reported in the Bradord telegraph and Argus ,A family hearing somebody breaking into their house barracaded themselves in the bathroom and called the police the culprits escaped in a Brand new Frelander ,Porshe Boxer and a Porshe 911 special edition all new.The police naturly arrived after the event.
They found the freelander abandoned shortly afterwards.The crunch is that the thieves used the 911 around bradford all weekend openly,parking it in the street, were subject to disturbences at different clubs throughout Bradford and the police still did not catch them only after a commotion at a club involving firearms did the police connect the car to the one that had been stolen in their own district.talkabout on the ball policeing the mind boggles.
On a serious note do not leave your keys downstairs at night
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Very true, The average house is less well protected than modern cars.
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Tracker will make three more sales because these people will not get insurance again without it. Mark (Brazil) has already informed us why the Freelander would have been abandoned.
HJ
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In our lawless society, you can't insure a car over R160k (about 318 level) without a tracker fitted. (But on a slighty cheaper model, the premium comes down enough to almost cover the costs of the device.)
This rule will be coming soon to Britain, I'd expect.
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While we are discussing this subject, through my line of work which is car breakdown/recovery, I would say that in 95% of the cases where late model cars are stolen they are now done so by the theft of the keys in the first place.
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A friend of mine had his house burgled and the spare keys to his New Audi stolen.
He now has to have all his locks changed which will cost 600 quid...... plus reprogramming the immobiliser. Modern cars have become so difficult to steal that thieves will do anything to get their hands on the keys.
its probably best to have an old heap that nobody wants - maybe the valuse of all those K reg and earlier cars that nobody wants will bounce back ????
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Mark (Brazil) has already informed us why the Freelander would have been abandoned.
Quite. Perhaps only surprising that it was stolen in the first place.
On which subject, HJ, excellent review of teh new CRV, especially the bit about Freelanders.
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Mark,
A farmer friend has just sold some fields for £30K. He was talking of buying a new Freelander but a friend of his had the gearbox " fall out" of a new Freelander.
Not sure what he meant by "fall out" but it certainly stopped the vehicle. Now he owns a Toyota.
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Thing is, Alwyn, I know I hate the things and I'm biased. I also know that I use cars in a somewhat more challenging environment than most.
But I have never heard anybody, in any environment, have a good word to say about the joys [sic] of driving and/or owning a Freelander.
Why would anybody buy one ? With what use in mind ?
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Is not the freelander built by Honda ,the new cr-v is as bad as the old one absolutely no pulling power ,no ground clearance (look at the rear suspension and exhaust)a good shoping car and thats its limit .
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Andy,
I sort of see why you liken the Freelander to the CRV insofar as they are both designed, built and marketed for a specific market, along with Rav4, Pinin, Vitara and a few more besides. But remember that shopping and other conventional duties are what 95% of them will do. These manufacturers are not daft and know who is buying their products and why they are buying them and if they sell as well, and they do sell well, you can't blame them for that. The vehicles are all as/if not more, versatile in their practicality as a hatchback or estate, but are seen to offer an element of extra usefulness in bad weather or on rough tracks and offer a higher driving position which, for a number of reasons ( which are the subject of further debate ), are what some drivers want and are prepared to pay extra for.
The downsides are equally obvious and again subject to debate. They might include - increased fuel consumption, maintenance costs and other issues to stir the emotions.
However, as I say, they are obviously popular and if their owners are happy with them and accept the disadvantages along with the advantages I can't see that there is too much cause for concern (environmental issues aside).
Incidentally the new CRV produces 148bhp@ 6500rpm, max torque is 142 lb-ft@4000rpm, 0-60mph in 10.9secs, max speed is 110mph, Combined mpg is 31.0 mpg and ground clearance is 8". The engine is very "Honda" in regard to it's free revving nature, and there will not be a diesel produced in the foreseeable future, (which is a shame). The Honda is more economical than the petrol Freelander, but the TD4 diesel Freelander IS more economical than the Honda (with a Combined mpg of 37.1mpg). The new Toyota Rav4 is available with a common rail diesel and is very much in competition with the vehicles in question, and shares Honda's reliability reputation. Despite all this the Freelander sells like hot cakes.
I would have thought that an older Honda is likely to be more reliable than the equivalent Freelander, but would be interested to know whether the build quality on *brand new* Freelanders has improved and will restore some of the reputation that Landrover used to have before descending into the mire that it was in a couple of years ago. Has anyone got one? What I should say is - Has anyone got the bravery to post here that they have one and also like it? If so - I hope they will, in order to put another side to the Freelander debate here.
KB.
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Big report in today's Times about car jacking and other modern forms of car theft.
makeashorterlink.com/?U26442A6
The method used for nicking Mercs in Essex is ingenious. I think I'll stick with my not very Essex MK2 Golf GTI.
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