Faults:

1. Throttle body had to be replace within a week of purchase.

2. Exhaust had to be replaced prior to taking ownership of the vehicle.

3. Electric window motor replaced after 40,000 miles.

4. Micro switch sensor for tailgate window replaced twice.

5. Soft top replaced 3 times due to 3 separate faults.

6. Rear brake shoes came off whilst performing an emergency stop.

General Comments:

I have always wanted either a 4x4 or a cabriolet so the Freelander softback seemed like the perfect compromise.

I purchased my Freelander in January of 2003. Big mistake. I blame no one, but myself for the mis-fortune I have had with my Freelander.

I went to view the vehicle and was unable to take it for a test drive as the dealership were waiting to fit a new exhaust to the car I had chosen. I suppose I should have walked away from it then, but I didn't. In my defense, it did have a full Landrover service history... allgedely! so I thought it would be in good shape.

I took ownership of my Softback about a week after viewing it and less than a week later it was back at the dealership because the vehicle was occasionally idling at 3500 revs. Problem? Throttle body. An expected fault according to the dealer.

Next. I was driving with my window down and as the weather would have it in Scotland, it began to rain. Not a problem, I'll put my window up! No I won't because it is now not working. Back to the dealer. Problem? The electric window motor required to be replaced. Again, an expected problem with this model according to the dealer!

The next problem in my opinion could have been the most costly. Landrover fitted an excellent system into the softback model whereby if you collapse the softback portion of the roof, the tailgate glass automatically goes down or if you keep your finger on the "open" button on the key fob the glass goes down allowing access to the boot. On several occasions I returned to my vehicle after leaving it for a considerable time to find that the tailgate glass was in the down position. Once more, back to the dealer who could not understand my anger at this problem. They simply said that when I had been returning to my car I had kept my finger on the button to long causing the window to slide down.

A demonstration was required. So in the presence of the head of mechanics I closed my car door and waited. About 30 seconds later the tailgate glass lowered of its own volition. Problem? A faulty microswitch. You guessed it, again another expected problem with this car according to the dealer. So "expected",in fact, the Microswitch had to be replaced again a few days later.

Then there was the Soft top! The zippers burst twice causing the entire soft to to be replaced on both occasions then the metal support arm snapped which resulted in the soft top being replaced for a third time. As I was becoming to "expect", it was also a expected problem.

At this stage I expressed my anger to the head of the dealership that Landrover should build a car with so many "expected problems". I felt as though I was being used by Landrover to iron out problems with this car.

I could continue, but I have already written enough. I am sure you have got the idea by now. DO NOT BUY A FREELANDER!

Faults:

1999 Land Rover Freelander XEi

What a disappointment this car has been. I bought it five months ago from a very reputable dealer, but have had trouble from day one.

I had to wait a week over the agreed pick-up date because the clutch needed to be replaced (the car had only done 48,0000 miles and I could see from the documentation that came with the car the cam belt and the exhaust had already been replaced) and the CD player had stopped working. I should have taken this as a warning of things to come.

The day after I picked the car up I drove it 30 miles, parked it for three hours then drove back, not an arduous task for a robust Land Rover, not so, the engine over heated causing the head to blow and warp. I had to wait a week for the head to be replaced with anew one, the dealer told me that it was a common fault with these cars.

Then I thought it would be a good idea to get a ‘proper’ service from a Land Rover Dealer rather than rely on the pre pick-up service from the dealer. This is when I found out how expensive Freelander’s are to maintain, £1300 on brakes, fluids, tyres, replacement joints and other bits and pieces, too many to list.

With the car serviced and a new head I thought I’d take it on a 250mile journey, big mistake, broke down five times en-route! Eventually managed to get a Land Rover dealer to look at it (after waiting 4 days) fuel pump needed replacing, again ‘a common fault with these cars’ and a bill for over £300.

Nothing else could go wrong I thought, took it on another 250mile trip and the rear differential completely mangled itself, with a big bang while I was in the outside lane of the motorway and another bill for £800.

General Comments:

The styling of the car is great, the ride is great, the comfort is very good, but the very poor fuel consumption, very poor reliability, a general feeling of being under-powered, switching on the air conditioning affecting the performance and all the general rattles have made it a very unpleasant experience and I can't wait to get shot of it, I can only feel sorry for the next person to own it.