Freelander beats the freeze

Dave Phillips explains why the Freelander 1, 2 and Discovery Sport are the best buys this winter (and they’ll stop you catching coronavirus, too)

CORONAVIRUS has dominated the news headlines for most of this year. Politicians can talk of little else. They love nothing better than the sound of their own voices and can usually be relied upon to spout forth on any subject – regardless of whether they actually know what they're talking about – so you would imagine that they had every Covid-19 angle covered, wouldn’t you?

Wrong. The subject they all avoid is car ownership. For the last decade or so, politicians of all persuasions have been banging on about how bad cars are, but they’ve suddenly gone quiet on the subject. They can’t bring themselves to admit that the safest form of transport during the current pandemic is the motor car.

Luckily, us Brits have always had a healthy distrust of politicians. We tend to make our own minds up. We didn’t trust travelling on our overcrowded and unreliable public transport systems. We reckoned they were the places most likely to catch Covid-19. So we travelled by car instead.

That’s why secondhand car values have soared during lockdown. The motor trade estimated that the price of the average used car this summer was £2000 above normal. This has dipped slightly since, due to the easing of lockdown, which made it easier to sell vehicles and hence increase supply to help meet demand. But demand is still much higher than normal – and you can see why.

Nobody wants to travel on public transport. It’s being too close to other people that leads to you catching coronavirus and that’s exactly what happens on buses, trains and planes – and standing in queues at bus stops, stations and airports. Once you’re inside your own car you’re in a secure, sealed bubble that’s automatically socially distanced from anyone else. What’s not to like about that?

Experts in the trade reckon prices will probably dip by about two per cent this winter, but that’s for ordinary cars. As always, values for Land Rovers and other 4x4s will rise, as pessimistic folk mentally prepare themselves for the big freeze, snowdrifts and Arctic conditions (that seldom arrive). With just about every manufacturer now selling several 4x4 models, they will have plenty to choose from, but in the UK at least, Land Rovers are usually the best-sellers.

The good news is that if you are looking for the best Land Rover to cope with snow and ice, you won’t go far wrong with a Freelander or its modern descendent, the Discovery Sport. The lower kerb weight of these smaller vehicles, combined with excellent traction control, means these models are ideal for the job – and they won’t break the bank.

Even with secondhand values so high, you can pick up a great late-model Freelander 1 with the excellent Td4 engine for £2000. A tidy Freelander 2 is easy to nab if you’ve got £5000 to spend. A five-year-old Discovery Sport is pricier, at about £15,000, but that’s still a good price for what I reckon is the best-performing car I’ve ever driven on icy roads in sub-zero conditions.

It’s ironic that as secondhand prices soar, the best-value Land Rovers of all also happen to be the best cars for winter driving. I wonder if our politicians know that?