ive hd my 55 plate freelander for 5.5yrs ad wont change it for anything its a great practical 4x4 as well as a runaround i tow my horse box with it its the 3 door so its also aconvertible in the summer as well .I love this car the interior is half leather easy to clean and very hard wearing with just a wipe over looks like new again.he leg room is great .This is a freestyler so got a few extras the insurance is low as well .I brought this with 16000 miles on from main dealer its now done 68000 all ive spent is new tyres and serviceing every year .i wont be changing this i love it would recomend to any one.

bought from new (car supermarket 15k ) just after the freelander 2 came in. 40 mile drive to work on country lanes and plenty of cattle grids, so ideal for the freelander. at 800 ft usually get snow and once blew it and slid into a ditch, in a foot of snow, but just reversed out. who says freelanders aren't proper 4x4s. ok it's not a defender but it ain't bad. it has a regular service with a local independent garage and apart from anti roll bar links and new disks/drums from time to time hasn't had to have anything significant. usually returns about 35mpg but got 42 on a trip to London over Christmas, helped probably by very slow trip back on the m6. Secret seems to be to use it and it seems very happy with its 400 miles a week. Only bad point really is the underfloor well in the boot, keeps getting wet. Other than that, it's great, hope it lasts for another couple of years.

BEEN A LANY FAN SINCE OWNING A 110 V8 GREAT MOTOR,2 MONTHSAGO BOUGHT A 2004 FREELANDER TD4 FROM PREMIER MOTORS ROSSENDALE SHORT MOT BUT SEEMED OK,THEN THE MAF SENSOR PACKED IN £90,LEAK ON BACK DOOR AND 1 REAR PASSENGER DOOR WINDOW MOTOR MISSING,FOLDING SEAT CATCH BROKE,THEN THE MOT DUE ALL BRAKE PIPES REPLACED BUT WHEEL CYLINDER AND FLEXI PIPE DAMAGED WHILE PIPES FITTED OTHER BITS WIPERS AND LIGHTS MOT REPAIR £185 GOT FED UP NOW COULD BE GOOD NOW BITS DONE BUT I`M FED UP WITH IT ENGINE HAS PLENTY OF POWER,DOORS A BIT RESTRICTING GETTING IN AND NOT MUCH STORAGE ROOM MY OLD 98 HONDA CRV WAS A FAR BETTER CAR

I got the car after having a smaller 4x4 with a proper chassis, as i wanted something newer and more comfortable, and have always liked the freelander. After looking at several, i decided that the petrol one had too many engine problems, so choose the bmw engined TD4. The car has now done 160,000 miles and the engine still pulls strong, i only use mobile oil and use bosch oil and air filters and a BWM crankcase filter (cheaper and better than the landrover one) The cost of the oil change etc is about £100 every 10,000 miles. The car has been pretty reliable since i got it, but i had had to replace all but one of the electric windows and the cable rusted and broke on each of them. THis is a common problem but is cheap and easy to fix using new regulators or if you want the cheaper route, a replacement wire fit. Regulators cost between 90 for the rear down to 50 for the front, replacement wire kits 20. Other things to look out for are the anti roll bar drop links that cost £13 each and fail frequently. The viscous coupling should be replaced every 70,000 miles otherwise it can ut strain on the tranfer box, cost of this is between 300-800 depending on where its brought, but cheaper than a new transfer box! Im in two minds is i should change or not, as its comfortable, reliable and fairly economical compared to other cars the same size and type, usually get 42mpg ish, and more on a longer run, which i do every now and again (500 mile round trips in a day)

We brought the Freelander following a poor decision to buy a convertible Astra not because it was a bad car but because we had two small children at the time in child seats and straight away it became obvious that this car was not going to be suitable. This is when I had decided that we needed something allot bigger to suit our needs and I had narrowed the choice down to a Honda CR-V or the Freelander, the Freelander won because it looked better inside and out, looking like it was fit for purpose even if the farthest it would go off road was a supermarket car park! It was absolutely ideal for lifting the kids in and out of the back as you didn't have to stoop whilst carrying the children, as they have grown up the side steps have proven a useful addition helping them to step in and out of the car. There is bags of room in the rear of the car enough for 3 large adults to be carried over journeys lasting 3 or 4 hours in complete comfort, we have a screen attached to the roof that plays DVD’s for the children on long trips and my wife has taken the option to sit in the middle so she can also watch the films on several occasions without complaint. A year or so after purchase I brought a caravan and have towed this on several occasions down to Cornwall for a week and then onto Dorset, the Freelander has never skipped a beat, fully loaded up in the boot, towing the caravan and with bikes attached to the back, I can’t recommend it highly enough as a towing vehicle. I have also been building an extension at home and the Freelander has shown just how versatile it can be, I’ve had pretty much a full pack of bricks in the back, 5 or 6 fire plaster boards on the roof and the way the rear window drops has proved most useful when picking up lengths of pipes and bits of wood which can just protrude out of the rear tailgate window, shame it’s not on the newer model. In the snow the vehicle really showed its merit when I came across a humpbacked bridge that was compacted in thick snow and a queue of vehicles including some reputable 4x4’s failing to get up it, the Freelander drove straight to the top with the only concern once there the sudden realisation that I had to go down the other side, it did this with ease as the traction control grabbed each wheel preventing the car from going into a skid, much to the delight of the small boys watching on the wall close by. Things I would change, the pocket on the back door is pointless and protrudes into the boot making it awkward to close sometimes, can’t think of anything else off hand. I felt compelled to write this review because the Freelander always seems to pick up poor reviews but my experience so far, 40,000 miles has been a good one and the car has proved most versatile adapting to everything thrown at it, expense so far, normal service costs and 2 rear tyres.

I bought my vehicle two years ago and it was beautiful, drove real nice, fell in love. Then things started happening about 3 months later. First the right back window stopped working, then the hatchback window stopped, now the left back window doesn't work. My mechanic wanted about 900 bucks to fix the problem. All parts are very expensive, just to change the oil cost me about 100 bucks every 3 months. Next my car just died while I was driving, towed to mechanic and told the timing belt busted and the engine needed to be replaced. After doing research after I bought the car, there's so many bad reviews I found. Lesson learned by me now is to do some research and read reviews before buying another vehicle. I would not suggest anyone to buy this pile of sh**

We got our freelander td4 2l es after getting bored with run of the mill cars,best thing we ever did,we love everything about it,from it's luxury interior to it performance,especially in snow, sometimes they get bad reviews and horror stories,if you don't like them,don't get one,stick to a boring car,that also has problems,but without the fun and performance of the freelander,we are looking to get the new freelander 2 soon,will never go back to a car again,we've been bitten by the bug!

Engine is too bloody complicates with loads of stuff to go wrong and it's BMW so everything costs a fortune.
Getting rid of mine and going back to a Defender 90 200/300TDi. At least the chassis components and most of the engine components are patterned.
What you spend in fuel on a 90/110 is less than what I'm spending on parts on my Freelander!!

Had my 2.5 V6 Freelander for four years now. It is used everyday and in all that time it hasn't let me down once! Only things I have ever had to pay for are new front brakes year before last, new back brakes this year and air-con re-gassing. It's never failed an Mot and even the mechanic who serviced it a couple of months ago said it was a great car and he doesn't like landrovers! Only downside of this great car is 2.5 petrol engine fuel consumption, I get about 25 mpg and a lot less when towing. Still, love it and would hate to see it go.

As with any review type sites the bad news seems to travel further and faster than the good news. Landy's are your typical 'marmite vehicle' you just love em or loath em. I love mine!!! Yes, being objective about it mine has had one or two things go wrong with it but then I have not had a car yet that didn't need maintaining and unfortunately all motors cost you money. To offset this my Landy has held its value brilliantly!
Landrover as a company seem to be thriving, it surely cant be all bad?

What can I say about this vehicle?? it was a case of either its good looks and practicality I loved or the amount of spend on repairs within 7 months.

I had the car for 12 months, but within 6 months of owning it, it started giving problems, even tho i opted for the diesel TD4 this still didnt stop me from spending loads.

Firstly the rear subframe came away on one side and had to be welded. Secondly but more relevent the read differential went making a grinding noise, i got this replaced although a refurbished one, but i still wasnt happy, as it a little quieter, but still not right, i took it back to the garage and thios was about 30 miles from where i lived, the garage owner said he would replace it if the replacement was faulty, so he decided to take it out for a spin, but within 15 mins of him taking it out, he had to call his own garage to get the low loader lorry out to pick him up. At this pointg i wass really starting to worry (How much will this cost me?) On his return he told me that the "Transverse box" had a hole in it?? (never saw this myself tho? so i had to agree to another 600 quid for this, by now this vehicle had cost me a total of £1700 quid...NOT GOOD!!

At this point of ownership, I had made a decision to "Get rid".

I certainly woiuld say to protential buyers of the Freelander 1, Dont bother and waste your monsy!!

got my freelander when she was 2 years old and she is amazing! Not the quickest of cars but certainly practical it has the 2.0 td4 engine and this i find pulls well, its offroad capability is great, even though my kids often get in filthy from football it cleans well. the looks of the freelander are great and a million times better than the old plastic front (pre 2003) anyone looking to buy a small practical stylish off road capable 4x4 the car 4 u is a FREELANDER !!!!!

Its soo hard to describe this car. I still have it but its really driving me crazy. U tend to like its looks, the way it drives, but thinking about all the problems it caused me and still going, they all appear to be design failures from the company LANDROVER

Dont EVER dare and buy landrover. This was the biggest mistake of my life and I cant even sell it.

Had nearlly all the problems in one car. Had oil leak, water inside, poor stearing, tyre eating, suspension faults, OMG . U cant even call it a car.

If you go to myfreelander.co.uk, go check out the problems they have and see for yrself. I had the diesel engine which was suppose to be the better one ! I cant imagine how the patrol engine is !

Fancied a 4x4 for a while now after driving a family members range rover, though couldn't afford one of those.
Found a Great Freelander 3 door Sport from a private seller with only 48,000 miles on the clock.
I joined the forum at Landyzone.co.uk and researched the issues that the freelander has and yes it does have a few but there are things you can do to help the running of the car if you know about them.
i.e changing the crankcase breather to the new modified BMW version so the engine doesn't blow itself apart, fitting an EGR bypass valve so the engine can breathe and a couple of other things too, like running with Millers Diesel additive to help keep the injectors clean..
it might all sound complicated but I'm no mechanic and I managed it no problem at all with help and photos from the landyzone forum guys.

I couldn't be happier with my freelander, just done 535 miles on a full tank of diesel before the fuel light came on..

So don't take too much notice of the bad reviews out there, lets face it people usually only write to complain and if everything is fine then they don't bother...

I love the car, its comfy, economical, fun to drive, looks fantastic and does just what it says on the tin.

Dean

got my freelander freestyle td4 auto when she was a year old with 9k on the clock, the only money she's cost me is the servicing and wear and tear items,the fuel economy is as good as you can expect on such a vehicle 33/34mpg, on a trip to Fort William 400 miles from my house with a kayak on top a bike on the back and a ton of camping gear cost me just under a full tank of diesel,the only gripe i have is the poor quality of the carpet with it being an automatic my left foot has worn a hole in the carpet next to the foot rest,the boot space is quite small but i have a dog guard so i can stack shopping high rather thand spread it out,ive had her greenlaning in Scotland been through mud snow and sand,even through 2 feet of flood water with ease with all terrian tyres,over all i had this motor for 4 years and im still happy with her,my next car when i can afford one will be the version 2.

Had my TD4 5 door ES for 6 months, got it cheap as it has 130k miles on it so was a bit apprehensive especially having heard about its build quality. Had to replace all four tyres, get the tracking done and replace some missing stereo buttons straight away to stop a whiring sound caused by uneven tyre wear. Still worked out cheap so was happy especially with the strong engine, smooth ride ( better then my new company Zafira )and useful size and space. ES is well spec'ed but dash and door cards have a cheap feel. Really comfortable and stylish car though.
Mine has seen plenty of off road treatment meaning I ave also had to replace a top front shock bush, anti roll bar link rod and have the calipers unseized and new pads.
I am unsurprised as these items are mostly wear and tear and at 130k hard miles ( with mostly LR service history ) most 4x4's would probably need this kind of maintanance. I may also need to replace the front wish bones as there is slight play but not bad enough to fail an mot.
The only other thing that is faulty is the electric sun roof but I gather they all go sooner or later and it is just not worth repairing ( have air con anyway ).
I have had many older cars before and some have been worse and some have been better, none have had 130k miles though and I have bought this car for the long term.
I still feel the overall package is great, these days people somehow seem to think cars do not need maintanance and if they go wrong it is a disaster. Things have moved on so much and peoples expectations so high that unless perfection is supplied people tend to be very harsh.
Don't forget that even the Germans and Japanese manufacturers are not bullet proof and have their own issues, let alone the French ! One of the best cars I have owned in recent years was an Alfa 156 !
Choose carefully and don't pay too much, manage expectations and do not use main dealers unless the car is still under warranty. A TD4 Freelander makes a practical, enjoyable and stylish choice at the right price.