Land Rover Discovery Sport: What It's REALLY Like To Live With - Carfection + 

I’ve had my Disco Sport for four years now and it’s the best car I have ever owned . We’ve done many long distance trips fully loaded with family and two dogs and it has never let us down. We once got into a serious winter snow storm in the Cairngorms which was scary stuff but the discovery got us through safe and sound . Love the car ❤️

Not often you get to hear the "It's actually been pretty good" side of the story, usually people only report on it when something has gone wrong. So, thank you! A member of my family has a near base spec one and they love it, it's been fantastic. Also - good on you for not being afraid to use it on green lanes and tracks!

The Discovery Sport is an upgraded restyled Freelander 2/Evoque. I've had an FL2 for 10 years and 308,000 kms and I still love driving it. It's been very reliable, never broken down and done a lot of very difficult off road tracks. Going off this review, a Disco Sport will be my next car because the plus comments exactly echo my feelings about the FL2. Thanks.

So basically you liked it , didn't let you down , comfortable , but a bit juicy if your gunning it , well done Land Rover 👍

3 years with disco sport and almost 5 with evoque. No reliability issues! Evoques rear parking sensors where going crazy 3 times in hot sun, but that’s it. Couple of infotainment/electronic minor hiccups just required restarting the vehicle. And that’s it! Being off road, being traveling, using as everyday cars both - just do their job as real workhorses. AMG mercy gives quiet a lot of bigger headaches quiet regularly and several small things in the car are broken already. Land Rover’s problems seem to be a thing of the past!:) Also fully support comfort - both cars are great and I do not get as tired. Disco sport room/space - indeed. Great family car. Bravo LR!

This car is my favorite of LR's current range. The current Discovery looks ungainly. The name is spot on, it enables LR to create a Freelander replacement that sounds cool.

So, i'm literally a videographer in the automotive industry. George had the best reason for me to go out and buy one. Thanks George!

Love the music! That disco is absolutely gorgeous.

I totally agree with you Henry! I've a little Evoque as daily drive and the "discovery" part of a land rover sport SUV is just so appealing and fun that you will hardly come back to "normal" cars. Brilliant video and editing as ever btw ! And about the reliability part: 90k km on the clock no major issue apart of a turbo gasket replaced under warranty.

I brought a discovery sport hse in October and it’s amazing. definitely doesn’t sip the fuel she guzzles. Only done 2800 miles in her so can’t comment on reliability but will say she is the best car I have ever owned 😍😍

The negative temperature thing is a problem I had with my Discovery Sport as well. Turned out to be a faulty sensor (which is housed in the wing mirror). Dealer replaced it under warranty and it's been fine since. Agree about the fuel consumption and I have the lower spec one with the 'worse' (better) touch screen and smaller wheels and I absolutely love it.

What a well balanced and honest review. I have one of these and the family and I love it. We have had only minor gripes, mainly sensors and tech, apart from.that all good. Will be looking for the new one soon. Thanks Henry for the vid.

Awesome car! Please make more videos about the Discovery Sport!

2:45 Thank you for this review! I am now considering a used Discovery Sport, especially those 3rd row seat can be extremely useful for gimbal tracking shots! Keep up the good work on your long termers!

i got a 2017 lrds in april 2021 with 38 k on it. aside from the ride being more bumpy than i like,..and its a bit thirsty,... im happy as a rabbit in a carrot patch

I work for JLR and have access to a 300PS Disco Sport HSE Dynamic, while also owning a lesser 180PS Disco Sport SE Tech, and can echo every one of Henry’s points... the higher spec car on Magnaride dampers can be huge fun and usefully quick, but the lesser spec’d car with it’s fatter sidewalls and simpler tech is far nearer to the old school Land Rover ethos. It also does high 40’s to the gallon when just mooching down the motorway. JLR quality gets bad press, but I know technicians that work for Audi who have a story to tell or two as well...

Great review, love your style and knowledge!

Loved my disco sports had 3 now. 2x d180 autos hse and a petrol 290 hse lux. Never had a thing go wrong.

A lovely well balanced report.

Great review. I love my Disco Sport.

You guys make my favourite car videos ❤️

Great straightforward review and very helpful. The face lifted model due soon, should be a serious option for this type of vehicle.

The edits reminds me of old drivetribe videos when he and Jethro are still there

Really useful comments, many thanks.

Great review!

Nice review very honest and factual.

Great review: practical and honest 👍

I got an HSE with a the 2.0L 4 cyl. The only problem I’ve had is the battery (it sat at the dealer’s for a long time). Aside from that, I love it. Also, better mileage than advertised. 23 city 30 highway.

I have the older Freelander II, have to concur on the comfort thing. This lineage of cars make for fantastic long distance tourers, driven mine all over Wales this summer, 5+ hours in the seat each day. Doing Scotland next summer. My only grip with LRs is the fuel economy relative to something less boxy like the Octavia Scout but if I had the money I would trade up to the Disco Sport. On the reliability question, ours has never let us down but these cars tend to have many what one could call character building foibles. I have never seen the glow plug light or delay on ours and occasionally it throws up the HDC error on start or there is no sound from the speakers. Key out and start again always seems to correct those 'issues' though.

Just found the channel, awesome review.

The 2l diesel ingenium engine in the Disco Sport returned around 44mpg overall and 50 mpg on the motorway at 70mph.

If Henry says it’s good that’s good enough for me, I want one!

Thank you for this! 🎉 I bought a ‘22 in ‘24 exactly like the one in the video. The color is called “Namib Orange”, named after a coastal desert in South Africa. What a fun fact about Landrover! This has been my dream car for 20 years. My Gen Y-Z kids have never heard of this brand, so I guess I bought a true GenX vehicle.

The 2018 JD Power vehicle dependability study VDS , ranked BMW last closely followed by Audi

I appreciate the honest and solid review.

Nice video. Thanks for the Hugh Laurie impersonation while doing the video, it makes it more fun. Just like the first videos I made on my channel, this is better at 1.5 x speed.

Will you be doing an updated video about this anytime soon?

I have this car. Great vehicle!

Got one on lease. bout nailed it.

My dream car!!

Fell out of love with with mine at the moment problems with the DPF best part is it’s up and down the motorway every day ☹️

Mine arrived end of May.... What an amazing car. Been camping with Mrs and two boys. No problems with getting all stuff in for the trip. Seat Configuration is amazing to get the right space in boot, or leg room. Off roading is so easy especially with the ground clearance. 19" wheels look awaeoms. Heated seats and steering wheel.. Brilliant. It drives well fast and slow.. Yes the dash is abit dated, but iPhone works well... Android doesn't work at all... All phones on android triggers off the parking sensors..weird. But it's solid and the panaramic roof... Sooo much light. I got the landmark 2019 model, came with all the extras and I added a tow bar.

My family has a 2016 Discovery Sport, top of the line etc... and it's not the most reliable car out there lol. It's been to the dealership numerous times, and to fix something on a recall (their fault) costed us over $1000 CAD just for them to look at it. Still a fun car to drive and it is very smooth. For sure above my car (Acura MDX).

Good review. Completed 30k trouble free miles on my Discovery Sport HSE. Service indicator has been set conservatively so have had earlier than expected oil changes for which I am not complaining since I have a service contract. 38 mpg average for the 2.0 diesel which I think is OK for a big car but then again I am a cautious driver. Internal space for four adults is as good as I have seen in cars of this type. Sat nav and screen is poor for the price compared to German models. Other than that a great car especially for long distance driving.

My discovery sport broke down on a busy road for no reason. 5 months old and 8000kms on the clock. Car stalled, gear dial froze and car was unresponsive. Was pretty terrifying! The car had to be towed away. Worst part was after extensive testing they said they couldn’t find anything wrong with the car and wanted me to continue driving. Rude & intimidating customer relations.

seriously my dream car

Thks.

Interesting, I was worried about reliability but am reasonably reassured now Thanks

Love my 2015 DS HSE luxury spec. Only thing is the sun roof got stuck and working in repair.

What option makes the middle part of the boot gloss black? Or is that aftermarket

قوة إبداع إتقان دقة ينتج هذا الوحش تحفة فنية رائعة وتمتاز بالقوة والجمال أحبها أعشقها ماشاء الله اللهم ارزقنا مثلها يا رب العالمين قطعة هندسية جميلة متوحشة قوية ماشاء الله

The facelift will go a long way to correcting some of the issues. The mid air vents will be positioned above the satnav, new door casings, new tech too. Will be substantially improved inside.

Favorite 😎

As is always the case the comments section is full of passionate and incompatible statements about LR's reliability. I drove my Discovery 4 150,000 Kms with zero reliability issues and I've had my Discovery Sport for 3,5 yrs (72,000 Kms) without a single visit to a garage for repairs. Am I just lucky or are modern LRs more reliable than their reputation? By the way the Discovery Sport is a superb car with all the advantages mentioned here. Unfortunately I just can't seem to feel excited about it. Too round, too lacking in character.

Do you get to replace it with something else?

I like it and it's smaller and more manageable in town and off road than it's big brother.

I remember that roll Royce long exposure .🎥🎥🎥

Agreed

Read a report of someone with a failed sun roof due to rubber trim dislodging ,told that was not under warranty for the dealer to repair. Apparently costing a considerable sum to replace, any confirmation ?

Love your vids Henry but can’t agree on several points. I’m in the market for an SUV with off-road capability and took the Disco Sport for a test drive. Not top of the range like yours but plenty costly enough. I found the driving experience very harsh with trashy suspension, a wheezy, loud engine and I was surrounded with cheap plastics. Infotainment system was poor as you noted but the steering was too darty even in the softest setting. Just my opinion and I think LR have lost the plot on pricing too.

What did you think of this against the XC60?

I have one but in lesser HSE spec with the 180bhp diesel. Have to agree with your review on every point Henry. My only gripe so far is the location of the AdBlu tank at the back of the engine bay making it difficult to fill. Why couldn't JLR put it next to the fuel filler like Mercedes have on the C-class? Would be an issue if it didn't need filling every 3000 miles.

Anyone looking into buying Discovery Sports? Please be aware of the build quality of this as I learned the hard way... I bought approved used Discovery Sports HSE LUX and was disappointed with the build quality of my car as it has many issues but the biggest of all is the rust (as this also known as car CANCER). In my childhood I have lost a bike to this (rust) and was painful, now looks like my dream car Discover sports will be lost to this too... The list is huge, but the highlights are as below: - 1. Engine Oil dilution after 4 months of the purchase of my car. 2. Real MPG of the car is 50% less than the claim by land rover. 3. Radio reception is so poor that looks like they forgot to connect the antenna. 4. The suspension feels like non-existing with 20” wheels fitted by land rover. 5. Rubber seals around the doors have gaps in them. 6. Visible black paintwork coming off the exhaust system. 7. Poor pant used on the wheels as the flakes are coming off there too. 8. AdBlue does not last the service intervals. Thanks to the extremely poor materials used for this car so far, the heat shield has fallen off the bottom of my car luckily no one was behind us so no injuries in this incident but it’s extremely dangerous for the other road users driving behind land rovers as you never know what may fall off. I have been to land rover garage but none of the above is covered under warranty! So be aware of the issues before you buy this car. I am in the process of creating a video showing all the known flaws in my discovery sports which may be relevant to other cars.

I got a 2020 in 2022. In that last year of warranty the auto raise boot intermittently worked, the back lighting on the centre console buttons intermittently worked. And the transaxle sensitivity triggered an engine warning light the more the tyres wore. Unless the tyres have all 4 identical wear, then it triggers traction control to activate when not needed, thus an engine warning light. All 3 issues were never acknowledged in warranty by dealership. Except being told I need 4 new tyres to stop the ecu warning light. I sold it. Disappointing because the rest of the car was fantastic!

What was the engine in both models ? 🤔

is it reliable?

I have BMW X1 M sport xDrive on a lease and think the disco is prettier and probably more ecoonmical (petrol also)

Some of us prefer bad news first; leaves a better impression.

The interior is in need of a major update.

I’ve got the 180 HSE BLACK ,no problems not brilliant on fuel , but my car I had before was a Honda CRV Black Edition.It was slow had rattles worse mpg it was the petrol version.but it was not that reliable.2017 version ldc much better🚗

Good report !, great vehicle, nice to here J L R . But leave out the music.

i want a disco now... replacement for my 2012 equinox

Is this Diesal?

£50k + for that? i find that truly astonishing..

why should there be reliability issues on a premium product of such modest vintage? shouldn’t even be a subject for discussion.

I love being in my friend's Evoque, with all our bikes and other gear rameed in the back, but as soon as I get out I am staggered by it's ugliness. The Discovery Sport seems a little easier on the eye and slightly less WAG/ hairdresser stylee.

Freelander 2 2015 sd4 se is better. I have the disco sport sd4 also. Freelander has more presence and way more big

As a family of 3 with 2 dogs we really struggle with space to go away for a weekend in this car. The mpg is about the same as I get from my defender and I find lthe leg room for the driver really restrictive! And the ad blue a massive pain in the are.

36mpg for a 2.0 turbo petrol in a heavy car doesn't sound that bad.

So when the LR haters take to their keyboards I watch this review which confirms my love for my Disco Sport which I love and has served me well .

Is this guy Charlie Watt's son? Looks like he's related, and talks like him too.

Do you not think £50k for any car is obscene ? The most I ever spent on a car was 8k on a low mileage FSH LR3.... biggest pile of unreliable crap ever.. I now only drive a £950 passat estate and I’ve had it 4 years and has not ever let me down. Now that has to make sense!!

This petrol car is better on fuel than the updated diesel, how does that work?😂

Sadly they've gone even further down the touchscreen route. I can't understand why, nobody appears to want it.

I’m seriously considering a facelifted 2019 model, but after hearing horror stories about reliability I’m being put off... I’ve had 8 Audi’s in a row and they’ve been faultless, never let me down. I’m not liking the direction Audi is heading as a brand at the moment so I fancy a change. This ticks all my boxes, but reliability seems questionable.

Fantastic car to buy new and put a few miles on over a couple of years to enjoy or until the warranty runs out. I really like them but then just bin it. 8 months, 22k is indeed long term for these. I recon this guy has already had the best out of it. Money Pitts out of first warranty. 2nd hand buyer beware! I love the fact people say ‘never had a problem with my JLR product! ......’’Apart from’ lol... there always seems to be an ‘apart from’

Neat car. But a little expensive.

How is Charlie not a Top Gear presenter.

Great vehicle spoiled by some really crappy long term reliability. Single row cam chain? Why? If they couldn’t fit a duplex chain then fit a belt. At least that cam be changed easily without removing the transmission and the subframe.

03:52 Never mind the Landy! Take the MGB on the left instead! *;)*

Nice video...but do we really need the annoying background music ?

They are cars to buy if you have a very high salary and enough to budget for about 2k GBP once you are out of warranty. A very expensive toy.... like most premium cars as they get older. Beware.

Poor resale, high running costs overall, dated interior and the weight of the thing. Looking forward to the new version coming in the next year.

My mams car is this

China has started selling

50k?you'd be better off with a full Sized used RR vogue SE...

At 4:56 in the video you see the brake lights flashing on and off. Electrical fault not picked up in your review. My 2017 Discovery HSE has a slow response to kick down, more than the expected fraction of a second you would expect with a diesel.

I would expect a visit to the repair shop on a monthly basis. At least I would have a new friend: my service tech!

I have to say that we loved ours when we had one. Unfortunately after just under two years (from new in 2015) and with 40’000 on the clock it packed up. Back and forth to the JLR dealer. weeks of messing about. It required two complete new engine changes (thank God it was still under warranty). When we finally got it back after a week and half the strater motor packed up. Got shot of it as quick as we could. Personally I wouldnt have another.

People put up websites to warn others about how shitty this car is. www.LandRoverHell.com