Upgrading

[Rejjie]

I'm looking for a bit of feedback from anyone who has experience of runniing and living with both Freelanders and Disco's. I currently own a 2001 GS 2.0 Td4 diesel manual station wagon which has proved excellent to accommodate the family of four, small dog and towing our caravans - although you may disagree! I have the opportunity of changing to a 2003 GS 2.5 Td5 diesel 7 seater auto Disco (face lifted model). If this particular Disco that I am looking at was not for sale I would not be thinking of changing just yet as the Freelander that I have does everything we need right now. The reason I am considering this is mainly due to the extra seating capacity to take other familer members out and about with us and the extra safety margin for towing our twin axle caravan. I am concerned about the running costs of this larger vehicle i.e. fuel, insurance, servicing etc. I will not be able to park the anything larger than a Freelander in my garage and also have concerns about leaving it open to the street at night - i.e. theft. Both vehicles get good reports what do you think - is a Disco2 really worth the extra cost?

I also have a similar posting in the Freelander forum too

[BogMonster]

I had a 2001 Td4 manual Freelander back in 2001, I ran it for six months and while I loved it to drive, I found it wasn't actually what I needed. So I changed it for the 2002 Discovery I have now.

I don't regret the change at all - the Discovery is what I always wanted! Mine is a V8 but the Td5 is a good car too, though I would prefer a manual if it was me.

If you are going to a Td5 auto you may find it sluggish after driving a Td4 manual Freelander, because those really do have some get up and go, and you might also find the Td5 rather noisy by comparison. But in virtually every other respect, I would prefer the Discovery, I always felt the Freelander was built down to a price and felt a bit like it, the build quality, interior materials etc, seemed more like a 200Tdi Discovery. I still like getting into a Td4 Freelander because they are good to drive, but I wouldn't consider going back to one.

Fuel consumption will be higher - especially on an auto - my Td4 used to do 37mpg and you could knock 30% off that for a Td5 auto, give or take. Servicing - probably not that much in it.

I'd go for it if I were you