Ex Freelander owner buys Terrano swb

[simonwill69]

Good afternoon on this damp (west Cornwall) bank holiday.

2 months ago, I bought an 03 silver Terrano swb with 30k (30,000) miles from new.

I'd been looking out for a replacement for the Freelander, since the 'automatic' 4 wheel drive packed up 12 months ago. Which is very embarassing when you get stuck!

I do quite a bit of towing,.. caravan, trailers etc and have a few acres of land, so a 4x4 suits my life style.

I almost bought a jeep cherokee as like the Terrano, has selectable 4WD and Low range, but needed a cam belt and at a cost of £630, the seller would'nt allow that in the price ! And of course no cam belt on the Nissan !

Of course there major differences between the landy and the nissan. Here are some and good and not- so- good observations up to now.

GOOD;

Selectable 4x4,
low range.
higher driving position
proper 4x4 feel
'old school' mechanicals
no cam belt
smart purposefull styling
no noticeable turbo-lag

Not-so-Good;

Hard suspension
weak design of internal hand grabs (door handles)
Lack of space (maybe i should have bought the lwb version)
Abs fault at the mo' (hopefully to be resolved under garage's garantee)
high to get in and out
generally less refined than freelandy.

Performance is on a par with the landy

I know some of these points are contradicting, but due to my partner with a bad back and ageing mother, they are included.

If anyone has solutions to any of the points I've made (apart from my mother)
I would be gratefull to be pointed to the right section, till i get used to seaching the forum.

Regards and thanks,

Simon