Looking for a Bargain 4x4? Why The Freelander 2 Could Be The Safest Land Rover To Buy

Hello everyone, today I'm driving the Land Rover Free

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er 2 and while both it and its predecessor are cars I've never given much thought to, those in the know tell me it's something of a hidden gem, so today I'm finally I get behind the wheel and I'm going to find out if this is a car worth your money. The original Free

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er arrived in 1997 as a new entry point to Land Rover's ever-growing catalogue, even though it was positioned as the company's largest. The Five-O's smallest affordable entry, guys, it was actually the same size as the original Range Rover and had a wheelbase that was actually an inch longer, as happens when someone mentions the Freelander toi, I don't think only in the first generation. but specifically the three-door variant which today has become something of a cult classic, one of the many three-door 4x4s of the era that I think are really cool.

That car was finally discontinued in 2005 and then, in late 2006, its successor. This arrived, the Freelander 2, known in some markets simply as LR2. They were renewed once in 2011 and then a second time in late 2012 or possibly 2013. This is an example of that final facelift which was then in production until about 2014, potentially early 2015 for the benefit of those who As I don't speak Land Rover, how does this fit into the range? Like its predecessor, it was positioned to be the entry point to the range, so unlike the slightly larger Discovery - it only had five seats instead of seven - it was also not intended to be as luxurious as the Range Rover or the Range Rover Sport and in The Other Extreme was not designed to be as versatile or agricultural as the original Defender which at the time was in its Twilight years.

However, this was a car built around the basic principles of a Land Rover, which for me are the fact that their cars should be big, comfortable and capable, and it is for this reason that I never fell in love with this successor to the car, the evoking, because It was a car, you see that style prioritized above all else and in that it managed to sacrifice what I think made these cars so usable at the time. You really should have gone and bought a regular hatchback. My dad had a evoke a three or one. and honestly, it was a shame that all three of my series were so much more versatile because, let's be honest, people who bought Evocations weren't taking them off-road, so the fact that they would have been decent in muddy terrain was essentially irrelevant to the Freelander 2 and like this. was a car developed during the time when Land Rover was owned by Ford, it's actually built on a platform shared with a lot of Volvo, a company they also owned and even the second generation Focus, not that from here it really you will notice it.

There's not really all that 4D that I can see, except for these window switches here, which are actually Volvo and are also shared with the likes of Jaguar and Aston Martin up front. You will also find several engines also from Ford. There were two petrols in the family, a 2L 4-cylinder turbodiesel and a straight-six turbodiesel borrowed from Volvo, but perhaps unsurprisingly the most popular engine chosen here in Britain was the 2L turbodiesel. .2 L with duratorque brand. 150 horsepower, 160 and here a 190 which also made 310 LBT of torque, that's 420 new M, these were then mated to the manual or a Toyota derived torque converter automatic, both six speeds.

If you really feel the need, you can shift the stick and shift gears on your own, although to be honest there's not much point in doing so and in fact it does a reasonable job, but the fact is that the engine has a timing of Pretty decent pair and this is simply not the case. a sports car, the overall economy is what is called good rather than excellent as the average Jason quotes around 30 per gallon and in a race you will get 35, sadly this is a little short of the claimed 40, however , for the durability of this engine it is I must say that when I was researching, I think it is worth making a sacrifice.

Not only was it quite difficult to find out certain things about this car, but I was also not sure if they actually sold the petrol to the In the UK market there have been a few occasions in the recent past where that has not been the case, Discovery, for example, however with this they did it, it seems like no one wanted to buy one because when I look today there were about 200 of These cars were for sale but only 12 of them had gas and one of them was a wrong listing for some kind of 10 rank driver, so I don't know what he was doing there, in any case, I was really delighted to see him. that both the four and six cylinder engines were sold here and surprisingly don't command a significant premium if I were

looking

for one of these I think I would be very tempted by that six but they are a rarity and buying one you may have to compromise on your specs as long as you don't need something that's ESS compliant for most people.

I think this diesel is going to do the job, okay, it does the business, it suits a car like this quite well and, by the way, it seems to be It's quite a versatile car because the first owner was a reverend and the second he was a pilot and luckily neither of them seem to have used the car to tow anything because when he got it Jason saw that there was no evidence that a foot bar had ever been installed. which is something to keep in mind with cars like this. In fact, I know of at least one car out there where when it was purchased an underbody inspection was done and they found that the front end was absolutely fine, the rear end was falling apart and the people who bought it suspected that whoever bought it I had before I

could

have had a boat.

Interestingly, one of the things that makes this car so attractive based on its own adjacencies are the things it doesn't have, for example, this car doesn't have air transportation. instead, the suspension relies on conventional coils and springs. Let's try the turning circle and a 4X4. I rarely expected it to be good, but it's okay, although it's not great visibility and, although this B pillar is a little further forward than I would like, it's honestly not a problem, you can see very well in this thing, It is spectacular. I also appreciate the twin roofs and it feels like a pretty decent place to spend time and I have to say that overall I'm pretty impressed with the interior of this thing.

I was worried it wouldn't be good enough and that's one of the reasons I've never considered a Freelander. The reason is that one of the last Land Rovers I drove was a contemporary discovery of this one, but a car that sat on top and inside felt a bit cheap and unpleasant, I now admit it was a farmhouse trick and not a high quality model. This is the hsse Lux, which is one of the highest models you can get and is therefore equipped with many options. leather here, a lovely SP of sorts, although by modern standards the car isn't exactly packed with technology, it also has almost everything you need, the infotainment system here actually still feels relatively up to date and would have been the current configuration. of the day you also have a Meridian stereo and it looks like you also have almost the same controls that you would have on a disco 4, which are a bit silly, big and chunky, but I know there is a logic behind it and the steering wheel.

It feels the same too, but you know, overall, it feels good. It has heated seats, although not ventilated. Dual zone climate control and everything is pretty decent I'd say, and if you used it year round of course you would. I also have Ford's favourite, the heated head-up display, which I've never been a fan of because I end up

looking

at the wavy lines, but I admit when it's really cold it's quite nice to take away one of my requirements for a Land Rover - it's a decent size Unlike the Evoke, it's still a proper four or five seater car with a decent sized boot and in fact it's perhaps the boot I hated the most on the Evoke because honestly it was pathetic and for me yes You're probably going to buy a Land Rover, part of the reason is that you want to put a lot of stuff in it, whether it's people having their stuff or a combination of both.

Evoke

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n't do that and that's particularly impressive when you think about it in terms. of exterior dimensions it measures just 4 1/2m long, making it similar to, say, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, but it easily feels a class larger here. Land Rover got this one. I would say it has the right comfort, so I think we can score quite safely as well. Not only is the ride quality decent, but these seats are also quite nice, they don't give you much support when cornering, but honestly, it's a Land Rover. I really don't expect that to be the case. However, I appreciate these adjustable armrests that get into both front seats, we have this beautiful view that includes a lot of the hood and that's one of the reasons this car was purchased, it was purchased for Jason's partner and she wanted something that It was big but you could see out and place it easily, this is a real strength of Land Rover, until you have driven a Land or Range Rover and one of their competitors, you won't really appreciate the difference the styling of a car makes, as seen a while ago. from a current Range Rover, the big fat one, to an fpace which in theory is a smaller class because it is based on the Vel, however the fpce was much, much more complicated and terrifying to drive because of the way it it was designed.

I don't know where the bonnet was and therefore you couldn't locate the car as easily, meaning it felt a lot bigger than it was which was curious and may be irrelevant to some, but not to me, when you're driving around small roads like this, it is important to be able to put your car where you need it, especially if you are going to buy a big one, it is key and, finally, is this car capable? Well, I won't be taking it off-road today, however, I can tell you that it is still a Four Wheel Drive, although not in the sense of the classic Range Rovers, instead it employs an HCK system, so I hope that Most of the time, especially on the road, it is front-wheel drive, but when necessary it can also deploy the rear wheels. and this car also has the classic Land Rover terrain selector down here.

I call it classic. I think this car might have debuted it and it essentially gives you some little pictures that you can choose from to tell the car exactly what kind of surface you're on. They are on and then it will act accordingly, it's a good system and by all accounts if you need it this car will go off road which is good in the black zones where I expect most of these will spend their time. quite a pleasant experience when you get up to city speeds the ride takes on a slight touch of Jitter but there's nothing to complain about and to be fair I think it's still better than some of the usual second gem approaches in the which this is loosely based on.

Steering hold is pleasant, another classic Land Rover Hall Mark and although this approximately 2 tonne car struggles in corners these days, that's simply physics at work, not a fault of the car, it communicates its skill level very clearly and I never have any doubt whether I'm going to take a corner or not, it's a very nice thing to be there, it doesn't incite you, but it shouldn't either, and Jason tells me that every time he goes on a trip. long trip and gives your kids the option to choose between this or your Mercedes AMG e53 convertible. They always want to ride in the Freelander and I honestly can't blame them.

You're in a nice, high spot, so you have good visibility. I have the pair of sunroofs and honestly, with the roof up, the AMG will feel considerably more claustrophobic. Also, let's just say that in the nc500 you will never worry if you have to crash a car into a curb or do so. a little off road if you have to go through some flood water this will be fine no I wouldn't exactly take it through Rufford Ford but still in the vast majority of scenarios I can imagine this. It will get you where you need to go when you need to go there.

It's particularly impressive because these aren't cars you'll have to pay that much to buy. Prices start at around £22,000 with the latest and lowest mileage. It goes for around £20, however in between you get a great selection of high spec cars like this for around £8-10,000 and for that it's a lot more than that, although it's also an example of a car you should. able to operate on a fairly modest budget. I mentioned earlier one of the things Jason loves about this is some of the things he doesn't have and on that list you will also find the engine, yes of course he still has it. one, but here it is a Ford, not a Land Rover, and this is significant because the later Land Rover 4 and also the six fitted to the Discovery that I drove have a reputation for fragility, which isquite worrying.

My sister had a Sport nightclub and that suffered. a catastrophic engine failure that cost him around 82,000 to repair and is sadly not a rare occurrence. I don't know how they achieved it, but these things are notorious. This Ford unit, although quite reliable and well treated, both it and the gearbox should work for quite some time. Cars, of course, are not immune to problems, but the ones that do suffer seem to be minor, like for example the center brake light at the rear likes to crack and then fill with water, it's a pain. I was also told, and this is common for all jlr products, that parts availability can be an issue in the 6 years and 50 billion that Jason has owned this car, he has never left it stranded and the vast majority of years .

All he has had to pay for is regular maintenance. The car hasn't even needed work to get it through another and the biggest bill faced so far was a fairly recent one which amounted to around £2,000; however, it included not only the EGR work but also a pretty major service and for a car that is now celebrating its 10th birthday and with 100,000 Mi I. I guess it's actually not that bad and there we have it. I'm sure I've missed some things, so if you know I have, hit up the comments section below and share it with the rest of the class. but as far as I'm concerned, this has already been a real education so far.

I had never considered a free Lander. I'd always thought of it as that weird little three-dominated thing from 25 years ago that had already rusted out 10 years ago, so it wasn't a car to even think twice about now, although having driven it, I actually It's a card that if someone came to me and said, James, I want to buy a 4x4, I've got £10,000 and if I could. be a Land Rover, that would be nice, what do I get? Actually, I think I'm going to show you the way of the Freelander, it has the qualities I want from a Land Rover and it doesn't seem like it's going to be everything.

What a mess to run so all that's left to say is a big thank you to Jason for lending it to me and as always to you for watching, don't forget to hit the like button, comment below, subscribe if you haven't already and I'll see you, see you next time, bye, I'll see.