Smallmankey wrote:

He is a used car salesman so couldn't trust a thing he says!

Yes just like Politicians and weather forcasters they ALL lie.  2013 FL2 XS.
Defender 90 300 TDi.
Defender 90 300 TDi CSW.
1964 MGB Roadster.
1944 Willys MB "Jeep" with bullet holes. (gone)
17 hand Irish Drought Thoroughbred (mostly lame)
Nagging Old Boiler.

Totally

To quote 'Bobupndown'
Land rover. Turning owners into mechanics since 1948

What more can you say.  Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.

Mike Brewer is one of those rare beasts on motoring shows: rubbish opinions, cringeworthy, not entertaining, a face better suited to radio and an obvious emarrasment to his co-hosts, who must get sick of carrying him.

His comments on those two cars only confirm how good they are to me 👍

trw999 wrote:

And yet.

Reportedly the FL2 is the most reliable LR ever built.

Certainly talking about this to some LR technicians at our local dealership, they rate the FL2 in terms of high reliability, especially compared to the more modern LR offerings.

Tim

 Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.

It was a good program before those 2 so called master mechanics arrived on the show!
But they never actually did a good job, just a bodge get it on the road job, unlike car SOS who strip it down completely.

Absolutely agree.

There are so many people making a channel on the web, who have views on this and that imposing that on to others, as the "thuth" as they must surely be "experts", and as soon as one of them says something new, hence a new car in this example, all of the remaining ones, repeat that. They simply repeat each other, hence it must be "true"... 1.000.000 ants can't be wrong?
Not so.

For example so many people repeated Jeremy Clarkson's words: "Lotus - Lot of trouble, usually serious".
Not so. I've had and driven my Lotus Esprit Turbo SE for over 13 years now, and the only thing ever broke down, was a clutch slave cylinder after only 27 years of service, and I could limp home, and it was a JLR part, at 5,60 GBP and took me 1 hour to replace and bleed. The other thing in all those years, was the American made plastic rollers inside the gears for the head lamp lifters, which turned to dust. A fresh set from USA made in a better plastic, Delrin, was 54 gbp and took me 45 minutes per side to install. That's it. And do remember, it's a fast car and a Porsche killer.

Now, for the Freelander 2,we bought ours last December, and I've spent some time servicing the thing, flushed engine, coolant system, gearbox, front ptu, Haldex and rear diff, while replacing the brakes, the bluetooth module, the gps antenna and a light switch. That's it. For a rugged used 248000 km SE i6 which spins perfectly.
On another note, replacing parts that is in good working order, doesn't count as failures in my book. For example I just replaced all 6 ignition coils, for good measure, as 17 years is a fairly long time in service. But they are still working perfectly. No bad quality parts, such as the new Bosch iridium spark plugs I bought and installed, which are so bad made and causes errors in fireing, is not the fault of Land Rover. So another fresh set of now original FoMoCo stamped NGK's iridium, delivered by Land Rover dealer, for a LOWER price than the Bosch from a aftermarket parts dealer (in general), is fully functioning.
Not servicing parts, such as suspension, bushes etc, are not the fault of the car maker, but the owner's neglect. So, when buying an old car, in this case a Freelander 2 SE i6, you always look out for dpo's bodges and bad servicing etc. Correct that, and you have a good working car.
Of course there will be old plastic parts, such as the ones bolted to the engine, or lack of rust proofing, hoses etc, and they are the same on all cars. Getting old and should be renewed.

So what if something breaks down? Replace it. Compared to what new good cars cost today, it's really worth maintaining the old ones. And then I don't even want to think about how often new cars break down... A lot. More electronics and more cost saving, more chinese crap inside.

To sum it up, I don't give a toss about neither Mike Brewers view nor any of all the other internet "guru's". Nearly all of them are biased, bodging things, and just being parrots.
Edit: I should add an example of a Land Rover owner, who takes care of stuff the proper wat, which of course i LR Time - Christian and Vera. They do it properly and with a smile. Really refreshing compared to all of the aforementioned people on the internet, who claims this and that, unconditionally.

Kind regards,
Redfox.

Last edited by Redfox on 18th Aug 2024 11:16 am. Edited 8 times in total

Peugeot 504 had 17 years of its 25 years, never let me down, but fairly regular irrigations like a soldered radiator leaking. I did yearly replace the coolant. Clutch slave cylinder to name a few.

I did replace the simple mechanical ignition with electronic, what a difference, never needed looking at again (plus a frightening list of mods, rear air shocks lifted +50mm & onboard air, refrigerator which was cooled by the air conditioning & the option of Peltier. Peltier was basically a fail. The AC to today was the best AC... almost to the point of cryogenics, it was an after market mod). First car CD player & KEF GT200 rear & second set-up in the front, 2 amps. 4 halogen headlights which make today's stuff look like a pathetic joke.

Briefly had a Lancia beta 2000, it was a driver's car, loved it, but cost a bloody fortune to fix & repair (even replacing the failed pair of steel cooling pipes with aluminium, from rear of engine to radiator. The list was never ending). It would bleed you dry.

Seat Ibiza MY96 1.4L (VW) 18 years (then Freelander) it got towed so many times, but when it worked it was great. Amazing what one could stuff into a small car.

Freelander, it has done >4000km of outback corrugated roads often covered in rocks. Stone chips all over the front. Never lost a windscreen (twice on Pug & Ibiza). Can't fault the car. It has required the least amount of maintenance of the cars I have had. Basically nothing.

P.S. Always got cars properly fixed as soon as required, couldn't be bothered effing around saving a few dollars at the price of inconvenience! 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

Birmingham Airport still have their MY13 Freelander 2, but have replaced all their newer Discovery Sports with Volvo XC60's, as the DS was too unreliable.

Mike Brewer even sought after and bought a FL2 on one of his changing up programmes.

I agree with redfox.

Personally, i ensure service is done with genuine parts specifically made for the vehicle and use recommended oil(s).
Also, keep on top of other items that need replacing / servicing again using genuine parts.
An example of this is steering fluid and reservoir which didnt need doing but after 13 yrs was a good thing to do (filter in res was very dirty and oil was discoloured) and do it all myself.
So point is although i cannot guarantee that nothing will go wrong i am doing my best to offset it.
Using non genuine parts will over time have an impact on the vehicle.

As for keeping vehicle- unless it is beyond repair then i will keep it. It is paid for and does what it does really well.

Exactly. Kudos to you, sir.
Kind regards,
Redfox.