Frontera's - Would you buy one again ?

[bobbinsjob]

I have had 3 frontys, still currently have 2 of them.

2.0ltr swb leafer
2.8td swb
2.2dti rs swb

if i had more parking space there would be more out there, including the hen's tooth that is the 3.2 v6 swb

[tez1963]

on my forth fronty and after having tried a range rover,a shogun, and a nissan patrol i still come back to a fronty so in answer to the question id have another in a shot... good offroad ..reliable...economical...cheap and easy to mod...great support groups...need i go on

[fogman]

hi rich, i like you joined the forum before buying a fronty & although i eventually choose to buy a 2.2 petrol [ not everybodys 1st choice] it was in some part through the helpful advice & oppinions from the members that helped in my decision
ive owned mine for nearly 9 months now & although its taken a little while to sort out the odd problem or two im really happy with her, my friendly mechanic is quite happy to work on her & service parts are off the shelf , if i do struggle to source any spare parts then the guys [ male & female ] can normally find it instantly, so thats not a problem & the mpgs not too bad either

compared to other 4x4s i think a fronty is a bloody bargain & look at the high milers that are still going strong for sale on e-bay etc

if anything happened to my emily id definetly get another 1 but i would then prefer to buy a newer diesel model, one of the last produced on a 03 ish plate i think even though im not too keen on the style of front grill they have fitted, & thats if i could afford the road tax

[dave1966]

Hi and Welcome.

I have a 2.4 LWB and I love it and this is my first Frontera. I would definately buy another one. I must admit that Im not keen on the SWB,as I find that there isnt much room between the rear door and back seats to take my dog out in thats why Ive got the LWB but everyone has their own preference's. I always liked the Frontera's ever since I saw one and test drove one in 2002. The thing I wouldnt have is a Suzuki Jimny as they are unsafe in my opinion,my best mate was trying to talk me into getting the Jimny and I told him to get lost,as the Frontera (to me) is better looking than any other 4x4,the Honda CR-V doesnt have a separate gear lever for the 4wd,as my dad had one.

[andysd1]

[V6Jon]

Seems like everyone is pretty much in agreement here then

Personnaly I certainly hope to own one again !

I owned a lwb 2.2 petrol about five years ago, I had it about two years and have regretted selling it ever since. In the last few years I have had a CRV, a swb Pajero V6 and a Subaru Forester (sshhh I am trying to forget about the Audi A4) and none of them have measured up to it. There are very few Fronteras where I live, and things have got that bad I have spent a couple of hundred quid to fly to the UK this weekend to (hopefully) buy my new Fronty, on top of which I will then have to pay another couple of hundred quid to get it shipped home, before I even begin sorting out the hassle of re-registering it.

For the last month I have been driving my dad's top of the range 2007 five door TD4 Freelander. And while it is a lovely car, even if it was worth ten grand less then it is I would still rather part with my cash to buy a Fronty.

[jason]

Hi and Welcome
I have just got my first lwb 2.2 ltd, T plate. I looked at landy but evey one has a landy, i wonted to be diffrent so after a vvvvvvvvvvery long look around i got mine.
I payed £1900 with new mot and service and 6 month's tax. Its done 104k had a engine rebuild at 100k just be for i got it, i have the paper work for it costing £900
And yes i would buy another its a tank its great i love it
ONLY probs i have is alarm roker gasget wich is going in tomorrow, light builbs in dash, and stuff that i riped of when off roading eg side steps number plats tow elec.
All so i have a jimmy o2 and that is very good had it 4 years and is very cheap to run.

[Dupe]

bought mine by chance first 4x4 ive owned so far so good had it for 2 years

[Ulf]

Well, I am only on my second Frontera. The first one, a 2.4i lwb from 1994. We bought it in 2004 after a crash with a Vectra. BUT, if I knew then, what know today, I would never have bought that one. A lot of problems with brakes, heating, brakes again, rust, wheel bearings and much much more. Anyhow it has done its job, getting us to work everyday (allmost).
When we bought it the counter was on 178000 km and now it is on allmost 360000 km, so if it has some problems it is understandable. But the old Lady has retired. The boss at home said "never ever a Frontera again!". But at the beginning of august I bought a new one, a 2.5TDS lwb. And wow, what a difference, I love it, even she loves it. The old Lady only had two stops in the slopes from the home. At one occation, one of the freewheel hubs failed, snow chains on primary rear wheel solved it. The other time it was shiny ice when going downhill on first low gear with a constant rpm, the car went faster and faster..., constant rpm still . And to try it uphill ... , snow chains on primary front and primary rear solved it.
When I bought the 2.5, I had journey of 570 km and started in the eavening, I was a little disapointed when I got home, it was to short, wanted to drive it more.
The only bad thing with it is the extra head lights, they are far to small, but the old Lady will donate hers, 3 Hella 3000 flood light, instead of those two tiny Mickey Mouse ears that are fitted now.

And this forum, I can browse it for hours... .

[dave1966]

Hi Jason.

I know that this is of topic,sorry.


I wouldnt be knocking the Jimny but do you know how flimsy they really are??? My best friend had a "56" plate one and him/wife/daughter and son in law were driving back from Edinburgh a few weeks ago and he stopped behind a car which was waiting to turn right and a Vauxhall Astra ran straight into the passenger's rear side of my best friends Jimny and with the result of this his Jimny was a write off. It wa a low mileage one and hadnt had its first MOT. The repair centre that it was taken to their report was (if I remember). The rear passenger panel below the window was creased,the rear door was jammed shut by the spare wheel,the rear door glass window was completely smashed,the rear corner of the bumper was snapped along with the wiring loom for the rear lights,the Astra went underneath the spare wheel and was on top of tow ball,which was bent downwards,the rear back seat's were out of shape,the rear chassis legs were bent downwards and the guy said at the repair centre said that if my best friend didnt have the towbar fitted the rear chassis legs would have gone downwards and spread outwards. Im not trying to put you off your Jimny Jason but I thought that you may want to read way I think they are unsafe to me. My best friend is 50+yrs. I will find out from him if he's got photo's of the damage and see if I could get a few off him and put them up on a different thread. Im not knocking anyone who has one of these,Im thinking safety. I wouldnt want anyone to suffer the same with their's as my best friend did.

Sorry for writing this post on this thread.

[chomerly]

I've been through 3 Frontera's myself.
1 1995 Sport
1 1992 Sport
1 1991 LWB
The 1995 sport needed a new gearbox, flywheel and clutch before i could get it on the road and i swapped that for a Nissan Primera 16v 2.0 GTe (amazing motor).
The 1992 Sport ended up with the head gasket going even though i'd had it replaced about 1 month before and the 1991 LWB had (bare with me as this is a list.
A new water pump
replacement radiator
ancillary belts
spark plugs
Ignition cables
Dizzy cap
Rotor arm
Coil
Crank sensor
Petrol tank and pump
Fuel filter
Oil filter
Front tyres
Battery
And after all of that, it just packed up running with a suspected fuel pump problem
So that's been sold and i now have a Peugeot 406 which i got well cheap as i couldn't afford to keep putting money into the Fronty.
I will have another but it will be for off-road use only.

[richp1000]

All

Thanks for all your time and effort, your sure pasionateand have given me lots to think about.

I'm going to look at a SWB 2.2 RS this weekend, I'll let you know if I decide to get it !

Rich

[Dave_RAYNET]

i still say the Frontera Sport is a contradiction of itself...

I've had 2 in the last year, a LWB 2.4 and a SWB 2.0

Both are quite spacious, as long as you can do without rear seats in the SWB, the 2.4 was far too thirsty, in petrol as well as oil so it had to go.
I regret buying the SWB though, it's currently sat in my garage, where it has been since mid August, with a scrapping rear bearing and a petrol leak.

I'm debating whether to fix it, get rid and get a diesel, or get rid and get a utility type vehicle (LR defender, Ford Ranger, brava etc).....

Fuel consumption isn't an issue, as long as its not being thrown out onto the floor, so i might fix it.... if i get the urge i'll drop the tank off tomorrow...

[brachunky]

Although I have moved on, my fronty was a pleasure to own and had a load of fun in her For a lwb, I went everywhere including places John & Alex's swb's got stuck (sorry guys ) My only regret was that I did'nt get the 2.8 The 2.4, although in good nick, was often short of breath and just a bit underpowered.
My tuppence worth

[jontera]

Hi,

Would I buy another one?....hell yes.

The misses decided that she wanted a 4x4 and agreed to buy a 2.0 swb, which at the time I wasn't sure about. So I searched this here site and eventually gave in and we bought it. Now it is purely mine as SWMBO finds the truck a bit tough for her to drive (little legs) I have to admit that for the first week or so I really didn't enjoy the frontera experience, but that was down to the sloppy steering which thanks to a thread here got fixed for nowt...after that I was hooked.

With the help that I have gained through FOG, I've worked my way through most of the little niggly problems that occure on a 13yr old motor. I've found that being an older motor repairs are fairly easy and most can be accomlished with a basic toolkit, parts are pretty easy to source either from scrappies of motor factors.

Recently I took my standard sport on a FOG weekend and was suprised how well it coped (did get grounded a couple of times mind) and the damage sustained was really only to the side steps. So it will get a few mods (1 being a suspension lift) so it doesn't happen again.

I would say that if...sorry when..I buy another it'll be LWB diesel...but I don't think that I have ever had so much fun with a car that I drive to work everyday and play with when I get the chance.

As with all cars, the fronty has it's plus points and it's minus points but as I see it, the frontera is well worth the money and a lot more fun than you would imagine

[unicorn_lion]

I think one of the extraordinary things about it is the price-it is very similar in concept to a lot of vehicles like Terrano etc but much cheaper on the second hand market. This may be due to poor publicity about reliability on early vehicles.
Greg

[Merseyflyer]

Hell yeeeeeessssss !! Got a 2.2 DTI LWB and a 2.0i petrol for the missus (not a bad swap). I much prefer teh ride of the LWB but there are times off road when the swb is better.
I use the big truck everyday for work and general running around, it's big, comfortable, relatively economical and very very capable off road.
But the best part of owining a Fronty is all the people on this forum. Always somebody to help and answer questions and you get to meet them at FOG meets and events.
Get one NOW !!!!
Rob

[chomerly]

I have to agree with you there Mersey.
It's one of the best parts of being a Frontera owner is this forum.
Unfortunately for me, i never had the chance to attend any of the meets as my last Frontera was so unreliable it was comical.
Hopefully, in the near future, i'll be an owner again but i may just have one for pure offroading.

[Drift]

I love popping into this thread feel good factor, the cars are fantastic value for money especially considering their age, but the people are diamonds and whether you have a Frontera or not they only ask you to keep in touch to remain friends, you cant loose

We met a guy on the Gap lane who was driving a very nice modded V8 LR lightweight (sounded ace).
He came over and said " wouldnt have though I would see Frontera's up here " All I initially said was " imagination " then sarcasm aside as well as being defensive I told him we dont have lockers, LSD or basically no tricks, he got interested after I explained its the driver who gets it their, he saw what I meant and was very receptive it seemed to the challenge
I wonder if he will buy one?

When you think we have what is perceived as an incapable and in the early day an unreliable car.
What Vauxhall did not fix in reliability issues, we have those fixes here.

What Vauxhall shouted about in most of the topics here

viewforum.php?f=34

We the members have improved upon for off road performance coupled with on road reliability.


Then there is Greg