Mine has just gone at 99,700 miles. Audi A4 Avant 2.0 tdi 05 Liquid Blue
LFR 2.2 XS 07 Stornoway Grey
And a dedicated caravan puller CG

Thanks for all replies. 2008 FL2 TD4 XS Zermatt Silver, Manual
2010 Jaguar XF

Even if some did wander off topic a bit...

Unfortunately we don't have enough replies to be statistically significant. One wonders if those numbers are representative of the population as a whole or (perhaps more likely) if all those who didn't vote are in the No camp.

Making what we can of what we've got, of the three <100k replies one would appear to be an anomaly (two replacements in <20k - got to be something else going on there) and one is near enough at 100k with one unkown. Hopefully that does indicate that failures are relatively rare, and very infrequent below 100k.

So hopefully we don't have to worry too much about flywheels. Just clutches and diffs and wheel bearings and Haldex and delaminating brakes and steering racks and ...!

DMF change is not as common as many make out on FL2. Other manufacturers suffer more heavily with DMF failure.

The other issue's that FL2 suffer with is not uncommon with every other manufacturer. Audi are having bad times with Haldex failure too.

pab wrote:

So you guys both pay the equivalent of a DMF replacement every year or two in increased fuel costs?

Yep, well done!

pab wrote:

The SD4 gets better mpg than the 160, so that's consistent. One has to compare like with like.

30 is low for a 160 manual - I get around 36.

Quote:

Have you thought maybe they wanted an auto for other reasons?

Quote:

The other reason is that the auto makes a better car than the manual too.

There you go again, presenting your opinions as fact. They're not, they're your opinions and others are allowed to disagree!

Quote:

Your lucky then as not many 160 TD4's do.

I think I am in a fair position to compare and comment on both the manual and auto Freelander 2. Yes it is an opinion, but it just so happens that my opinion is right.  Freelander 2 HSE Lux 2013MY - Barolo Black with Ivory Leather. Alpine DVD - Privacy -Evoque 20" Dynamic Wheels and more to come.........

As another owner who has had the pleasure of both manual and auto versions, my personal preference is the auto. With the manual it was enjoyable to drive and gave me an average of 33mpg (160 TD4, with holiday towing included). With the auto I get a more relaxing drive and the gearbox copes well in both solo and towing situations although the overall average is now about 30mpg (again, 160 TD4).
NB: The manual was sold at 103,000 miles with still the original DMF/clutch assembly.
And I am right too.
Bob 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

I totally agree with you Bob  Freelander 2 HSE Lux 2013MY - Barolo Black with Ivory Leather. Alpine DVD - Privacy -Evoque 20" Dynamic Wheels and more to come.........

Hmm - is that Narcissistic Personality Disorder or merely arrogance, I wonder...

Get a grip Pab, one thing I am not is arrogant. As you put in your post above :-

"Have you though maybe you're reading too much into a tongue-in-cheek comment!"

As for NPD, thats quite a personal thing to accuse someone of having, especially when you are so far off the mark it's untrue. Freelander 2 HSE Lux 2013MY - Barolo Black with Ivory Leather. Alpine DVD - Privacy -Evoque 20" Dynamic Wheels and more to come.........

OK, you're a nice guy, just misunderstood.

Well Ive had auto & Manual.
For me the difference in MPG is huge. My Auto average around 26 and 21 MPG towing & my manual is doing 42.2 solo and 28 towing.

If you calculate 50K miles at 26MPG you spend roughly £11873.00 in fuel + Higher road tax for the auto
if you calculate 50K miles at 36MPG you spend roughly £8575.00 in fuel + lower road tax for the manual
so over 50K you save approx 3600 Quid ! calculated with fuel at £1.36 ltr so I reckon more than covers the cost of a DMF.

I still like the auto but the weakness in the auto is the sealed for life ! life is not possible without expecting failure.
There is now some specialist equipment for flushing & refilling the auto-box but the filter cant be changed without the box being removed so bad design I'm afraid. Jaguar x-type sport gone
Jaguar x-type 2.2d sport one of my best cars ever sadly gone
Freelander 2 GS auto 2008 most unreliable ever ! gladly gone
Freelander 2 GS manual 2013 only time will tell !

pab wrote:

OK, you're a nice guy, just misunderstood.

That's a fair appraisal  Freelander 2 HSE Lux 2013MY - Barolo Black with Ivory Leather. Alpine DVD - Privacy -Evoque 20" Dynamic Wheels and more to come.........

Having had a manual and an auto I personally prefer the manual. I live in a hilly area with a fair number of small villages and 30 zones. My experience was that the auto box searched for the right gear constantly which became a little annoying after a few months. Maybe it was just mine but refined it was not under those particular road conditions. I agree with an earlier post about MPG-only about 1 or 2 mpg between the two.

I suspect a lot does come down to the kind of driving one does. If I did a lot of city driving (or towing) I might prefer an auto too (in fact when I was doing a lot of city driving a few years ago I did have an auto for some time). But as it happens I live amongst the best driving roads in England, and up here a manual makes perfect sense. There's a lot of truth in the idea that auto is for motorists while manual is for drivers.