Must admit, the only Freelanders I've seen with blown gearboxes (when I mean blown, I mean holes in the casing
) have had close to 100,000 miles on the clock.
They also don't crash very well at all (well, legend has it that the floorpan design was partly borrowed from an Austin Maestro and put on stilts, if thats true then the nCap results are of no surprise). The Freelander 2 is much improved in that aspect.
The diesel engines are the more reliable, the BMW unit obviously being the much better performing unit (although not without their own issues on high mile units).
Having said that, K-series petrols that have already had head gasket repairs done recently by LR should be now be ok (I emphasise on the word "should"), as new replacement gaskets and block strengthening ladder has all but cured the fabled HG issue (unless the engine is allowed to overheat big style and damage the lower seal on the cylinder liners: ££££).
If you've not guessed yet, its not my favourite 4x4 by far. Can't you sway her into something Japanese, or at least something that doesn't roll over so easily if you clip a curb at 15mph (like my mate did
).
Honestly, if you have to have one, try and stretch to a current shape Freelander 2 (2006 onwards), at least thats based on the current Mondeo chassis, which is no bad thing.