Agreed re the armrests - I had armrests on the Forester and after the first couple of months they were permanently folded away. Did nothing for me at all, just got in the way!

My armrests only come into use with motorway driving where very little input to the wheel is needed, normal road driving and they are in the way and never get used.

I have a new SE TECH which I think your courtesy is with having 19" wheels and sat nav etc etc

I think heated windscreens should be a standard fitment on every car you can't beat them on a really icy morning and after you've had one for a short time you really wont notice it unless you have a bright sunny day and the sun is in front of you .plus great when you set the wipers for winter park no more frozen wiper blades .
The EPB takes some getting used to specially if your parkedon a hill , it takes a few seconds to release .
The arm rests seemed a good idea at the time but I now don't use mine but the wifes is down all the time ( no smutty remarks please )
I find the brakes really sharp for a heavy car much better than my last car a mondeo estate
On the LRED I drove an automatic and must say it was a pleasure to drive either thrashing it on the road or tootling about on the gravel

Love my car still puts a smile on my face every time I get in

Must agree not enough cubby holes Freelander Se Tech Orkney grey td4 manual 2014

If your EPB takes a few seconds to release then go back to your dealer, as soon as I put my foot on the accelerator it automatically releases, no delay at all.
Not to be confused with 'autohold' that will hold the brakes for a few seconds when transferring from brake pedal to accelerator, but as soon as accelerator is pressed it releases.

Heated screen .. Great
Automatic .. Great
Heated steering wheel .. Great
Armrest .. Great (some place to put my arm as I don't need to touch a gear stick)
Auto lights .. Great
EPB ... Great , especially doing a hill start in wet conditions towing my caravan
Auto wipers .. Sometimes great , sometimes they have a mind of there own
Cubby holes .. I find adequate (I don't carry a lot of stuff in the cab to rattle about)

Hey ho each to their own Do it now ! Your a long time dead !!

Wow.. I have just been through the same experience but with a different out come ending up spending £15,000... Bought my manual freelander se 07/57 last January took it for its first service under me.. Was given a brand new se tech auto for the day.. fell in love with the automatic gearbox/more power, led lights, new display features, armrests etc.. MOST EXPENSIVE SERVICE EVER...No to the courtesy car in future.

taztastic wrote:

When will people learn, just like the auto box has too

It has been said time and time again, you have jumped into the car straight after someone else, the auto box has adapted to there driving style and now you come along, confuse the hell out of it and expect it to be perfect.

The DIY brigade will always argue that the manual system is better, I sometimes wonder how they cope with a flushing lavatory as this is surely a backward step from having to tip the contents out oneself!

Of course, it's down to personal choice and will always be, but to dismiss it as truly awful is your problem not the gearbox'

I don't, it just adapts again, quite possible that I also adapt, I find it comical really, it really has its own personality, it also has a downside as I explained to SWIMBO and now when in the car and it goes daft she knows what I have been doing

I must try and gauge how long it takes, if it annoys I stick it over in command shift to hold the gear.

My auto TD4 when it worked was great, best auto box i ever had BUT as some of you will know i went for many periods of having loan cars including SD4's & TBH the autobox & its gear change were awfull ! even after driving for 1000 miles plus very very smoothly.
The SD4 gear changes were never anywhere near as silk smooth as my original TD4 auto. on the SD4 they were positvley aggressive and very random and would hunt a lot, and this was on various loan SD4's.

Heated screen never an issue. My new one now the wires are a lot less noticable even than in my first one.
MPG going from auto to manual is a vast difference. I can average 42.2 on a run with best ever at 47mpg over 200 miles whereas my auto was around 29-33. Jaguar x-type sport gone
Jaguar x-type 2.2d sport one of my best cars ever sadly gone
Freelander 2 GS auto 2008 most unreliable ever ! gladly gone
Freelander 2 GS manual 2013 only time will tell !

EYorkshire my EPB only delays when parked on a steep hill I'm sure the manual says it takes 2.6 seconds to release on a steep hill on the flat it releases instantly it's either the EPB or the brakes that hold it

Andy Freelander Se Tech Orkney grey td4 manual 2014

An example without applying EPB, if you took your foot off the brake pedal on a steep hill and touched nothing else, in a couple of seconds it will roll backwards, but if you transferred your foot immediately to the accelerator and pressed then the 'hill hold' will release. Similarly if you applied the EPB it will release when the accelerator is pressed.

So after another 100 miles the auto box is much better, but still hunts a lot for gears and then does very odd changes when cruising along every now and then. Not a convert I'm afraid, maybe when I'm older and a bit lazier

Heated windscreen causes some weird dazzling during nighttime driving too, very odd.

OCD kicking in with the lower console buttons being green and the upper displays white!

Click image to enlarge

Auto, lazy

Wires...you get used to them and ignore them

Lights, I agree damn infuriating, the White is modern and clean, the green is just naff, not changing them, now that's lazy

The armrests are really good on the manual. I use mine all the time even in town as the FL is a short shift you can meerly flick it into all the gears whilst resting your arm with ease

Armrests in a freelander also make the cabin feel more luxurious! The MY14 XS in the family certainly looks a bit cheap without them  MY14 Kahn Converted Dynamic - Fuji White Ebony/Pimento Interior
MY15 Xenon Headlight Conversion

MY17 RRS SVR - Estoril Blue Cirrus/Ebony 🪣💺’s

Agreed about the armrests - use them all the time.

I also agree about the auto vs. manual. Had an auto on extended test drive over a long bank holiday weekend, doing just shy of 600 miles all told (hey.....it wasn't MY odometer clicking round!!) and found the auto to be pretty bad.

Having driven lots of autos attached to lots of different types and capacity of engines, the LR auto was amongst the very worst.

Perhaps a got a "duff" one, or it just didn't "click" for me. Either way, I personally found the manual to be a much better drive....

Horses for courses I guess.....