Welli thought i had narrowed it down to a small suv for my gf, was leaning towards the mazda tribute, but after doing a little more research for a couple grand more i can get her a landrover freelander, from what i can tell i get alot better quality and bang for my buck with this beast. Anyone driven one of these or heard anything about them.

Promise this will be my last post on suv's :)

You won't like to hear this Charles, but I've heard they have quite a bad reliability record....

we drove one a few months ago. i liked it a lot, very comfortable, easy to reach all the controls, ride was smooth. it's a little slow off the line for my taste, though. i also didn't like the fact that you couldn't get a manual.

i've heard about the reliability issues but i know a few people who have landrover discoveries and they've had no problems at all. another negative you may want to consider is the resale value. it's fairly low for landrovers in general.

we ended up not getting one. bought a subaru impreza wrx wagon instead--and love love love it. :D

jenn

hmm thats wierd fro some reason i was under the impression that land rovers have a phenomonal track record, but i dont know much about them, guess i was wrong. Well that stinks thougt id found the perfect suv, guess ill go for the mazda tribute after all.

Originally posted by cbaker17
hmm thats wierd fro some reason i was under the impression that land rovers have a phenomonal track record, but i dont know much about them, guess i was wrong. Well that stinks thougt id found the perfect suv, guess ill go for the mazda tribute after all.

The Discovery & the Range Rover are considerably more reliable, but considerably pricier too :rolleyes:

the landrover defender is bulletproof, unfortunately for the defender ranger the optional extras inlude cushion for seats lol. theyre basic but very rugged. they will go anywhere.

the discovery is more family orientate, capable off road but not defender level. reliability isnt as great as the defender either but isnt too bad.

the range rover is the prestiege model, meant really for safeways car parks and going shooting. can handle terrain well though. very up market specs, very comfortable. also reliable.

the freelander is a beaut, having driven one i can say they are great fun. the go almost anywhere a defender can but thanks to the fancy electronics you dont have to be as good a driver, descent control, viscous differential etc, all make for a clever ride and plenty of fun. reliability is supposedly the best theyve ever managed, not sure myself.

I was looking at the Freelander for the wife and really did not like it. I am a big person (6ft +) and so is my wife and it is not made for taller people. The ride was very smooth, but had almost no power (but I am be just used to the V8 in my Lexus :)). The interior seemed average. I do think the Consumer Reports says that LandRovers are not very dependable.

My 2 cents.

Range Rover = Great with good track record.

Landrover Defender Series = outdoor motor with reliability.

Discovery & Freelander all have very poor reliability record and Discovery in particular suffers from very poor wear to interior finish.