Hi there and hope you could help a prospective first time Freelander 2 owner.

Apologies in advance if these types of questions have been asked before.

We are looking to upgrade our 2005 Honda MK2 CRV. Budget it limited. Honda has been fantastically reliable and not cost a bean in 5 years of ownership (bar the usual wear and tear). I fear the FL2 won’t be the same but the wife is adamant she is bored of the Honda and loves the look of the FL2. She doesn’t care or think too much about reliability where as I do because I have to sort out the issues and pay for them.

Car in question is a 2009 TD4 HSE Auto with 128K on the clock. 4 owners in total and the last person owned it for 3 years. We are looking to buy the FL2 from a sales garage after the previous owner PX’d it against a new Kia Sorento.

Car looks very well looked after and apart from the occasional stone chip looks good for its age inside and out.
Vehicle comes with oodles and oddles of service history with nearly £3k having been spent in the last 2 years on:

05/03/2018 Brake clean and adjust
Brake fluid change
Replace Wheel hub
Replace front and rear bearings
825.66

30/01/2019 12 month service oil, oil filter, fuel filter, pollen filter, air con treatment
Replace Auto Gear box oil
Replace Transfer box oil
Replace read dif oil
504.25

06/03/2019 Clean up brake discs, fit new rear brake shoe, replace bulbs
404.49

02/05/2019 Fit new cam belt and aux belt
Fit water pump
445.42

18/10/2019 Fit new turbo intercooler hose and diagnostic tests
273.86

10/03/2020 Change oil and filter
Replace near side rear tyre
Replace rear brake pads
Diagnostic test to reset seat
254.03
Total: 2707.71

So I get the feeling it’s been well look after by the previous owner. We have contacted her and it sounds like she felt it was a bit of a money pit but they had to get rid of the car as they wanted something bigger and newer. She has no reason to lie to us as the car is no longer hers and she said that as far as she was concerned the car was sound with no known problems.

She suspected she had spent so much fixing all the things on the car the new owner would hopefully be trouble free.
We took the car for a test drive and all seemed good.

My main query relates to something I was told to check by a colleague who owns an FL2 and that was to put the car on full lock and accelerate and listen out for noises or knocking. I did this and there was the very slightest of judders (almost imperceivable.). I don’t know if this is in any way normal when on full lock, or if it should be completely smooth? The 2 rear tyres don’t have the same tread depth as one has just been replaced. Could that cause the diff any problems and could I be imagining things?

Obviously I’m trying to avoid buying a car with hidden problems that are about to cost me a fortune.
Looking at the service history all the items look like they have been done at the appropriate times. The garage that it has been serviced the last 3 years is excellent and I have all the receipts.
What do you guys think?

Also I’m a little confused from having read to many forum posts, so could somebody please tell me if this car will have a DPF and are they troublesome (I had a bad experience with a BMW 530D). And also does the car have swirl flaps? I can’t imagine it would, but some people have stated that the FL2 has. I thought the swirl flaps were only a BMW thing?

Many thanks.

The Freelander 2 is often described as Landrover's most reliable car ever (It was designed and launched under Ford ownership and uses the 2.2 diesel from Ford / PSA and a lot of other parts identified as FoMoCo).

The car you are looking at appears to have had the big 10 year service items done which is a bonus.

The haldex 4x4 system in the Freelander 2 is completely different from the Freelander 1 with it's IRD. Id say it is this you have heard about and checking by reversing on full lock related to the earlier car.

The Freelander 2 is less fussy about matched tyres but good practice with any 4x4 is to have same make and wear across both axles. I rotate mine front to rear every 5k miles or so and replace all 4 at the same time.

I dont believe the car you are looking at has a DPF - dont know about swirl flaps, Im sure someone else will confirm.

Im very pleased with mine, only issues Ive had are a leaking high level brake light and a defective tailgate switch. Both easily and cheaply fixed.

Id say youll not be disappointed if you buy one  Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

If you have deep pockets go for it.

I have a 2007 TD4 SE & its a lovely car, owned it for 2 years & 7 months, had the cam belt & water pump done, new battery & a new set of tyres fitted just after I bought it, these are running items which everyone has to get done at some time. apart from that all its had is a throttle body which I fitted myself. I was not getting any running issues with it but had the engine management light showing & a fault code indicating throttle body.
I changed the valve & the light went out.

It still looks almost like new when I polish it up, cant find any rust anywhere although I keep it in the garage & clean it frequently.

I am getting around 30 in the town & 40 on a run & I guess for a 2 tonne car thats very reasonable. Its only done 50,000 miles so quite a low mileage.

Would I buy another : you bet I would.

DPFs didn't come in until 2011 facelift. To double check look and see if your air inlet pipe has the four "organ pipes" on top of the engine if you have the organ pipes then no DPF.

I would add though that you can't be sure that the previous owner is telling the truth, after all if you had offloaded a car with a known issue on a dealer you might not want him coming back to you for some sort of mis selling issue. I would be inclined to keep quiet. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Have you done an MOT check ? I always check the previous MOT's. This can tell you a lot about how previous owners have actually used or abused the car. A full and comprehensive service history is one thing. But often a wallet full of receipts for work carried out can hide abuse. Why would x,y and z components need to be changed ? Is a previous owner someone who takes preventative maintenance , or waits until something fails then throws money at the car buying new parts when a simple fluid level check etc would have prevented the item from failing in the first place?
A vehicle that's failed MOT's on silly things like bulbs, windscreen wipers, insufficient washer fluids shouldn't be rejected - although this would make me question what else the owner may have overlooked.
Mot's with the same advisories year after year, or an MOT failure that also has a list of advisories, that then only passes a day or so later, but still has the same advisories is another red flag.The owner only doing the bare minimum to scrape a pass.

I've been lucky - so far - in that I've only had a starter motor go on me and the auxiliary pully and belt fail. Neither of which were major issues in reality - although it's enough for some to render the car as being unreliable and worthy of a mention down the pub as another "avoid at all costs" Land Rover.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

I don't have deep pockets, so should I run away now? I also have a BMW which isnt exactly reliable or cheap to fix!

I think the previous owner was telling the truth as we struck up a good rapport with her (albeit on Facebook. She seemed very genuine and happy to tell us anything we asked, including what the garage gave her in PX for the FL2).

It does have the "organ pipes" so no DPF - happy days!

I have done an MOT check and its passed every MOT except in 2017 when it failed with "Offside Headlamp aim too low". Apart from that it has had an advisory for a break pad wearing thin and a tyre close to the legal limit.

Thanks again.

Sounds a decent Fl2 , remember it is now an 11 year old vehicle and there will inevitably be jobs to be done. If the price is right go for it . We've got 2 one with 151k on and it runs like a dream , we were a little apprehensive when we got it 7 years ago with 109k but it's been 100% , other than wear and tear items and good preventative maintenance quite possibly the most reliable car we've had and we've had a few . Would we buy another ? Without doubt but their both running well so maybe here for a good few years yet .

Mark 2009 FL2 TD4 SE (Sadly gone)
2007 FL2 TD4 GS (The wifes , gone after 8 great years)
2012 FL2 SD4 SPORT LE(Gone and missing it)
2015 DISCOVERY SPORT 2.2SD4 HSE (Now gone)
2014 Ford Bmax 1.0 ecoboost ( Gone but what next )
2014 Ford Focus 2.0tdci Zetec S (Gone,but what a car)
2020 Ford Fiesta ActiveX 1.0 Ecoboost
2024 Skoda Kodiaq 1.5 Tsi SEL

Its £5500 which seems reasonable,especially as its fully MOT'd, freshly service and HOPEFULLY having had the 10 year service, should be good for a bit without any large bills.

Does £5500 sound reasonable. The garage gave her £3K PX. What kind of money would you be happy to pay?

The HSE is well equipped, so make sure that you try all the switches, etc, for correct functioning and get them fixed before you buy.

Otherwise I believe that the FL2 is as good, and reliable, as any other mainstream car, and amongst the nicest to drive.

If in doubt, find another for sale and try that first.

Although I note your budget comments, I believe that later models get better and better (MY2011 & MY2013) and are well worth trying.

Link to various ModelYear handbooks
https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic10621.html FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

A colleague at work has recently sold an 09 XS Fl2 with around 65k on and some nice extras , owned for 9years recent clutch , tyres , discs and pads etc and a fsh, I would say £5500 is a bit much tbh and would say more towards £4500 . £2500 markup is a bit rude imo .

Mark 2009 FL2 TD4 SE (Sadly gone)
2007 FL2 TD4 GS (The wifes , gone after 8 great years)
2012 FL2 SD4 SPORT LE(Gone and missing it)
2015 DISCOVERY SPORT 2.2SD4 HSE (Now gone)
2014 Ford Bmax 1.0 ecoboost ( Gone but what next )
2014 Ford Focus 2.0tdci Zetec S (Gone,but what a car)
2020 Ford Fiesta ActiveX 1.0 Ecoboost
2024 Skoda Kodiaq 1.5 Tsi SEL

IanMetro wrote:

The HSE is well equipped, so make sure that you try all the switches, etc, for correct functioning and get them fixed before you buy.

Otherwise I believe that the FL2 is as good, and reliable, as any other mainstream car, and amongst the nicest to drive.

If in doubt, find another for sale and try that first.

Although I note your budget comments, I believe that later models get better and better (MY2011 & MY2013) and are well worth trying.

Link to various ModelYear handbooks
https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic10621.html

This will be the DVD based satnav system (the unit is hidden under the drivers seat) which can be updated reasonable cheaply.

A number of forum users have purchased updated disc from this internet seller;

https://www.satnavishop.co.uk/2019-2020-la...-197-p.asp

This is the 2019/20 disc set (data will be based on late 2018 maps), there should be a 2020/21 new set out in a short while. MY13 HSE Lux Santorini Black Gone
MY11 HSE Santorini Black Gone
MY08 SE Blue, Gone
Alfa Romeo GT Gone
Alfa Romeo 156 Space wagon Gone
Volvo V40 Gone
Volvo 480ES Gone
VW Sirocco GTX Gone

Thanks for the tip.