hmmm Navars or warrior ......or 110 crew cab.....but they are noisy, drafty, slow....but do look good kitted up  If it dont work.......burn it!

If the IId tool cant fix it.......burn the FF.

If the FF cant be fixed......buy a Land Cruiser!

If the LC cant be fixed..............................................BUY a horse !!

I have my ff for work and stuff and a p38 for all the dirty work you can get a p38 with a years mot for 7 or 800 quid

what about downgrading to a cheaper RR? e.g. td6 or 4.4

Take this from someone who sold his beloved VSE last year went through two NEW volvos and back to a FF again. The solution is simple my friend, I have also a 2006 citroen dispatch van it does a million miles to a tank (nearly) it's perfect for carting around all sorts of crap, car park dents, who cares, scratches, whatever, dogs bring them on. i am a joiner and also have a big transit for work, but the citroen is value for money, and the best cheapest thing I have bought in a long while.
And the FF, always clean inside and a pleasure to go out in.

seems like the advice is keep the VSE, maybe I should sell the TDV8 and get a petrol VSE or SC.

Defo couldn't get a td6, would never trust the gearbox

Might have to sell one of the Elans or get my tractor road registered and get a box for the back of it.

I know I can get a cheap p38 or 300tdi for £6-800, but that would be the cost of replacing the radiators in the house 56 TDV8 Vogue SE
9 Freelanders, 2x 2002 TD4ES, 2001 TD4, 2002 1.8GS, 2000 XEDI, 2x 2000 1.8ES, 2004 1.8 & 2000 1.8 GS (rolled)
91 Lotus Carlton (sold)
90 Lotus Elan (BRG)

Sounds like you would benefit from a d3 or d4, I have done the reverse, I no longer needed the space in the d3 so I changed to a ffrr. The discovery was great for holding loads of building stuff 09 TDV8 Westminster, Mariana Black, Rear seat entertainment, hatch bag and 2 slobbery mutts

When I bought the FF 3 years ago I was looking for a D3 HSE and couldn't find a decent one. Should have stuck it out I think 56 TDV8 Vogue SE
9 Freelanders, 2x 2002 TD4ES, 2001 TD4, 2002 1.8GS, 2000 XEDI, 2x 2000 1.8ES, 2004 1.8 & 2000 1.8 GS (rolled)
91 Lotus Carlton (sold)
90 Lotus Elan (BRG)

I have an even better solution...

£500 Citroen Xantia diesel estate or hatchback.
Now hear me out...
At worst they are worth £200 roughly in scrap value so really it's a £300 car.

Engines are simple as can be to work on and don't let the suspension worry you, it's really simple stuff to look after!
Also the 1.9td as usually fitted is a very strong and well proven engine. To make it even cheaper use 50:50 diesel and veg oil mix. Costs 65p/litre for veg oil at the moment..

The estates can swallow big loads but the suspension easily copes. I've had at least 400kg in the back of a hatch and know some who have pushed estates to 600+ without complaint other than much slower to get upto speed! That's an awful lot of logs or house building materials  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

Ha I had a volvo 70 and loaded the boot with 40 bags of 20kg sand...needed the sand that day and couldn't wait for a dumpy bag to be delieverd. the suspension sat a bit low, but the brakes still worked (sort of).

Andy, i've dropped you a PM regarding your problem about messing up the car...

How was the rear end afterwards though  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

The silver rocket was fine after the 800kg of sand. at the time it looked like one of those mexican low riders that you see on american tv. V70 was a cracking old car. just looked too tatty by the end of my house renovation and was fairly thirsty ( had 250k on it)

Nice petrol version then  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

3 door disco 1 200/300tdi's are going for very low money if this is to be a workhorse. So are Freelander 1.8's. Drop the rear seats and stick a full length liner in.

I know both are pretty dismal but they will do the job and be a lot cheaper than a P38 or a TD5  Is this where I put the car details and a bit about myself ?........

I'd say that selling and buying something else is a waste of money. For the losses you make you can easily buy a trailer and you can keep the FFRR pristine !!! Once you have a nice well sorted FFRR it would be a waste to have to sell it and then buy another maybe sorted one a year or so later.

I understand that a house absorbs a lot of funds and that is all the more reason for not selling the FFRR and losing money and then buying something else that needs sorting out as well. I think in the long run the cheapest will be keep the FFRR and be "smart" with the house upgrades and spread them out over time (well you can't do all the work in a few months anyway so the expenditure is spread out over time).

As for selling a Lotus, I don't know about that. Don't know enough about them and what they mean to you. MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

I've got the plastic tray and the full cover which goes up the sides etc, thanks to some of the guys on here.

I've had a ton of logs, loads of plasterboard, a fridge, oven, table saw in. I also made a sheet of 3/4" ply to bridge and reinforce the spare wheel cover... After this, I've had 25 20kg bags of post mix, 185 5" x5' Feather edge boards in.

With the cover out and shaken the boot looks new.

I love the fact it's a real multi tool, building supplies, trash for the tip, shooting stuff and pheasant carcasses in, cleaned off and changed, 4 of us to a nice restaurant with admiring glances. 5 1/2 years on and I still like it!



Steve