Freelander 2 (LR2) Freelander 2

Going to see a freelander 2 with 140,000 miles and a stage 1 remap , anything I should be looking for.
New to landyzone but did own a disco 3 for years, thanks.

I personally would be removing the remap, as increased power from an engine an will reduce its life.

The engine in the FL2 seems good for about 200k miles, as long as it's been maintained well, and doesn't ingest a port deactivation (swirl) flap, or an M6 flange nut off the EGR pipe.

When I was looking for a FL2, I rejected any spec below an SE, then those that had body damaged, interior trim wear, or drive train faults.

Look out for whines from the back of the vehicle, as the rear diffs are made of cheese. Also the PTU can give issues, probably because no oil changes are specified.
Check for rust on the rear suspension components, and grinding brakes under heavy braking. Make sure the steering is silent when turning the steering, and look for fluid leaks where the PS pipes join the rack, as these get corroded due to muck being thrown at them from the RH front wheel.

I also look for identical tyres all round, as it gives an indication that its been maintained on the cheap, which is a good guide as to other things may have been neglected in the past.

Good luck.

Can I ask, what price it is?

Nodge68 said:

I personally would be removing the remap, as increased power from an engine an will reduce its life.

The engine in the FL2 seems good for about 200k miles, as long as it's been maintained well, and doesn't ingest a port deactivation (swirl) flap, or an M6 flange nut off the EGR pipe.

When I was looking for a FL2, I rejected any spec below an SE, then those that had body damaged, interior trim wear, or drive train faults.

Look out for whines from the back of the vehicle, as the rear diffs are made of cheese. Also the PTU can give issues, probably because no oil changes are specified.
Check for rust on the rear suspension components, and grinding brakes under heavy braking. Make sure the steering is silent when turning the steering, and look for fluid leaks where the PS pipes join the rack, as these get corroded due to muck being thrown at them from the RH front wheel.

I also look for identical tyres all round, as it gives an indication that its been maintained on the cheap, which is a good guide as to other things may have been neglected in the past.

Good luck.

Can I ask, what price it is?

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Yeah thanks for that, the price is £3500 but I think there’s some movement. The guy said he’s had it four years and when he purchased it the rear diff had been changed and the air conditioning compressor renewed, also has just one key which can be a pain .

Hiking Mike said:

Yeah thanks for that, the price is £3500 but I think there’s some movement.

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The price isn't too bad, but is very dependent on trim level and condition of the vehicle.

I paid £2000 for my well looked after 58 plate SE with 119k on the clock, however it did have an engine issue, which I'm currently sorting out.

Hiking Mike said:

The guy said he’s had it four years and when he purchased it the rear diff had been changed

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That's good. But it's prudent to change all fluids, should you buy it.

Hiking Mike said:

also has just one key which can be a pain

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Get another ASAP if you buy it, as there's no way in, should you loose that one remaining key.

Friend of mine bought a Mercedes for which one of the keys was mislaid.
Few weeks later he woke up and the car had disappeared off the driveway.
Not saying that yours is a similar set up, but its something to think about.

Nodge68 said:

The price isn't too bad, but is very dependent on trim level and condition of the vehicle.

I paid £2000 for my well looked after 58 plate SE with 119k on the clock, however it did have an engine issue, which I'm currently sorting out.


That's good. But it's prudent to change all fluids, should you buy it.

Get another ASAP if you buy it, as there's no way in, should you loose that one remaining key.

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Ok thanks for the info , just worried about buying a world of pain, my discovery 3 I owned for over 7 years never let me down only a door lock so hopefully.
Just another question what’s the road tax on these? .

raywin said:

Friend of mine bought a Mercedes for which one of the keys was mislaid.
Few weeks later he woke up and the car had disappeared off the driveway.
Not saying that yours is a similar set up, but its something to think about.

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I personally never buy a vehicle, unless it's got both keys present at the time of purchase. But that's mainly because I don't like spending extra money to correct someone else's carelessness.

Obviously there's a potential security issue too, although missing keys can be removed from the CJB database.

raywin said:

Friend of mine bought a Mercedes for which one of the keys was mislaid.
Few weeks later he woke up and the car had disappeared off the driveway.
Not saying that yours is a similar set up, but its something to think about.

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Yeah cheers?

Hiking Mike said:

Ok thanks for the info , just worried about buying a world of pain, my discovery 3 I owned for over 7 years never let me down only a door lock so hopefully.

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The FL2 was LR's most reliable vehicle, but the D3 was one of its least reliable.
I had a D3 and loved it, but it was definitely a money pit.
The FL2 should be much less needy, and therefore cheaper to maintain.

Hiking Mike said:

Just another question what’s the road tax on these? .

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I think mine is £325, but I'll find that out when I finish the engine work on it.
The insurance is under £300 for really comprehensive cove, so that's good.

Ok thanks for info

Hiking Mike said:

Ok thanks for info

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No problem. I think when buying a car, it's best to go with gut feelings, which is why I bought the one I did. It had that "its been cared for look", so I took a gamble on the engine being an easy fix, which of course it isn't.

Nodge68 said:

No problem. I think when buying a car, it's best to go with gut feelings, which is why I bought the one I did. It had that "its been cared for look", so I took a gamble on the engine being an easy fix, which of course it isn't.

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Yeah I suppose it’s a gamble when buying any car really it’s just been lucky, thanks again.

Nodge68 said:

I personally would be removing the remap, as increased power from an engine an will reduce its life.

The engine in the FL2 seems good for about 200k miles, as long as it's been maintained well, and doesn't ingest a port deactivation (swirl) flap, or an M6 flange nut off the EGR pipe.

When I was looking for a FL2, I rejected any spec below an SE, then those that had body damaged, interior trim wear, or drive train faults.

Look out for whines from the back of the vehicle, as the rear diffs are made of cheese. Also the PTU can give issues, probably because no oil changes are specified.
Check for rust on the rear suspension components, and grinding brakes under heavy braking. Make sure the steering is silent when turning the steering, and look for fluid leaks where the PS pipes join the rack, as these get corroded due to muck being thrown at them from the RH front wheel.

I also look for identical tyres all round, as it gives an indication that its been maintained on the cheap, which is a good guide as to other things may have been neglected in the past.

Good luck.

Can I ask, what price it is?

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All good advice, I went for a hse been happy with it. Replaced disks and pads and tyres all round, treated corrosion to rear sub frame and has been great over the past 2 years. Rear diff does whine, will let it do so until it goes pop. Replaced the oil and filter in the haldex unit.
Good cheap cars IMO. 165k miles..

potus said:

All good advice, I went for a hse been happy with it. Replaced disks and pads and tyres all round, treated corrosion to rear sub frame and has been great over the past 2 years. Rear diff does whine, will let it do so until it goes pop. Replaced the oil and filter in the haldex unit.
Good cheap cars IMO. 165k miles..

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Yeah thanks sounds like you got a good one.

Hiking Mike said:

Yeah thanks sounds like you got a good one.

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There are loads of FL2s on the road, but very few owners come here with issues. This to me says they're pretty reliable, which can only be a good thing.

I took the plunge myself, and I'm pretty fanatical about the FL1, so the FL2 must have some attraction for me.

They seem to suffer from electrical gremlins more than mechanical issues, except the AWD system, which is often troublesome if neglected, otherwise they're pretty good.

Thanks for some good info but the guy messed me around, just set off to go and see it and he’s messaged and said it’s sold. Personally if you arrange a time to view I would give that person first shout!
Thanks again.

Hiking Mike said:

Thanks for some good info but the guy messed me around, just set off to go and see it and he’s messaged and said it’s sold. Personally if you arrange a time to view I would give that person first shout!
Thanks again.

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So often you hear of this sort of behaviour. Tell him you know where he lives and he'll see you one of these nights, if he is quicker than you!

Out of order but I shall carry on searching, plenty around.

Hiking Mike,Seen quite a few on Autotrader for about £3k to £4K so plenty around as you say, but they don't seem to stay around for very long before being sold, so hope you manage to find a good one.
I bought my XS TD4 about 6 weeks ago for just under £3k from a used car dealership with a FSH & 141K on the clock & both Keys and basically did what Nodge68 said and went with my gut instinct although in my case the car didn't have that 'Cared for look'....at least not inside....the outside did and the Service History said it had, I had also looked at a couple of FL1 before i looked at the FL2 but they looked rather used and shabby and my Gut feeling on them was 'No' .
Car had been sat doing nothing for 3 months due to the dealership being closed because of covid and they had only just got the car in before they had closed hence they hadn't cleaned the inside, but it started straight away with no issues which impressed me to begin with.
Had a good look over the vehicle and for the most part it was tidy, apart from some small areas of corrosion on the front of the rear wheel arches (Now sorted) and the interior was absolutely filthy and smelled but was otherwise intact (Previous owner had small kids and a dog and obviously never cleaned it, looked as if the dog regularly jumped all over the interior of the car and the mess underneath the rear seat due to the kids is another story ).
Under the bonnet a good look around revealed no leaks, everything was covered in road dust so any leaks would have been obvious, Engine idled nicely and sounded sweet (If you can call a diesel running sweet )
Test drive revealed a whining noise from the back (drove with all the windows open due to it stinking inside the car) , Immediate thought was Rear diff having researched about the FL2 before i went to look at one however it appeared that the noise was coming from the passenger side so pointed it out to the dealer who got it sorted before i purchased the car. Turned out the Wheel bearing was shot, apart from that it was nice to drive and showed no other issues.
Perused through the FSH as it was in the glove box and discovered that the rear shocks and drop links had been replaced by the previous owner just before they had traded the car in. So apart from the wheel bearing issue on the test drive mechanically it seemed fine so took the plunge, got home and discovered the handbrake wouldn't hold on my drive (It's on a slope) so bought new shoes to redo the handbrake. Passenger side was easy and took about 30 mins start to finish, drivers side was another story someone had over tightened the retaining bolt on the hub (Eventually got a local garage to remove the offending bolt) and the existing shoes basically disintegrated when i removed the hub (Obviously never been changed unlike the passenger side which had nearly new shoes in). however after the new shoes were fitted and adjusted handbrake now works a treat and fortunately there was no damage to the hub.
Spent a day with upholstery cleaner, a steam cleaner and a vacuum and interior is now nice and clean and no longer smells nasty. Only thing that has gone wrong since I got the car is Bonnet sensor packed up so had to replace that (From what i read online seems to be a common issue with several LR models) apart from that everything on the car works as it should and mechanically the car is good, previous owner may not have cleaned or cared for the interior but at least they did look after the mechanical side of things from what i can see in the Service history.
Before i found this one i had contacted another dealer who had advertised a similar spec model for a similar price. It sold within 2 days of the advert being placed so had already been sold when i phoned, I got lucky with the dealership I bought mine from as when i phoned them it was their first day back open.
I steered clear of Private sellers as although many of the vehicles look nice you get no warranty with private sales,most dealerships offer warranties of some kind.
I could have gone back to the dealer i bought mine from and got the handbrake sorted by them as It came with a warranty on the mechanical side of things when i bought it. however for the amount of time it took to fix it was easier to sort it myself. Going back to the dealer would have meant being without the vehicle for as long as it took to fix and getting back home after leaving the car with them would have been an issue, so would getting back to pick the vehicle up afterwards although if anything major had gone wrong it would have gone back to them, i could also have let them clean it inside but I was impatient and told them i'd do it myself..
So basically i got a good car that had been looked after mechanically, just never cleaned inside. So it's sometimes worth looking a little deeper than a bit of dirt