Owners have filed 343 complaints on the Land Rover Freelander, covering 2002–2005. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (192 reports). Worst years by volume: 2002, 2003, 2004; cleanest: 2005, 2004, 2003. 5 reports describe a crash, 9 a fire. On average the car was 4.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Land Rover Freelander
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 343 Freelander complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 192 Read
Days after purchasing my 2004 freelander, the "check engine soon" light came on and the car stalled out on me. The RPM's go all the way up but the accelerator won't allow to drive past 25 mph. This has happened to me continuously since purchasing it. I have had my car serviced by land rover many, many times and they…
Engine failure due to the use of varying alloys with different expansion properties used in engine manufacture. The design of engine includes metal sleeves that line the cylinder walls that when heated to normal operating temperature allow the sleeves to slide into the engine resulting in catastrophic engine failure.…
Engine breather valve froze up , the engine start leaking oil , possible fire or destroy the engine. Stranded. The service bulletin out on the issue but the dealer isn't honoring the responsibility
Power Train 44 Read
The contact owns a 2003 land rover free lander. The contact stated that in january 2011, the cooling system began to leak abnormally, the radiator hose fractured from the vehicle and the engine caught on fire. The following month, the engine continued to overheat, the ABS and check engine warning lights were…
2005 land rover (free lander): shifting rears from drive (d) to reverse (r) resulted in broken gear linkage cable on one occasion. The SUV became totally immovable and unsafe (locked in park mode) in the middle of the street. Vehicle had to be towed on flatbed to dealer after two tow truck drivers (mechanics)…
I am driving down the road and the car shifts into extremely low gear (maybe 5 mph), f4 flashes, and the service engine, hill descent control, and traction control light up. Once I can move to the side of the road, I can turn off the car, wait less than 5 minutes and the car starts without any of the lights. The…
Service Brakes 23 Read
My wife took her free lander into the landrover dealer for normal maintenance and oil change, and was told at the time that her brakes had to be replaced, including the rotors, pads, etc. The service manager at the dealership also advised her that this would happen every 24,000 miles and that's the way the freelanders…
In mid-october 2004, I bought a new land rover freelander from the jim coleman of frederick, md dealership. The vehicle has had massive electrical issues. Since november of '04, the "hill descent" light (the lr manual suggests this means a major problem), SRS (airbag) and the check engine light come on several times.…
Brake rotors required replacing and brake pads were completely worn after only 14,500 miles of gentle driving. Dealer stated that rotors were a maintenance item and were not covered under warranty. Cost was over $500 and could have resulted in brake failure if repairs had not been made. Brake rotors do not wear out in…
Electrical System 22 Read
2002 land rover freelander experienced a vehicle fire.*mr the consumer addressed dealership several times, land rover told him that the vehicle did not meet the mexico lemon law guidelines and they were not in any position to repurchase the vehicle. The consumer also complained about other problems with the vehicle…
My sons 2002 land rover freelander caught fire on september 29, 2010 at 4:00 am. The vehicle had been parked since 11:00 pm the previous evening. At 4:00 am my son heard his alarms in the car going off and rushed to see what was going on to find the interior of the car was on fire. He tried to slap the fire out with…
Was driving down the road during hurricane sandy and the car shifts (or lags) into extremely low gear, maybe 5-10 mph. The service engine, service engine soon, and other lights on dash came on and vehicle was lurching. Once I able move to the side of the road, I am able to turn the vehicle off, wait less than 5…
Fuel System 15 Read
The vehicle's check engine light illuminated. *nm the mirrors did not reach some angles, the gas cap could not get open, and the vehicle suddenly died out without warning. The consumer was informed that the battery was a problem
The contact stated while driving 20 mph down the street, the engine stalled and operated at a reduced speed without warning. The accelerator was firmly depressed and a smell of gasoline filled the vehicle, yet the vehicle continued to operate at a reduced speed. The vehicle was coasted to the side of the road. It was…
While driving the 2003 land rover freelander on the freeway and getting ready to exit when the car suddenly turned off by itself, but the wheels were still moving. It was not the battery because I still had the radio on and the lights were working. It felt like it had run out of gas, but I had a full tank! Thank god I…
Steering 11 Read
June 31 driving 30 miles, the vehicle made sounds as though gears were shifting, & check engine lights, tc light, & track control lights came on, & vehicle lost major power, resulting to a drag in transmission allowing to drive about 2-5 miles. Jul 1 vehicle taken to carmax service (cm), of which both lights had gone…
This vehicle rack & pinion makes a noise every time you turn left. Contacted the dealer and was told that no action will be taken to correct the problem, in fact I was told it will happen to the right later.contacted the manufacturer direct , they are aware of the problem but it is an engineering defect that the…
Numerous large repairs needed for a 2003 land rover freelander, current mileage approx 79,000 including: new engine oct 2007, new radiator june 2007, new fuel pump may 2007, new thermostat april 2007, internal electrical fault september 2006, cooling system september 2006, broken sway bar april 2006, right rear window…
Exterior Lighting 6 Read
My brake lights don't come on took my car to the landrover dealer and they told me they where not going to check my car I explained that their was a recall on brake lights and tom was very nasty telling it was not for my car but. I have read the recall and I tried to get him too look it up and he just refuse told me…
The contact owns a 2004 land rover freelander. He received a recall notice for the exterior lighting: brake lights: switch (NHTSA campaign id#07V041000). The contact requested to have the parts shipped to his home because the dealer is hours away however, the dealer refused. There had been no failure to date. The…
The brake lights on the 2002 land rover freelander (which we just purchased) are extremely misleading to anyone traveling behind the vehicle are bound to be the cause of accidents, if they havent been already. Although there are light clusters on each side of the tailgate (as there are on every vehicle in the us),…
Engine 6 Read
My son turned 16 on march 18, 2012. We wanted an SUV that would be safe to drive. We wanted a car with lower mileage. We found a 2004 land rover freelander at a local dealer with only 56,000 miles. Car was in awesome shape inside and out. New tires, etc. Paid $9,500. A few days later took the car to my local land…
Original owner of land rover freelander 2003. At approximately 60,000 miles, the "service engine soon" light came on and engine had to be replaced due to problems caused by the coolant leaking into the engine. At the time, the car was under an extended warranty so most of the repairs were covered. Now, at…
I bought the car new and it operated well until aprox. 80,000 mi when I would go through a reservoir of coolant every 20 miles. I took it to the dealer several times and they would keep it for a week, charge me $2,000 each time and say they could find nothing wrong. I addressed the problems documented on the internet…
Freelander years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Electrical System,engine | — | — | |
| 2004 | Electrical System | 2 | 1 | |
| 2003 | Electrical System | — | 5 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 3 | 3 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 108 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.2 |
| Worst single series | 14 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.8 years |
A model average of 3.2 hides a worst series at 14. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Freelander?
By complaint volume, 2002, 2003, 2004 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Freelander years are the cleanest?
2005, 2004, 2003 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Land Rover Freelander have?
343 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2002–2005. Of those, 5 describe a crash and 9 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.