Hi,

I am new here, so forgive me if this is not in the correct category.

I bought a Freelander 2 (57 plate) in Nov 2010. It was second hand with 28000 on the clock.

In the first week of July this year, I was driving and got the "Transmission Fault" message flash up on the display, and the next time the Freelander tried to change gears in the auto box, it lost all forward gears. This vehicle has a full service history, and has been back for all service recalls (including Q106).

My concern is that is it reasonable for a Freelander gearbox to fail so soon? Farnell Land Rover, Guiseley replaced the gear box and landed me with a £3500 bill. I feel as if I have not been treated well by Land Rover as I did not expect a Freelander gearbox to fail so soon.

Therefore, I was wondering if anyone had a similar experience with a Freelander, and if so, had Land Rover discounted the bill for a gearbox. Finally, if they had received a discount, how they managed to persuade Land Rover to give them a discount.

write to landrover direct 28000 is nothing when I first started to read I though you might have had 128000 on the clock this is a joke

What did they say was so wrong with the gearbox that it required total replacement , as at that sort of mileage its hardly run-in ?

A dealer can do nothing to give you discount.


You need to get into contact with Land Rover Customer Services and complain politely and alot. It sounds like a manufacturing error with the gearbox and i would expect an autobox to last somewhere around the 120k point.

The dealer would not say what was so wrong that it required complete replacement, and referred me to the Customer Relationship Centre.
The CRC would not return my calls (no real surprise) and despite pointing out that I felt it was defective equipment which had failed far sooner than expected, they were not prepared to make a contribution to the bill.

I have looked up under the Sales of Goods Act, and think I have reasonable grounds under the durability clause. Not sure how to proceed - is it worth using trading standards, a solicitor, or drafting a strongly worded letter, and sending it both to the dealer and customer relationship centre?

many have had gearbox replaced with a reported 33-45% discount, if it had q106 update then the failure should not have happened, i traded in my car after it was deposited at dealers on breakdown truck and lr contributed handsomely towards replacement car as did stealer, but your bargaining has to happen before the repair takes place and you do need the stealer on your side, lr respond to firm but polite, they don't respond to ranting, and remember they will have a five year warranty on that part from their supplier. good luck

I have had nothing but appalling treatment from landrover customer services to the point of rude !. I bought an FR2 new which has been a pile of p##
Most unreliable piece of junk I have ever owned. In fact at 4 years old now its only done 22k from new because for three years it was hopeless at starting and had so many electrical faults and something used to go wrong every-time I went to use it.
There have been a few on Honestjohn with Auto-box issues at low mileage as well

Our Freelander 1 suffered with a seized engine after about 500 miles. The auto started leaking at 8k miles and after 2 repair attempts all the seals started to go so it was replaced at 12k miles. I paid for the auto but importer paid for engine. There’s always the chance of picking up what peeps would call “a bad one”. It’s just down to bad luck. Main dealers will normally just replace a faulty auto rather than repair it. Easier for them as there’s little risk in further problems if the unit is changed. Also means yer gets yer motor back quicker as they int set up to strip and replace individual parts. Once problems like this are sorted it’s often the case peeps get rid of it. After shelling out so much to get it fixed, then they don’t reap the reward of the repair. Once the auto is replaced your auto problems should be resolved, logically.

I'll do a swap with my v6 if yer wants?

Also most main dealers wont strip an autobox. They dont have tools or experience to do it most of the time.

Its a specialist job.

Hello sjh2001 and everybody!

About more or less two months and a half, I was surprised by a problem that is now driving me crazy!

Was usually traveling at a low speed. When I went to pass a car, was third to fourth gear, my Freelander simply lost power and engine speed increased without spending climbed to fourth gear.

From then on various error messages appear on the display. Some of them:

- TRANSMISSION GEARS AVAILABLE FAULT LIMITED
- HDC FAULT SYSTEM NOT AVAILABLE
- SPECIAL PROGRAMS OFF

And amber lights on the panel.

I managed to pass a scanner (VCM Rotunda) and got the codes:

-> P0734-00 / P0896-00 / P0894-68

In my state where I reside currently does not have a Land dealer, just a specialized garage with diagnostic tool where I managed to scan in search of errors.

My car is 2010 and currently with 50.500km. The problem is intermittent. If I leave the car parked for a few days to reconnect, add everything, as if nothing had happened. Hence lasts about 03 days or more. The last time I spent the diagnosis and reset errors, lasted more than a month before returning.

Asking: someone already received this "gift" of a Land Rover Freelander or in general? Why a car called off road could be get a serious problem like this? Low durability? Poor gearbox?? I do not know what to do or who to turn to. I'm desperated, if they understand me.

Update: after scan and detect error codes, I've replace battery and transmission oil (Pentosin ATF added). But the fault persist.

Update 2: A week ago my mechanic opened valve body and tested all solenoids. One of them was blocked or something. one of the solenoids was blocked. Reinstalled the solenoid, completed the transmission oil (MOTUL MULTI ATF) and close the box. The car looked new again. Tested for more than one hour and no problem. BUT the next day the problem back again.
Conclusion: that it would be necessary to replace the valve body or all gearbox.

Sorry about my poor english...

Thanks for listening,

Rsbuz.