Ok so the wife is looking for a new car and her dream has always been a Freelander 2 and now it's a possibility

I am nervous !! REALLY nervous ... We narrowed it down to Freelander , x-trail and a late sensible option the Hyandai Santa FE which seems to have nothing at all bad to be said about it.

Budget is between 10-12k which has given us a local 08 SE with 54k and hoping to look at tomorrow a 07 XS with 27k (if it's still there)

We know deep down we should play it safe with my "heart" buy BMW 530d been nothing but a money pit and go for either the Xtrail or Santa but living in the country all these FL2 that are driving around can't be all that bad??

I also get the feeling that having been around a lot of garages talking to salesman the car gets a bashing from its reputation for the first series with nearly them all going on about head gasket failures?

So in your hands!! Does my wife purchase her dream car or are these beasts really a time bomb waiting to go off? Having owned a 90 before I have explained being a Landrover it will no doubt come with quirkiness and issues that will pop up but it's the big ones you hear about that concern me!!

Thanks for any input

Cheers

Daj

I can totally appreciate where you are coming from with this .... I bought my first land rover which is the freelander 2 about 4 weeks ago and I was just as unsure as I had discounted the model because of bad information on the series 1 with the 1.8 petrol k series engine.

4 weeks in I do have some issues but I made the purchase on the basis that its actually a pretty reliable engine with the 2.2 ford engine. The 4wd system is better than most manufacturers, my wife has the A3 Quattro which also has the haldex system and has been ultra reliable.

My only issues ... I bought a 2010 60 plate from Land Rover with 59k miles in TD4 XS.e model. Paid £14 1/2 for her which I thought was fair.
Issue wise they should have replaced the front discs due to corrosion ( they are now) the car has a wee bit of clutch slip at 2000 revs in 6th gear when you floor it.. ( clutch is being replaced) headlamps are halogen and are the worst thing ever in my opinion however I have bought some Xenon lamps now.

In summary it drives really nice not too commercial and I am glad to have made the choice despite my few problems.

Freelander, x-trail or Santa Fe? That really is a no-brainer! Welcome to Freelander ownership...

I've had my Freelander 2 for 2 years+ been very good to me considering what I put it through
Replaced both keys and battery, all over problems self inflicted lol
In short a lovely car ❤️❤️

Love mine too. Wouldn't have anything else at the moment.

I know, I keep looking at defenders because off my off road playing
But I just can't part with my fl2, and to be honest it's pretty good off road

Last edited by cqr on 30th Dec 2014 9:06 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Most of the critism comes from what people have heard about the first one, plenty of them on the road still though.

I have had mine for two weeks now and it exceeds my expectations in comfort and performance.
My other choice was the xtrail, when I see them now, they look like an estate car

The only thing I have found wrong with mine were the knackered batteries in both my key fobs, corrected for the princely sum of £7, after a look on this forum.

It drives like a big comfortable chunky 4wd and once you have test driven one, you will find your other options become too big a compromise.

You only live once and it will put a smile on your face, you will be looking for excuses to drive it

Hi daj
I had a FL1, 1.8 petrol and loved it. Did have problems with it but mainly down to a local garage having no understanding of the LR drive train.

Anyway, recently forked out £30k on a new FL2 and planning on keeping it for about 5years (although with 20k done in the first 8 months I may revise that!.

Pick any car, check out an associated forum and you will see horror stories. I think LR have come a long way since the early FL and would recommend it to anyone.

If you don't get it this time around you will be trading in the new car early to get one later.

if you read through various posts on the forum you will see the FL2 does have some issues.

the rear diff and clutch to name two.

but compared to the FL1 it is a massive improvement.

Iain

I had a FL1 as well, and it had the BMW chain driven cam engine fitted when BMW owned them.Never a problem. If you look after any car, it will last. On my second FL2, love them. You won't regret it. Al the others are pretenders.

Freely 2 all the way.

At the moment I have a D4, great car but bought with my heart rather than head, had a few minor used car niggles. Had 3 Fl2s (08MY, 11MY and 13MY) no problems with any, fantastic little Land Rovers. 21MY Defender 90 S 3.0 D200

Take all three for a test drive and the Freelander will show you why you should have one better than any salesman can.

Negotiate for LR warranty if you can, and if nothing else you will earn some major brownie points with your wife

I have two x5s as well as the freelander 2. I bought the freelander as we live at the top of a hill and the x5 4wd system is a joke. They're treat cars but show it some snow and it sh!ts itself! I got our freelander from my Dad. He jd it since new and it had done 50k miles and is a 2011 Gs auto. I can honestly say that the reliability has slam dunked BMW to the point where I am considering chopping in the BMWs for Range Rovers. All mechanical things break, but the freelander compared to the bmw is a dream to own. I have done 10k miles in ours now and in that time have had to change the EGR valve and the rear tailgate brake light leaked which LR did for free as they said it was such a fast job to fix.

I personally would stick with the freelander over the other ones you mentioned.

This forum will make your life easy too. For example, I know my battery will need changing soon and this site has helped me save the best part of £150 by giving me the knowledge to do it myself rather than pay a dealer.

Stick with the Landy. You won't be disappointed with the car or the ownership experience.

A relative bought a top of the range Evoque two years ago. Very happy with it. I just bought a Freelander. I did speak to people in the street in my local area where possible to get their thoughts if they were willing to part with them. All seemed to be pretty happy with their Freelanders (2).

Have a look at 'caradvice. com. au' personally I was not impressed with all the new cars you suggested. But some older models might be ok. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

I'm on my second FL2 having had the first one for 5 years and 75k. The only problem I had was the rear diff, everything else was very reliable. I considered the X3 and XC60 when I came to replace it but stayed with the FL2. I am usually ready for a change after having had a car for a while but the FL2 does everything I want and is great to drive.

I think many on this forum are on their second, third or more FL2. GONE - '07 TD4 GS manual Zermatt Silver
LONG GONE - '55 Norton Dominator 99 SS cafe racer