In October 2011, my Freelander failed to start one morning, so I had it looked over by a local mechanic who's an expert at British cars. It turned out to be a pretty severe engine failure, caused by a combination of poor design and neglect by the previous owner. The Freelander's oil channels are highly prone to sludge clogging, and require near-perfect adherance to the oil change schedule and specifications. The previous owner either didn't change the oil at all, or put conventional in it, and the dealer who sold it to me (European Automobile Company in Plainview, NY, do not buy from them) didn't change the filter with the oil. So, even with a reasonable distance between oil changes, I didn't have it changed fast enough, and a camshaft bearing seized.

It's running again now, but it took a costly and lengthy repair process to get it going again.