Faults:

Turbo hose blew at about 55k Km.

Diesel injection pump replaced.

Air suspension compressor replaced.

New battery required.

General Comments:

This car is a brilliant all-rounder for our Australian family lifestyle.

My wife is happy to drive it to the shops and round the suburbs, where it is very economical for a big 7-seater (12.2 l/100km); yet we can put the heavy duty wheels/tyres on it (I keep a set of 6 17" wheels with Bridgestone D694 LT tyres), load it to the roof, hitch up a camper trailer and head into the outback, where it performs just as well. On a 4,000 km trip round outback Western Australia last year, which included over 1000 km on dirt roads and 200 km of the Holland Track and some beach work on the south coast, we averaged 13.5 l/100 whilst towing a camper trailer with two kayaks on top, 5-up. With no trailer and nothing on the roof, we get 8.8 on a long run.

It's quiet, really comfortable, has a great sound system and is a brilliant long-distance car. It's not fast, but it's not supposed to be - it will cruise easily at 110 kph fully loaded all day, so what more do you need?

I'm astounded by its off-road capability, even on AT tyres - it's better than an unmodified Defender - yet is super comfortable on the road.

The downsides? It's had a couple of expensive parts replaced - diesel pump and air suspension compressor - neither actually failed, but they were both on their way to doing so. The turbo hose was probably my own fault - 5-up on a soft beach - and wasn't hard to fix. But we've had none of the niggly faults that seemed to afflict the earlier model Discos.

Advice to find a 2007 or later model year car when buying secondhand proved very sound, as after the first couple of years, many of the bugs seem to have been ironed out.

General maintenance costs with the local Land Rover stealer are very high, although their service is pretty good; I haven't been able to find a good local independent. But given the use and abuse this vehicle has had, it has held up very well indeed, bodily and mechanically.

Overall, highly recommended IF you can afford the running costs. And you can't skip maintenance on these, or you'll be in for a very expensive and miserable time.