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Evening all, I am thinking about buying a Land Rover discovery,
I really like the discovery 4, and I don’t want to spend mega bucks on anything too new.
Looking to find something I can use for camping, throwing stuff in the boot, potentially bike rack and mooching about a bit in the countryside - and generally I quite like the vehicles.
I seem to see quite a lot still on the road, so I’m hoping they are half decent for reliability. Does anybody have any particular experiences of either the three or the four?
is there a better version to go for, and are there any major pitfalls of buying one that will obviously have a fairly decent number of miles on the clock already.
I have already spotted one or two full service history of the main dealer, about 80,000 miles on the clock, one owner, so I think decent ones can be hard, and I’m happy to put a bit of money against it to have it serviced and brought back up to standard to get some longevity out of it
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Beat me to it D, 'FFF to the G&D please'.Originally Posted by Franky Four Fingers
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
If there’s anyone else interested then I can reply on here but generally there’s so much to consider so I generally get people to ring me.
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👍👍👍
I had a 15 plate Disco 4 it’s the only that does everything, name me another car you can turn up at the Opera in a Tux next day turn up for work on site, then take it across a muddy field, great cars. I was told cranks are brittle even on the 4. All I would say is the best low mileage one you can afford. They also say body off for timing chain change. Never had any trouble in two years with mine, thirsty beasts though, but you know that already
Last edited by hilly10; 11th September 2020 at 18:38.
An interesting thread as I was having exactly the same thoughts as the OP.
I was thinking I'd like the new Defender, but it's crazily priced and already out of date for a new car with no hybrid or electric models until next year at least.
The Disco 3 or 4 seemed to me to provide an alternative but I too was concerned about reliability. I wait to read comments with interest.
FFF is your man.
All I’ll say is that I love our Disco 4. Best family car we’ve ever had, the perfect vehicle for holidays. (Even better than the last Disco 4 we had....this one has TV screens in the back so I can listen to Disney films as I drive!)
Ok, I’m interested too. Can FFF post here?
Probably won't be long....
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
My friend had a disco 4, the engine blew up so he bought a Q7.
Just traded my 4 for a 5. The 4 is a big step up from the 3, the engine and box make it a much better drive. The 4 was a commercial Xs and had as much kit as I needed. I had no major issues with either of them, brilliant vehicles - sure fff will give you a few pointers, I just love them!
Friend of mine has a Disco 3 and regardless of what you hear about reliability, his has the complete original body.
Everything else from engine, gearbox, running gear, wheels, lights, everything electronic down to radio/sat nav etc all replaced, but that body is rock solid.
Hilly10 makes some very valid points, there are very few cars out there that will do what the D4 can do whether it’s towing a caravan across a field, chucking a wardrobe in the back and going to the tip or general day to day use.
They’re a great car but you really need to do you homework and don’t buy on impulse.
As stated they do have one major issue that’s a very real problem despite what the internet might not or might say. They suffer from crank seizures caused by the main bearings spinning. The reasons behind this aren’t important but it sadly adds up to a whole world of problem for owners, mainly the fact that cranks - bearings and the repair process isn’t available from Land Rover. They have no repairs process for this and as far as they’re concerned ( and me ) changing the engine is the only viable option. Aftermarket components are available, there’s guys out there that rebuild them but I’ve never weighed up the costs of this versus a stripped engine swap. The costs to replace an engine considering the body has to be removed from the chassis is around £13k, you also have to take in to considering the debris from the engine wear which also gets in to the turbos. All in all it’s a pain of an issue which when you consider the price of a 2010 model now will right the car off, the engine issue is my only real major gripe with this vehicle.
They’re not the cheapest cars to run- expect serving costs every year of roughly £500 for a large service. They eat brakes every 25k miles or so and they’ll need a set of discs every 2 or 3rd pad change. They’re also heavy on suspension arms and components - suffer from air suspension faults which are generally caused by the compressor. Tyres every 25-30k.
My advise when buying these is to make sure you purchase one with immaculate service history, with mileage that’s under what’s expected, buy as new a vehicle as you can afford and make sure it’s got a cast iron warranty that covers the full price to replace an engine in the event of crank failure.
Do an Ebay search for "Discovery spares or repair" and read the descriptions. All the "common" faults will be listed to inform readers why they have been taken off the road!
Great thread, thank you for the detail FFF.
Not wanting to thread hijack, but does Disco 5 solve crank issue and hence is that a recommended route?
Sadly it’s not a patch on a Disco 4. The 5 is nice to drive, but it doesn’t do what the 4 does.
Sadly no- the D5 can suffer the same fate.
Is it not the same engine as a RRS for example, SDV6? If so, does that also suffer same issue?
(This is turning into pistonheads!)
The basic engine is the same it’s just power output that’s different so they all suffer
A lot of people use Warranty Direct because unlike some warranty companies, they will cover cranks and as fff says, they can be a real concern. WD are expensive if you take out the all singing all dancing package, but you can chose a lower level of cover.
My D3 was brilliant in the 6 yrs I had it (one front wheel bearing and a brake caliper over the usual servicing/brakes/tyres and I had the EGR's blanked) but the extra 55bhp of the 3.00ltr in the D4 makes a big difference. I have a facelift L320 RRS which has the 3.0ltr and it goes much better than the D3's 2.7 (albeit the RRS is a bit lighter). Yep, same basic engine/block, same problem.
From a reliability point of view I have been less lucky with the RRS; brake caliper, front brake flexi's, suspension compressor, front ARB's, all in the last couple of months, in addition to the EPB module and fuel gauge senders last year. All these are all,sadly, common faults Both cars are/were low mileage for their age with a good service history, so pot luck really. If you are good with the spanners a lot of these jobs are doable, but a lot are a PITA and a good diagnostic tool will be essential. The Disco3/Disco4 forums are a gold mine of information with some really knowledgeable contributors, so may be worth joining and ask some questions.
You need to sit in both D3 and D4 to appreciate the much improved interiors of the latter, and I would be surprised if you didn't go for the D4. As fff said, do your research, make a check list, crawl all over it and don't buy the first one you see, there are plenty about.
That being said, I tried to run a sensible car and failed miserably, I just love LR's.
Does this issue affect the SDV8 as well?
I did over 200k kms in 3 years on a 2010 D4 and was faultless. Than little things started to give up so I had to move it. Brilliant car
The best version of the Discovery I’ve ever owned is the Volvo XC90.
No, the SDV8-TDV8 is a bombproof engine- it just suffers from turbo issues which any vehicle can suffer from
You might want to check out a Land Cruiser,they fit the bill for you but will be a bit older than any same price Disco.They are expensive for their age but there is a good reason for it. Just an idea.
I would rather have a Toyota Land Cruiser than a Discovery.
In relation to reliability and SDV6 issues, my FiL has the 2019 RR Vogue with same engine I believe. Currently been going back and forth to dealer with low oil level warning during long runs. Oil level shows low and after a few minutes once stopped gets back to normal. He believes there is a problem with oil returning to sump but the dealers just prefer to scratch their heads.
He gets the impression they are waiting for the engine to seize!!
^^^^^^ Anyone else experienced low oil warning?
I don’t think they’re the same engines. The SDV6 and the D350 engines are very different. The SDV6 is a variant of the original TDV6 engine which has been used since 2004.5 and the D350 is a variant of the Ingenium engine as used in the RR Evouque and Discovery sport.
As to oil readings- I wasn’t aware that either engine gave you a reading within a few minutes- for as long as I can remember any JLR product with an electronic dipstick had a minimum wait time of at least 20 minutes to obtain a reading. Perhaps this has changed on very later models.
Edit- been looking in to the engines and ignore the above, as long as his is the SDV6 yes it’s the same basic engine design although different turbos and programming.
Never heard of the issue with the oil warning on this engine.
Last edited by Franky Four Fingers; 19th September 2020 at 14:26.
Will check which engine.
Issue occurs after a long motorway run +1hr. As soon as he stops oil warning light comes on and when he checks level shows dangerously low. Only clears after 5 minutes having remained stationary . All very unnerving and still hasn’t been resolved with LR.
Obviously under warranty but the time to resolve without fix is becoming frustrating. Feels like he’s driving a ticking time bomb.
Have been on the lookout for a late disco4 for a little while, glad I stumbled across this thread, good info FFF 👍🏼
Is there any tell tale signs? I had a big end bearing go on a 4.4l engine(Not LR) and you could hear it through the air intake that something was never right with the engine..that said it was super strong until it filled the sump with bearings! Was bad luck, I’d owned it from new and always over serviced and warmed up properly.
Bit of further reading re the oil level sensor issue;
https://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topi...l+level+sensor
I don't think you will get any warning of crank failure on the 2.7/3.0ltr diesels, they apparently just go bang. There has unsurprisingly been a lot of discussion on the various forums and the consensus of opinion is that you can service it religiously and it can still go on you. Bear in mind though that members generally post when things go wrong, so there are a lot of these engines out there that run for the life of the vehicle.
Yes there are no warnings as such, some people get a very heavy metallic knocking noise from the top of the engine whilst others just stop and don’t restart for obvious reasons. As an owner other than making sure you have the vehicle serviced on the nose there is little you can do.
The biggest issue is simple.....there is no process through JLR to repair these engines although people do. If you purchase the vehicle for 10k it will cost you 12K to put a replacement engine in to it. The labour times are horrific as the body needs to be removed, engine removed and totally stripped of all ancillaries.
I’ll post some pics up later of how colossal the job is
Added to say - that the crank issue doesn’t exist on the 2.7, they suffer from oil pumps breaking but this is only after timing belt replacement. A new updated oil pump needs doing on these if doing the belts which eliminates the problem
Last edited by Franky Four Fingers; 20th September 2020 at 10:34.
FFF - I still have nightmares from the last time I saw those photos!
Would love some photos when you get time FFF!
Last edited by Franky Four Fingers; 21st September 2020 at 00:05.
3rd time lucky
Blimey, did that used to be a car!?
WOW, as much as I would love to have a Disco', I'm very happy with my Freelander 2, thank you.
Great work Franky.
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As a previous Discovery owner I can’t imagine it being stripped down as per FFF’s photos. Luckily the only issue I had was a self inflicted flat battery which was easily sorted.
Doesn’t phase me too much now, 3 yr basic warrenty direct quote which is just engine/gearbox trans is change from £700 for the 3 years! Personally I’d be buying to keep long term, so if it blew Out of warrenty I’d just swallow the cost and divide it into the remaining years of ownership.
Which is fine if you go in with that attitude however most people don’t when they’ve bought it 6 months previous for 8k and they’re faced with a 12k bill
And putting your faith in a third party warranty company is not the best safety net for mega-bill repairs. They are 'for profit' organisations, not a charity.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
^^^ This 100%.
Could add; Lexus RX, Mitsubishi Shogun, Nissan Patrol, VW Touareg, BMW X5 and others.
The best Disco for me was the mk2 TDi ES. Once they went Jag/LR I felt they went down hill; although performance and engine refinement was better.
I'm thinking of a Freelander 2 next actually, spec is unimportant but I want the SD4 with the more powerful engine, older rather than very new. Does anyone know if these have any known serious issues like the Discoveries do?
I was initially considering a Disco 3/4 until I read this thread. I've owned a Defender 110 in the past but don't need anything quite that capable now, the worst I'll intentionally throw at it would be grass fields and a few farm tracks. Not interested in an estate etc, or anything flashy, simple utilitarian is fine.
So summarily.....
£30k-ish to spend, all 2016/17 models, all 30-40k miles, which would you guys recommend of the following (if any)?
Volvo XC90
Disco 4 (would the above engine issues still affect the last of that model?)
BMW X5
Jag F-Pace (3.0 V6)
Thank you.
Yes the issue with the D4 TDV6 would still exist even on a run out model 66 plate.
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Nowt wrong with a FL2. One of LRs better vehicles over the past 13 years
FFF
Wow thanks - wasn't expecting that answer!!
The only question you have to ask yourself is...
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
I wouldn’t expect trouble free motoring but all in all they’re a pretty good car- certainly no worse than a lot of other cars on the market.
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