Thinking of buying Land Rover Freelander. Good or bad idea? Opinions?

[DJM1982]

The Mrs currently owns a 2000 VW beetle, 2.0 petrol, Automatic which we are thinking of selling for a Land Rover Freelander.
There are a couple of reasons for this:
1) We are moving from Essex to Bedfordshire in a couple of weeks and a 4x4 seems like a good idea for the country roads/lanes in the winter (she is a community nurse so travel in snow etc is essentail)
2) looking to get a couple of dogs when we move and need a bigger boot
3) want something alittle more eco with a few more MPG than the current VW beetle and the 2.0TDi seem like a good option for this
4) want something with the same sort of luxary's that the beetle has (leather, air con, full electrics etc) and for the sort of money i'm looking at spending nothing really comes close to the freelander.

So my question really is, does anyone have any experience with freelanders and are they good cars/4x4s. Reliable? Running Costs? etc

Cheers

 

[Paullie]

Hi there, my other half bought a 2008 Freelander 2.2 HSE at the start of the year and I have to say that it is one of the nicest 4x4's I've ever driven. The gearbox is an absolute joy, with lovely short shift between gears, fuel economy is around 36mpg, but that's because of very short 5 minute drives to work and back, so I'm sure it would be way better than this if given much longer drives on the motorway. The gadgets you get for the money are excellent too, ours has adaptive BiXenon lights, full heated leather, dual climate, sat nav, CD changer, cruise, loads of different terrain settings for the 4x4, etc. I fancied fitting LED sidelights and couldn't believe how simple it was to actually remove the lights and change the bulbs over. It took about 5 minutes to do both headlights and compared to swapping bulbs in my car, it's a dawdle! The engine is very lively and although only has around 160-170BHP, it's very torquey low down and it nips on quite nicely. Don't think you'd regret it, the Freelander2's are nothing like the unreliable first gen ones.

Paulie

 

[Paullie]

Also forgot to say, we live out in the countryside and the Winters up here in Aberdeenshire are particularly bad and the Freelander never missed a beat last Winter. Other half had a BMW X5 before the Landy and the Landy is WAY better in the snow. We've got 3 dogs and there is plenty of room in the back for them and the boot lip is a lot lower, so they are able to hop in the back without any help from us, lol.

Paulie

 

[DJM1982]

Cheers for the advice, sounds like the freelander2 is an awesome bit of kit. But i won't be able to stretch to that sort of money.
I'll be looking at a 52/53 plate first gen (although the later of the first gens i think). I have read on Parkers reviews and nothing serious comes up on the unreliable side. Are the first gens really that unreliable??

 

[jojo]

My sister owned a 1st gen 1.8 petrol, was not bad to drive, a bit underpowered, but good enough. I remember it had recalls for failing handbrake mech and something to do with the seat angle adjusters failing or something? not 100% sure.

Not a bad car, interior was plasticy, but it was built to be hardwearing.

 

[Lings]

Its better than a beetle for where your going ,So go for it .My Neighbours had a few and he loves them...

 

[OldRedEyes]

I had a 53 plate td4 a few years ago, loved it, went most places and i never managed to get stuck, which was surprising considering where i used to take it.
Keep an eye on the viscous coupling, there are even some cars that have had the rear prop removed to hide the fact that the v/c has gone.

Mine had a major problem with the high pressure fuel pump, took Landrover 6 weeks to sort it, and i didn't have to pay ), then the clutch started to go, so i got rid.

If you can find an auto( shouldn't be too hard), get that over the manual, really nice box, and makes playing off road easier.

Make sure hill descent control work's too, wiring tend's to be shoddy on the switch.

enjoy

 

[damo.h]

Ok first off treat the 18 petrol like a deseas. Major head gasket problems.
We had a 53 hard back 2.0 tdi sport ( BMW 5 seriese engine varient) lowerd Full leather, 20" alloys, every toy.....I kinda liked it. But they are **** lol. Heavy, under powered, not that good on juice. Weigh about 2 ton. Major issue with rear drums locking on every time it rained and parked. You would park up go do your thing come back and the rear electric window would be fully down
And the turning circle. Forget doing it in 3 haha.
Too many comon problems across the whole range.
Go a6 allroad for the money IMO

 

[DJM1982]

it'll have to be an auto anyway cause the mrs can only drive auto's (long story about hurting her knee whilst learning to drive).
Cheers for the advice, will check all of the above, when i find a good one i'm thinking of getting the AA to come out and do their inspection on it as i have breakdown cover.

 

[symun]

Have just swapped a land rover for an audi a4, although mine wasnt a freelander i had a 300tdi discovery.
Anyway, stay away from petrol and early diesels.
If you can get a td4 or better with the bmw engine then great but as previously mentioned about the viscous coupling, if that goes then its very expensive.
Mate of mine has just managed to part ex his before it completely broke, lucky for him they didnt fully inspect his.
He also had the transfer box and something else fixed i cant remember what though, but i recall he did contemplate an insurance job on it.
Trust me, i have been there once you take on a land rover whatever marque they are pigs to get right and always break down.

Saying that though, if i hadnt smashed my hand in work i would still be driving it, had to give it up as it was to heavy to steer with only a thumb and finger working.

 

[symun]

Oh yeh forgot to mention, only had the A4 a week and its already doing twice the mpg that i was getting with the Landy.

 

[damo.h]

Oh yeh dodgy fule pump v common on td4's. You can tell they'r going by putting Yr ear to the rear os wing. If you hear a ticking walk away. There is something else I'm sure lol
Will post when it's comes to me.

 

[stacey bear]

I used to work on them mate. If you can get hold of a well looked after one I'd go for it. There nice to drive, comfy, easy to work on too. You would be able to do all you stated and more too.

 

[DJM1982]

Cheers Chaps,
Its sounds like they are a pretty good all rounder and would be ideal for what we need it for. I'll defo look out for the problems raise here, and i'll probably get an AA inspection done before i buy any, as they should pick these probs up aswell i would have though.
I'm looking at spending between 5k and 6k on one, so will look around for a well looked after example

 

[DJM1982]

2002 LAND ROVER Freelander 2.0 Td4 ES Station Wagon

Found this one that looks really nice, and staes FULL LanderRover service history aswell. Hope its there in a couple of weeks when i'm ready to buy