I love our Freelander TD4. It has a couple of niggles. The first window mechanism has failed. Probably due to a similar issue as reported in this thread. Apart from that, a great car.

It seems you do not buy the petrol models of the MK1 Freelander. They use the MG/Rover K and VK series engines. These are basically okay, however they need more TLC than is typical for modern engines. If they overheat, then the cylinder head can shift (due to expansion issues), and if it does, your head gasket is shot. If your engine is losing water, it *could* be water pump or radiator, but is typically the inlet manifold gasket or the cylinder head gasket. Once you're losing water, you need to track it down. Even if you're not, you should be checking the water level weekly. Basically, never let the engine overheat.

The engines were designed for lighter cars. Land Rover have created a new stronger head gasket in order to prevent the issue (the Chinese owners who now develop the engine have an even better one), but you have to know about it.

The auto gearbox doesn't sound that reliable either. This combined, with the K series issue, seems to be why US owners always hate their Freelanders and UK owners love them. We drive the diesel (BMW powered) manuals and they drive the K series automatics.