Freelander 1 > Xtrail > Freelander 2 - reliability?

Morning guys,

So I didn't get off on a good foot with my freelander 1 (2005), needed x3 new injectors, and clutch went in a very short ownership window. After lots of dealer faff traded it in for an Xtrail (2004) which for the last 2.5 years has been pretty reliable and only had a bonnet hinge seize up on me.

I'm woo'd by the freelander 2 and its updated looks, swanky leather interior in the HSE, and quite like the HST factory bodykit versions.

Parkers guides seem to suggest the FL2 is a huge step up on reliability vs the FL1. Honest john isn't so convinved ( Land Rover Freelander 2 2006 - Car Review | Honest John )


What is the general consensus on a Td4 manual gearbox freelander 2, thinking around 2006/2007/2008 ?

Any car will have "issues". Regardless of their so called legendary reliability, Toyota suffered a hell of a lot in recent years, but their reputation will always be for reliability, regardless of the high profile recalls. Land Rover has always been berated in the media as making unreliable vehicles.Therefore Joe public, 90% of whom have never owned a Land Rover product will always be convinced they are not reliable, regardless. But truth is they are not really any less reliable than any other mark.
Check out any other car forum and like the Land Rover forums they will be full of faults, issues etc. You see, nobody goes on forums constantly praising their vehicles. They only go on to find what's wrong with them. This makes vehicles seem unreliable. However, I guarantee there are far more people who are happy with their vehicle than what the internet shows, purely because they don't come on to the net to say how happy they are - why would they?
Freelander 2 is very reliable - not many posters here on Landyzone so that should say something. However, like any vehicle, check to see what the common faults are then make up you'r mind as to whether you want one or not.

egsactly. The faults you mention on your F1 are not particularly common for the car, at least they don't come up that frequently on here, which is presumably a good barometer. As your car would have been quite young then, you were either unlucky or it had high milage where faults should be expected in any car.

Our main runner for the last 4 years has been a '99 L Series F1. In that time I've replaced more bits on our 2nd car which is a '92 Toyota Starlet. Admittedly the bits cost more for the Freelander - but both cars have been very reliable.

had a td4 auto freelander 1 which I took from 36 to 135k with only one issue which was a failed injector early in our ownership, then bought the wife a freelander 2 td4 S, totally different beast, only had one issue when it picked up some contaminated fuel, ran really badly until I filled it back up with premium diesel.

been really pleased with it, so far so goo, towed a caravan with it too, all good. wouldn't hesitate to jump in it and drive anywhere. ours doesn't use any oil or fluids (yet), can't see getting rid of it in a hurry.

My FL1 had a new replacement engine at 500 miles and auto gearbox at 12k miles. Pot luck if they go wrong. You can increase the chances with poor maintenance/servicing. This was all done before I started tinkering with it.

I've had a 2006 FL1 for 11 months. Bought for a reasonable price with 113,000 on the clock and full LR service history.

I expected to do repairs to it. So far I have had most of the common issues with a high mileage (over 100,000) mile car.
The thermostat, the heater matrix, 2 injectors, header tank, track rod end, rear sensor beeper, VCU, fuel pump & new discs & pads.

That is on top of the normal service stuff including all fluid changes as well as Auto, IRD & diff oil changes.

More than I had hoped, but all stuff that goes on a Freelander.

It now has 127,000 miles and is due a service.

My old V6 was bought at 32,000mls with a "reconditioned" engine and a clunky auto box.2 more engines later,LPGsystem, a roll cage, bucket seats and a facelift and it still ran like a bag of spanners even after having the last engine reconditioned aswell. Sold it cheap showing 56,000mls. It's now on Ebay with 61,000 on the clock and looks to be going strong currently at £3600.The owner has wrecked it compared how pristine it was when I sold it to him and has also ripped out the lpg. I pity the winning bidder. Trust me, this vehicle is all show and no go.And now it's cosmetically poor too. No way is this vehicle going to race - another reason for selling cheaply.
My Td4 on the other hand has been great with only a few sortable niggles, mainly driveshafts from running aggressive tyres and a couple of injectors. Currently on 116,000.

A , X TRAIL had to be jump started this pm , by a mates y reg freelander and mine is reliable

auto fl2 shows better than manual, there were a few clutch slippage issues.

That car review is from 2006, the year the car came out, of course there'll be issues on new models!!

Spoke to the workshop manager the other day at the dealer I bought mine from as it's going back in to get a couple of small things sorted. He's been there about 15 years, said that since the Freelander 2 came out, the grand total of serious engine problem's they've had is 1, yes, ONE, as for other big jobs they've replaced 2 torque converters, thats it. All they get them in for is routine maintenance, clutches on manuals and general servicing.
He was saying they've got a customer with a 6 year old FL2 with well over 200k miles on it, apparently approaching a quarter million, it gets serviced 3 times a year, thats it, in all the miles it's done, they only ever see it for a service.

Something I have personal experience of, my dad has owned his 07 plate twice now, first time for 4 years, didn't have a single problem with it in that time. He bought it back again last year, hasn't had an issue with it since then either.

One of the main reason's I've just bought a FL2.

Love my FL2, yes done some bits to it that needed doing. However if you look after them they are a dream to run, nice thing about the 07 no dpf.

Had to edit as I wrote it very late at night.