impreza gs or freelander

[swansea v6]

My wife needs aka 'wants' a new car and has taken a fancy for an impreza gs (non turbo) or freelander. awd would be ideal due to the journeys we tend to make but having never driven either, only heard about the head gasket issues on the freelander, I know nothing about them.

She currently has a 55 plate mazda 6 which she gets on with but is pretty useless when we visit family in darkest Wales due to some of the lanes we have to drive down to their farm. So any horror stories for either car? Budget is a bout £2k and we have 3 kids to ferry with us. Ideally would be petrol and manual.

[vtecyo]

Impreza for me. If you service it fairly regularly it will go on forever. AWD system is good, and it's not actually that bad to drive.

My mum had a Freelander when they were fairly new - it was recovered from home twice and wasn't really that nice to be in.

[Baldchap]

Freelander 2 wasn't so bad, but the 1 was released too early and it showed in the vehicle's reliability.

[mbwoy84]

Out of those 2, Impreza, but not that spacious for 3 kids.

I'd be looking at a Forester or Legacy for your requirements.

[swansea v6]

I have been reading some horror stories on line regarding the freelander, so i am swaying towards the impreza, any ideas on economy, reliability etc? there is not much online about them.

[vtecyo]

mbwoy84 said:

Out of those 2, Impreza, but not that spacious for 3 kids.

I'd be looking at a Forester or Legacy for your requirements.

Forester is a great shout - a perfect cross between the two.

[swansea v6]

mbwoy84 said:

Out of those 2, Impreza, but not that spacious for 3 kids.

I'd be looking at a Forester or Legacy for your requirements.

Nice one! Will do some investigating

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd go Freelander 2 just because they're a decent car & at this price point you can get a very nice one:

Sport Premium

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

HSE

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

HSE Petrol

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

SE Petrol

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

SE

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[swansea v6]

Wow, they seem so much car for the money, its just that nagging doubt of the headgasket failure? Is there anyway if an uprated one has been used in the past?

[ZX10R NIN]

The petrols were prone to failure but I'd guess that any of the cars that have made it this far have had a replacement or weren't affected.