freelander2 alternative?

stargazer001

I'm going to replace my Freelander 2 after many years. Love the car but want something cheaper to tax sleuth better mpg. And if I'm honest. I no longer need a proper off roader. If they made one with better mpg and cheaper tax then I'd just buy a newer one. But they font so I'm looking for alternatives.
So far looked at the tiguan (lovely car, arranging a test drive next week), the xc60 (might be a bit big) and the x3 (too expensive,looking at 15k max and represents slope.so a nightmare for extended rear facing car seats). Didn't like the crv at all.

Am I missing any I should check out or does anyone have any recommendations on the ones I've mentioned?

harveybobbles

Buy an estate car?

harveybobbles

stargazer001 wrote: »

I'm going to replace my Freelander 2 after many years. Love the car but want something cheaper to tax sleuth better mpg. And if I'm honest. I no longer need a proper off roader. If they made one with better mpg and cheaper tax then I'd just buy a newer one. But they font so I'm looking for alternatives.
So far looked at the tiguan (lovely car, arranging a test drive next week), the xc60 (might be a bit big) and the x3 (too expensive,looking at 15k max and represents slope.so a nightmare for extended rear facing car seats). Didn't like the crv at all.

Am I missing any I should check out or does anyone have any recommendations on the ones I've mentioned?

It never was a propper off roader was it?

loskie

The Tiguan is soon to be replaced so should be some good deals.

Subaru XV or Outback worth a look. A fairly recent one should be available in your budget. Diesel models are fairly fuel efficient. Should be reliable too.
Skoda Yeti?

Harveybobbles: Having driven a Freelander 2 off road on standard road tyres you would be surprised what it is capable of.

Iceweasel

I agree with the Freelander being a very capable off-road machine - it can put many of the 'big boys'to shame.

The only limiting factor is the ground clearance.

If you don't need the off-road capability any more then the Yeti is definitely worth looking at.

Having said that ,when I moved from a remote house 2 miles up a dead end country lane, I replaced my Freelander with a BMW 320D and bought an extra set of wheels with winter tyres.

BeenThroughItAll

harveybobbles wrote: »

It never was a propper off roader was it?

I know someone who runs an off-road course, and there's virtually nothing except one deep wade really only suitable for lifted vehicles which will stop a Freelander 2. With non-100% road-focused tyres on, they are very much a capable 'proper' off roader. Even on standard factory boots they're a world away from the other soft-roaders on the market.


Unless you consider 'proper' off-roaders only to be agricultural, ladder-chassied, iron-beam axled, permanent 4WD vehicles with locking diffs and a good old-fashioned mechanical transfer case, for a good 90% of the people who semi-regularly or even habitually drive off-tarmac, a Freelander 2 will be perfectly sufficient.


(And no, I don't own one, nor have I ever. We used to have one at work and I hated it; uncomfortable, noisy and unreliable thing it was.)

anotherbaldrick

loskie wrote: »

The Tiguan is soon to be replaced so should be some good deals

Harveybobbles: Having driven a Freelander 2 off road on standard road tyres you would be surprised what it is capable of.

The Tiguan is supposedly up for replacement and has been for some time now, it is starting to look a bit olde worlde. However apart from the press conjecture and my dealer saying 2015 nothing concrete has come out of VWAG. In Autocar mag "new cars in 2015 nothing for the Tiguan. However the Audi Q3 has been well facelifted and I have just put in a request for one , they are however on quite a long delivery though not as bad as the BMW X3.

Shaka_Zulu

Cast your eye over a Jeep Renegade with the small 1.4 petrol engine (or the small diesel if your mileage warrants). Looks a lot of fun.

BeenThroughItAll

Shaka_Zulu wrote: »

Cast your eye over a Jeep Renegade with the small 1.4 petrol engine (or the small diesel if your mileage warrants). Looks a lot of fun.

Only problem with the newer Jeeps is the interior plastics appear to have regressed. I was at the Northumberland County Show at the weekend, and the new 2015 Grand Cherokee they had there was worse quality inside than the 2003 Grand Cherokee I drove there in. Plastics felt like a Kia in a lot of places.

ZiggerZagger

depends how long you can hang on


the new disco sport is coming (but that might not tick the tax box and for them to drop to £15k in value, you're going have to wait a while)


xc90 is too big I think, same for audi q7 and bmw x5


depends what you are actually looking for. If you drop down a size, you're looking at bmw x3 (I agree pricey - but it is constantly rated the top car in that size bracket), audi q5 or q3 but once you've dropped down to that size, you might as well read my thread in Motoring from yesterday when I looked at the ones that size (Honda crv, skoda yeti, Nissan qashqai, Hyundai ix35 etc.). You'll get a lot more value for £15k with those models


I didn't like the Tiguan - thought it was very boxy and I think it's hugely expensive for what it is (if you look at the Tiguan, then look at the Ford Smax, VW Touran etc.)


sounds like you are not quite sure what you are looking for

sillygoose

After a Freelander you might find the Tiguan a bit claustrophobic, I found it cramped compared to a CRV. Its starting to show its age now the ride is really not brilliant and avoid larger wheels as it becomes horribly lumpy then. I had one in January on a 3 day test and gave up after one day to save my fillings.

How about a previous shape Nissan X-trail? chunky but not that big really, the Yeti is certainly worth a look, it drives a hell of a lot nicer than a Tiguan in my experience but is made of pretty much the same stuff.

Your budget would also get you a brand new upspec Dacia Duster, I wouldn't buy one if I did frequent long runs but for mostly local work its good.

Or how about a Suzuki Grand Vitara diesel?