Infomation on landrover freelanders 2

paul o'

Well-Known Member
Sold my ranger :cry: , but now I need to find a smaller 4x4 pal has a L/R Freelander 2 and I like the thought of one , so 4x4 soft road motors I am looking at are:
1/ Freelander 2 DERV 08- fsh
2/ Ford Kuga DERV 09- fsh
3/ Nissan Qashqai 09- fsh
like to have all the bells working so full'sh spec.
Been looking on the net but real life info from guys who have them is always going to be better!
Any help or some one who has or got one of the above and has had one for some time ,any faults to look out for and repair bills they don't mention ?? oh and fuel but not to fussed on that.

also as said it do'st need to be a full off road like the ranger was able to be, just able to get off a wet field if needed or along muddy tracks.
Thanks for your help :tiphat:
Paul.
 
Missus has a freelander 2 and had no issues (touch wood) so far. Had to replace a brake caliper which was pricey but if you stay away from main dealers Britpart and eBay are your friend.

Off road its it's surprisingly good with semi off road tyres but realistically it ain't going to go where a defender would without costing a lot of money in repairs.

If you want a tow hook the electrics can be pricey as you need to get a LR plug in and then have the LR stealer hook his computer up to it to do the needful. You can buy a box off eBay for twenty odd quid but I was advised against it as they can (not always), cause issues/electrical gremlins - others may say different but your call in the end of the day.

Last bog standard service was £168 - not main dealer (ex Land Rover mechanic). The computer says 430 mile range when tank is filled (£67 ish at current prices I think) but I'm not in it that often so it could be slightly wrong.

Had a Subaru before and it was pretty bulletproof but heavy on the fuel but worth considering.

The one thing I will say against the Freelander is the boot space is crap, should have got a discovery for the amount of stuff you need to cart about sometimes with two kids. Oh and ours doesn't have a spare wheel just a foam kit which won't help if you get a puncture off piste!!
 
Horses for courses I'd say. The FL2 by all accounts is the best off road, has fairly good inside capacity and is nice to drive. Have driven one a bit and it was pretty good all round. The Land Rover reliability gremlins do appear to be behind them, but like Mick9abf says, dealer servicing and repairs ain't the cheapest. But which main dealer is cheap?

The Kuga is a Ford. Nothing wrong with that, but it is what it is.

The Qashqai is a Nissan much in the same mould as the Kuga. Like most of these soft roaders these days, they come in 2WD and 4WD versions. If you wanted to go down the Nissan route, would you think an X-trail a better bet?
 
No major issues with them.
Rear diffs can be noisey. Rework for them £300-400.
Fuel. 32-37mpg.
Tow bar electrics. Don't by non gen. They are ****. Yes you need to have them configured to vehicle pre 13my.
Put some general grabber or BF's on and it will get you most places.
Autos a nicer drive but less mpg.

Pm for more info if needed.

ATB
Jon
 
FL2 ten times better than FL1.Very good to drive on road and no slouch off road bearing in mind it has no low box.Mine's done 140k but only problem is that a £19 rear diff bearing fails at 60k with a repair bill of circa £500 from main dealer.when last one went wrote a strong letter to LR Chief Exec and got a £750 voucher to spend with LR.Overall a pretty good car.Richard.PS-driven reasonably get circa 38-40 on a run.
 
Last edited:
I owned a Freelander 2 for 8 months. I bought it as an approved used, with less than 3,000 miles in it. It was an expensive to run, cheaply made, heavy vehicle that was capable off road (I give it that) and decent on the motorway. The spaces were not sufficient (too much waste), and I quickly sold it as silly things started going wrong (fixed under warranty) that should never have gone wrong in a new car. Stay clear of it...
 
so far mostly good news and one lemon keep em coming lads and a big thank you to all of you that spent the time to give me your reviews that have been better than the which reports so far, :thumb: any news is good news not in a rush I am going to hire one of each as I have a VW van for work so 4x4 will sit around a lot as did the ranger .
:tiphat:
 
Hi Paul,

It's really easy in the motor trade buy German or Japanese if you want reliability.

regards Neil.
 
Had a FL2 for a few years without any issues at all apart from normal servicing and wear and tear things such as pads etc. Capable off road but lacking in space so I upgraded to a discovery which has not been as cheap to run or as reliable lol !
 
thanks fellers and top man Dan I will take you up on it, its a pain not having a motor but I don't wish to rush in to this one .
atvb
paul.

Paul I'm well pleased with my FL2 it's even better after the re map I'm very impressed if you want a drive let me know.
 
I drive a freelander shoot a 270win with PPU is there any hope for me happy with all three must be crazy :cuckoo:
 
Last edited:
Thanks what are the running cost as in service issues
:thumb:

99,800 miles, still going like new and nothing has gone wrong. Still on original exhaust. Now serviced at Halfords. About £130 all in one year, £230 all in every second year.
 
Last edited:
anyone one Even honest john ?? Q&A from EJ site ! (Not as sharp on the road as other 4x4s. High number of automatic transmission, steering rack failures and camshaft failures on 2.2 diesel. Epidemic of rear diff failures.
Updated 19 September 2015
plus lots more bad news for my number one on my list
43 faults and 3 recalls across the range and years OMG


:eek:
So ford and jap now in the running as the forester fuel is't that good?

Paul, does "Honest John" have a review?
 
Last edited:
Sod the fuel - or buy an LPG one?

Even more research needed here?
I had one years ago done supposedly professionally but the motor wasn't suitable for conversion?
An absolute nightmare, thank goodness after trying the route through the courts I discovered I had luckily paid the initial deposit of £50 on my credit card.
They were bankrupt and the CC company paid up in full.
Phew!
 
We now have 3X Freelander 2's as work vehicles and they are excellent. Excellent cars, highly recommended.

My Disco 3 costs a lot more to run and maintain!
 
Back
Top