1997 Land Rover Discovery se7 3.9v8 petrol from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

A very good purchase as a second hand 4wd

Faults:

So far I haven't had anything go wrong with the car. In fact it has proved to be very comfortable and reliable.

General Comments:

The Land Rover Discovery is the sort of vehicle that tends to grow on you, the longer you own it the more you begin to appreciate how capable it is. As a 4wd it has almost no peers, with solid axles and four coil springs combined with a center diff lock offering dual range ratios it can crawl over anything thrown at it. The short wheel base and excellent approach and departure angles have gotten into places even Patrols or Cruisers could not.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th October, 2003

1997 Land Rover Discovery Tdi ES 2.5 turbo diesel from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Potentially superb vehicle ruined by poor manufacturing quality

Faults:

Very high rate of wear of brake discs.

Oil leaks on delivery.

Oil leaks down transmission shaft making hand brake ineffective.

Severe galvanic corrosion of "rust proof" aluminium panels where bolted to steel wheel arch. Land Rover refuse to accept this is a manufacturing fault.

Poor paint quality - lots of bubbles even before end of warranty which Land Rover refused to accept as their problem!

Electric sunroof sticks open.

Security wheel nut on alloy wheel sheared when changing a tyre. At least I was in Kettering rather than the Kalahari.

2 replacement CD players. Third has just failed.

In-car entertainment controls on steering column stopped working long ago.

(The camshaft disintegrated on my first Tdi (1994) at around 70,000 miles so now I am starting to get nervous as my current vehicle approaches this mileage).

General Comments:

Phenomenal off road performance.

Very practical option of 7 seats or large load carrying area.

Plenty of driver space and great visibility for comfortable long-distance driving.

Unbeatable for towing a trailer.

A bit tight for rear seat passengers and wheel arches intrude into hip space. Also body roll is unpleasant on B roads for rear seat passengers with any susceptibility to motion sickness.

If you want to overtake you need to start planning one week in advance.

Very disappointing build quality for a car of this high reputation, specification and purchase price. Far inferior to BMW X5 or Mercedes M series.

Land Rover Customer "Service" are totally disinterested in valid complaints about vehicle build quality.

Unless I am convinced Land Rover (aka Ford/Jaguar) have improved their build quality, I will regretfully replace my Discovery with a German or Swedish equivalent, sacrificing absolute off road performance (not so important in UK) for superior build quality and on road performance.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 25th July, 2003

26th Mar 2004, 06:15

Looking to buy my first 4x4, and as there are many Discos seen on the road, I have been looking at a couple of second-hand Discos. But I am concerned about their poor reputation - your comments have confirmed my suspicions, so will probably look at a Japanese alternative for guaranteed reliability.

18th May 2012, 03:10

Very funny comment. Sad, as I've never seen a Toyota do that in standard form either, or ever take out the worlds hardest 4x4 challenge. And nor do I see the Australian Army use Toyota's. No, they use a real off road 4x4, the Land Rover. For god's sake, Landcruiser, gee where did the idea for the name come from?

And while I'm at it, the price is way too high, and it's overrated.

The Toyota is as the name implies, it's a toy. It needs diff locks, reduction gears, suspension lifts, blah, blah, blah. Land Rovers are a real 4x4 straight out off the box, just ask the army, not weekend warriors with too much money to waste.

In reply to 18th May 2012, 03:10

22nd Mar 2015, 20:00

Military forces can afford to use vehicles which require high maintenance, as they have a corps of engineers on standby.

Land Rovers might be the best vehicles in the world, but if you can't afford a team of mechanics to look after it, you're probably better off with Toyota.

Go to Kashmir or the Hindu Kush in a Land Rover and it'll be the only one there, outnumbered 1000:1 by Toyota and Suzuki utes, both of which go forever with minimal maintenance, and can get anywhere a Land Rover can...

In reply to 22nd Mar 2015, 20:00

3rd May 2021, 08:33

Toyota's are reliable but heavy. LRs will climb like no tomorrow and touring around the country with an extra 1000kg of unnecessary steel uses the money you would have spent on general maintenance on LRs.