LandRover Freelander -comments?

markelock

goldspanners wrote: »

i think the freelander is regarded as the "gaylander" in land rover circles.

they leak like sieves apparently,and not leaks from the engine,the door seals and window seals leak when it rains or when you wash them,there is a tray in the boot that collects a lot of rain water,most owners drill holes in them to let the water drain off rather than replace the boot seal again.

brilliant.

MrsE_2

movilogo wrote: »

The pre-2006 (old shape) Freelanders were notoriously unreliable (just search on any car forum). The new model is much better though.

Freelander is a very capable off roader. Its unique terrain response system and electronic torque distribution aids allow even novice drivers to perform mind boggling level of off roading (I myself did that with no previous experience).

If you are intending to go off road, then go ahead and buy a post 2006 Freelander. There is hardly any competition at that price range.

However, if you only do school run, avoid this car at all cost - it's just not worth buying.

All the cars mentioned above (eg. RAV4, CRV, Outlander, Xtrail etc.) are far better choice than Freelander for day to day driving. However, if you consider off roading capability, they are just babies compared to Freelander. There are only few cars which are more capable off roader than Freelander viz. LR Discovery, Toyota Landcruiser/HiLux, Mitsubishi Shogun, Nissan Pathfinder, Daihatsu Terios (can't recall anything else now)

Daihatsu Terios - I though they were silly little SUV's.

BillScarab

Hintza wrote: »

The freelander would not be your first choice as a dedicated 4x4 though. It could not live with the demands required and can only be described as a soft off roader. I could just about get the freelander to go anywhere a true offroader could but again it would come down to choice of tyres and ground clearance might be an issue.

Definately not first choice as a dedicated off-roader. I just remember being surprised at how well a standard looking one did when i was at an off-road day a few years ago. No idea what tyres were on it but I suspect they were fairly chunky. They're probably a bit delicate for a proper off-roader anyway.

EDIT: Forgot to say the Terios is pretty good off-road as shown on Top Gear earlier this year. Anothe surprisingly good one is the Suzuki Jimny.

Hintza

Fiat Panda 4x4?

itsmeagain

Hintza
I'm getting confused. OK we know about the tyres and the ground clearance. Amongst other constraints, I asked in post 10 "If you want a vehicle ... with the no less than the off road capability of a freelander, then what vehicle would be a better option"

You replied in post 11 with "the freelander it has fairly limited off road abilities and without going into too much detail my short list of options for a soft offroader would be:-
Toyota RAV
Honda CRV
Nissan XTrail
and slightly lower down the Nissan Quashqai, Suzuki SX4, Fiat Sedici
Others include:- Subaru Forrester, Mitsibushi Outlander."

In post 13 you said "I could just about get the freelander to go anywhere a true offroader could"

You must be good to do that if "freelander has fairly limited off road abilities" AND "I suspect it might edge it on off raod ability"

Post 20... "I have never driven the Freelander so i can't really comment on its off road abilities"

iolanthe07

A question for the scinics...

!!!!!! is a 'scinic? Do you mean 'cynic'?

Hintza

OK some of the guys on here seem to think the freelander has good off road capabilities as I said I have never driven one so can't really comment too much. But where I will comment will be longevity of parts if it is used for hard off road work.


If you want a true 4x4 you will be looking at a Defender in my opinion but I couldn't live with one on a daily basis. Which then means you start looking at others such as Toyota Hilux etc

What do you need an off roader for? Until we know that then it's hard to speculate.

itsmeagain

iolanthe07 wrote: »

A question for the scinics...

!!!!!! is a 'scinic? Do you mean 'cynic'?

Its a skinny cynic!:o

itsmeagain

Hintza - My confusion wasn't the difference in opinion between different people. It was over you appearing to changing your own opinions from one post to the next.

OK... Say i wanna car for normal every day family use, that is Freelander size, to do 20,000 miles per year. I tow a boat, trailer, caravan etc occasionally (30 times per year). I drive on the beach to launch my boat, pull stuck RAV 4's off the beach, drive in hilly snowy areas off road in scotland, through deep muddy farm tracks (similar to Eastnor gearbox hill) all on std M+S tyres. What other 4x4 is Freelander size AND able perform my off road exploits better than my Freelander?

Hintza

itsmeagain wrote: »

Hintza - My confusion wasn't the difference in opinion between different people. It was over you appearing to changing your own opinions from one post to the next.

OK... Say i wanna car for normal every day family use, that is Freelander size, to do 20,000 miles per year. I tow a boat, trailer, caravan etc occasionally (30 times per year). I drive on the beach to launch my boat, pull stuck RAV 4's off the beach, drive in hilly snowy areas off road in scotland, through deep muddy farm tracks (similar to Eastnor gearbox hill) all on std M+S tyres. What other 4x4 is Freelander size AND able perform my off road exploits better than my Freelander?

Trolling? OK your Freelander is a fantastic choice (don't blame me when you break it) is that what you want to hear?.

How many times have I to say I haven't driven one, but I can read the reports on it.