xtrail v freelander

[BeatBeat]

Hi,

I currently tow my caravan (Abbey freestyle 47 - 1320kg)) with my 08 plate Nissn Xtrail sport. Its my second xtrail and it is great in a number of ways. Plenty of boot room for my 5 dogs. High enough for my 87 year old dad to get in and out off.

The majority of our camping is done very basically e.g. a field, with no electric or hardstanding with a water tap some distance away so we've found the 4x4 a boon in bad weather and soggy muddy fields.

I now looking at updating my car. The question is do I go for another Xtrail or try a freelander? Seen a couple of nice 2.2 TD4 GS. I have a budget of about £20,000.

Ideas from those with experience of either cars very welcome.

Trisha

 

[RayS]

I've had a Freelander 2 GS SDI for about a year now, towing Elddis Avante 540 1500kg or thereabouts.
For various reasons it replaced a Merc. E 220 SE cdi and thus from a drivers point of view a vry difficult act to follow.
However, I have to say it does the job very well. The engine is the higher power version available and performance is very good, with good acceleration even when towing. There is some wind noise as reported in the road tests but nothing to worry about. The engine/gearbox are Ford so should be 'fixable' pretty widely.

The handling solo is much better than my previous 4x4s (Merc ML, Discovery tdi, Landrover 6 cylinder) and if quite acceptable. View out and driving position are excellent. It comes with a full size spare which is comforting. My wife has just had to take up towing and has recently done several 300 mile days on return from Spain and finds the car comfortable and manageable (apart from the person in the passenger seat).

Internal storage space is a bit limited as is 'boot' space with rear seats in use. Fuel consumption much higher than the Merc 220 but most things are. I have also driven a RR Evoque which was completely dreadful in all respects even though it had basically the same mechanicals. If you are 6ft plus you may find the seating towards the snug side.

If subjected to the 'if it was stolen would you buy another ?' test, the answer is 'probably'.

Well worth a detailed look

 

[Mel]

We have almost the same outfit as Ray; Freelander 2 SD4 HSE (automatic) pulling a 1500kg Elddis. Tows no problem, doesn't wallow like our previous Sante fe. Great noseweight on the towball (100kg). As a solo drive about 28mpg around town (a small city with more stopping than going) and about 35mpg combined. Towing only gives about 30mpg on a motorway run. OH loves it.
Only criticism is the boot is really small. Seriously, really small for a car of this size. However we would get another if this one went.
never had an xtrail so can't comment.

mel

 

[ChrisUK]

I would have liked an auto Freelander, but the boot is much smaller than the Xtrail. I keep telling my wife that the next towcar will have to be a transit van!

 

[RayS]

Chris, how about fitting a roofbox to the Freelander ? I'm going to try this - from previous experience with other 4x4 and saloon cars towing the addition of a roof box does not make much difference to the mpg (after all you have 7ft square of headwind behind you). For long stay we take the box off and use it for additional storage on the pitch, but for short stay tend to leave it on.

If the Freelander does not have factory fit side roof rails, Thule have a roof bar kit which fits further forward than the LR rack and costs a good deal less (although still not what you would call cheap)

 

[xtrailman]

I was always disappointed with the claimed 266 pound feet of torque with my last T31 Xtrail, in fact after having a T30 I thought Nissan had fitted the wrong engine.

But over the 4.5 years I owned the car it was 100% reliable, and had a Renault engine. To be honest I wouldn't touch a LR product until they start featuring higher up the reliability stakes.
I believe the freeloader also has a Ford engine?

It also held on to its residuals really well, to sell it quickly I let it go for just under £12K..
It has a huge boot and I do miss all the storage inside, if it had the CX-5 engine I would buy another.

 

[RayS]

Yes the Freelander does have Ford power which is one of the attractions since there are many more Ford garages than LR or Nissan. I share some reservations about reliability but LR has been moving up the J D Power list in recent years, so fingers crossed.

 

[mealsonwheels]

We got a Freelander 2 when they first came out and are now on our 3rd. There are just the two of us caravanning and by folding the rear seats down, it gives us loads of extra boot space. We've towed our Swift Challenger all over the country with one, including the highlands of Scotland, with no problems.

 

[ChrisUK]

Chris, how about fitting a roofbox to the Freelander ? I'm going to try this - from previous experience with other 4x4 and saloon cars towing the addition of a roof box does not make much difference to the mpg (after all you have 7ft square of headwind behind you). For long stay we take the box off and use it for additional storage on the pitch, but for short stay tend to leave it on.

If the Freelander does not have factory fit side roof rails, Thule have a roof bar kit which fits further forward than the LR rack and costs a good deal less (although still not what you would call cheap)

I would need to carry a step ladder!

 

[DrZhivago]

Chris, how about fitting a roofbox to the Freelander ? ....... the addition of a roof box does not make much difference to the mpg (after all you have 7ft square of headwind behind you).

That is assuming that you never need the extra space when you are not towing.

The small space in the boot area is common to a lot of cars these days, and a pity; part of the prevalent "minimalist" style I suppose, and is it supposed to be "green"? A longer vehicle has almost no more air resistance than a shorter one of the same cross section. A shorter vehicle is easier for parking by the kerb in a street, but personally I rarely do that : own driveway, supermarket car park, work car park, pub car park, lay-by, field - about it really.

 

[ChrisUK]

I don't this many caravan towers will be buying the new Xtrail on sale shortly. They seem to have abandoned the towing market to the Pathfinder.

 

[Barnjohn]

We got a Freelander 2 when they first came out and are now on our 3rd. There are just the two of us caravanning and by folding the rear seats down, it gives us loads of extra boot space. We've towed our Swift Challenger all over the country with one, including the highlands of Scotland, with no problems.

We are now on our second FL2, just gone from GS TD4 manual to XS SD4 auto in Jan. We bought our first in 2008 having tried the X-Trail and found the FL2 much more refined. Again there are just two of us so rear space with the seats down is fine. Toured France and Spain in April/May wth 1650kg 'van and I can't fault it. Towed 12k miles with GS and now have done 3.5k in XS.