Freelander - reliability, imporved?

r3nu4l

A good few years ago now a friend of mine bought a Freelander, he enjoyed the drive and loved the roominess but was constantly let down by faults, including all the electrics cutting off while he was on a dual-carriageway bypass. It turned out that he wasn't the only one and that lots of people were finding lots of different problems with their Freelanders.

Has the Freelander improved over time? Is the build quality better, has reliability improved so much that it's considered 'reliable'? Is it too pricey for what you get?

What are your opinions on the Freelander?

machiavellianme

r3nu4l wrote: »

A good few years ago now a friend of mine bought a Freelander, he enjoyed the drive and loved the roominess but was constantly let down by faults, including all the electrics cutting off while he was on a dual-carriageway bypass. It turned out that he wasn't the only one and that lots of people were finding lots of different problems with their Freelanders.

Has the Freelander improved over time? Is the build quality better, has reliability improved so much that it's considered 'reliable'? Is it too pricey for what you get?

What are your opinions on the Freelander?

What model did your friend have? Up until 2003, they werent the best, but I'm pretty sure the 2004-2006 models were ok. They have less "square headlights" and a different front bumper. Havent tried the Freelander 2 yet so cant comment on it.

Slig

I love freelanders, they look cool (probably the nicest looking softroader). but when I had the oppertuinity to buy one (00 - 03) I did my research. Gearbox lasted 20K miles and wasent covered by warranty, petrol engines were pure rubbish and to add to it they were real thirsty and expensive to buy. Every review site I found had bad reviews (from owners not critics) and nearly all were from gearboxes and engines going after very low milage.

The new freelander is meant to be great however (I think its the TD4)

r3nu4l

machiavellianme wrote: »

What model did your friend have? Up until 2003, they werent the best, but I'm pretty sure the 2004-2006 models were ok. They have less "square headlights" and a different front bumper. Havent tried the Freelander 2 yet so cant comment on it.

It was the very first model (I don't do Mark this or Model that I'm afraid ), basically as soon as the Freelander came out he had one at a push I'd say it was somewhere around 1998-2000?

I just remember being disappointed for him because it certainly looked absolutely amazing afair compared with other 4x4's at the time that were mostly still boxy, clunky, cuboid looking machines, the Freelander (at that time) appeared to be a far nicer looking model, almost like 4x4's were bowing to fashion for the first time!

xt40

we nearly bought one until we saw the 30mph crash test on TG. doors popped and the shell kinked in the middle between front/rear cabins. we bought a rr instead and love it.
see it here
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=k0kB2SqZqZ0

L-M

AFAIK the freelander 2 has some 5 NCAP rating. For which i can't remember. But the new one is smashing. The 2.2 td4 is a powerful engine, and has a new six speed box. Words won't do it justice, go look at one.