• Poor fuel economy overall
• Servicing costs are competitive
• Diesel models have a large fuel tank

What are the running costs?

Land Rover claims the mild-hybrid technology increases fuel economy by up to 7%. This is mostly down to how the stop-start system activates when the vehicle slows down below 10mph. Despite this, running costs for the Land Rover Discovery Sport aren’t anything to get excited about.

The most economical model on paper is the plug-in hybrid. The official WLTP rating for the P300e suggests it can do up to 143.1mpg, with its P270e replacement upping it to 178.6. As you’d expect from a PHEV, those kinds of figures are only achievable if you charge and make full use of the battery on each journey.

Even with regular charging, we averaged 53.8mpg over our 3163 miles with the P300e. With a flat battery, economy dropped to the low 30s. This isn’t particularly impressive for a modern plug-in hybrid, with even a BMW X5 50e’s 3.0-litre straight-six bettering this figure in our experience.

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Its EV-only range is starting to look off the pace compared with other PHEV rivals at 34 miles for the P300e, and 36.7 for the P270e, a figure which Land Rover says will cover most people’s daily commute. Our long term P300e managed around 30 miles per charge at best, albeit taking in some dual carriageways. Rivals such as the Mercedes GLC have far longer electric-only ranges, are more efficient with a flat battery and sit in a lower BIK tax bracket.

The diesels provide more palatable running costs even if they’re still not fantastic – expect around 40mpg, which is significantly up on the sub-30mpg figures the petrol models were capable of. Even so, we’d expect more these days.

Servicing and warranty

The Discovery Sport benefits from a three-year/unlimited mileage warranty. The mileage part is generous, but the time not so much. The Hyundai Santa Fe has a five-year warranty and the Kia Sorento is covered for seven. If you want even more, Toyota’s warranty lasts for up to ten years or 100,000 miles.

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Land Rover offers a number of service plans for new cars and approved-used models up to 10 years old. Interestingly, the remaining balance of a service plan can be transferred to a new model should you choose to upgrade.

Reliability

• Earlier Discovery Sports were not reliable
• Latest engine tech may fix diesel emissions issues
• Land Rover doesn’t have the greatest reputation

Early Discovery Sports notched up a fairly unenviable reputation for poor reliability. This was mostly down to the diesel emissions systems of the 2.0-litre diesel engine – they failed, contaminating the engine oil and potentially damaging the engine.

Land Rover offered a goodwill gesture to affected owners, but sadly that’s not been the last of the Discovery Sport’s issues. Disappointingly, many owners have reported creaks and rattles from brand new cars, and other issues such as balancer shaft bearing and diesel particulate filter (DPF) failure. Even during one of our short testing periods, a piece of fusebox trim simply fell off.

You ought to bear in mind if considering a used Land Rover Discovery Sport – and if buying new, be sure to service the car within the terms of the warranty so that you have some cover should things go wrong.

You can read our owner’s reviews to see how some have fared, with a broad range of ratings given.