the fact that I have not had a car payment for the last couple of years and I like having the extra dough that wouldn't go to a car payment, then again I have this lemon (aka 'money pit) that has a high probabliltiy of taking a dump again sometime after the warranty expires. On a side note, I had a lengthy chat with the service guys and they tell the same story that a lot of the posts on this forum are saying, Freelanders either go for 100K plus miles with no issues at all or they go bad like mine did at the 50k mark and need new engine, trans, etc. etc.

Your only chance to get rid of it and get anything for it is now- freshly serviced and running well. Wait until it breaks and it'll be a $500 car.

That's not encouraging.

My 2004 FL has 84000 miles on it. Like I posted before, my coolant has a very slow vanish too. Once I top up to the half way between Max and Min, coolant will go down to Min after 1-2 weeks. I didn't see any liquid on my carpet, but I can smell something different when I turn on the heat sometimes (coolant smell? I don't know). I worried a lot it's bad head gasket or heater core.... The vanish is very slow too me though...

My Freelander had the same slow disappearing act that they couldn't diagnosis for 73,000 miles, then boom. New engine on the extended warranty. Of course I still have the antifreeze smell, and still a very, slow loss.

unfortunately it isn't a good outcome when you start to notice the slowly disappearing coolant, in my case it only got worse. My car is fixed for the moment but the thrill is gone if you know what I mean. I'm hoping to get this experience behind me, a good used LR3 may be just the ticket. Lots of positive feedback from the forums on LR3, some negative too but nowhere near as negative as the freelander forums. Plus the service guys at my dealer were saying they have yet to see an LR3 that needs a new engine. With Freelanders pretty much all they do nowadays is replace engines on them (at least their mechanics get a lot of practice!)