1998 Land Rover Freelander Reviews - Page 5 of 7

The transfer drive gear box failed after only 38000 miles. The gearing was completely destroyed. The vehicle had never been off road since my purchase in 1999. When Land rover were contacted they stated that since the repair was not effected by one of their nominated dealers then they refused to acknowledge the probelem. The new gear box was supplied by their nominated dealer and the damaged box had to be returned to their dealer or a payment of another £1000 would be required to keep the box.

Head Gasket blew at 74000 miles, new engine fitted under warranty.

I use this car, primarily, for motorway work travelling long distances at high speed. I've also completed a number of trips into Europe.

The handling is good and predictable for a vehicle in it's class.

The engine has plenty of torque, but feels underpowered when accelerating.

It's comfortable, a bit noisy over 70 (road noise mainly) but it's fitted with a good radio...

When driving long distance (430 miles), the rear of the car went into flames. On stopping on motorway in an emergency, the fire was put out and emergency services were called out. The description of the fault was that the exhaust had blown and instead of dragging on the ground, it had lifted up into the car and had melted rear lights, bumper and part of the electrics. The car failed all electrics tests and the damage was in excess of UK sterling #4,800. This was fixed in 5 days.

The car started leaking oil from the front drivers wheel arch and went through 6 litres of oil in 25 minutes. This was due to the oil filter fusing with other wires which had been rubbing for approximately 1 year unnoticed on any services or tests.

More attention should be paid to the workings of the vehicle rather than style and off road capability.

Services should be more thorough (not even the water bottle was refilled on the last service).

Excessive rear tyre wear.

Clutch squeak on days over 30 degrees C.

Two brake light bulbs.

Minor oil leak from the gearbox.

I purchased this vehicle over a Subaru Forrester mainly because of the slightly larger size and diesel motor. During the time I owned it (for 90,000 km) it was absolutely reliable and a joy to drive on and off road. Obviously off road was not Defender territory. I consistently got 700 km from 50 litres of diesel.

Aftersales service in Australia was very good and many of the issues mentioned in other reviews were handled under warranty as a result of service bulletin notification to owners.

Would I buy another one?

I'm picking up a 2002 Diesel Auto tomorrow.

Excessive, uneven tyre wear after 18 months and 16,000 miles was due to all four wheels being out of alignment. The dealer, in theory, fixed this problem. However at the time of the vehicles annual service, which took place two months later, the wheels were found to be profoundly out of alignment.

The local dealer did not accept this.

The steering became heavy after two years. Fluid loss was to blame for this.

I am currently in contact with the UK Head Office regarding more new rear tyres for the car. Excessive, uneven wear has re-occurred. There is a known problem at Land Rover regarding this and the head office sent a letter to all dealers that they should provide new tyres to all people suffering with this problem. The only solution to fix the problem is to "buy a new car".

I enjoy driving the car and find it very comfortable.

It's a shame the enjoyment is ruined by vibrating, unevenly worn tyres.