Freelanders

[Mr-White]

What are Freelanders like ?

Mostly be used for biking trips, so not likely to put a huge amount of miles on it.

2007
2.2 diesel
100k miles
~£8k

Example: Autotrader

MW

 

[lemonade]

Will spend most of the time in the garage getting fixed. Wouldn't touch these with a bargepole. Get something Japanese instead.

 

[tom_e]

Will spend most of the time in the garage getting fixed. Wouldn't touch these with a bargepole. Get something Japanese instead.

My housemate has a 12 plate one as his company car, he's had it for about 6 months and in those 6 months he's spent a couple of days driving around in courtesy cars on numerous occasions due to one thing or another going wrong with the Freelander, saying that he works for JLR so he's not fussed as the courtesy cars are normally something a bit more exotic.

 

[233]

not as bad as people make out, although as said you would be better off with something jap for 8k


rear bushes are a common issue but not a difficult job to do. other than that as long as nothings whining on it change the fluids and keep on top of the servicing their pretty decent

like most things neglect kills them more than anything else

 

[Conanius]

The new freelancers in the right spec are a nice place to be. Certainly I felt the fl2 HSE was nicer than the CRV 2.2 dtec ex trim.

However, I felt the drive of the crv was actually, really rather good.

 

[tl45]

While I would be slightly biased, it's known that the Freelander 2 has one of, if not the best warranty performance for all the JLR models.

Course some vehicles do have problems but it's a huge improvement on the first generation model and overall is pretty well thought of I thought.

 

[task]

My dad had one for around 12 months, it wasn't too bad. Pretty nippy and not a bad engine.

 

[Mr-White]

Reviews seem to say people either love them or hate them due to constant faults.

Cost wise it looks like it'll only be another £300-400 a year for insurance, tax and servicing.

The HSE model also looks to have all the feature I want as standard.

MW

 

[cmndr_andi]

Owner of a 2007 Freelander 2 here, which I've had since October last year.

Only problem I've had with it so far is a dead battery (which I replaced for £70). Apart from that it's been a great motor for driving about Scotland. It's got a very comfortable ride, happily transports 4 adults long distances and is supposed to have excellent offroad capabilities compared to comparable small SUVs. The downsides are relatively small luggage space, premium price and poor fuel economy.

Also, one problem you will find with Freelanders of this vintage is that they often have a lot of miles on them, which means you have to worry about part failures that can be expensive to repair.

I opted for one with only 35k miles on the clock, but paid £11k for the privilege. If I was looking to spend £8k then a newer, lower mileage Japanese (or even Korean) small SUV would be my pick.

 

[MofoKilla]

avoid like the plague absolute nails in every sense.

 

[Havana_UK]

We're on our second one now. First was a 12 plate GS TD4, this one is a 63 plate GS SD4. Both were, admittedly, new but have been faultless during our ownership and despite not being a "proper" 4x4 (by which I mean there's no diff lock and low range box), it's incredibly capable off road.

I can't speak for the older models, but we'd certainly have another.

Those who are slating them with comments such as "avoid like the plague" and "will spend most of the their time in the garage" likely have no personal experience of ownership and are just following the herd going on hearsay and parroting what they've read on the internet about bad experiences, because, let's face it, people are more likely to write about a bad experience than a good one.

 

[Joe T]

We've had a couple through the employee scheme and loved em to bits. Only issue is the width: it's a very wide car.

They go OK (esp with the more powerful unit) and the ride is sublime. The facelift interior is miles better than the old one (but would not be in budget).

 

[atpbx]

It was the first ones with the dreadful K series engine and snapping in half in an accident you had to avoid.

The laters ones don't have those issues.