Land Rover Discovery review - Reliability and Safety

All models in the Land Rover Discovery range get autonomous emergency braking as standard, and this feature helped the car achieve a full five-star Euro NCAP safety rating when it was crash tested in 2017. You can upgrade the standard safety systems with optional extras and packs, or by going for higher trim levels.

Eight airbags and lane departure warning are also standard, but you have to upgrade to HSE spec if you want safety kit like blind spot warning and reverse traffic recognition. A rear-view camera is also standard, but if you want adaptive cruise control, that’s an extra, while safety packs adding features like queue assist semi-autonomous driving can also be had.

When it comes to reliability, Land Rover’s reputation isn’t the best. The company has had consistently poor results in the Driver Power owner satisfaction survey – Land Rover finished 20th out of 30 in the 2019 Driver Power brands survey – and a lot of this is down to the poor reliability that has plagued the company's cars. However, while electrical niggles can spoil enjoyment of the company's cars, Land Rover at least helps owners with software updates under warranty to help iron out bugs. But then that brings Land Rover's poor customer service to light, and it again fares poorly against rivals for the service it provides.

However, its strong off-road performance means it’s been thoroughly engineered for the job, so it should easily cope with a harsh British winter.

Warranty

The Discovery’s warranty is just a little bit better than the standard for the class with three years’ unlimited-mileage coverage. There’s also three years’ free roadside recovery.

Servicing

Land Rover offers a competitively priced service pack, which includes five years’ or 50,000 miles (whichever comes first) worth of routine maintenance for as much as a full service on an Audi Q7. Its other main rival from Volvo also isn’t as competitive when it comes to routine maintenance costs.