My FL2 is not up for replacement until next April but that means I will have to get an order in February for its replacement. Whilst I'm eagerily awaiting details on the mild facelift I would be interested to know from other forum members what the alternatives are. For me so far

Freelander 2 Facelift
FOR - superb drive, most comfortably vehicle I have ever had
AGAINST - not much of a facelift! Poor dealer support, dash starting to show its age

Evoque
FOR - gorgeous shape, a baby Range Rover Sport?
AGAINST - have to be a WAG to drive one, poor rear visibility, only 3 doors (for the moment)

Volvo XC60
FOR - sporty looks, nice interior, safe and reliable
AGAINST - Is it an estate with high heels on? Sat Nav rumoured to be poor?

Audi Q5
FOR - diehard reliability and quality
AGAINST - not too sure on the shape (looks bulbus from some angles), bloody expensive!!

BMW X3 (facelift due next year)
FOR - at last a baby X5?
AGAINST - the old X3 was awful - is this another reincarnation?

Ford Kuga
FOR - good spec levels at a good price, not bad looking
AGAINST - small boot and not much room in the back

Hi. Not an easy one, if it were me i would go for the FL2 because, The Evoque for me is more about style than substance and it costs to much for a vehicle that will be smaller than the FL2. BMX X3 never in a million years hate all BMW,s apart from M5. Mr Clarkson once said "BMW build by Germans driven by Tos**rs". Audi Q5 boaring shape, boaring dash, boaring to drive yawn. Ford Kuga, Mondeo with big wheels. Will not be worth £10 in four years time. last of all the Volvo, I like the look of the car ( apart from the dash) if it i could not have the FL2 i would have the XC60.

I'm in a similar dilemma, like the fl2 but also like the Audi. probably stick with the cheaper fl2. Disco is really too big to park in our little local town , finding a space for the fl2 is bad enough

Just hope they dont over-bling the face lift model , as they did to the D4 and FFRR. no need for chrome/body kits blah blah blah. So that probably rules out the Evoque too.

I consider a 'normal' type car from time to time but 4x4 is genuinely useful in the winter, living where I do. Last winter proving that after a run of mild winters.

Either way it will be 'black no towbar' and with the rear end chrome nonsense removed if the facelifts do have it fitted after all.

certainly wont be a Volvo/Honda/Ford/Korean. At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

I may just have been lucky (sshhh!) but my F2 has been totally reliable and I just think it is a fantastic vehicle. It is the SE Auto and in whichever mode I use it, it is excellent. It tows brilliantly and solo is a delight to drive. In this warm weather it has been returning up to 33.5mpg round town and 37.2mpg on a run up to Ullapool recently. I wouldn't even look at any of those others when I come to replace this one - the 'Permagrin' comes free with the Freelander!

FL2 Facelift for me. Evoque looks fantastic for what it is but too expensive (according to Autocar). Kuga IS a Focus on stilts and WC60 is a poor relation to Freelander. Forget the German stuff

I like the Q5, I think that the proportions work much better than the Q7, but as you say it is scary expensive.

XC60, nah.. Not my Cup of char at all.

X3, I drove one of the old ones at the offroad center at Rockingham and to be honest I was impressed with it. If you can get one of the 3.0x diesel ones, try that....

Evoque. Agree totally with the WAG comment. There is a very nice Private school near us called Culford. I am pretty sure that there will a a bucket load of them there in the next year. (and it has a stupid name,
"What do you drive?"
"An Evoke"
"A what?"
"Evoke, its a Range Rover"
"Why did you call it an Evoke, I know what a Range Rover is."
"Well it isn't a Range Rover, it is part of the Range rover bra... , it's over there."
"Oh, nice, bit small how much was that"
"40,000.00"
" Me, you could have bought a proper Rangey for that"

Kuga, Don't like it at all.

Freelander 2, Expensive to run... But as they say, why drive a car when you can drive a Land rover... One of my kids' party two weekends ago. Loads of people there to help out, nice cars so why were the kids that got to get a lift in my car cheering "Yah, we get to go in the LAND ROVER" Sad I know but made me feel kind of smug.

So the moral of that story, if you want to put a smile on your kids face at parties, you'd better drive a Land rover... Hi Darling, I'll be home in 10 mins. If I'm not back, please read this message again...

I personally wouldn't buy another Freelander (or indeed a Land Rover).

We've owned our Freelander 2 for just 6 months and I'm very disappointed with the general build quality of the car.

The interior plastics mark very easily and the cloth seats are already looking quite tired, even though the car's only 10 months old. I'm not that impressed with the paint finish either. My car's Stornaway Grey and having polished/waxed the car a couple of times, I'm still surprised at the amount of faults in the paintwork.

I’m not even going to mention the fuel consumption!

We’ve had BMW's and Audi's in the past. I wouldn’t buy an X1 as I just don’t see the point of it, the X3 is just plain ugly and the X5 is just too big for us.

I would look at the Audi Q5 purely because it a good quality product and for that amount of money that’s what I would expect.

Andy

When i read up on the Q5 it still had plenty of faults listed on its forums, even though it cost loads more,

I personally think the cost of the car is irrelivant, as i have seen (on detailingworld forum) plenty of high end porsches, Aston Martins, Ferrari's roll out of the factory with paint defects, wet sanding marks, swirls and a ferrari were they used the wrong colour stitching on a prominate part of the dash.

i haven't found any of my plastics have marked easil either, maybe the difference in how we use the car etc though

Also if your unhappy with paint defect they are covered under warranty and LR might look at them  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

The car's due a first service in September and the paint faults, rusty nuts securing the front mud flaps, loose trim on the rear drivers door and missing trim on the rear set hinge are all issues that will be raised at the time.

Andy

What are the alternatives?

Shilen
Last year Q3, I looked at 23 compact 4x4's as her ladyship needed a new car, some were those mentioned in your post. In the end for us it came down to the FL2 or the Subaru Forester 2.5 XS 4x4.

The reason the FL2 won the race was partially due to always having various LR models back home in Blighty (so brand familiarity), and her ladyship liked the fact that LR Switzerland allowed her to bespoke the interior / exterior colour codes beyond those offered in the brochures. In other words she got exactly the dress she wanted,not the one that was in the shop's window. The clincher for her however was the FL2's superior NCAP safety test results for children.

On paper the Subaru had a better warranty (5yrs) and the motoring reviews praised its build quality and reliability. However we both found that the interior and ride did not "feel" as comforting or relaxing as the FL2. On price it was no contest; the Subaru (almost identical specs) was approximately UK£8,500 cheaper than the FL2 Newport TD4-e.

The LR dealer could not address either the warranty gap or the price disadvantage, but did assure us that if the FL2 failed to start at home another LR would be dispatched immediately. So she had her new dress and a few extra optional frills.

The delivery date (Nov 20th) was complied with and on that day we did have some issues with the vehicle, all of which were immediately acknowledged by the dealer and subsequently rectified in reasonable time. To date the FL2 has performed appropriately (as it should) for a new car. We've just returned from a 4,005kms cross country trip to Spain. That drive was comfortable,relaxing and fun for the family. Fuel economy was excellent.

Complaints: yes it should have arrived on day one without missing trim or faulty parts. Disappointments yes: a) I under estimated how much stuff my two ladies take on road trips, so maybe the FL2 will not be with us for long - not the car's fault, and b) the fact that LR accessories for the FL2 do not included the colour coded (ipanema Sand) door handles or rear spoiler that her ladyship wants, and c) the outrageous price of accessories here in CH - Subaru are again £££'s cheaper, and d) the cost of Yr's 4 & 5 full LR warranty = UK£670 per year - Subaru inclusive 5yrs warranty.

I look forward to LR offering better value and substantially extending their new vehicle warranty life.

So Shilen, take a look at the MY2010 Subaru Forester 2.5XS 4x4 - our village is full of'em and no one has had a grumble about their car. On the other hand no one has taken a bit of interest in the FL2!

I wouldn't bother Its not exactly pretty
 At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

We looked at the Subaru Forester too before going for our FL2. I thought the spec. was good for the money but it's not a looker (and this put Mrs N off the most!).

Touch wood, no problems with our FL2 yet...

[quote="chicken george"]I wouldn't bother Its not exactly pretty

So thats why I havent seem any on the road!

the santa fe looks better and has 7years warranty try that pluss its bigger than a freelander Chris Binns

Don't you think athelstan's response was a little.......well, boring and long?  Out on the road today, I saw a Dead Head sticker on a Cadillac.............

A little voice inside my head said "Don't look back, you can never look back"