As a Freelander owner since 1998 and having driven nearly 250,000kms in Freelanders you will not see me in a showroom looking at the new model any time before Christmas this year at the earliest.
Honestly, I believe that you people who have ordered now and swallowed the exclusive, limited stock B/S are suckers. Land Rover in Australia do that with EVERY model when it's released, they always have and they will probably do it into the future. By the time the new year rolls around and all the early adopters have been milked you will find that things like Bluetooth will have suddenly become no cost options just like everywhere else.

BTW. To the person who is talking about paint and leather treatments. DON'T. They do absolutely nothing as far as providing any increased protection and they certainly do not improve your resale value. Keep your money in your pocket because after 6 months you will not be able to tell any difference between a vehicle with the treatments and one without.

I largely agree with you K1W1. But my trouble is I need a vehicle now - one car in the family is not enough and I can't seem to justify buying another car for 6-12 months & then upgrade to the FL2 later. Or maybe I can, but getting anything other than the FL2 (ie Suzuki Vitara) in the meantime could just be disappointing.

But yes, at the moment I feel shafted by LR Australia as they seem to have made a conscious decision to remove some 'standard features' from the UK SE & HSE models (ie Bluetooth, better stereo & 14 speakers) and have it as part of an expensive technology package - which is bound to be an included as an end of calendar year runout deal.

But like all things - early adopters pay more, for usually less. I would love to have a "ratchet" clause in my purchase of the FL2 where it states that any future promotions on the vehicle, for say the next 3 months, I am entitled to it. How great would that be - it would get the early adopters in there with comfort that they are not missing out on near future promotions.

NB: Ratchet clauses are used in selling part of a business where you are guaranteed the highest sale price, even if you sold your shares now at $1 per share and the business later sells shares for $1.20 - a ratchet clause allows you to be entitled to that extra 20 cents - a timeframe usually applies. A similar concept for cars could be used (using features, rather than price). Also Microsoft use it, purchase Windows, and receive technical patches through the life of the product, even purchasee just before a big release of a new product, receive an upgrade guarantee - examples of various ratchet clauses being used in business.

Commercial reality would suggest this is not practical in motor vehicles, but I guess I am just throwing a suggestion out there.

Can someone convince me that buying the FL2 is still a good idea. I had convinced myself at the beginning, but my recent thoughts have swayed me to think twice.

Thanks guys & girls

AGREED,

Its a lot $$ for not much car.

THe initial spec looked good but after LRA finished with it it was left very basic.

will now wait and see what transpires.

No great rush to purchase one now.

Michael.

Well,

In the end I got shafted as the dealer only kept the value of my vehicle (trade in) for 30 days. I lost $5K in my trade 30 days later in the reavlueation and was told we would have to continue to revalue the car again in 30days etc until the car finally arrives in Australia.

After 2 months, I have given up and cancelled my order.

Not only that but I purchased a fully optioned MY07 Jeep Grand Cherokee this week and also received $11K more for my trade in. Yes, thats right, $11K more.........

I now have a bigger car, fully optioned including DVD, sunroof, 3 litre V6 turbo diesel etc etc......and all for around $5K more in the end.....

Seems to me some car sales poeple simply dont care about keeping a customer long term.
I was a Nissan person for over 20 years..........and the service I got from Jeep was nothing short of sensational.

Sorry FL2, I do feel a little sad, but I simply did not get the service I was after (and that was'nt much) but to be totally screwed over on my trade in was the icing. That and the lack of returned phone calls.. Trust No-one but Yourself

Sounds like a good deal from Jeep.

I have looked at them to.

LRA need to lift thieigame a lot.

Michael.

Good luck guys............now enjoying my awesome Jeep and loving it. After only 2 says, I'm slowly being converted.

Several Oz Jeep sites and one has over 100 members everynight...

So its goodnight from him, and its goodnight from me........

God Bless !!!!!!! Trust No-one but Yourself

Okay,
So you all know that I go Hot, then Cold on my order.

This week, I am hot - so I am still p!ssed that Bluetooth doesn't come standard - but I am over that - $500 after market should cover that need.

But most other SUVs on the market don't have the technology that the FL2 does. Even the dearer BMW & VW don't match up.

I was told the demo will arrive mid June & my ordered FL2 HSE will be delivered on the yet to be offical launch date - 1st July. So already my promissed delivery time of mid-late June has been pushed back - we'll see how far back it gets pushed. But if it goes too far back...

BTW - friend just bought a Ford GT 290KW car this week - I told him great car - but I couldn't warrant having to fill the fuel tank with $50 notes all the time, cause that thing would burn some serious cash! Sounds great though!
Back to the diesel FL2 - luxury without worrying about running costs & purcchase price pretty similar.

Anyone heard anything on expected launch date / delivery timeframes of FL2 elsewhere? NB: I'm from Brisbane.

Enjoy the weekend - whats left.

I was actually told that fortnight ago before I cancelled my order that they are now running up to 6 weeks behind schedule and that the test/demo's will not be appearing until end June early July at best.

Good luck guys............ Trust No-one but Yourself

Is anybody buying FL2 in OZ yet? I have only seen one on the road in SE Qld and that was on the launch weekend and had NSW plates so I'm assuming that it was involved with the launch. This Australian forum seems stangely quiet as well.

It's a beautiful vehicle and I want one but I would like to know if the dealers are feeling any pain yet and are ready to reduce the exhorbitant delivery fees and charges for paint - or can I take mine without paint!

Any advice or news would be welcome.

Hi Wantitnow,

I test drove one too and the Canberra LR dealer let me have a pertol SE over the weekend 6-7 July. Very pleased with the feel of the vehicle - everything I expected and more. Just loved it

I have orderd a HSE 3.2 petrol in Sumatra Black, alpaca leather with sunroof. I'm told it will not arrive until the first week of November.

I have since seen 3 x FL2's on the roads in Canberra - all grey or silver - no other colours yet. two of them were the demo ones I drove in July (petrol & diesel). I am surprised how long the delivery takes I must say - guess a slow boat from UK!

I am now think I should have ordered the 2.2 D-turbo as recent published tests in Oz have it doing 15Lt/100Klm City on premium 95-98 fuel.

Regards,

Paul

I am thinking of ordering one this weekend. I too am a bit reluctant over the dealer fee and paint charges but we'll see what they can do. It sure is an expensive car for what you get but then there seems to be nothing in the market that will be reasonable on a 4x4 trip while still being relatively car like on road.

The FL2 launch in the UK was very well orchestrated in June 2006. Dealers didn't get them until about Oct 2006, and they all insisted that there would be absolutley no price deals for first 18 months. That, plus the fact that the diesel auto was not available till May 2007, made me wait.

I'm very glad I did. I got a reasonable discount, a fair trade-in price and a fault free car. Brilliant.

It's annoying, but maybe wait a few months before you buy!  Life is not a dress rehearsal!

Well just got back from ordering a SE TD4 with a few extras. I got dealer delivery down to $995 and free servicing for 3 years so all up about a $5500 saving. Now when it gets here will be another story. I think if I see it by the end of October I will be lucky.

Hi FooMan and Sievester

It's nice to see some action on this site at last.

Great to hear that you got some movement on the 'stand-and-deliver' charges Sievester. Under 1K is much more reasonable and the free servicing for three years is a nice sweatener. If I can get something similar out of the Gold Coast dealer I'd be a happy boy. So I had better get serious and talk to the robber. Like most here I love the car and appreciate the quality - I just don't want to feel that I have had my arms and legs scewed off in doing the deal.

Just out of interest Sievester what colour did you go for? I also want the TD4 and the GC dealer tells me he has a number in stock 'ready to go now' - including a Tambora Flame which looks awesome on the brochues but I think it may just be a bit too lairy for me long-term.

The last thing we need in a car in Queensland is more sun, so I don't think I will be taking the sun-roof FooMan!

wantitnow wrote:

Under 1K is much more reasonable and the free servicing for three years is a nice sweatener.

wantitnow wrote:

Just out of interest Sievester what colour did you go for? I also want the TD4 and the GC dealer tells me he has a number in stock 'ready to go now' - including a Tambora Flame