Freelander 2

[Dr. Strangelove]

Going to see a few cars today and tomorrow, will let you all know how I get on. Ive thrown a curveball in too to go see

Lada?!

 

[User00044]

I have a Freelander2 , love the car , not so keen on the bills . If you buy one get a manual , face-lift model .
Looked at a Yeti , decided at 58 I'm still not old enough !

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Thought about an XC60, @ColinBr?

 

[ColinBr]

Lada?!

VW Passat Alltrack

 

[ColinBr]

Thought about an XC60, @ColinBr?

Bit pricey for what they are and most tend to have mega miles on them

 

[Donkey Basher]

Late to the party here, but thought I'd put my two penn'eth in anyway.

We're on our second Freelander 2 - long story but we had a 2002 Td4 FL1 from new & would probably still have it if a taxi hadn't driven into it writing it off at 195,000 miles... by far the longest I've ever owned a car & it was very reliable in that time. That was replaced by a VERY cheap 2003 Td4 FL1 which was bought with known issues but with the benefit of being able to scavenge bits to fix it off the write off car & anyway it was only supposed to be a stop gap while I found a decent replacement... roll on 4 years & we still had it! Mrs then decided she wanted a 4 door car so we bought a 2007 FL2 manual, it had been well looked after & was a great car, comfortable, reliable & returned about 35mpg average & 40+ on a run. Unfortunately swmbo began to pay the price of years of falling off horses, being kicked by horses, being pushed around by horses, etc. & started to have pains in her left knee making driving a manual difficult so we sold it & bought a 2013 Sd4 HSE auto & love it - economy is down a bit, 33mpg average but still good on runs.

Like most cars, I think the key is finding a good example that's been well looked after & then looking after it properly yourself. Yes, things break but then, for example, the Haldex unit on a FL4 is also found on other cars so is just as likely to cause problems with those as a FL2. The engine is Ford, there are lots of other Ford bits on it, as well as plenty of Volvo parts like the radiator for example. They're old enough now to have a good number of specialist companies around for service & repair when needed & are sufficiently car like to allow routine maintenance to be carried out by the local garage.

Just saying.

 

[JMikeyH]

Late to the party here, but thought I'd put my two penn'eth in anyway.

We're on our second Freelander 2 - long story but we had a 2002 Td4 FL1 from new & would probably still have it if a taxi hadn't driven into it writing it off at 195,000 miles... by far the longest I've ever owned a car & it was very reliable in that time. That was replaced by a VERY cheap 2003 Td4 FL1 which was bought with known issues but with the benefit of being able to scavenge bits to fix it off the write off car & anyway it was only supposed to be a stop gap while I found a decent replacement... roll on 4 years & we still had it! Mrs then decided she wanted a 4 door car so we bought a 2007 FL2 manual, it had been well looked after & was a great car, comfortable, reliable & returned about 35mpg average & 40+ on a run. Unfortunately swmbo began to pay the price of years of falling off horses, being kicked by horses, being pushed around by horses, etc. & started to have pains in her left knee making driving a manual difficult so we sold it & bought a 2013 Sd4 HSE auto & love it - economy is down a bit, 33mpg average but still good on runs.

Like most cars, I think the key is finding a good example that's been well looked after & then looking after it properly yourself. Yes, things break but then, for example, the Haldex unit on a FL4 is also found on other cars so is just as likely to cause problems with those as a FL2. The engine is Ford, there are lots of other Ford bits on it, as well as plenty of Volvo parts like the radiator for example. They're old enough now to have a good number of specialist companies around for service & repair when needed & are sufficiently car like to allow routine maintenance to be carried out by the local garage.

Just saying.

How do you find the auto gearbox on the FL2?

 

[ColinBr]

Well new bus arrives on Sunday. Will update post once I get some pics taken

 

[Donkey Basher]

How do you find the auto gearbox on the FL2?

Whilst I've always been sceptical of auto boxes on 'small' engines I actually find this very easy to drive, albeit I do notice the difference when I get back into the D4 but that does have a twin turbo 3.0 V6 with a barn load of torque...

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Well new bus arrives on Sunday. Will update post once I get some pics taken

What did you go for? Or is it a surprise?!

 

[ColinBr]

What did you go for? Or is it a surprise?!

I'll keep the suspense going

 

[Tazz]

Having sold the Hilux I'm now on the hunt for another car.

Heading down the softroader route as want to go down to 1 car.

I've looked at a few options, VW Tiguan, Toyota Rav4, Nissan X-trail, Mitsubishi Outlander. Would like a Yeti but missus says no (ugly apparently)

My old man and a mate said to have a look at the Freelander 2. Now I've heard horror stories and know a few of the reliability issues of some Land Rovers, but have been told the Freelander 2 is actually pretty good.

Anyone talk me in or out of a Freelander 2, or would I be best to stick to my original list?

Talked my partner in to a Freelander 2 as I had a sports car. Bought it 4 months old, great on regular roads and motorway, took it off road often when stalking/pigeon shooting never let me down. Sold it 8 years later with 157K on clock only ever breakdown was pulley sheared of alternator, did have it serviced at every interval, could not fault it

 

[ColinBr]

Ok pics of the new horse



Plan is to use it as is and see how it goes (tracks into ground are decent)

And once I use the new tyres, I'll fit some tyres more fitting and if need be add a 30mm lift kit. Though to be fair its only 1/4" lower than a Yeti

 

[malmick]

Interesting choice, hope it works well for you

 

[ColinBr]

Interesting choice, hope it works well for you

So do I

 

[wytonpjs]

I operate with the LR dog guard and load space divider in the boot to create a cage for my Vizsla (left-hand side) and a smaller removeable cage to the right for the Teckel. There's space above the Teckel's cage for gralloch kit, etc and to its right, there is space for LED work lights, fire extinguisher, ratchet straps, etc. I fold the rear seats down and use a large capacity Homebase storage box (with 12v chiller let into the top) accessed from the rear passenger side, my rifle slip goes between that box and the raised forward portion of the rear seats, to the rear of the box I fit my 2 sand mats, on the left side of that box (driver's rear door) I fit a removeable ATV MTM box with shackles, snatch block, shovel, strops, tyre sealant, etc, and beneath that, across the rear footwells, I fit my ground stakes, tailgate gralloch strut and other loose sundries. My stalking clothing, bino harness and a range bag sit on top of the ATV "recovery" box. It's tight but it all stays put when I bounce it around off road and the dogs are safe in their holes. However, this is my normal fit for roe and muntjac and the front seat is totally clear for passengers (trainees). For local fallow, I replace the box with a tray but that means all the other kit has to go into the front passenger footwell - not ideal For more than one fallow/red, I attach a trailer

View attachment 251171

Some pictures to flesh out the text above with today’s “before and after”

 

[ColinBr]

Had a run out in the new waggon.

Really pleased with it, and without trying returned 52mpg on A road driving.

Really well put together, very comfortable and spacious inside and the boot is huge even before folding the rear seats down.

Will update once I have taken it to the shooting grounds to see how it handles some roungher grounds.

Promising so far though