Common problems

Land Rover Freelander brake problems

How often MOT testers find brake faults on the Land Rover Freelander at each age, against all cars of the same age, and which items come up most. From 499,873 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 15 years, the most tested age

Brakes fails per 100 MOTs (n=51,125)11.1

All cars at 15 years (n=5,591,675)10.7

Brakes advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=51,125)23.4

All cars, same age (n=5,591,675)27.8

What stands out

At 15 years, 11.1 of every 100 MOTs of the Land Rover Freelander found a brake fail (n=51,125), against 10.7 for all cars of that age (n=5,591,675).
It is above the all-car rate at 11 of the 17 ages with at least 1,000 tests.
The gap is widest at 23 years: 20.7 per 100 MOTs against 12.7 for all cars.
The brake fail item recorded most often at 15 years: decelerometer (sp): efficiency below requirements, on 2.3 per 100 MOTs.
The most common brake advisory or minor defect: brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened, on 11.3 per 100 MOTs.

Brakes fails by age

Solid line: this model. Dashed line: all cars at the same age.

Land Rover Freelander: brakes fails and advisories per 100 MOTs, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
8 years	11,787	3.7	4.8	18.1	19.1
9 years	25,240	4.3	5.6	18.9	20.3
10 years	35,683	4.7	6.5	19.8	21.6
11 years	47,960	5.7	7.3	19.8	22.8
12 years	50,678	7.2	8.2	20.2	24.0
13 years	47,541	9.0	9.1	20.8	25.0
14 years	48,464	10.2	9.9	22.3	26.4
15 years	51,125	11.1	10.7	23.4	27.8
16 years	44,228	12.8	11.6	28.2	29.5
17 years	40,081	15.0	12.3	33.2	31.1
18 years	33,671	16.3	12.9	37.2	32.3
19 years	22,278	18.4	13.3	43.0	33.3
20 years	17,065	18.6	13.5	43.0	33.7
21 years	11,488	18.9	13.3	42.9	33.7
22 years	6,741	19.1	13.1	43.1	33.2
23 years	3,867	20.7	12.7	39.9	32.2
24 years	1,976	20.2	12.2	40.6	30.7

Brakes fail items at 15 years

Brakes fail items on the Land Rover Freelander at 15 years (n=51,125), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=5,591,675).
Item	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Decelerometer (sp): efficiency below requirements	2.3	0.1
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	2.1	2.0	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Handbrake too weak	1.9	2.3
Parking brake performance: inoperative on one side	1.4	1.1
Rbt (sp): efficiency less than 50% of the required value	1.0	0.6
Decelerometer (sp): efficiency less than 50% of the required value	0.9	under 0.1

Brakes advisories and minor defects at 15 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Brakes advisories and minor defects on the Land Rover Freelander at 15 years (n=51,125), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=5,591,675).
Item	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	11.3	11.1	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Brake pads: wearing thin	8.0	6.9	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material	2.4	7.2	£137 to £392 per car (rough guide)
Cable: damaged but not to excess	2.1	0.1
Brake discs: worn, but not excessively	1.9	2.3	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

What to check on a viewing

On the Land Rover Freelander, the brake items testers fail most are decelerometer (sp): efficiency below requirements; brake pads under 1.5 mm; handbrake too weak.

On the test drive the car should stop in a straight line without pulling, juddering or grinding.
Look at the discs through the wheels for a deep lip, heavy rust or scoring.
Check that the handbrake or electronic parking brake holds the car on a slope.
Ask when the pads, discs and brake fluid were last changed, and for the receipts.

Ask for the car's MOT history: a brake advisory that repeats from year to year has not been fixed. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the common brake problems on the Land Rover Freelander?

At 15 years (51,125 MOTs), the brake fail items testers record most often are decelerometer (sp): efficiency below requirements (2.3 per 100 MOTs), brake pads under 1.5 mm (2.1 per 100 MOTs), handbrake too weak (1.9 per 100 MOTs). The most common brake advisories or minor defects are brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (11.3) and brake pads: wearing thin (8.0).

Does the Land Rover Freelander have more brake problems than other cars?

At 15 years it has 11.1 brake fails per 100 MOTs against 10.7 for all cars of the same age (about the same). It is above the all-car rate at 11 of the 17 ages with enough tests.

What does a brake repair cost on the Land Rover Freelander?

For brake pads under 1.5 mm, an independent garage estimate is £72 to £174 per axle (rough guide). This is a guide built from the national median garage labour rate and estimated labour hours, not a quote.

Brake problems on other Land Rover models

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Land Rover Freelander?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

See a sample report Car tools · MOT fail rates by model · Compare models by MOT record

Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 28 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources