My business partner has a Kia Sportage, its cramped, noisy, things keep going wrong with the electrics and its crap in snow, the lease company want a fortune to swap it early and he rues the day he didn't listen to me as he loves my Freelander.
Took them on the Halewood trip last year and he and his wife are looking at the new Discovery, it was way better to them than the Kia.

Hi Taz, different people seem to have wildly opposite views on both vehicles. If it wasn't so bad it'd be funny.

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Freelander 2 HSE auto 2014 ( Florrie ) ..... Try again.
Freelander 2 GS 2012...... Gone.

Having driven it the Kia is well built well equiped and economical it's not as large as a Freelander so will be smaller inside.
The style/design of LandRovers is a different league to most other SUV's on sale, but the reality is like an I phone etc it's a triumph of marketing over reality and before I get shot down there are thousands of threads on the group of forums about what are now well known faults with Landrover products.
Yes I still keep buying them but get very frustrated as they should be so good!

The OP might want to consider the MG GS which is launched in May..starting prices may be as low as £14K

My son was talking to a farmer this week who has a Disco about 2 years old that has had so many problems and been in the dealers so many times that he been told that when it's three years old it's unlikely that he can get an extended warranty as LR check on what has been spent on the car so far and probably won't cover it. Could be a ruse by the dealer to get him to change it, of course but he said he won't be buying LR again anyway after his experience. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Has anyone looked at the Mazda CX-5 (ideally the current model)?

Their model options and specs seem unusually restrictive, but you seem to get a lot for your money, notwithstanding criticisms of a hard ride and wind noise.

They all seem to be 2WD on the website. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

I'm intrigued by how little attention the Forester is getting in this and other similar threads. Yes, its interior is a little plasticky, and no it's not as good (or as expensive) as the Freelander, but that goes for the others mentioned too. What the Forester does have is a very good 4wd system and a capability and ethos which is closer to the Freelander than the others. And whilst I'm not sure about the latest models the earlier ones were deceptively spacious - I had some pretty big loads in mine.

What is is people don't like about the Forester? Why isn't it near the top of the list of alternatives to the Freelander? I'd much rather have another Forester than a Kia, Hyundai, Honda, Skoda, Tiguan, etc. (But I'd still rather have the Freelander!)

I can see what you are saying Pab. Each to their own isn't it.

My 'hope' of going up to nearly £20k has been dashed by the missus with her 'you have never spent that much on a car in your life so you aren't doing now'. End of argument

So I'm back down to the £15k area. 63 plate top of the range X-trail with 56k miles for that money. I'm tempted, very tempted.

Audi A6 Allroad, with either the 172ps engine or the BiTDi

Very long though and after 3 FL2's very very low Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

pab wrote:

I'm intrigued by how little attention the Forester is getting in this and other similar threads. Yes, its interior is a little plasticky, and no it's not as good (or as expensive) as the Freelander, but that goes for the others mentioned too. What the Forester does have is a very good 4wd system and a capability and ethos which is closer to the Freelander than the others. And whilst I'm not sure about the latest models the earlier ones were deceptively spacious - I had some pretty big loads in mine.

What is is people don't like about the Forester? Why isn't it near the top of the list of alternatives to the Freelander? I'd much rather have another Forester than a Kia, Hyundai, Honda, Skoda, Tiguan, etc. (But I'd still rather have the Freelander!)

SimonB wrote:

Has anyone looked at the Mazda CX-5 (ideally the current model)?

Their model options and specs seem unusually restrictive, but you seem to get a lot for your money, notwithstanding criticisms of a hard ride and wind noise.

I test drove one before settling on the Metropolis. It seemed particularly hard to position accurately on the road and seemed unduly affected by road camber. Not particularly inspiring inside but as I had an MX5 Coupe at the time I was familiar with the layout to a large extent. The one I drove had a black interior which made it quite gloomy even on a bright summers day. Later on the same day I tried the Honda CRV which was better but still lacked the wow factor. Really glad I got the Metro, but given it was £12k more than the others it should be better No idea what I'll get next, but given that I've only racked up 8k miles since I've had it I won't worry for a while yet. FL2 Metropolis, Loire Blue, ebony/ivory

Thanks

I like the Scubydoo Forester and they have a loyal following. They are however very complicated machines so whole of life servicing costs are a concern - I would much rather have less sophistication and prospect of long term reliability - hence Shogun seems closest to my needs - and a 5 year warranty. Another vehicle that appeals to me is the VW Towrag Escape model with a very respectable off road capability and a 3 Litre engine for about £47K. That seems far better value than a blinged up run out D4 or RRSport and vastly more appealing than a top of the range DS. The forthcoming D5 seems as if it is going to be just another vastly expensive tart cart sadly.
Had to laugh at the ad for the new Seat Ateca SUV - the key attributes of this little wagon are "Keyless entry", "Park Assist", "Full link connectivity"........ For FFFFFS!!!! - what on earth are car company executives on these days?
I want absolutely none of those things - is it just me?

A Toyota LandCruiser 70 series. in the same price range!

http://www.caradvice.com.au/360784/2015-to...70-review/

Add another au$2700 for air conditioning & $3600 for spare wheel! 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