Hello everyone. I am an American photographer who moved to Iceland a few months ago. When I moved here, prices were staggeringly high, so I had to bring my old VW with me here. Now that the currency has crashed, I can actually afford a vehicle that is suited to this country! I have narrowed it down to a Land Rover. My ideal car would be one that is comfortable and practical for getting around the city (it is more like a big town...parking is easy, traffic is not bad etc), but can really handle the Icelandic countryside -- that means river crossings, lots of rough roads and trails. I don't need it to go on the glaciers or the really heaviest terrain, but I want it to take me deep into the countryside along the mountain roads.

In my basic survey of the options, it sounds like the Freelander 2 is the best choice for me -- it is fairly small which is easier for the city, but it is still very good offroad. I am just a single guy, so I do not have the need for 7 seats like in the Discovery, and given the price of fuel here, the better economy of the Freelander 2 is attractive. Same for insurance and tax -- the vehicle tax here is by weight.

There are a few problems though -- there are not many Freelander 2's on the market here. It is a small country and at the moment, I think there are two used Freelander 2's in the country...maybe 1. They are both very low mileage, nearly new (which is great), but that means they are fairly expensive. There are, however, a lot of Discovery 3's, some of which are cheaper than the Freelander 2's. I know the Discovery 3 will be better off road, but how much of a difference is there? I have driven both on road, and preferred the Freelander for most of the driving (it did not feel quite as solid, and there was more engine noise, but it drove more like a car and felt like it would be easier to deal with downtown where I live). That said, the D3 felt like it would be more capable off-road (just higher clearance, air suspension, more sophisticated terrain response etc). It also felt a bit more comfortable and had LOTS of room for anything (clearly more than I need at this point).

I appreciate any advice or comments that people might have. I realize it is a very open question and that I am a complete neophyte in this stuff. I really just want a car that is easy to live with, but can still take me to the places I want to go for my landscape photography. I will probably have it off road every week or two, so it will definitely get some non-tarmac use. A large number of the roads in this country are gravel or dirt as well, so that is another consideration.

Thanks in advance!
Stuart

P.S. Can anyone speak to the reliability and long-term service costs of the Freelander 2? I asked this question at Landyzone and everyone recommended the D3 and told me to avoid the Freelander 2 because of power steering failures. I had not read this anywhere else, so I am a bit skeptical. I thought it would be better to ask the actual owners here.

i'm a Scottish photographer ( currently on night shoots on a film set at Christmas in a blizzard & 14 tons of fake snow gets everywhere !! & my hotel room's above a pedestrian crossing where drunk people live & shout at ALL DAY)
i had the same problem with the size of the D3, loved it & had a hoot with it, but am now on my 2nd freelander 2.
with the seats up the boot is big enough for a bag of stands/ lights/ laptop in a backpack & a little carryon peli case with a big manfrotto tripod between the wheelarches.
with the seats down I can get 4 BIG pelicases across the back with everything else in on top, creative packing lets me move a 2.7m colorama roll diagonally from drivers offside to passenger nearside without it sticking through a window.
(unlike one of my studio business partner's mid life crisis CLK....ridiculous !!)
I don't really buy my own fuel ( someone somewhere pays for every mile driven)
but there has been a big drop in running costs compared to the Disco 3 even when fully loaded & i can hit the outskirts of london on a £60 tank whereas I'd have filled up in warwickshire in the d3 at £90
* get an auto though, it's brilliant & never let me get stuck in the mud & grassy stuff I end up in.
& while i'm logged onto someone next door's network, whoever was asking about digi cameras ? get a nikon javascript:emoticon('')

Thanks Graeme,

I already have one large Nikon D3 to carry around, probably better not to have another D3 to confuse me! Thank you for the advice though -- the logistical information is better than I could have hoped for. The FL2 looks like it has plenty of room for most gear, and the only thing that gave me a bit of pause was the height of the rear cab -- might be a bit of a haul to get lighting and gear in there. That said, I am still in my 30s, so hopefully the car will show its age before I do...
And it's nice to hear about the lower running costs -- it makes sense, and I am sure the overall repair costs in the future will probably be lower as well (no air suspension etc).

And all the FL2's in Iceland that I am aware of are TD4 automatics, so that will be the choice (what I would have chosen anyway...).

Anyway, thanks again for the information. It's nice to hear from another photographer -- it seems like a very practical car for us...go anywhere and haul lots of crap!

P.S. Can anyone speak to the reliability and long-term service costs of the Freelander 2? I asked this question at Landyzone and everyone recommended the D3 and told me to avoid the Freelander 2 because of power steering failures. I had not read this anywhere else, so I am a bit skeptical. I thought it would be better to ask the actual owners here.

Never heard of that problem - maybe they were talking about a Freelander 1
My Freely 2 has been perfect with absolutly no problems and rides very well and ecconomically on asphalt and off road in the Norwegian mountains  2007 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Manual with Premium Pack & Moonroof.
Stornoway Grey with Ebony Black Pleather, Clear Indicators, Body Side Mouldings etc.

Never heard of that problem either on the FL2.


I guess the desciding factor must be ground clearence. You'd probabley only choose the D3 if you think the FL2 is to low on its feet.

Since you are single the boot isn't an issue as I personally find it not so big with the seats up. Then again, if I had to choose between comfortable myself or having comfortable luggage, I'd choose the first.

If you needed the back seats for someone to sit it, the FL2's boot my get cramped. For that I read a solution the other day, which is to place the dog guards so you could stack up your stuff to the roof.

Also in our country, when you take out the back seats permenantly, you could transform it into what we call a "light carrier". The results in much lower taxes and stuff and makes it cheaper to run. You may want to look into that too if it's applicable overthere.

I believe someone built a box over the floor footings to make the boot level again.

Instead of buying a commercial that's cheaper?  09MY FL2 Td4 XS, Style Pack, Privacy Glass, Martinique Blue.. oh so very blue..

there is a member who lives in Iceland

r.helgason

maybe he could be of some assistance, and you can swap notes on cameras too as he likes to take a photo or two. Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

http://www.freel2.com/forum/topic3676.html?highlight= speak of the devil  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

Thanks for the help guys. Npinks -- I have contaced r.helgason and we have been talking. I am going to check out his FL2 tonight, so that should be great.

As for the power steering problems, I hope it is not a big deal. I asked the dealer about it, and he said that he had not heard of the problem and that the FL2's in Iceland had been very reliable as a whole. Granted, there is not much of a sample size here, but I have a friend who works as a Land Rover mechanic in that dealership here, and she said the same thing -- that so far they have not seen many FL2's, which is a good thing.
I don't know if posting links to other forums is forbidden here, but this is the thread at landy zone that details the power steering pump problem: http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/continuin...61434.html

It seems like it is a failure in the reservoir which causes muck to build up, subsequently messing up the power steering. I know nothing about mechanics though, so don't take my word for it.

Zone30 -- interesting to hear about the seat issues -- I think tax is primarily by weight here, so I do not think that will be a problem. The vehicle taxes are not particularly high either (other than buying a new one...40% tax on any car imported!), so hopefully I will not need to do anything like that.

A fellow on here had to have a new steering fluid reservoir on his FL2, I forget his name? Snarlla Shaffa, Snafu ? who remembers him? 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

Last edited by chicken george on 29th Apr 2009 1:28 pm. Edited 1 time in total

i recall somebody having a problem with their steering rack/resivoir too, but i wouldn't class it as a major fault, or we will have had it on here more than the once or twice that we have

I really wouldn't worry at all on that issue Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Ok, great! Thanks guys. Hopefully I will be in an FL2 soon. I will let you all know what happens.

Stuart

Frobius wrote:

Instead of buying a commercial that's cheaper?

The Commercial / Van is only available as factory built in the UK. Some markets may do local N1 conversions due to local taxation benefits.