The Car Guide in Feb 2021 Which Magazine lists the Freelander 2 as a Don't Buy in its Used Cars pull out.

It says that although it looks strong and rugged, it is plagued by high fault and breakdown rates.
- current owners reveal common issues with the exhaust/emission system, central locking, and battery failure.
- you need to be an enthusiast and a decent mechanic to make it worth owning.

Their Verdict - Thirsty and Unreliable. They also have a go at the DS, Evoque, and the Disco.

In their introduction they say that Diesels are generally more troublesome than petrol engines, mainly because of problems with the exhaust systems, and most Land Rovers are large diesel vehicles.

My own experience of now nearly 9 years and 100k+ miles in 2 FL2s has been relatively trouble free and enjoyable.

So why have Land Rovers got this terrible reputation, and do they deserve it? FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 79k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

&list=PLh3LJqzACNaPK0nX3wIypD0FBUd8rILQE&index=17

Not much of a Wizard as he doesn't seem to know the difference between a FL1 and a FL2.

Quote:

The Car Guide in Feb 2021 Which Magazine lists the Freelander 2 as a Don't Buy in its Used Cars pull out.

I'm not entirely sure that I need or want any Land Rover advice from the Car wizard banjo picking Jambalaya eating sister marrying dungaree wearing red neck... Yeeeeeeeha! Just saying

Having owned various LR's for many years I can honestly say they have proved to be as reliable if not more so than most other cars I have owned

IanMetro wrote:

The Car Guide in Feb 2021 Which Magazine list door locking, and battery failure.
Their Verdict - Thirsty and Unreliable. They also have a go at the DS, Evoque, and the Disco..

My own experience of now nearly 9 years and 100k+ miles in 2 FL2s has been relatively trouble free and enjoyable.

So why have Land Rovers got this terrible reputation, and do they deserve it?

Quote:

Which has never liked Land Rover ever since the magazines introduction, they will pick on any failure and generally lump all LR's together as the sample for each model is small, most LR owners don't subscribe to Which as it's basically a London South East magazine and sold on Readers Digest type marketing.
Adding battery failure as a problem or fault is rediculousas LR don't make batteries and most will have been replaced by now with any make and quality, if the haven't the that shows the stupidity of the article.

Some years ago when I was working in the IT industry we had the Which? office across the road in London. We had a call from them saying that they were looking for a new computer system and would we be interested in quoting? So one on my colleagues put together an outline proposal and went over to see them. He came back a few hours later totally stressed out saying that they had prepared a list of requirements just like you would do if buying a washing machine or a kettle against which the answer was a straight yes/no and wouldn't allow him to elaborate on each answer or talk about future development plans.

The boss listened to him and then said "No Bid - whatever we sell them we will probably end up in court". 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

We did discuss reliability before and this comment below seemed to sum up what was thought about modern cars and their increased complexity.

Anyway I always thought that mechanically the FL2 was mainly a Ford product, and therefore should be well tested.

Andy131 wrote:
So physical electrical items are many times better than they were, but the growth of electrical items has been exponential...

Jules replied
So are you saying that despite the improved reliability of individual mechanical and electrical components, the "exponential " rise in electrical complexity has to an extent outweighed the improvements and made electrical failures more likely than mechanical one and also harder to solve ?


https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic33141.html FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 79k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Wasn’t there a recent scandle with Which ?

If there was a review of consumer magazines the advice would be don't buy Which. Which has always been poor in my opinion in evaluating many products but is distinctly biased against Land Rover. Perhaps the Which bosses are tree hugging ramblers that have an inbuilt ignorance about reality.

J

Edited for typos: predictive text 1 - finger trouble 1

Isn't this the organistion that shows you pay extra for using big brand names, and released their own credit card as Which was a trusted brand. When the card was subject to their own tests it performed badly as you were paying mostly for the brand name ? 
Hung like Einstein, smart as a horse.

GundogSD4 wrote:

Having owned various LR's for many years I can honestly say they have proved to be as reliable if not more so than most other cars I have owned

Agreed - having owned 3 Disco and many Freelanders (1 and 2), I can honestly say I've had more problems with my one BMW and my current Fiesta than all the Landrovers put together.

BMW: central locking failures due to a leak around shark fin aerial (in the end I had to seal it myself ), intermittent adaptive headlight failure (never solved, despite numerous visits to different dealers), paint coming off black trim, persistent squeaks from door rubbers requiring regular lubrication, thermostat sticking (not easily to discover as car has no temp gauge)

My current 2019 Fiesta ST has only done 8K miles from new - I bought it in July 2020 and since then its had the camshaft cover gasket replaced, rear crankshaft oil seal replaced and its now in the garage awaiting a differential bearing from Germany.  Jules

My father had a continuous subscription to Which? magazine, starting from the very first issue (1950’s?), until a few months before he died in March 2020. Consequently, I’ve always had access to the magazine, to help me choose washing machines, televisions, cameras, computers etc and even cars.

From my lifetimes’s experience to date, I would trust Land Rover to build a reliable car, way more than I would ever trust Which? magazine to produce a well researched, reliable and balanced consumer report that I would ever base a purchasing decision on!

I would through this report in the same round file as the rest!

dorsetfreelander wrote:

Some years ago when I was working in the IT industry we had the Which? office across the road in London. We had a call from them saying that they were looking for a new computer system and would we be interested in quoting? So one on my colleagues put together an outline proposal and went over to see them. He came back a few hours later totally stressed out saying that they had prepared a list of requirements just like you would do if buying a washing machine or a kettle against which the answer was a straight yes/no and wouldn't allow him to elaborate on each answer or talk about future development plans.

The boss listened to him and then said "No Bid - whatever we sell them we will probably end up in court".