15th Dec 2005, 18:07
Dave Ayre N.Ireland
Discovery 3 Tdv6 S Auto.
I have owned this Land Rover since June ’05 (new Feb ’05 as demonstrator) and have 26,000 miles (smiles until now) on the clock. I have enjoyed this model more so than my previous 2 Td5 GS.
The history to date is as follows:-
Average 24 mpg
Tyres getting low!! (at least 40K life on Td5)
Air bag indicator on. Module replaced (July/August)
Air bag indicator back on!!!
Low coolant warning on. Advised to be sensor fault.
Loss of power 3 times. Coasted almost to a halt before power resumed.
At present my Discovery is with the dealer from 14/12/2005. They have loaned me a Freelander.... Please can I have a Disco !!!!
Will keep you posted.
16th Dec 2005, 13:03
Dave Ayre N.Ireland.
Smile back on my face!!! Collected my Disco this afternoon (16th),after getting software upgrade.. Will see what happens next!!
28th Dec 2005, 06:15
Original owner again: Well I'm glad I didn't take the Discovery in when I had my first failure as its had a few more now. I'm dropping it off at the dealers this afternoon to get the following checked out:
1. December 17th: Warning lights and messages: Transmission Failure, Limited Gears Available plus Engine Management Fault (again)
2. December 18th: Warning Message HDC Fault
3. December: Warning Message: Hand Brake Fault (twice)
4. Rear Side demists not functioning
5. Intermittent Issue: In normal mode Transmission holds onto 3rd gear up to 3000 rpm at approx 30mph steady speed and won’t change up into fourth even when coming off the throttle, fixed by manual override via shifter– happened approx four times.
6. Intermittent Issue: Transmission whine in third and fourth gear when off the throttle, occurs around 50% of most trips (worrying as I suspect it's a mechanical not an electronic issue).
7. Intermittent Issue: Engine surges (around +/- 300rpm) when on steady speed and throttle opening, generally happens around 30-35mph.
Despite all this, it hasn't stranded me and I really do enjoy the car. On boxing day we had five adults in it plus a large babyseat and all were impressed with ride, room and features e.g. heated seats in rear (my mother in law drove it as well and was extremely impressed). Just a shame about what I suspect is dodgy electronic software probably due to a poor testing program.
Again, I'll update when I get the car back from the dealer: Will they fix the issues? What will go wrong next and how long before it does?
Stay tuned for my 43,000 pound (sterling) Land Rover Lottery adventure...
PS, feel free to email me if your from Land Rover and you'd like to apologise personally at robin_ellard@hotmail.com.
30th Dec 2005, 10:05
Phil from Shropshire
I have had the disco since May. We previously had the TD5. It is a superb car. The comfort and features are very impressive. The best point is its towing ability. We tow a caravan 1500kg's and you hardly know its there. However... we have had many warning lights about the suspension and despite many visits to the dealers they are still there. The dealer has admitted that there are problems with the car and its software. Just hoping they can fix it.
27th Jan 2006, 16:14
Well, after picking up my brand new Disco 3 TDV6 HSE, on my way home with it the 'engine system fault' came on along with a drop in power. Another warning also came on again resulting in a drop in power - causing me to stop by the side of the road, wait for 2 minutes and then restart. Surprise, surprise after the restart everything is clear. The car has done 26 miles, needless to say it'll be at the dealers first thing in the morning. Not a good start!
28th Jan 2006, 10:43
That's interesting since I have read a few car magazine reviews in which the testers had the same problem.
It's yet another reason why people should lease their new vehicles instead of buying (these days you can customize leases for any amount of miles per year).
28th Jan 2006, 13:46
What a shame. I once aspired to own one of these because of their reputation for durability and offroad capability. I guess that ended in the 1980s.
8th Feb 2006, 09:12
I have a Disco 3 TDV6 SE Auto. Park Brake Failure 2 times since Jan 2006 and the wing mirrors don't reset to it's original position after dipping. Other than those glitches, I really love the car. It's a shame the loan car at the dealership I took my car into is a Freelander. I would have expected a similar car at least as a courtesy car. The Freelander is not exactly nice to drive at all.
1st Mar 2006, 03:53
D3 Owner from SE Ireland.
I have my D3 for almost a year now, & have had no issues (yet).
However I do feel that the quality is not in the new Disco as was in my much loved 300TDi’s that I had over the years. Car manufacturers are just over complicating their cars these days, I mean to say… ”Software updates” on a car???
May I suggest to you all, that you have a look at the forums on www.disco3.co.uk, where you will read of many owners having similar issues to those listed above.
30th Nov 2005, 15:22
Okay, time for an update on my Landrover. Since my initial posting two main things have happened. Firstly the dealer fixed the sunroof... hurrah 'cept it's winter here now so it doesn't matter. But the next thing is not good news: we were driving back from Wales, doing around 120km (80mph) when a chime went off (no surprise) but this time the dash readout said "engine system failure" and the car started losing power. We were heading up a hill and basically the car just went slower and slower (my foot was to the floor) until I pulled off halfway up. We turned it off and looked in the book (there's about three pages dedicated to all the different messages you can get on the dash readout!) for what the problem was, but to no avail! Anyhow, we waited 5 minutes, restarted and presto, all was fine!? I haven't had time to drop it into the dealer for them to plug it into the diagnostics machine, but all's fine so far. Sort of justifies my initial review though e.g. bad build quality!
Oh, for the chap who does 30,000 miles per year (??) don't bother with the landrover, at around 80mph+ it needs lots of slight correction to keep it in lane and it becomes quite tiring after a while, also, the seats haven't gotten any better, lovely for short trips, but unsupportive on long ones, still I'm not fat and I have the feeling they were designed for 'larger' people (or for a certain large consumer market with 'large' consumers, you know which one). Hate to say it, but our 04' Vectra SRi is a far superior motorway car. So for that chap, stick with your subaru or if you do have to buy a larger 4x4, then try the Touareg (spelt right?) or X5 both are far better at speed (I test drove both, but I could be wrong as I only did about 3 miles at speed).
I intend to update every six months or when the next major issue occurs (so could be quite soon).