2004 Land Rover Discovery SE 4.6 V8 from North America

Summary:

I love this car to the point that its quirkiness is becoming endearing

Faults:

A horn button became loose and there was a misaligned piece of plastic trim on the steering column.

General Comments:

The 4.6 liter engine has great low end torque and acceptable high end power. The fuel mileage is poor at about 15mpg average.

It has been excellent off road. (to give you an idea of my standards my other car is a pinzgauer)

The driver's legroom is a little cramped for me at 6'2.

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

Review Date: 8th December, 2004

2004 Land Rover Discovery SE from North America

Summary:

Great luxury vehicle that gets lots of attention

Faults:

Rattle in the Instrument Panel, and drivers side arm rest adjustment.

General Comments:

Dealer had to order a new drivers arm rest, the problem is the time it takes to get the parts from England. The overall ride, comfort, and attention to detail is excellent. The Quality of leather along with the rest of the interior is first notch. The fit and finish is also a notch above the American cars I have purchased in the past. The single one thing I do not like is the wind noise coming from the left side A post area, where the IP meets the door. It sounds like the door is ajar, but the Dealer said it is the trait for this vehicle and was not fixed, when I took it in for service.

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

Review Date: 19th October, 2004

31st Jul 2005, 06:23

Purchase the extended warranty. Near the last 10,000 miles of the term, take it in and have the service dept look for any potential problems, and fix them. That $2800 now is pennies compared to a repair bill at 90,000 miles. PS, I drive a 1997 disco and am looking to purchase a 2003 or 2004 next month. You'll love the vehicle.

2004 Land Rover Discovery Landmark TD5 2.5td from UK and Ireland

Faults:

Don't know yet?

General Comments:

I have been a car fanatic for the last 20 years of my driving life, and have owned many types of cars. One type of vehicle that has never really appealed to me was the SUV 4X4. Too big, too slow, too agricultural, unless it was a Range Rover or BMW X5.

It was with little hope of being impressed that I decided to test drive a TD5 Discovery the other week. As the new Discovery is due later this year, there are some attractive deals to be had on the current model. My only motivation was the prospect of a bargain!

Well, what a revelation! The TD5 manual drove extremely smoothly and handled corners without any roll. And this is from someone who is used to "borrowing" his wife's Mini Cooper! The vehicle I drove didn't have the ACE suspension system fitted - I can only presume ACE sharpens things up even more.

As for the engine, it suited the car perfectly. It cruises smoothly, and is no doubt powerful enough to up root a tree. It's no traffic light racer, but the car exudes far too much dignity for that sort of carry on!

As for the interior, it is extremely, spacious, airy and roomy. Twin sunroofs are fab, and the folding third row seats a real hit with my two kids. With leather trim, the interior looks and feels top class.

So, whatever you may have read about the Disco, it looks like 2002 models on-wards have really been improved with the BMW and Ford influence. Put any pre conceived ideas aside and try one.

As for me? Well, I bought one!

In summary, a characterful "feel good" motor that is half the price of a Range Rover, but still full of class. Be surprised!

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

Review Date: 6th April, 2004

31st Oct 2004, 13:38

I picked up a 2004 Landmark as well just a few weeks ago. Must agree with everything said on the review. My other car was a 2002 Freelander, but with 2 bambino's on the way and a dog the freelander was just too small in the end (fantastic car, no problems) - ended up giving the Freelander to my mum!

5th Feb 2005, 13:46

Excellent review, agree with all that was said. It's a fact that it took BMW to fix thousands of "features" of British engineering in Land Rover. Hopefully Ford has capitalised upin that and improved it even further.

I have test driven the Discovery TD5 and the 5-pot 2.5 litre engine sounds great, not unlike the Volvo 5-pot 2.5 litre engines; can they in fact be the same unit?

I currently drive a 1987 Pajero and will upgrade to a TD5 Discovery very soon. I will look for a HSE-spec'ed model i.e. with the Connolly leather and Harmon Kardon HiFi system!

30th Jul 2006, 05:14

Having bought a Discovery Landmark in March of this year, 2006 that was 1 & 1/2 years old I am thouroughly enjoying the vehicle. I paid just under £20,000 for the car, almost £10,000 less than new price. It has just over 24,000 miles on the clock a full service history and drives like a dream. I have had 3 Freelanders prior to the Disco and loved them, but always wished for the Disco. Incidentally I could have bought a Disco 3 demonstrator for another 5,000 more than I paid, but decided against it as although I love its looks from the front, when you go round the back it looks like a Metro Cab!. So no option to go for the newest real Land Rover I could find with the spare wheel where its meant to be on a Landy.

27th Dec 2008, 18:52

I have a Discovery TD5 ES with leather interior, good Kardon sound system, sport mode box. I paid 5k for it and it's paid me that back in the year I have had it. I love it and wouldn't swap it for anything. It's also done 140k miles, and still sounds and drives like new.