Land Rover Freelander (2006 - 2014) 2.2 Td4 HSE 5d Auto Owner Review

Owned my Freelander 2 around 6 months now. Bought used with around 110k miles, it’s fair to say I’m extremely impressed with this car. I went for the 2.2 TD4 Diesel engine which is found in the earlier cars, around 160bhp which offers plenty of torque and power, in my opinion the car doesn’t feel underpowered however it does sound a bit agricultural... it is a Land Rover after all! I also decided to choose an Auto, personally a car of this type deserves an automatic gearbox, the 6 speed box is smooth and fairly precise considering it’s nothing fancy. The car is 14 years old after all! In terms of economy I average 30mpg on my 35 mile round trip to work which consists of mainly A roads and a few B roads. It’s fair to say I’m quite a spirited driver too! Not too bad at all considering. I’ve got the HSE trim level, which on the earlier cars was the second highest trim level, I believe HST was the range topper. It has everything you could want and more... Panoramic sunroof, heated seats, full electric leather seats, Bluetooth, nav, parking sensors all round and a fantastic Alpine branded sound system. There’s plenty of toys to keep everyone happy and the ‘captain chairs’ up front with individual armrests provide a superb, commanding driving position. I’m going to talk about reliability because it’s important and I won’t lie... I’ve had issues. But it’s a 14 year old car with over 100,000 miles so it’s to be expected. It’s had a replacement intercooler (a fairly easy job once you’ve got the bumper off) due to it leaking and a new throttle body (again an ok job, plenty of access) because the plastic cogs inside the throttle body strip themselves causing a horrendous noise. I’ve also replaced the thermostat due to it not getting up to temperature and most recently the energiser wire on the starter motor snapped off due to corrosion. The engine bay is nice and roomy so there’s lots of space to work on it and more importantly because it’s not a Jaguar/Land Rover derived engine, parts are fairly cheap and easy to get hold of! Few things to look out for when buying one, there’s a big 10 year service which includes a haldex oil/filter change and rear diff oil change. This is crucial as a rear diff rebuild or new haldex unit is pricey, around £1000+ for both. These cars have a fantastic four wheel drive system and it’s one of their key features so make sure this is working and has been cared for. Other points to note are boost leaks from loose/ripped hoses, these can usually heard from the engine bay when driving, and as nominal as it sounds, check the lower bolster on the drivers seat. It tends to rip and don’t look great! So to conclude, a versatile, comfortable, great looking suv (and I will call it that because it certainly fits the sports utility vehicle category!) A few issues to look out for but nothing that can be avoided through correct maintenance (as with any car of course). It’s still very much a Land Rover but compared to the first Freelander it’s far more refined with a touch of luxury and dare I even say it... just like a baby Range Rover!