Just signed up today, and thought it would be rude not to say hello.
I've been looking into getting a Land Rover for some time now, and finally bought a Freelander 2, 6 weeks or so ago. What can I say? I love it!
The first hurdle was convincing the Mrs we needed one. This was done with the aid of a Land Rover off road experience day which I bought for her birthday. (Good of me I know!)
Suitably convinced, we started looking about 18 months ago. I fancied a Defender, but our budget would only stretch to an older one which wouldn't suit the motorway commute it would be doing everyday. Next up was a Discovery. We looked at one, but found it to be a little too big for our needs. Undeterred by the notorious reliability issues, we looked at Freelander 1s. After looking at a couple upto around the £4K mark and not finding any suitable ones we kind of lost our way a little bit and started looking at Honda CRVs and Toyota RAV4s.
Luckily, nothing suitable materialised. I'm quite fussy with cars, and to pay £4-5k on a car with bodywork/paint issues just doesn't sit well with me. I'm sure I'm not the only person who's travelled miles to view a car reported as in "good condition throughout," to find big chunks missing from bumpers etc.
I had completely disregarded Freelander 2s as being too expensive, but as the search continued into June, I noticed their prices had just started to drop to around the £4K mark. Result!
We scurried off to see a bottom of the range Freelander 2 in silver one Sunday afternoon all excited at the prospect of Land Rover ownership. The price was good at £4K, service history, and privately advertised so no trader to deal with, it sounded great. As soon as I walked round the car, my excitement disappeared. A big scratch down each side, all the wheel arch protectors were hanging off and both rear wheel arches were rusty behind the rear doors. I didn't even bother driving it.
I'd travelled 30 miles, but at least I'd gotten to have a look around one and see what they were like.
On the way home we decided to look at three others all within 5 miles of where we live. 2 with one trader, and another at a different trader.
The first 2 were parked next to each other. An 07 plate, and a 10 plate. Both had the same rust around the bottom of the rear wheel arches, in fact the newest was the worst of the 2. I couldn't quite get me head around this rust issue. My £100 Avensis I was running around in didn't have any rust! I thought maybe, this is what a "cheap" Freelander is all about.
Feeling slightly disheartened, we called to see the final Freelander 2 just because it was on the way home.
Well, what can I say? What a surprise! I only needed to walk round it to see this was the one. Nice clean condition, not battered with parking dents, very little rust around the rear arches. It's silver which is a little boring, and over-done, but it's a good colour for a car with older paintwork because it can hide minor blemishes etc. It's an SE so it has the electric half leather seats, sunroof, audio upgrade and all that kind of stuff. 125k miles, full service history on an 07 plate, and with side steps and privacy glass. It does need a few jobs here and there, but nothing major. Usual stuff, tyres etc, but I don't mind that, I'd rather buy a car cheaper with worn out tyres and chose what I want to put on it rather than paying for someone else's choice if that makes sense.
We're about 1000 miles and 6 weeks in and we're absolutely made up with it!
Finally living the dream!

Last edited by busboy1303 on 14th Aug 2017 7:51 pm. Edited 2 times in total

Taken last week on holiday at Blackrock Sands, Wales.

Nice car, hope you enjoy it. I've had mine for about the same time  2013 GS Baltic Blue - part exchanged now for Volvo V40

Nice

Being an 07 if its not had a 10 year service start budgeting. Spread the items out to keep you from having debt collectors at the door .

You will defo need a cam belt change with all the bells and whistles like water pump, auxiliary belt.

The transmission oils will need changing. good idea to get the Haldex serviced and if you can afford the time and distance get it done by Bell Engineering.

Forget about going 15,000 miles between oil and filter changes, I do it a 6K for oil and filter and oil by another 6K. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

busboy1303 wrote:

...The first 2 were parked next to each other. An 07 plate, and a 10 plate. Both had the same rust around the bottom of the rear wheel arches, in fact the newest was the worst of the 2. I couldn't quite get me head around this rust issue. My £100 Avensis I was running around in didn't have any rust! I thought maybe, this is what a "cheap" Freelander is all about.
Feeling slightly disheartened, we called to see the final Freelander 2 just because it was on the way home.
Well, what can I say? What a surprise! I only needed to walk round it to see this was the one. Nice clean condition, not battered with parking dents, very little rust around the rear arches.

Welcome busboy. Interesting to read your intro. Can't help but notice that you were keen to avaid a car with rusty arches, but then post a picture of your new pride and joy on the beach. Apologies if I'm "teaching my grandmother how to suck eggs" but unless you invest in rustproofing AND clean the underbody thoroughly you will soon be the owner of a rusty Landy.

I'm sure our Aussie mates will be along soon with more on the subject.

Having said all that, I must admit to finding it hard to resist the temptation of a bit of beach driving. Enjoy your car, that's what it's lol about.

Looking good . If this one still has the wheel arch rubbers take them off and bin them .

Mark 2009 FL2 TD4 SE (Sadly gone)
2007 FL2 TD4 GS (The wifes , gone after 8 great years)
2012 FL2 SD4 SPORT LE(Gone and missing it)
2015 DISCOVERY SPORT 2.2SD4 HSE (For now ?)
2014 Ford Bmax 1.0 ecoboost ( Gone but what next )
2014 Ford Focus 2.0tdci Zetec S

looks very nice indeed ! Had my silver 07 HSE since December, got the price of a 10 year service off the price, very happy with the car even with 158,000 on the clock . . . . However, reading this forum is terrifying seeing all the possible faults that can occur, I am still hoping for trouble free motoring having previously had 5 Honda's which. . . .just work!

Good luck !

Except for the exploding lethal airbags. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

Welcome to the weird and wacky world of Land Rover ownership. They can be addictive, I'm on my fifth. Updated- Waiting for a Scotland v England 6 Nations home win. 24th Feb 2018
Gone-1972 88 SWB Soft top
Gone-1981 24v FFR Lightweight
Gone-2009 Freelander 2 TD4 GS manual
Gone before it bankrupted me- 2008 Discovery 3 TDV6 Auto
2013 Freelander 2 SD4 GS Auto

Last edited by mcsimmo on 15th Aug 2017 2:18 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Car looks lovely the edge strips are more trouble than they are worth give them a good clean and rust proofing some paint and it will be fine,enjoy the car I knew a Busboy from another forum run by a fat guy called Graham wouldn't be you would it pal ?

Best of luck with it but it's an expensive car to own in my experience. You need deep enough pockets to pay for a good s/hand one with warranty, or buy a warranty, or have cash available for the inevitable repairs. Well worth it though  3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Hi busboy and welcome. Your Freelander certainly looks like a good one and I can assure you that to help keep it that way, this forum is invaluable. You may see stories on here that may at first seem horrifying but try to remember that this forum like any other is there to highlight issues and how to overcome them. Just because one member has had a certain component fail doesn't mean you will suffer the same issue. Certainly a good point that has been raised so far concerns the wheel arches, the consensus seems to be that you should ditch the rubber strips as these can hold moisture and aid corrosion, follow the advice and treat your arches before the winter sets in and that will help stop the rot. Your vehicle is 10 years old and has lasted this long and with some simple preventative stuff should last another 10. Above all, enjoy your vehicle and have lots of fun with it and don't be afraid to ask any questions on here, most are very helpful but it's advisable to do a search first just in case the question has already been asked and answered

Thank you all for the positive responses.
I realised early on whilst investigating service schedules, that 10 years was a big milestone for these cars. I was also a little nervous about reliability issues initially, especially as a lot of cars for sale had big miles. Thankfully, I'm a car mechanic by trade, so I can save money on the labour side of things at least.
Come next month I intend getting it into work for a good going over. Service items, cambelt, water pump etc as well as the fluids and some rust proofing for the winter. I think a bit of preventative maintenance should save a bit of agro in the long run.
I'd guessed the wheel arch trims would be potential water traps. The lower rear wheel arch ones were already missing, and the few that remained were quickly disposed of.
Issues found and fixed so far have been the tailgate outer release button which wouldn't work, and one of the rear door latch assemblies as it wouldn't lock. Having read around on the forum over the last couple of days, I gather these things are pretty common.
It's good to see a forum with a good following, and great community spirit. You've got me I'm hooked!

busboy - the wealth of knowledge on here is unbelievable and pretty much everyone is more than willing to share that knowledge.
welcome to the fun forum

Welcome.

Looks like a nice clean one.

I've had my 07 for 20,000 miles and 14 months. It just turned over 130,000 miles today.

Problems? ZERO

Money spent? Services which I did myself and a set of tyres. Although I am now facing the big 10yr one.

I'm very pleased with it.

My only gripe is the audio system on my "Low Line" GS is pretty poor.

Cheers,
Brett. Brett Nicholson
Greendale, Victoria
2007 Freelander 2 GS ex-UK now in Aus!
1973 Land Rover Series 3 88 ex-UK
1965 Morris Mini Traveller ex-UK
1966 Austin Mini Super-Deluxe ex-UK
1971 Morris Mini Moke
2013 Toyota Prado