Land Rover Freelander running costs on the TD4 should prove reasonable thanks to 38mpg economy and group 11 insurance. From mid-2009 2.2 TD4_e versions come with stop/start technology, that brings real world improvements in fuel consumption by automatically shutting down when stopped in traffic. The petrol version is the least economical at 25mpg and more costly to insure thanks to group 15 insurance.

Residual values for the Freelander are higher than the class norm – and while the initial purchase price is higher than mainstream rivals, it is cheaper when compared like-for-like with other premium brand, compact 4x4s. In 2010 Land Rover added a two-wheel drive Freelander. It is frugal, returning on average 47.2mpg. In theory that’s equal to 710 miles on the one tank

Land Rover Freelander emissions aren’t exactly low, but they could be a lot worse. The vast majority of Freelanders sold will be diesel and these have far more modest fuel consumption than the six-cylinder petrol car, of which there are only a handful of sales a year in the UK. The Freelander is some way behind diesel versions of the other strong sellers in this class: the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Ford Kuga, but Land ROver also offers customers a carbon offset programme for the first 45,000 miles of ownership to ease consciences.

The two-wheel drive (added in 2010) version emits 158g/km of CO2.

Traditionally Land Rover Freelander reliability hasn’t exactly been great. However, it’s built at the Halewood factory in the UK, which also builds the Range Rover Evoque and has won awards for quality production.