Land Rover Freelander Car Keys Prices Problems
The Freelander 2 was the first car key we came across with a rechargeable battery. It was also the first to take on the shape of a ‘block’, having its key blade hidden away, instead of on display. This key was designed as a sealed unit. It can be dropped in water etc, and not go faulty. It’s rugged and the case is very high quality. We’ve never seen worn rubbers on Freelander Car Keys.
Unfortunately, these keys have the reputation of being low quality, simply because the rechargeable battery fails. This is harsh when compared to many new keys and we believe they’re a good standard.
Freelander Car Keys General Information
The block key is inserted into a hole in the dashboard. There’s no ignition lock, but instead a stop / start button. Regarding vehicle security, we believe this is a terrible idea, but more on that in another article.
Should the car battery go flat, or the rechargeable battery in the key fail, there’s a door lock on the passenger side, hidden behind a plastic cap. The car can be unlocked by using the emergency key blade.
Spare Keys
Freelander Emergency Key Blade
These keys are expensive. Genuine keys cost £240 from the dealer, once programmed. There are other suppliers that are not the dealer, and there may be some savings here. However, be careful you’re not buying ‘seconds’.
The other way to save money is in programming. The dealer charge for programming will normally be higher than an independent Auto Locksmith. If you choose and Auto Locksmith, you should expect to pay a minimum of £190 for a genuine remote key, cut and coded to the car.
Aftermarket Copy keys?
Aftermarket copy keys are around £80 cheaper than the genuine dealer key. We’re always looking for ways to save our customers money, however, these copy keys are very poor quality and we don’t recommend them. Read here why we think this.
At the end of the day, the question that measures quality is, ‘can I rely on my car key to work?’ Whilst the Freelander Car Keys get a bad write up, the only fault with them is that the rechargeable battery dies after 5-6 years. Lasting 5-6 years earns just three stars. This is a problem, because the key is a sealed unit. If you manage to open the key up, the battery is soldered into the electronic circuit board and tricky to remove. However, a new battery will prolong the key by another five years.
Repairing Freelander Car Keys
These can be repaired if you have the correct parts and skills, or if you can find a company to do it for you. The repair lasts for a long time, so we believe that compared to many of the car keys on the market, these are reasonable quality.
If you’re trying to get a spare key you won’t need any codes, which why we give five stars.
If you’re waiting more than a day to get up and running, it’s taking too long. These are very simple to make spare keys for and the equipment is readily available (again why so many are stolen). With the hardest job cutting the key, you should have Auto Locksmiths fighting for the job.
Lost Keys
The hardest thing about lost keys on this car is getting in. However, if you can get the key number from the dealer and get a key cut, you’re halfway there. Codes are available if you take the correct ID, logbook, utility bill and inside leg measurement to the dealer. They can take a while (days) to arrive. However, unlike Ford, they are available, giving it earn three stars.
As we said, the hardest thing about replacing Freelander car keys is getting in the car. The locks are based on the new Ford key. Therefore, making the emergency key, or even just picking the lock to get in, may be tricky to some Auto Locksmiths. When you order a key and blade from the dealer, it arrives cut, making life easy. However it can take 5-7 days to arrive. This is why it only gets three stars.
However, if you find someone with correct skills and equipment, they should be able to get you up and running the same day. The programming is very simple, (which is why, so many Freelander’s get stolen). Remember that start / stop button? Terrible idea.
To read more about Freelander cars getting stolen click here
Although people moan about these keys, we think they’re ok. They have a shelf life that can be prolonged with a battery replacement. If you’re buying a Freelander, check out the keys thoroughly, or allow for a new key when budgeting.
We hope this helps!
