Faults:

Apart from the rear diff packing up at 24 000 km, repaired and paid for by Land Rover Portugal, and a front diff at 120000 km, paid by me, the car has been a pleasure.

I have driven it to places that a horse would not go to offroad, due to my business being rural property sales, where a 4x4 is needed, and is at times fully loaded with 5 passengers.

Thinking of buying the new Freelander 2.

General Comments:

I have done long distance ie 800 km, and it's OK for comfort.

Faults:

The LCD display had to be replaced, what else is new?

The a/c motor failed, after being flooded with engine coolant. It seems to be a common problem. Coolant descends trough the electric wires and gets into the motor. I cleaned up the motor using solvent for electric motors, and it was like new, then sealed the hole trough where the coolant was getting in. I never had that coolant smell again.

Sometimes the level on the coolant container goes down, and a few kilometers later comes back up misteriously, if I had filled it up meanwhile it would have blown up.

I got stuck in mud once, and was pulled out by a friend. That small hook on the front bumper is only there for decoration, it's not strong enough and will twist and bend deforming the plastic around it.

When going uphill, tell the guy that follows you to keep a safe distance of at least 50m, if you let the engine go off, you will instantly loose all brake power and go backward without any brakes at all until you manage to start the engine again, I don't know if other SUV's behave like this, this can be very dangerous.

The mirrors won't bend and stay bended, which means that you just can't go trough certain narrow places. Eventually a mirror will be taken out by a bus or a tree, and it will cost you 150€.

The real big problem with the Freelander are the maintenance costs. It's not hard to find a shop specialized in Land Rovers, find a serious and experienced private mechanic or sell the car, just don't go the so called 'official' shops. Changing the engine belts will cost you 900€ and a week without the car. I found a local guy who replaced the 3 belts and all bearings in one afternoon charging 150€. It seems that the only thing that keeps Land Rover from bankruptcy are the absurd maintenance costs.

General Comments:

My Freelander has taken me too many interesting places with comfort and economy.

It has many off-road limitations, but enough to absolutely overcome it's closest competitors; the Toyota Rav4 and the Honda H-RV.

And it has the nice Land Rover logo on it.

It's the perfect combination of road and off-road capability. It's one of the few SUV's that you can drive in the city without looking ridiculous.

The 2.0 diesel engine (not the td4) is very economical, however it could be more powerful.

General Comments:

The car is comfortable, pulls well and is pleasant to handle.

A lot of thumping noise when driving moderately fast with rear windows open.

The differential went at around 60,000 km and now, at 95,000 km it is beginning to hum again. No apparent reason and very costly (2,000 euros) to replace.

Imobilizer hung twice for no reason.

Luggage compartment locker is often wet inside, no apparent reason.

Radio display has vanished. 45 euros to replace.

Faults:

First 6 months of use, 10K Km, and the only thing to report is an annoying noise made by the left door window when it goes up.

And yes I've taken it off-road several times (at least one each weekend, and a lot of paint scratches) and its behavior is a lot better than a Honda CR-V or a Subaru Forester. And the wonders of the HDC are all true.

General Comments:

A wonderful car, a not so hard off roader (it's not a Defender of course) and a 2.0 TD Engine that could have a little more power and torque. Maybe another gear (6) for going up, cause to come down you have HDC.

Very easy to ride, and with lots of comfort in it. Ok Ok it's not a Mercedes, or a BMW but it's one of the most confortable cars from Land-Rover.