Have had mine for a little over a year now, and I am very happy with my FL2.
Had a few snags in the beginning which was quickly solved, and it has run flawless since.

I see others mention other cars in the same class (X3, XC60).

Before buying, I testdrove X3 up against FL2. No match. FL2 was superior to X3.

Havent driven XC60, but I have seen in Norwegian motor-forums owners of XC60 complain about XC60 is getting stuck in the snow if the snow is a little deep.
There was a major test here in Norway between FL2, X3, XC60, GLK and Q5. One of the tests was driving in the snow.

The test said something like: Where the FL2 was plowing its way through the snow, the others got stuck in the snow. The only one that could follow the FL2 through the snow, was the GLK.

Dont know if driving in/through snow is of any importance to you, but at least it says something about the abilities of the car. 2008 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Automatic, Caspian Blue, Alpaca, Moon roof, Exclusive pack.

It was in 2005 when I purchased my first LR. By then we drove our BMW 320d and VW Golf. We were living in a rural area since 2003, so we realized we needed an off road. I had always been willing to own a 4x4, so I started looking at X5 and Touareg. A friend of mine, who´s a Land Rover die hard, despite a reknowned brand´s bad reputation, lead me me into the world of this wonderful cars. So I went for the TDV 6 RR Sport, instead of one of those german cars.

We were so happy with our RR Sport that, by 2007, we bought the Freelander 2. We hadn't any doubt.

In both cases the outcome has been notorious. Great cars, outstanding compromise beetwen in and off road. Great reliability. The bad reputation, IMHO, is just a reminder of the past.

To be honest, I can´t consider another offroader that Land Rover. It´s by far the best option.

Recently, we moved back to the city. I have changed my RR Sport for a BMW 530d (I drive 90% highway and 10% on the city). My wife keeps the Freelander 2 for her daily use and we use it on our weekend sport activities.
Four years later, I would say that the Freelander 2 is a master piece of auto industry... Perhaps, it´s the more balanced option that you can find.

Don´t hesitate. It´s a great car.

Only draw back is there isn't enough rear space for the kids or for lugging stuff about, but then again got a Disco 3 for that. Can't work out why LR never went for the push button start on the Disco, but Disco got air suspension and rock crawl on TR etc. FL2 great for school run and parking. Some would argue Disco is a mans car, FL2 a girlies car - gonna regret that remark . Horses for courses I suppose!