New member here, although long time member of Def2. Forgive the life story:

I have a late production 2015 Defender 110 in pretty immaculate condition - rust proofed from new and again since, full service history, low mileage. I love it, and it is the latest in a string of defenders, but it 1) doesn't get used (max 6k/year, it is a fun third car) 2) keeps me worried it will get stolen 3) keeps me worried it will rot and 4) is not deemed safe enough by the Home Secretary for our two young children to travel in on anything other than very quiet roads.

We have moved house recently and the plans we had to build a garage for it are proving more costly than first thought, and we could usefully use the money on other aspects of the house rather than building another house for my hobby. History shows I need a land rover of some sort to be happy, but I do not want to go down the D4/RRS sport route with their unreliability and engine issues and don't fancy the servicing bills on an L322. So I find myself looking at a FL2, wondering if I could turn two cars (VW Up used for commuting and the 110) into one and remove lots of the concerns mentioned above, while releasing some cash.

So my questions:

1. Is this a good plan? Will I hanker after another Defender in a year which I then cant afford (I realise this is difficult for anyone but me to answer!)
2. Will the Freelander give me enough of the Land Rover/4x4/Defender feel from my vehicle and yet be easy to drive day to day for commuting?
3. I have done most work on my Defenders myself - how feasible is that on a Freelander without specialist diagnostic kit and tools?
4. Will the boot of a Freelander with back seats down take a mountain bike?

Any thoughts, particularly from those who might have made a similar switch would be welcome.

Thanks!

LCJ wrote:

1. Is this a good plan? YES Will I hanker after another Defender in a year which I then cant afford (I realise this is difficult for anyone but me to answer!)PROBABLY
2. Will the Freelander give me enough of the Land Rover/4x4/Defender feel from my vehicle and yet be easy to drive day to day for commuting?YES But you cant be as rough wit it off-road as a Defender
3. I have done most work on my Defenders myself - how feasible is that on a Freelander without specialist diagnostic kit and tools? I do all my own servicing - special tools are not usually required. Its a 21st century car so is more complex than a Defender. I use Torque Pro to for fault codes.
4. Will the boot of a Freelander with back seats down take a mountain bike? I put on my road bike in side but take the front wheel off to make it easier.

!

We wouldn’t have another Defender given as every one in a five mile radius of us who has/had one suffers theft or attempted theft so I know where you are coming from ( we had 2 pinched) . We’ve had the FL2 8 years now .

Off road , it is not a Defender , it won’t drag a dead pony out of a ploughed field while you are cross axled , but I’ve used ours up to the axles in mud on our syndicate shoot , gone through severe Pennine winters thanks to the Terrain Response , Hill Descent and Pirelli ATR tyres . It’s much nicer to drive than any Defender , I’d recommend an AutoBox any day over the manual , with all the electronic gizmos it makes a lot more sense . Depending where you live check if there are any implications of the engines Euro rating and charges for clean air or congestion zones .

In terms of maintenance it’s basically a Ford with the PSA derived diesel that was used in zillions of Ford Cars .

The plus of the Defender will be it’s legendary bullet proof Depreciation . they are much sought after . The Freelander 2 isn’t something I’d put a massive amount of money into unless you plan to keep it for a decent length of time .

The rear of the FL2 with seats down is OK , the space under the load cover with the seats up is small by today’s standards

I reckon now my total cost of ownership had been £16500 purchase , about £9000 service , tyres , and extraordinary repairs done at Indy garages . Over 8 years and 34k miles . With a residual now of let’s say £4000, that’s a total cost of ownership of around £2600 a year , so it’s been a cheap motor . 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 .

As much as I love the Freelander I’ve owned mine from new!

You need sectioned to sell a mint late registered Defender  MY14 Kahn Converted Dynamic - Fuji White Ebony/Pimento Interior
MY15 Xenon Headlight Conversion

MY17 RRS SVR - Estoril Blue Cirrus/Ebony 🪣💺’s

Plenty of room in our one.

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Mountain bike will go in the back no problem with the seats down. I usually whip off the front wheel though. FL2 HSE Auto Galway Green
Evoque SD4 Auto Blue.
FL1 HSE TD4 Manual Black - Gone.
RR Classic V8 EFI - Gone

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt
From a 110 300 TDI to a 90 td5 then a td5 Disco 2 and a 4.6 Disco 2.
Now owner of a 2011 sd4 Freek.
Sometimes i do miss the D2 td5 for it's bootspace, but the Freelander is mutch more spacious on the backseat, and more comfy.
Never missed the Defender's  'per aspera ad astra'

" ...... the Freelander is mutch more spacious on the backseat, and more comfy."

room for two ......... say no more

.

If I had been in the financial position to buy a last of line Defender I would have done so in a heart beat and kept it forever!
I think if I sold it I really would reget it in future. We made that mistake with a late Mini Cooper Sportspack which sat unused in our garage with 27000 miles on it after our first child was born and my wife needed a more practical mummy car. Bought our old Mk1 Mini some years later to fill that void.
I came to Freelander 2 from Disco 2 ownership and have it just over 2 years now. It is a great car and does all I need it to - except I do occasionally miss the boot space in the Disco.
I think it is just "Landrover enough" to make you feel you are driving one and not just a generic SUV.
Mine has needed nothing more than routine servicing, oil, filters, brakes so far so done it all myself. I dont anticipate that it will see a dealer's workshop ever again, possibly an indy for bigger jobs if required in future?
As for your VW Up! runabout, great little car, our son has one, learnt to drive in it and has been tootling about in it for almost a year now since he passed his test, cant fault it and Im sure its easily twice as economical on fuel that the Defender?
Im in the positon of just getting my dream garage built for my tinkering / detailing hobby. 8M x 12M Steel frame / steel clad mini workshop with 3.5 M eaves to allow for a set of ramps in due course. Significantly cheaper than a bricks and mortar structure, my base is poured and ready, delivery and erection middle of March. Is this someting you could consider as a cheaper option to keep the beloved Defender in?
The link is the company Im using in Northern Ireland, there are many similar providers nationwide.

http://www.h2shedsltd.co.uk/

Failing that I'll happily swap my Freelander for your Defender and Up!  Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

I went to look at a Defender last year. I too regretted selling my last one back in 2007. When I got to the Vendor's place he told me he had just sold the 110 I was after,but had a mint 90. The Mrs persuaded me to take it for a test drive. She loved it, I couldn't believe how slow,noisy,uncomfortable and agricultural it was. I think the phrase "rose tinted glasses" sprang to mind.
She wanted it, I nearly bought it, but luckily the vendor told me he had to add VAT to the price which put it over budget.
Love my F2. Does everything I need it to do - and in quiet and comfort too.

Thanks for all the responses, really helpful and appreciated. I completely get the comments about the madness in parting with the 110, doing so would definitely be a head rather than heart decision. I’m still not completely sold on the idea so maybe time for a test drive

I am sometimes guilty of wearing the rose tinted glasses and think I miss the Defenders I have owned but a quick drive in my FL2 and then I am reminded that with age comes the need for comfort.
But the new Defender might be another story...  94 Disco 300 TDI Gone
96 Defender 300 TDI Gone...Should have kept it.
2003 Freelander ES TD4 Gone
2002 Defender TD5 Gone
2005 Freelander HSE TD4 Gone
2015 Freelander 2 Metropolis Keeping for now!

Sad to say, but in my opinion Land Rovers are cool overpriced crap cars that need to be serviced and fixed all the time with all the cost and frustration involved. Every normal human with common sense do walk away from these products..... Except for the Freelander 2 and Evoque models, which have proved pretty reliable and does the everyday duties in a superb manner as long as it gets regular maintenance by the book as for every other "normal" car. It may come from something that it is a mix up of volvo/ford/PSA design/parts and that it is even build at another site than the other Land Rovers (Halewood plant). I think the Freelander 2 is the LR product that gives you most car for the money in the long run. It does not have air suspension and low range gear, but as long as you do not need to crawl around in the mud or enter the deep forests, its not needed either.
If that is an urge, buy a crappy D2 to do this and let the FL2 do all the everyday duties....

Sorry for the comments, but I have seen to much of this madness in my local LR club. I guess this is a good reason why its member count is dropping...

Last edited by MRRover75 on 10th Feb 2020 9:38 am. Edited 2 times in total

Get an auto, brilliant around town, sand, rock crawling & that's the petrol engine with a lot loss torque & even less with larger tyres.

All my cars I used an independent mechanic (he wanted my last one), get the car serviced in a timely manner & "listen" to the car & get things looked at & fixed accordingly. It's not difficult stuff. 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