Ex Freelander owner buys Terrano swb

[marti666]

Originally Posted by 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

Welcome to the forum Simon, I too was looking at various 4x4 a couple of months ago and choose the Terrano over the jeep but I got a LWB for extra storage when towing the van....on the plus it seems I need to do nowt (apart from change fuel filter after a couple of tanks )for it to run on veggie.....

Martin

[Barrbeast]

Welcome bud

[johnb5177]

Well after a long and mixed feeling relationship with the green oval, last year I purchased my T2.
I am pleased, impressed and more than satisfied with just about everything about it.
I can realistically and pragmatically compare it to all the landies, from S1 through all Defender models, to Rangies and Discos, and I don`t think I would willingly go back to any of them after the T2.
I know I may be lucky, and have a good vehicle, but it is a great working tool, and a nice family car.......

[simonwill69]

Morning,
Thanks for all your responses, it's much appreciated.
I appologise if I offended anyone with my obsevations, but spending one's hard-earned, is enough to make me a bit wary.

Here's a pic of the door handles, if this has been covered before, can you point me in the right direction, thanks.

Simon

[rustic]

Originally Posted by simonwill69

Morning,
Thanks for all your responses, it's much appreciated.
I appologise if I offended anyone with my obsevations, but spending one's hard-earned, is enough to make me a bit wary.

Here's a pic of the door handles, if this has been covered before, can you point me in the right direction, thanks.

Simon

Hi Simon, welcome back, apologies for responding to your initial observation I was a bit harsh.
But wait for this.... I have owned my mav from new, for nearly 20 years, you might not know that, but about a thousand members do lol...
So I am rather attached to my Mav
I don't mention it much... but to be fair, I have never had any problems with trim, or anything else for that matter, storage certainly is an issue, when you say compare it to a Picasso, with under floor storage etc, but I have the LWB and I still have a box to keep all the junk in. Even though I don't go off road by intention, I still carry the straps, shackles, jump leads, tyre inflator spade, spare bulbs, etc etc you never know when you will, and I love playing in the snow lol.

For a replacement handle, there are plenty being broken, and several members on here might well have that same trim. Which door(s) ?

Re ride height, many members actually do suspension lifts, so I guess you can adjust the front suspension to lower it a little. ( 10 minute job) But check where it is at the moment.
If you carry a few hundred kg's of rugby players in the back, or bags of sand, the suspension softens up. It can be a bit hard when solo. But then when you consider what the Terrano is capable of, you will see why.

Take care,
best regards,
Rustic

[Sweety]

I've seen this happen a few times on the later models as Nissan changed the position & type of handles the easiest thing will be to get a S/H handle & replace it & there are a few on here who break Terrano's I've seen the handles glued back together before but TBH if mine go like this I think i'll try plastic welding them, a skim of filler & then spray paint them satin black first to see how that holds up

[Banshee]

Welcome mate, I'm the clubs friendly moderator

I've just brought one pretty much identical to that apart from the fact that mine is a van and got the SVE wheels, click the project thread link below on my signature.

I'm off to grab a few bits off one tonight again identical to mine so if you'd like me to get you the grab handles I'll grab them, if you don't have them, seeing your pictures I think I may keep them myself as spares.

The ABS sensor fault is very very common, they are a bit of a mare to remove from what I have read which makes finding a 2nd hand one near impossible, we have a few guys on here that break these trucks terranobreakershrophsire and cncfabs, I'll ring James (terranobreakershropshire) and see if he has any in

[terrano bob]

say what you like mate and welcome

[AlexD333]

Oh no, we've got him going on the 20 year ownership again

Those handles look shagged, get some new ones and if they are gonna be under heavy heavy use perhaps a small mod could be placed in handle for strength

Mine squeak if you use em to get in

[rustic]

Originally Posted by AlexD333

Oh no, we've got him going on the 20 year ownership again ...

if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
When I had it ten years, I thought will I still have it 2 or three years later, now I am thinking... Can it make 25 ?

I'm hanging on until they get around to calling cars older than 25 years classics, then I'll get free Road Tax, at the time as I get a free bus pass... hmmm
Is there a link lol...?

[simonwill69]

Originally Posted by Sweety

I've seen this happen a few times on the later models as Nissan changed the position & type of handles the easiest thing will be to get a S/H handle & replace it & there are a few on here who break Terrano's I've seen the handles glued back together before but TBH if mine go like this I think i'll try plastic welding them, a skim of filler & then spray paint them satin black first to see how that holds up

I'm quite keen to get these handles sorted now .(especially after my sucess with the rear door)

I have an idea to repair them with a black acrylic resin, so some guidence of how to remove the handles and/or the door card, would be a great help. I got as far as removing 2 screws from above the handle and moving it upwards, but did'nt want to force it...
Many thanks,
Simon

[Sweety]

Originally Posted by simonwill69

I'm quite keen to get these handles sorted now .(especially after my sucess with the rear door)

I have an idea to repair them with a black acrylic resin, so some guidence of how to remove the handles and/or the door card, would be a great help. I got as far as removing 2 screws from above the handle and moving it upwards, but did'nt want to force it...
Many thanks,
Simon

Your idea might work very well just mask off all the bits you don't want the resin on. I think the handles are attached to the door trim I know they come off with the door trim when you remove it To take the door trim off remove the 2 screws under the blanks in the handle, there is 3 screws I think under the door pocket, 2 screws under little plastic caps at the front of the door trim by the hinges & poss 1 or 2 at the lock end but can't remember then pull the trim away from the door carefully as it's held on with plastic trim clips, drooping the window down makes it easier to get it off/back on

[Banshee]

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread, its slipped under my radar :soh

Look forward to see the progress you make with it Simom and see if you start to feel in love with it!!!