Would You Buy a New 2020 Land Rover Discovery Sport?

MoonlapseVertigo on 23/10/2019 - 13:30
Last edited 26/10/2019 - 21:05

So we are in the market for a big 7 seater family car. Always owned Japanese cars (toyota, subaru) so I would like to try something else a little "nicer" in terms of street credibility (yeah yeah, insert the <your buying the badge> comment here).

I've heard an old wives tale that Land Rover reliability is absolutely terrible and you would be insane to buy one.

I've also read online forums where owners have had multiple Discovery Sport vehicles over many years and never had an issue. I'm struggling to really determine the overall experience of actual Land Rover (discovery sport's) owners. Where we live, i see HEAPS of them on the road. They are the soccer mum car of the hills of sydney. I don't see any broken down on the side of the road like i do Audi and BMWs.

I can't find an Australian based owners forum. All i can see is productreview.com.au with some terrible and some great reviews.

Currently tossing up between a 2020 Land Rover Discovery Sport SE Petrol (circa $66k optioned up) or staying comfortable with 7 years warranty Korean designed 2020 Hyundai Sante Fe Highlander (circa $66k STANDARD comes with everything you can imagine except for flying ability). I know what ur thinking, Land Rover vs Hyandai? Yeah i like to explore different ends of the spectrum.

Would you buy a Land Rover Discovery Sport? Or do you have any personal horror stories to share with me based on experience with the Land Rover brand recently??

Update: The VW Tiguan Allspace is the new contender following mentions below by you guys, thank you we will test drive and compare!

Edit: amazed and overwhelmed by the response from the ozbargain community. You guys are a fountain of information, thank you.

Thanks
Moonlapse

Poll Options

  • 84
    Buy the Land Rover and enjoy
  • 46
    Run to the hills
  • 173
    Buy the Hyundai
Automotive

Comments

  • hrs027 on 28/10/2019 - 11:27

    I am going to sound completely out of the box but this is coming from owning experience.
    I was in similar shoes 5 years ago when I bought a Citroen C4 grand picasso with 7 seats. The rear 2 seats were for occasional use and for average weekly runs, it was used as a 5 seater with a generous boot. Now I can highly recommend this car if you do a lot of freeway driving. It is not a 4WD but ticks all the boxes of an SUV. Has the high driving position with excellent visibility. The cockpit is modern with all digital display which can be customized. And its very comfortable to carry kids around with flexible seats that can be moved. Citroen does poor marketing and after sales support but I have not had any problems with mine and i use an independent euro mechanic.

  • justwaitingforamate on 01/11/2019 - 21:16

    Not when there is a new Defender

  • mickyd on 12/11/2019 - 10:14

    Looked at the isuzu MUX?

    Massive inside and the 2020 D-max has just been announced, so the new MUX model will be shown soon as well. Massive upgrades coming.

  • indianregulator on 13/11/2019 - 08:41

    Is a Land Rover Discovery really luxury though? You can't go around telling people you drive a "Range Rover" when it's a land rover!

  • MoonlapseVertigo on 01/12/2019 - 21:03
    +1

    Update: we settled on the VW Tiguan Allspace 162tsi with all the feature packs. Thank you all for the recommendation again!!

  • chkz84 on 03/03/2020 - 01:54
    Merged from Land Rover Discovery Sports - Good or Bad?

    Hi everyone,

    I need suggestion re Land rover Discovery sport R-Dynamic SE. I am after luxury plus outback 4wd.
    I visited JLR twice for Disco sports 2020 D240 R dynamic SE and have been told thar in 2020 model there are heaps of changes in terms of engine and durability/finish bla bla. I took a test drive of 2019 S 110kw just to feel the comfort level which they promise, to my surprise that wasn’t something I would like to get for $75-85k. It was so jerky just at 1000km on odo and so much noise on gear shift.

    I also checked the product review website and found rating 2.9 in association with a few of ongoing never ending issues which ppl have been facing and regretting what they purchased.

    Please give me your expert and honest opinion whether you recommend buying this vehicle.

    Any other 4WD recommendation?

    Thank you

    • spackbace on 03/03/2020 - 02:03
      +21

      Lol how can you not have heard of Disco's shitty reliability, and shit resale?

      But how serious do you wanna 4wd? Have you actually done any 4wding?

      Personally, no way in hell would I take a Euro hours outside the cbd and go serious off-roading. If anything goes bang, you'll be stuffed trying to find parts or someone to fix it.
      And no off-roader should be fitted with 19s/20s.

      If you wanna take it down the local beach fine, get a Euro.
      If you want to actually go somewhere you need low-range, and the tree branches will make nice stripes down the side of your car, buy a Toyota. You're in Landcruiser 200 money almost, get one of those over a Prado

      But whatever you buy, please do a 4wd course before you set out on your first trip.

      Let me summarise a few comments you'll get:

      Brendanm - don't touch Euro unless you can afford to repair Euro
      Pegaxs - soccer mum's car, you must be trying to keep up with the Joneses, don't buy Euro unless you can afford to repair Euro
      Burnertoasty - Land Rover perfectly fine in more premium trims, very capable off-road, much better engines than Toyota
      Euphamistic - buy a Toyota, Burnertoasty is wrong
      Burnertoasty - no you're wrong and here's why
      Everyone else - buy a Corolla

      • Euphemistic on 03/03/2020 - 06:19
        +2

        Gold.

        Except I don’t think BT would consider the Disco capable of getting onto the nature strip because it’s not a ‘real’ 4wd and only the top of the range Range Rover is any good.

        • pegaxs on 03/03/2020 - 09:05
          +3

          Yeah, I don’t really take my 4x4 automotive opinions from chauffeur driven, Tesla owning school teachers. Especially ones that spend more time being wrong than right.

          And I could totally see BT offering up some reason why the RR Evoke would be the much better option…

      • websterp on 03/03/2020 - 07:25
        +2

        Everyone else - buy a Corolla

        You forgot the Camry!

      • brendanm on 03/03/2020 - 09:06
        +3

        What he said.

      • ShortyX on 03/03/2020 - 09:52
        +3

        Let me summarise a few comments you'll get:

        Brendanm - don't touch Euro unless you can afford to repair Euro
        Pegaxs - soccer mum's car, you must be trying to keep up with the Joneses, don't buy Euro unless you can afford to repair Euro
        Burnertoasty - Land Rover perfectly fine in more premium trims, very capable off-road, much better engines than Toyota
        Euphamistic - buy a Toyota, Burnertoasty is wrong
        Burnertoasty - no you're wrong and here's why
        Everyone else - buy a Corolla

        scotty should insert a bot to add these comments to any Euro auto post.

      • wiipantz on 03/03/2020 - 10:38

        Re-reading this post from OP… has to be a troll post?!

    • Muzeeb on 03/03/2020 - 02:26

      Bit hard to compare an old gen 110kw diesel to a new gen 177kw.

      Your LR experience up to now is negative. Look elsewhere.

      D240 R dynamic SE

      I thought this configuration in Australia was only with the HSE trim package and was $90k+

    • Muzeeb on 03/03/2020 - 03:28
      +2

      Discovery Sports

      Also, it's a Discovery Sport

      • iforgotmysocks on 03/03/2020 - 08:11
        +3

        Maybe they have more than one

    • Euphemistic on 03/03/2020 - 05:29

      Please give me your expert and honest opinion whether you recommend buying this vehicle

      You’ve come to the wrong place.

    • Soluble on 03/03/2020 - 06:49
      +1

      I took one for a test drive a few weeks ago with options to take it to just over 90k and it was still missing options my 3 year old Corolla has.

    • sss333 on 03/03/2020 - 07:35
      +1

      Orienteering is alright.

    • nubzy on 03/03/2020 - 07:52
      +1

      Buy the regular Discovery or none at all

    • jimbobaus on 03/03/2020 - 08:23
      +6

      These are rubbish, Reliability on Land Rover has been non existent for years.
      You are better spending your money elsewhere.

      The amount of LR's we see at work (mechanics) with issues would shock you

      If you want a 4WD
      Go buy a Toyota or a Mitsubishi as these will give you FAR LESS issues long term

    • pegaxs on 03/03/2020 - 08:44
      +4

      I don’t even know where to start here. Perhaps linking to a previous reply thread…

      It’s not a “Discovery Sport”, it’s a Freelander that’s had a an engineering rebadge, based mainly on the pisspoor sales and issues associated with the Freelander badge. They couldn’t sell them because they were absolute shitboxes and people associate the badge with that. So, they re-engineered the badge to say “Discovery” and now people buy them again.

      But sure, they are in my top ten must buy list if I was a masochist. It’s probably cheaper and a similar experience to just buy a Tata or a Mahindra SUV. You’ll get the same ownership experience, but at a 1/4 of the price.

      And 110kw? Surely there is a rice pudding that needs the skin pulled off it? If there is, that demo you drove wouldn’t do it.

      PS: The Sport is not an “outback 4wd” and even if you for a moment thought it was, you got had for the marketing departments badge re-engineering.

      PPS: Could the name of that model get any more stupid/pretentious

    • Bid Sniper on 03/03/2020 - 09:27
      +2

      40kw less than my 3 door Kia hatch, that 3ton Land rover has almost 40% less power than a Kia that costs 10X less.

      Wont be keeping up Kias on the road let alone the Jones in that $#!tbox, just embarrassing, LOL@ "Sport" badge.

      • Euphemistic on 03/03/2020 - 10:25
        +1

        “Sport” just means “not as good as the real one”. Refer Pajero Sport, Discovery Sport, Range Rover Sport.

        On other vehicles a ‘sport’ badge is a marketing ploy to make you think it’s better when it probably has a different set of alloy wheels and some red striping on the seats.

        • Bid Sniper on 03/03/2020 - 11:12

          Here I was thinking it was pretentious wank, but its like sticking an M badge on a 318i.

          Hope its a big badge, seeing hatchback pull football fields on you and drive around your $85K junker like its a slow garbage truck, might get disheartening.

          • pegaxs on 03/03/2020 - 12:47
            +1

            @Bid Sniper: Nope, in this case "Sport" means "watered down so plebeians can buy into the LR eco system".

            • Bid Sniper on 03/03/2020 - 13:45
              +1

              @pegaxs: From what seen, LR/RR "Sport" means walking or cycling to work while its broken down

    • wiipantz on 03/03/2020 - 10:35
      +2

      Buy it and let us know in 6-18 months

    • frondono on 03/03/2020 - 10:38
      +4

      That sort of money and 4wd. The only answer is a Landcruiser.

    • redvaldez on 03/03/2020 - 10:39

      Any other 4WD recommendation?

      If you are looking for a proper 4WD wagon that has some semblance of reliability then, in my opinion, your options are Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Toyota Fortuner, Landcruiser Prado, Landcruiser 200 series, Nissan Patrol, or Ford Everest.

      Each has their pros and cons. Read some reviews and go for some test drives.

      You could also consider a 76 series Landcruiser, Mitsubishi Pajero or Isuzu MU-X but if you started out looking at a Land Rover, I suspect that these options will be too primitive for you.

    • Hybroid on 03/03/2020 - 10:46
      +1

      Discovery Sport is not a good purchase option at all, maybe if you were leasing and didn't care about it.

      If you want hardcore offroading and camping trips then Prado/Land Cruiser cannot go wrong.

      If you want a fun vehicle then FJ Cruiser for the sweet 4L V6 engine and moddability or a Jeep Wrangler although be wary of quality & reliability issues.

      • Euphemistic on 03/03/2020 - 12:14

        So you are recommending an FJ cruiser to someone who is looking at luxury, buying new and looking to spend $75-80k. They discontinued in 2017 and cost $47k new and is hardly luxurious

      • pegaxs on 03/03/2020 - 12:52

        or a Jeep Wrangler…

        Woah, there it is ;)

        To be honest, I would buy a Jeep Wrangler over a Discovery "Sport", and Jeeps are (fropanity) garbage. But at least you know what you are getting with a Jeep. At least the Wrangler would have a half decent chance of going off road. I don't think the Discovery "Sport" would cope with a wet football car park.

  • 0FoxGiven on 03/03/2020 - 13:05

    Would I buy it?
    If someone sold it to me for like 10k - Sure
    Else - Nope

  • MoonlapseVertigo on 05/03/2020 - 12:34

    i'm going to buy one when my kids are older and in the event the lemon stalls on the highway I won't be so worried. They are great looking cars. I see lots of them with bonnets open on peoples drive ways …so can't be purchased for reliability, simply the look

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