Comments on: 2009 Land Rover FreeLander 2 Review

By: Vivek

Vivek — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 03:08:35 +0000

Interesting comments..I just sold my 2010 FL2 TD4e & have replaced it with a Xtrail Ti.
The freelander is a great car,no doubt.But it definitely has reliability issues. The build quality of the dashboard is horrible.I had creaks, rattling noises from the dashboard since day 1, even before i took it offroad. Multiple trips to the dealer didn’t help. Had But somehow i still loved driving it. Was absolute pleasure. But interiors look very ordinary compared to others in the class.
Servicing costs are way to high as well.I paid $600, $920 for 1st & 2nd service.
I now have a top spec xtrail petrol Ti for just 40 grand with all goodies/features & have to accept the fact that it drives pretty good.
I haven’t really felt a big change of stepping out from FL2 into an xtrail. I don’t feel i’m missing out on something big by trading in my FL2.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:24:07 +0000

Pretty much the same experience here. My FL2 also needed a new power steering pump at the one-year inspection. I also managed to punctuate one of the tyres within the first year. Otherwise no complaints. I am happy with the LR service. Fuel consumption averages to 8.8L/100km including 90% city commuting. Probably would buy it again.

By: andy

andy — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 07:31:42 +0000

Hi Jon,

Again people on here want to compare Land Rover with other vehicles that are not relevant to the discussion.
A Mercedes E-Class I would suggest depending on the model would have cost your friend anywhere from $90k for a base E220 up to $250k for a full kit AMG. Hardly Freelander 2 territory in terms pricing or vehicle type !!
The flexibility that the Australian subs have with respect to “goodwill” gestures as you indicate is dependent on the RRP $ spent, the marketing allocation provided to Australia by the respective Head Offices be they in UK or Germany and no doubt the size of the organisation globally.
I wonder if Mercedes would consider a full replacement to a customer who was not satisfied with their purchase of a C-Class base model for example which in terms of pricing is about the closest you will get to Freelander 2. That is essentially the “comparison” here, if you can call it that !!

Andy

By: kennyboye

kennyboye — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 02:58:19 +0000

I think Jon has a valid point re: how companies manage problems. I had a first gen Freelander as my first “New” car and it wasn’t terrible but had a heap of minor-moderate problems that had it back to dealer 6-7 times in the year I owned it; just got too much of a pain so sucked down the depreciation and got rid of it. Hardly a lemon but to be honest got to the point where I asked them for a new one…bit naive (of course they said no)! A colleague bought a E class merc a few years ago and it had a major fault which developed in the first month of ownership….they refunded his total purchase price without question. That’s what I call a “premium” level of customer care. And yes he did buy another merc.

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 11:21:07 +0000

To provide you with more details: Yes, the vehicle was bought brand new, the vehicle has done 39,000km and the majority of these kms have been done in the last 6 months due to my wife refusing to drive it to work and therefore I have to take it and I travel 1000- 1200 kms/ week.
The vehicle has only been road driven (not off-road) and we live in a very mild climate. We, also, find it “disconcerting” that Land Rover have not resolved these issue expediently. They just keep insisting we take it back to the dealership we bought it from (which is now a considerable distance from where we live) and yes, it is all done under warranty, but the cost of the inconvenience is just as bad. This is normally my wife’s car and she only drives 15- 20 kms to work each day, so instead the kms are climbing due to the fact we have to keep on driving it back to the dealership we bought it from and I am now forced to drive it to work. For instance I have phoned Land Rover twice in the last fortnight because the car is back in the workshop again and as yet, I still have not received a single call to let us know what is happening. I, also, am used to a “niche” product because our other car is a BMW and I can not fault the incredible service I receive from them. I did not rush in my decision to buy a Land Rover- I spent a lot of time researching models (safety standards etc) . It didn’t seem at the time that very many people had problems with their Land Rovers, but sometimes any manufacturer can produce a “lemon”, which we undoubtable have, but it all comes down to how the company treats us and how they deal with the problem. I don’t believe the “ostrich approach” of sticking your head in the sand benefits anyone. I’m glad your experience with Land Rover has been fantastic. Ours has been the same with BMW.
Regards
Jon

By: andy

andy — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 04:50:31 +0000

Jon, sorry to hear you have had so much trouble.
Some things which are not evident from your comments:
1. Did you purchase the vehicle from new ? If not, do the service records indicate the vehicle has been regularly serviced by an authorised Land Rover dealership ?
2. How many kms have you driven the vehicle in the 12 months since ownership?
3. What sort of driving conditions has the vehicle endured in the past 12 months, ie extreme cold/heat conditions, heavy use off-road etc?

You indicate the vehicle has been back to the dealership 11 times in the past 12 months for various “life threatening” instances and it is still not repaired to your satisfaction. I find it disconcerting that an authorised Land Rover dealership would not be taking all endeavours to resolve these issues expediently. I take it the repairs have all been processed under warranty, so no cost to you, but still you would not expect these issues in a new Land Rover vehicle and furthermore once an issue has been diagnosed it should be repaired correctly.
As I said I have no issues in more than 10 years of Land Rover ownership and in fact the dealer I use for servicing has always been more than helpful and has an excellent attention and eye for detail. For example I travel to the UK and Europse for 6-8 weeks per year and my service technician even recommends having the tyre pressures adjusted to accomodate the vehicle being parked for that 6-8 week period !!
Land Rover is a “niche” product which attracts a certain customer demographic, one that is fanatical about ownership of their vehicle and generally takes pride and care in ownership of their vehicle and this extends to having a great relationship with their dealer and service technicians.
You say you have asked the dealership to “buy back” the vehicle and are surprised that you have been offered only 60% of the purchase value.
That statement in itself says a lot.
As for your comment on “run away” from Land Rovers, I would question what induced you to purchase a Land Rover in the first instance. Perhaps you should have done some more soul searching in forums such as these and accordingly you would have purchased a Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi or something similar.

Regards

Andy

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 09:44:29 +0000

Well Andy if you think Land Rover Freelander 2 bashing is unnecessary I will be happy to swap cars. Mine is rubbish- in the 12 months we have had it, the paint has peeled off, panels fallen off, the motor loses power or stops, which leaves you no brakes or power steering- it’s a death trap. Steering column said it’s locked as you are driving at 110 km, the windows go up and down by themselves, the radio will not turn off and it has been back to the dealers to be fixed 11 times now, I think.
We asked the dealer if they would buy the car back, but they only offered 60% off the original price -great car!NOT! PS let me know if you want to swap.
If you are thinking of buying a Land Rover- Run Away! (Unless you are a masochist).
Cheers Jon

By: andy

andy — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:34:50 +0000

I agree with the favourable comments about Land Rovers and Freelanders in particular.
Having owned three Freelanders in the last ten years I have to say they are great vehicles which provided me with 10 years of trouble free motoring.I had a 2000 Freelander Xei 3 door soft/hard top, then a 2004 Freelander SE Td4 5 dr and currently a Freelander 2 HSE Td4.
You could say I have grown up with the vehicle and with each changover I have stepped up as my lifestyle needs have changed.
I think a lot of the Land Rover bashing that goes on in these forums is totally unnecessary.
In Britain and Europe Freelander is one of the top selling mid-size premium 4WD’s/SUV’s; call it what you will. It was one of the first in its category, in fact I think it defined this category by which others have since followed. It has also made a tremendous contribution to the broadening appeal of the Land Rover marque globally over the last ten years.

Cheers

Andy

By: CarlMc

CarlMc — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:32:12 +0000

Instead of thinking the Vitara might be too low, it is only 10mm less than Freelander2,doesn’t anybody do research anymore before mouthing off,Andrew above does it too,no research into subject.

By: CarlMc

CarlMc — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:19:35 +0000

Andrew,you must do your research
Subaru 220 clearence
Challenger 220 ”
Freelander 210 ”
Jeep 204
Santa Fe 203
Suzuki 200
Captiva 200
X-Trail 200
Tiguan 195
Skoda Sct 170
Maz.CX7 170

So basically we are talking about 10mm difference at kerb weight,empty tanks and storage. You say the Freelander is not for off-road work because of clearence,what would you consider clearence for off road abilities. All these SUV’s above can go off road but should avoid 4WD tracks unless equipped to handle those situations which need lower-gearing as with Challenger and Suzuki and Forester,they are all beach-buggies and forest trails SUV’s.

The FL2 is 4WD full-time which is a bit different to AWD or P/T 4WD but the FL2 still don’t have low gear for 4WD driving, which the above 3 do