My sad story and disappointment in Freel2 ownership!

My wife is the main driver of the Freel2, so it's been at least a month since I've driven/been in the car.

Thursday I was allowed to drive and there was a definite droning/humming coming from the rear of the car

I asked if she had noticed it, she thought it was just normal road noise

Took it to my local LR Specialist on Friday and he has confirmed that it's coming from the rear diff

He checked the brakes, wheel bearing, road wheels, brake back plates, Haldex unit (with his diagnostic gizmo) and then gave it a thorough road test (lots of weaving, accelerating, cruising etc). The noise is much worse on lift-off with the car is reducing in speed from about 45 to 30 MPH. And all for no charge, decent bloke

We've only had the car 3 months, it's done 57K total (2K since we bought it), and the Evans Halshaw "dealer" warranty runs out on Wednesday next week! I have spoken to them and I have to take the car to there nearest dealership which is a Vauxhall dealer in Portsmouth before Wednesday for their "mechanic" to assess the problem and decide whether we have a claim under their warranty.

I don't hold out much hope because; what does a Vauxhall mechanic know about Land Rovers and I have read many horror stories about Evans Halshaw after-sales service!

I'll probably just reduce my stress and get my friendly, skilled and experienced LR Specialist to carry out the work

It also means that I won't be going on the off-road day at the end of October now

That's a shame.

Generally the FL2 seems to be either a joy to own or a nightmare.

I have been doing some hefty off roading on a number of occasions and the clutch and diff etc etc have never given me any problems.

Despite the above however, when the LR warranty expires in April 2013 I will purchase an LR extended warranty to keep me covered for the last 12 months of ownership until the finance deal ends and I decide what to do with the car.

Hope it gets sorted  LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

Tell Evans Halshaw that it has been inspected by an independent LR specialist and they have informed you that there is a fault with the rear diff. I don't think they could refuse to repair/replace it unless their warranty doesn't cover the parts involved. ______________________
2011 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8
2012 FL2 SD4 Auto HSE
2013 Kawasaki Versys 650

If it is indeed the diff then there is a low level repair a dealer can carry out under Ltsb 000324.

Hardly made of cheese though.

evans halshaw is part of the pendragon group stratstones is also partof that group see if thay can inter branch the repair ie surgest to them that cause stratstone is part of group get them to diagnose thay are not going to argue with a l/r dealer that is part of group get l/r dealer to repair and send the bill in group to evanshalshaw its worth a try and its a win win situation  rainy-city
xs

I have had that "drone " from the back for around a year - my dealer listened to it, thought it it was marginal and intermittent (true) and, after checking how long the warranty lasted for, suggested leaving it until it got worse, then claim. I have done that and have just had a new diff fitted last week - they stripped the old one and it wasn`t the bearings that can be changed that were the problem - the warranty people wanted to inspect the unit and then said OK, so I`m now back to quiet motoring. So at Four and a Half years and 97,000 miles old I am quite pleased with my value for money extended warranty!! Don`t drive faster than your angel can fly!

Must be catching mine sounds like (and I am old enough to remember) a tram.It has a deep sounding rumble which turns into a steady moaning (no its not the wife she is still at home) and the reverse when slowing down.

The local indie specialist could not detect exact area of sound on an extensive road test so it is going on to a four post wheels free lift on Friday morning so a stethscope can be applied to all areas of the transmission to hopefully track it down.

I know most people on the forum have (luckily for them) had repairs/replacement done under warranty BUT no such luck here as car is 4 years old, so information I am after is as follows.
1-What was the cause of the failure and how was it fixed,even if under warranty?
2-If not under warranty how much did it cost and was it a main dealer or independant workshop?

All info/suggestions will be much appreciated. Life Honorary Member of Wallasey Motor Club.
Licenced MSA Radio Operator for 35+ years.
Rallying is the only sport.

Hi Bill, I really feel your pain

However today my wife took our Freel2 to the closest Land Rover main dealer. Their senior techie took the car for a test drive (3 one now, different garages) and confirmed that the rear diff was indeed the problem.

However he did say that in >90% of all rear diff problems (both in low mileage, in warranty and higher mileage, out of warranty) they can resolve the problem by doing the low level repair (as mentioned by a few owners on here). They basically strip the diff down and replace the low grade/failed input/output shaft bearings. He said it's very unusual for the crown wheel or pinion to be at fault. He said that ours sounded like the prop shaft bearing was the worn one (most common in his experience).

The good news is that the price quoted for this repair was £486 inc the VAT , so not as bad as the £1500 + for a reconditioned complete diff.

As a result I have booked the car in for a main dealer repair on 8th Nov. Hopefully it won't be anything else

My local independent Landy specialist had not heard of this repair and would only quote for a complete replacement. However I think this is mainly because they have not got much experience of working on Freel2s yet.

Now to get Evans Halshaw to pay Westover Land Rover direct or refund me the cash

cheers - Andy

Bill Turner wrote:

1-What was the cause of the failure and how was it fixed,even if under warranty?
2-If not under warranty how much did it cost and was it a main dealer or independant workshop?

All info/suggestions will be much appreciated.

I was in the warranty dilema when mine ran out two years ago. So far, I have paid our about £168 for repairs, (new key and power steering resovior/ fluid change.

So based on a warranty being about £600, I have saved £1200 but paid out £168 so I am up at the moment! Freelander 2 HSE Lux 2013MY - Barolo Black with Ivory Leather. Alpine DVD - Privacy -Evoque 20" Dynamic Wheels and more to come.........

nicam wrote:

... just had a new diff fitted last week - they stripped the old one and it wasn`t the bearings that can be changed that were the problem - the warranty people wanted to inspect the unit and then said OK, so I`m now back to quiet motoring. So at Four and a Half years and 97,000 miles old I am quite pleased with my value for money extended warranty!!

I paid £430 for the "Select" Extended Warranty as the car had passed the 75k miles limit for "Approved" Warranty when it was taken out in April - maximum payout is £3000 on this scheme, so the repair obviously didn`t cost more than that!!! Don`t drive faster than your angel can fly!

Took mine into Stratston Stockton this morning with the same noise as you have been talking about. After a road test, I was advised tat it could be the Diff or the fact that I am very close to replacing the rear tyres, advised to get them done and see if the noise goes away.
Went back to Hartlepool replaced the rear set and ..... the noise is still there.
Called Michael at Stratstone He has arranged for it to go in an get the Diff changed next week.
He said that it is a day job..... so could this be a full change or the smaller one?

Regards

Frank R9 FLR

frankreid wrote:

He said that it is a day job..... so could this be a full change or the smaller one?

THANKS.. R9 FLR