Topic: CD Article: Land Rover Freelander, 2002-2005

[Autos_Editor]

You may discuss our cover story of the day in this thread....
Used Vehicle Review:

The smallest Land Rover, the Freelander is "capable of serious off roading" and includes "a raft of electronic traction aids", says Contributing Editor, Chris Chase.   However, reliability is "poor" according to Consumer Reports.  "The Freelander falls squarely into the "buy-at-your-own-risk" used vehicle category," he says.
   
   More...

[Eric Green]

Restaurants in the United States. Search or browse list of restaurants. 

[AVToller]

Gee Eric, why not tell us how you REALLY feel. 

[random006]

As a current Land-Rover owner, here is my advice to anyone considering the purchase of one of these things (now well out of warranty):

RUN, do not walk, RUN away from the deal.  Do not even consider one of these trucklets. This is NOT an offroad vehicle. It is not spacious. It is not well-finished inside. It is not prestigous. It is not reliable. It is not inexpensive to repair. It is not good on gas. It is not a RAV4/CRV/Santa Fe.

Caveat sucker...

It is interesting that the article compares the Freelander to the Sorento.  I considered the Freelander very briefly but went with the bigger and comparably priced Sorento.  I did not succumb to the lure of the famous British marque.  Rarely have I heard of a modern vehicle that had so much negative press from a marque that has so much riding on its image of toughness and luxury.

While I was getting my car washed one day, I chatted with a woman who was getting her Freelander washed and she said she regretted buying the vehicle completely.  She did not elaborate on why but I got the impression that the list of reasons was rather long.

To deal with the above points, the Sorento is (in comparison):
1.  an off-road vehicle
2.  spacious
3.  well finished inside
4.  not prestigious in the way a Land Rover is but perhaps should be?
5.  reliable
6.  inexpensive to repair on most things so far.  Not much has gone wrong. 
7.  not good on gas
8.  not a RAV4 or Santa Fe either.  Nor should it be as it is a truck based vehicle.
9.  still under warranty.

It was for those reasons and more that I chose to skip the Freelander.  Good thing too.

Maybe Canadian Driver should do a similar piece on the Sorento and allow for a compare and contrast.

[articsteve]

Vehicle wholesalers refer to all Land Rover products of those years and before, as grenades with the pin missing.   

[ktm525]

The only thing they keep coming back to is the Freelander is a "real" off-roader because it has hill descent. OK.     The lack of a low-range or locking/limited slip axles and paper thin skid plates show that this thing is meant for the mall. Think of these things as a unreliable Rav4.

[Arthur Dent]

no need for a full article really - can be summed up in one word: crap

even a poser has better choices.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

I couldn't believe how junky this thing was when I finally inspected one up close.

I think any other option would be better than this one, really.

[johngenx]

Talking to an owner of a Freelander I know, he said that the fuel economy is actually quite poor, mechanical and electrical problems abound, and resale is non-existant.  The dealer acts like any problem is his fault and service when it was under warranty was poor.  He's unfortunately massively upside down in it, tried to trade it for a Forester, but the combined lumping on of the Freelander's balance onto the Foresters price made it too expensive.

So, he's stuck with it until he can pay off the much-too-large-in-the-first-place loan on it, but is having troubles paying it down because the thing needs very expensive repairs constantly.  He's talked about parking it, as that would save repair costs, and buying a $1000 beater to drive.  Think about that.  Making payments on your Land Rover and driving a $1000 beater.

The only redeeming quality his Freelander has is that kids seem to think it's neat.  I actually met this fellow as his daughter is in my daughter's class, and they have become friends.  The 7 year olds think the LR is cool.  Maybe LR could attack a new segment?

Land Rover should be ashamed for making such a terrible product.

[tortoise]

That's a horrible scenario.

[quadzilla]

I thought VW had the most hated thread....we have a new winner. 

[UmroAyyar]

He might have tried to cash the coupons for repairs.

[AVToller]

I remember a guy last year who had one (just got it) and he was defending it and boasting that he bought it for the cachet and it came with discount coupons to fancy restaurants and shows 
I wonder what he would say now, if he still has it.

Funny, I was just wondering what happened to him too. Hope he was one of the lucky ones. 

[Accordingly]

Hopefully, the LR2 will offer some improvements...

[PJungnitsch]

Ford must be shaking their head about the Aston Martin/Jaguar/Land Rover purchases. Hopefully LD gets the new diesel for the new F150 right, cause they are going to sell a lot right off the bat if it is priced reasonably.

[Bullet Blue]

Hopefully, the LR2 will offer some improvements...

Only time will tell for that, but I predict it will sell the same way the Freelander did...no well.

[Mitlov]

Ford must be shaking their head about the Aston Martin/Jaguar/Land Rover purchases.

I wonder if Louis Vuitton wants to sell SUVs as well as sports cars...

[ovr50]

Ford must be shaking their head about the Aston Martin/Jaguar/Land Rover purchases. Hopefully LD gets the new diesel for the new F150 right, cause they are going to sell a lot right off the bat if it is priced reasonably.

Actually, Aston Martin was a profitable division; but I believe it has now been sold off to others as part of Ford's plan to survive (much as GM had to do in the past years). Jaguar and LR are a different story and are not profitable so it may be harder to attract a buyer.

[gta_driver]

I never had any issues when I owned my Freelander. It was reliable and economical(I'm too old to race). Lifestyle changes (i.e., new baby, no time for off-roading and a need for some more cargo room) percipitated me getting rid of my LR. The Freelander in my view was an excellent off-roading vehicle and on road it drove it did drive like a high end European sports car, I found the cornering flat for a mini-ute.

The 2002 model Freelanders all lemons, especially the lower level S model which uses a  slighly diffrent engine with a different valve design that's prone to failure. Ford/ Land Rover got its act to gether and later year models (i.e. 2004 and 2005) are pretty reliable. Ford raided the parts bin and made some changes swapping parts from the Ford Escape and Mazda parts bin (VIS motor which was a common failure on early models aren't an issue with the '04 and newer models, Ford had Mazda engineers redesign and manufacture the part).

Customer service at the dealer was a little uneven, if it was good it was really good, if it was bad it was really bad, however a call to complain Land Rover/Jaguar customer service was always handled properly and seriously and remedies to resolve the problem always delivered quickly and satisfactorily.

The author of the article couldn't find any large north American forums that are discussion points for the Freelander. Here are a few I found quite useful when I owned the Freelander.

Here are a few:

www.muddyoval.com

This is a North American based forum with a a large Canadian contingent on this LR forum. They have a very active Freelander section. They where once affiliated with freelanderliving.com

http://www.maritimerovers.org/

These guys are incredibly friendly and knowlgeable. Many of them own Freelanders as daily drivers(there secondary LR's being the old series trucks). Most members come from Atlantic Canada with a strong bunch of members from Central Canada, Ontario and a handful from the New England States.


http://www.roverclub.org/

The local Toronto club. Some members are lets say "a little moody", however most are very helpful nonetheless.

[chrischasescars]

Thanks for contributing those links, gta_driver.