Been thinking about going for a Freelander having just changed jobs. Had a look around one earlier in the week and arranged a test drive today. Took about 2 minutes to decide it was the one for me and will be ordering on Monday.

In the meantime would appreciate a few bits of advice:

If I want to go down the roof bars/roofbox route for holidays etc, should I go for Land Rover standard equipment and is that my only option.

I'm planning on going for the GS and obtaining through company car ownership scheme which does away with company car tax and wondered whether there are any extras I'd be daft not to get with this spec.

Any opinions gratefully received.

And finally having spent a couple of hours browsing this forum last night, I probably didnt really need a test drive to convince me!!

So Simple wrote:

Been thinking about going for a Freelander having just changed jobs. Had a look around one earlier in the week and arranged a test drive today. Took about 2 minutes to decide it was the one for me and will be ordering on Monday.

In the meantime would appreciate a few bits of advice:

If I want to go down the roof bars/roofbox route for holidays etc, should I go for Land Rover standard equipment and is that my only option.

I'm planning on going for the GS and obtaining through company car ownership scheme which does away with company car tax and wondered whether there are any extras I'd be daft not to get with this spec.

Any opinions gratefully received.

And finally having spent a couple of hours browsing this forum last night, I probably didnt really need a test drive to convince me!!

Hi - I too bought GS following test drive - 6 months and still grinning.

I felt it was so well spec'd I did not add anything! I used to add extras but find you lose too much on trade in.

I fitted LR roof rails £199 myself and already had Thule/Jaguar roofbox so reused them. The existing Thule/Jaguar footpack fits but I had to change aerobars due to existing being too short. Got 37 Mpg last trip with roof box, 5 in car and dog with full load.

LR crossbars look best but I felt they were too dear as only used occasionaly and already had Thule bars so reused them.

I priced Thule footpack for roof without rails and would have been cheaper but felt did not look as neat and worried about scratches to paint. I think roof rails finish FL2 off too.

You will not regret it

I too bought a GS, having thoroughly gone through the specs. It has plenty of kit, all the essentials, but I would recommend going for the auto as it is superb. If your test car wasn't an auto, just try one as it's the best £1300 pounds you'll ever spend. See WhatCar? and other reviews. You can't specify LR satnav on the GS but who cares, you can get a good after market wide screen one that fits nicely in the cubby, so no nasty wires on top of the dash.  Was GS TD4 Auto, Privacy, Santorini with Tundra & Alpaca, Cold Climate Pack. Traded for Discovery Sport HSE Auto.

Roof rails and roof bars have been debated fully here http://www.freel2.com/forum/topic290.html

I went for the Thule option and there a photos in the Gallery showing them fitted. Certainly cheaper to go for the Thule removable option but if you like the look of the Freelander with permanent rails then go for them and the extra cost.

I also went for the GS but do a fair amount of night driving and so wanted xenon headlights, as the Winter pack was not much more than just having xenons I went for that and am pleased I did.

Two things that I believe are missing and should have been included are a centre armrest and a leather steering wheel, I solved the centre armrest with a after market one bought on eBay (also provides extra storage) but have not been able to source a leather steering as yet.

Nine months and 11000 miles on I still look forward to driving it.

there is a discovery3 leather steering wheel on ebay, not sure if will fit but most things do  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for such quick responses, all this enthusiasm is too much to take in!

I followed the roofbar thread (all 10 pages!) and have concluded that as an occasional user the thule option is the one to go for.

Going from an Audi A4 Avant, I'm still beaming at what a great drive the freelander was. Far better than expected and even my wife was impressed and thinks I should get one- always a bonus!

Bit of a disagreement over colour - she wants black and I want Stornoway grey(to be honest wouldnt say no to either)...but don't worry, I've read that thread and wouldn't want to open old scars!

I was underwhelmed by the dealers opening offer of £23k on the road for a GS, telling me there isn't a huge supply so they dont need to discount heavily at the moment. Followed it by telling me how many people they are turning down due to their finance people being more choosy!

Quote:

I was underwhelmed by the dealers opening offer of £23k on the road for a GS, telling me there isn't a huge supply so they dont need to discount heavily at the moment. Followed it by telling me how many people they are turning down due to their finance people being more choosy!

Dealers - don't you love 'em?

I was led to believe this and was offered £1200 discount on an SE by a couple of local dealers - ordered off Drive the Deal online, saved £3500 and got fantastic service from their supplying UK Land Rover dealer. The car arrived this week within 8 weeks of ordering (I could have had a stock car in a week!). Give them a try, I'm glad I did.  FL2 TD4 SE Manual, Santorini Black, 18" 12 Spokes and Privacy.

Hi there So Simple,

I own a GS through a similar ownership scheme. As others have already stated the GS offers terrific value for money. I've got a GS with no options. It has everything I want except sat nav, but as you'll have seen from other threads there are plenty of portable options to choose from.

Can't comment on roof bars, we don't use them (tow a caravan instead!!)

My car was delivered in Jan 07, I've covered 35k miles and loved ever minute of driving it. Hope you get a good deal and join the club soon!

So Simple wrote:

I was underwhelmed by the dealers opening offer of £23k on the road for a GS, telling me there isn't a huge supply so they dont need to discount heavily at the moment. Followed it by telling me how many people they are turning down due to their finance people being more choosy!

Hi So Simple

Not long taken delivery of our GS - Stornaway Grey.

Had just 2 options, front park sensors and heated screen - both of which are relatively reasonably priced and have proved excellent choices, highly recommended.

Harry

I would say that if you are going to have one option then have the heated front screen, especially if your Freebie will be sitting out on the drive/ street on cold frosty nights. It's a really worthwhile option to have. How can carbon have a footprint, it has no feet?
Now driving - RRE Coupe Dynamic Lux Auto with Plus pack, Fuji White, Ebony, SD4 with tow pack
Gone - 2010MY FFRR TDv8 Stornoway and Ivory, Privacy - the pace of a TDv8 RRS, the incomparable grace of a Range Rover
Gone but will be missed- RRS Tdv8 HSE Stornoway Grey with Ebony Leather
Gone (only a little missed) RRS Tdv6 2.7SE Giverny Green/Aspen
Defender 90 County HT in Epsom Green

Interesting what you say about the heated front screen. I've got a Ford Focus pool car with a heated screen and I hate looking through it - the only time there was any frost to try it out, I was too slow and it had melted!

I keep looking at the brochure and lusting after the HSE, but that becomes a serious amount of money and well out of my league.

I've already decided to go for the deal via work which quotes a purchase price of £21800 with metallic paint and a monthly payment of £480 including maintenance and insurance etc. With my car allowance, it will set me back less than £100pm, not even close to the tax on the Audi. Final payment is £11000, wife has already said she wants it as her car in three years time!

This is the first time I've ever felt so excited about a car, well at least since my Renault 19 16v in 1991!

what do you get for the Maintained side of the deal? Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Tax/insurance/all servicing and tyres etc. They say it won't cost me anything else apart from private use fuel.

Fully comp after 6 years of company cars (allowing for no accidents and some NCD) is still £350 and those tyres don't look too cheap!