Faults:

Where do I start?

Control arms x2 at 79,000km.

Transfer case at 100,00km ($4000).

Vaccum pumps (twice).

O2 sensor (twice).

Starter at 90,000km.

Wheel bearings, hangers, etc.

There was a lot more, but I have erased them from my memory.

General Comments:

This car was the most unreliable, and expense to fix car I have owned.

I couldn't wait to sell it.

Brought it used for $12,000 and have spent at least that back in repairs.

Tried twice to take it on vacation and it broke down both times about 200kms away from home.

Bought a second car to cover the times it was in the garage being repaired. Parts are super expensive and take (at least where I live - major city) about 3-5 days to get from Toronto.

Even the Land Rover dealership that repaired it said "the Freelander is a total embarrassment to Land Rover"

Things that went wrong with (above) continued to need repairing more than once.

A/C was useless as was the heat (bad choice for the Canadian prairies)

The pros... urm... I really like the sound system, the drivers seat sits high, and I have to say, the traction control and AWD made it a tank through heavy snow.

Faults:

Transmission went out and had to be replaced at 52880 miles. Was no adjusted correctly by the dealer and we have had to take it back two additional times and will still not go into park correctly.

Heater core started leaking and was replaced at 54088 miles, We still smell coolant when the AC is on.

Sun roof malfunctioned and had to be repaired 4 times starting at 419 miles.

All 4 doors have had issues where they would not unlock and had to be repaired.

Timing belts had to be replaced at 51000 miles.

General Comments:

Although this is vehicle is great for off roading the quality of the vehicle makes it almost worthless.

In conversations with Land Rover customer support, they admit that this particular vehicle has lots of issues, but are not willing to do anything about it.

Faults:

A speaker went out in the rear driver's side.

Emissions hoses broke (while on a long trip) and cost almost $1000 to repair mostly for labor: the dash (or some other section in the front) practically had to be removed to get at the miserable hoses. Why does plastic nobody recycles take 30,000 years to break down, but emissions hoses vital to the vehicle's operation break down in 5 years?

Catalytic converter had to be replaced at about 50K.

General Comments:

The Freelander is incredibly comfortable, and the AWD reassuringly there for me. It is a smooth, delightful drive. Have had 32000 miles of reliable motoring (except for the emissions components, which, admittedly, were 5+ years old). Have replaced brake pads once in that time.

I have had in the past plenty of other cars with far worse reliability than my Freelander.

Faults:

Our well-maintained 2002 Freelander with 50K miles (just out of warranty) blew an engine on the highway -no warning lights.

Same highway a few months later, I noticed that the heater wasn't working so pulled over. No warning lights, but past experience suggested caution. All the coolant was gone - gasket problem. Stranded for 3 hours the day before Christmas. Car gone for a week when we really needed it.

First day back in use with kids in car, on the entrance ramp to the highway - never reached 40 mph, the transmission stopped working - nothing over 2nd gear. Limped to nearest gas station, then towed to dealer. Repair took weeks.

This time the dealer agreed it was "not totally reliable" and we read everything we could about these pieces of junk disguised as cars. Worst car I've ever had. No warning lights - well documented problem - lots of blown engines, transmissions, and other problems at relatively low mileage.

After hiring a professional to get help with this, the dealer bought back the car. Dealer was great, but absolutely NO help from Land Rover at all. They were totally unresponsive.

I was without the car from Christmas Eve until late February - 2 months before this was resolved - with no loaner. Out over $4,000 in repairs (shared costs), and Christmas holiday was fairly wrecked.

General Comments:

We treat our cars well - one has 210K miles on it. I really wanted to keep this car for a long time - at least not have it burn out at 50K miles and demonstrate extreme unreliability. Now I worry every time I see one on the road - will they lose power on the road and lose more than just their car and money?

If you own this car it is extremely important that you constantly watch all the gauges, and assume that something will give out with no warning at all - even with the best of maintenance. One of the most dangerous pieces of equipment I've ever used, bar none. The idea that people are out there on the highway with kids in their cars is very scary.

Land Rover - do the right thing - recall these cars and give people their money back.