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Today on the channel, I drive the country cousin of the Porsche Cayenne – Land Rover’s Discovery 4. Built on a new platform the Discovery 3 and 4 were intended to bring a more affordable alternative to the Range Rover to the market. Now they’re some of the cheapest Land Rovers out there – are they worth buying?
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It’s a box 📦 on wheels for me but has a brilliant purpose a work horse on which it was made for in my opinion
The Nissan Patol would be a good one to test… The problem with a lot of SUV's like the Discovery is the 600 quid road tax bracket.
We recently bought a 2019 VW Touareg for its towing ability. Its a fantastic car
in simple words, the Discovery 3 V6 Diesel nearly bankrupted my father-in-law, he has owned Land Rovers for the past 40 yrs, every single model till the Discovery 3.
the running repair costs, parts costs, and expert labor costs are absolutely humongous, Disco 3 or 4 (basically the same car) is the embodiment of Automotive Masochism.
after nearly 5 yrs of trying I finally got him out of his Disco 3 into a Honda MDX
His words " I never slept this well "
Yes. It MIGHT get you there, but don't count on it getting you back. You'll need a Land Cruiser for that!!
I have a 2010 Range Rover Sport here in Perth, Australia which has the same chassis as the Disco. You are right, mine has the 5.0 normally aspirated petrol V8 and it makes the car very quiet, comfortable and special to drive and with 370hp, performance is pretty decent. I was lucky to find a V8, most have the same engine as the D4 you are driving. I was even luckier to find one which was a one owner car with only 35k miles on it. Its my daily driver, most of my driving is suburban so of course, I ignore the 17mpg fuel economy, its worth it to enjoy the car.
My Dad has a diesel Disco 3 six cylinders. The engine had a cam belt on one bank and a cam chain on the other bank. Guess which one snapped and killed the engine? Yep, the chain!
We've had one for 11 years. My wife loves it, but it is– without a doubt — the least reliable vehicle I've ever owned. About a year after the warranty had expired the dealer came back with a list of faults and failures so long that Land Rover Australia (perhaps out of sheer embarrassment) agreed to cover half the cost.
i can bet a hefty some of money that people will but millions of this car to this day if the infotainment is a bit better
I have zero need for a disco, but I've wanted one for years. Absolutely no idea why!
Including being endless money pits! I would not touch a land/Range Rover. If Land/ Range Rover were as good as Toyota/ Lexus for reliability and customer service, then they would be the best vehicles in the world but sadly that is not the case.
My 2010 2.7 at 275kms has been fabulous despite chewing through two compressors plus rear hatch lock and the infamous parking brake issue. The key is 5000km oil changes these days 5w-40 here in Australia and doing as much maintenance as you can yourself minimising the workshop mortgage pricing model. These vehicles are definitely in their own league in a very good way.
My fiancée's Dad has a Disco 3 V6. Weird stuff goes wrong and is horrendously expensive to fix (e.g. the bonnet stopped opening), but it'll get you where you're going and back. I sort of love it, for what it is…
30-40% owners have claim its money pit, though i don't own one. i have watched videos confirming its more capable than LCs.
Researched them a bit last year but comments on maintenance scared me away 🙁
I have a D3 V8 HSE – 68k from new. Yes the fuel consumption is terrible for pottering around, but when you only do a paltry 1k or 2k a year it's not a big deal. Interestingly LR ran a small fleet of right hand drive White D4s with the 5.0 V8 for visiting dignitaries. One of those would be a real find.
I can happily report, from extensive personal experience, that a Disco 4 on BF Goodriches is just fine noise wise. The sound deadening works very well.
The folks bought one of the first cars into the country, sight unseen, to replace a Disco 1. Absolute base model, 2.7L engine (not as powerful as the 3.0 but, certainly here at least, considered the more robust unit), 5 fabric seats and, the major reason for that: smaller wheels and brakes for more sidewall. They still have it now and it remains one of the most relaxing long-distance touring cars I've ever driven, not to mention one of the most practical. When I moved out of home I essentially packed up my entire life into it for the trip. Couldn't do that now mind, but it's a big square box and a good shape for packing to the gunwales with stuff. Honestly, if they ever go to sell it, and I have the space, I'll probably offer to buy it off them.
Will it make it back all the way to the dealer before breaking down, or does it have to be towed there?
My only encounter with a Land Rover Discovery was a Discovery 5. But I think my impressions were similar to yours. Something that offensively big has no right to be as enjoyable as it is. I'm not sure if I would buy one, but I can see why people do.
Incidentally, I see the new Land Rover Defender as more of a replacement for the Discovery 4, than for the old Defender range.
James, you are correct regarding the reason for the “LR3” nomenclature. I had a D2. It was horribly unreliable. Worst car I owned. I would have a D4, but instead I bought an L322.
With LR try and get the run out or later models; as you say, continuous improvements fettle the product. I have had plenty of Disco and Range Rovers, just swapped Disco 5 for MY20 Vogue and always happy. They need maintenance!… but trust me they reward in many ways… just ask the guy in his Audi A6 that I pulled out of a ditch last week when he strayed too far over on the narrow lanes we have in Hampshire 🤪
I've had several Discovery 4's and 5's (2016 onwards) all from new, brilliant cars and amazing for touring. MPG was in the 30's on all of them. Family favourites from all the cars we've ever had.
Even at being ugly
Any body know
Why would it matter about the sound of the tires? The example is some body going past on an interstate being loud, but why would it matter? Does it hurt performance?
The Disco 4/LR4 is brilliant and is surely a future classic! High point for Land Rover.
We’ve had a ‘13 HSE Lux V8 for the last 4 years and it’s been flawless. We’ve towed heavy with it, of roaded often and not a single problem! Really nice and comfortable truck.
Love out D3 – based in welly NZ
American here: in 2010, I bought a 2008 LR3 with the 4.4L Jag V8 and 22k mi from a south FL Audi dealer that took it on trade. Over 150k mi later, it has been a brilliant car for us for 13 years, passed down now to college-age daughter. My car is a Jag XF AWD — luv it! My wife's is a 2017 F-Pace — luv it! I don't get it, why do you Brits buy so darn many German cars over your own?! It's like you Brits don't understand, you now make some darn good vehicles!
Maybe watch Chris Harris on his Toyota Land Cruiser. 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
Search “Worst diesel engine on the planet? ~ Ford Lion V6 – Land Rover TDV6 SDV6” 🤔
I Sold an LR4 in 2013 to a Gentleman in Golden Colorado, USA. He Loved the way it drove, but since it was for his Wife, He worried about Reliability. We solved that with a 5 Year, $6000 Bumper to Bumper (all inclusive) Warranty.
My Boss was Shocked and Dismayed that I would Even Try to sell such an expensive warranty.
Six Weeks later, the Gentleman called to Thank Me for selling Him a Warranty That had already Paid For Itself!!!
That was a Gas V8.
Maybe watch LRTime video on the 2.7 and 3.0 Engines in these cars
Got a Discovery 3, does everything I want it too, I had a three seater sofa in there a few days ago, it's comfortable, nice to drive, I'd like a Discovery 4, they are out of my price range, but I'm happy with my Discovery 3
“And when it breaks, which it will, it’s going to be very expensive” 🤔. Now is that comment relevant to a Land Rover🤔. I should say so.
If you're lucky enough to get a good one, they are an incredible car. We didn't get a good one. It was by far the most unreliable car I've ever owned, with huge, expensive side-of-the-road issues. Sold it and bought a much more reliable, faster and (surprisingly) just as capable Touareg.
But to this day I still lust after the beautiful shape and practicality of the Disco 4. Hard to beat a car with a split tailgate. Might have to try it again and set aside $10k for a repair budget 🤣
Why didn't he clean it before you used it?
The disco in the colonies was quite the piece of trash……and i generally love land rovers having had 2 classics in a row.
Very enjoyable…. again!
A Disco is not an SUV. It’s a 4×4, a touring vehicle, limo and family hold-all. 10 years and 180,000 trouble free miles. Awesome machine.
Great video Jay!
Got a final run top spec one of these. It is the Swiss Army knife of cars: luxury (proper) 4×4, (proper) 7 seater, occasional transit van. Will tow 3.5 tons!
It feels like driving in your favourite (heated) armchair – you just don’t feel chewing through serious miles in this.
The SDV6 and 8 speed ZF work nicely together with lots of pull low down in the rev range. LR tweaked also improved the gearbox mapping to make it more responsive for the ad-blue version.
The flappy paddles aren’t something you’ll use much but are useful holding gears either while going downhill or when towing.
Make no mistake though – 2.5 tons is expensive to maintain: chews through pads, discs and tyres. It’s complicated with transfer case, air suspension, two turbos – so when they go wrong or wear out it will sting!
Will average high 20s mpg if you drive like a nun, 30s at sensible motorway speeds.
If I wasn’t worried about ULEZ I’d get the 2014 XXV anniversary trim as that has almost all options (HSE Luxury and more).
Get one with a full service history and be aware of expensive service milestones around the 112k/7 year mark with the cambelts needing replacement.
There is also the issue of the crank going… which is a bit of a lottery. Regular oil changes may spare you a replacement engine…