Whistonmarine wrote:

Update;
Having spent a fair amount of time considering changing the D3 for a Freelander 2, I went to my local, well respected & trusted Landie specialist yesterday. I’ve known them for ages. What they don’t know, Landie-wise, isn’t really worth knowing anyway.
I was taking my Defender for an MOT & casually mentioned the fact that I was perving a Freelander 2 rather than my D3. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that I was going down the wrong road.
So, looks like the D3 will be staying.

I considered changing the other way-FL2 to a D4. My Land Rover specialist said the exact opposite. He told me to stick with the FL2 unless I needed the size and capability of a D4 or I enjoy paying big bills. In order of unreliability/expense, based on cars visiting their workshop, it is Range Rover, D3, D4, D2 and then FL2.

Not a LR product , but last week I was looking at pick up trucks . After a day showroom browsing different brands I’ve arranged a test drive of a Toyota Invincible X on Tuesday . My shooting organisation has some fantastic discounts available through the fleet sales channels on a lot of the major car manufacturers. Thing is factory orders for most new vehicles are being quoted as 2022 . If all goes well I’ll be sitting down for a serious talk with the sales chap. 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

Stirred up a little bit of angst here by the looks.
The guys who I have known for 36 years and who are very much Landrover specialists were the ones “who said that”. It would appear that their knowledge and experience is perhaps surpassed here.

Reliability wise, the Freel2 was LRs most reliable vehicle, according to the warranty companies, with the least reliable being the FFRR, D3, RRS, D4 and Evoque in that order.  2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Soon to be sold.
Hyundai Ionic 5 Ultimate on order.
Gone. 2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE.

I agree with the assessment given by your "specialists". You WOULD be going down the wrong road if you were to swap it for a Freelander 2 - or any other vehicle for that matter.
You have a very low mileage, well looked after vehicle - judging by it's MOT history, that you know intimately inside and out.
You would have to be nuts to swap it for a vehicle you do not know, which will most likely have twice the miles on the clock and limited service history, no idea of any repairs carried out etc. (let's face it, you're not going to get anyone with a late, low mileage F2 to do a straight swap, regardless.)
That's not to say the Freelander 2 is unreliable, because generally it's not. But if I were in your shoes, I certainly wouldn't be swapping a low mileage , well cared for vehicle for one I didn't have first hand knowledge of. To me it would be far too much of a gamble, despite how much I needed to scratch the itch.

Spot on.
It’s almost as if I wrote that myself.
The only issue bugging me at the moment was the inability to connect my phone to the HK stereo system. This I have sorted today & now have Bluetooth audio, hands free calling & DAB.
I probably will add a Freelander 2 to my long history of Landie ownership, one day. Not just yet.

So, the latest train of thought is to keep the D3 and also source a late HSE Freelander 2

There’s a nice 14 plate close to home here, bur very expensive at £23,000

Blimey - 10k more than I paid for my 2014 (lowish miles on) Dynamic (with lots of options fitted) about 18 months ago  2014 Freelander 2 TD4 Manual Dynamic
1956/7 88" Series One Land Rover
1956/7 88" Series One Land Rover - undergoing restoration

Exactly.
I think it will stay where it is at that price.

I had a WBAC email yesterday offering me £11,170 for my 2014 XS with 60k miles, last month it was £12.6k so perhaps we are over the peak. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Sounds much more like the real world. I asked WBAC for a price on the car which is at a main dealer for £23,000, price came back as £15,445 for the same car.
I’ve sent you a PM re your XS, trust that’s OK

As I have said before on this sight an XS is always worth looking into because some of them have been specced up a lot when sold new and I think that they don't value correctly on WBAC or Motorway because the extras are not taken into consideration so sometimes are underpriced at dealers and private when being sold. Ours has everything bar footwell lights , heated steering wheel and the squeek and leak that an HSE normally has but it also has rear spoiler, blacked windows, twin electric towbar, reverse camera and fifth full size 19 inch alloy that a lot of HSE's don't have because maybe at 2013 Landrover were starting to empty the extras bins a bit.
But , looking at the D3 question and opinions from previous folk , having had both ,I would say that both answers are 100% correct. The D3 is in a different animal altogether and ours had a new engine fitted at Pentland at 38000mls not long before we bought it . In our 3.5yrs of ownership it had an EGR , an auto gearbox sump conversion to facillitate changing the filter with less hassel, usual services, tyres, a set of new discs ,pads and maybe unesessary calipers, two times the dreaded cable snap in the back door and droplinks and a few bushes. So when one wee job was done another was always on the horizen but was still a fantastic vehicle but with a crap tax band! The freelander is also a fantastic vehicle for us except for not having van like space to load up big items, not always wanting the next wee job done (hopefully) and cheaper to tax . So both vehicles have their own credentials and it is just choice in the end with no better or worse choice.

The footwell globe sockets should be there, just needs globes plugging in.

Behind vent.

Click image to enlarge