Land Rover Discovery (2004 - 2017) 3.0 TDV6 XS 5d Auto Owner Review

After many years of happy Shogun ownership, mostly petrol fuelled, we are certainly pleased with the fuel economy of our Disco. The air-cushioned ride is very good and the pulling power impressive although to feel any real acceleration it's necessary to switch the gearbox to Sport and push that pedal - but she does go when so encouraged. Inside the leather looks thick and the finish stylish though the dash has a tendency to creak. There is a lot of space and the extra two seats fold cleverly into the floor but we needed the handbook to figure it all out. So performance, ride and comfort are all very good. I only have two niggles: first the reliability - it is a complex car and there's a lot to go wrong although our XS has fewer bells and whistles inside which may turn out to be blessing. In a year's otherwise happy motoring we've had an alternator, a compressor for the air suspension and a diesel leak (water sensor snapped off effectively draining the fuel). I had a puncture and found one wheel nut cap has distorted making it a poor fit in the spanner - not unusual, I'm told. Our car had full LR dealer service history and showed every sign of having been well cared for. Get a gold-standard warranty! We've been spoiled by years of boringly reliable Shoguns but the under-bonnet area is so full Discos can be a pain to work on and some big jobs require removal of some bits of bodywork. Eek! My second niggle is more of a practical one - the height of the boot floor. My wife and I are not tall people but it's way too high for us in everyday use. The bottom section of the back door folds down making reach even more challenging and we've had to resort to a wire coat hanger to grab things that have shifted out of reach. You can lower the suspension making things easier but that's not something you tend to do everytime. The suspension also goes higher which I have found useful. So, the final analysis, the acid test: my wife loves it! Job done!