All generations and engines together · 65,118 MOT tests in the 2025 data
Better than most small SUVs per mile driven. Watch suspension and steering. A solid used buy, provided its MOT history has no repeating suspension advisories.
Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
The 1.8 K-series petrol fitted to Freelander 1 is notorious for blowing its head gasket, sometimes before 70,000 miles. The root cause is a cooling jacket that is too small for the block, so even a small coolant loss or airlock cooks the gasket; specialists also report the steel cylinder liners working loose in the alloy block over time. Watch for a coolant level that keeps dropping, white smoke on start-up, or a mayo-coloured film under the oil cap. No recall was ever issued, and the original warranty barely outlasted the typical failure point.
The Intermediate Reduction Drive and viscous coupling that send drive to the rear axle are a well-known expense on Freelander 1. Owners report a clonk or grinding noise pulling away or in reverse, a car that feels like the brakes are dragging, or drive cutting in and out; mismatched tyre sizes front to rear are a common trigger. Replacement of the IRD and coupling runs into four figures at a specialist. It is not a recall item, just a design weak point that keeps coming up in forum threads.
Freelander 2 and its Evoque/Discovery Sport relations use a Haldex coupling to feed the rear wheels, and it needs its own oil change roughly every 40,000 miles, separate from the main gearbox service. Neglect it and owners report a drumming or whirring noise from the rear, an 'all-terrain mode disabled' message, or the car quietly reverting to front-wheel drive only. A failed coupling or seal is a specialist repair, not a quick fix.
The 2.2 TD4 diesel in Freelander 2 is prone to DPF blockages on cars used mainly for short runs, and to EGR valve carbon build-up at higher mileage, both bringing on warning lights and rough running. Haynes also documents a fractured EGR cooler as a known leak point, showing up as a falling coolant level warning on the dash. DPF and EGR work ranges from a forced regen at the low end to well over £1,000 for a new DPF or cooler at the high end. Only relevant to diesel cars; the petrol Si4 does not have this system.
Owners regularly complain of clonks and rattles from the front suspension, usually traced to stabiliser link nuts working loose or worn bushes, and Freelander 2 also had a manufacturer recall covering rear suspension arm failure that could affect control of the car. That lines up with the measured MOT data for this model, where suspension is the standout fault against the small-SUV class. The forum chatter about creaks and knocks and the official recall both point at the same area of the car, which is unusual, most owner folklore does not have a matching recall behind it.
Land Rover recalled a batch of Freelander 2s over a faulty auxiliary heater element that could overheat and, in rare cases, catch fire. It is a genuine safety recall rather than folklore, and the fix is free if it has not already been done. When buying, ask to see the recall/service history rather than relying on the seller's word, since older private-sale cars sometimes never went back for it.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 65,073 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Same segment (Small SUVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.