Land Rover Range Rover Evoque review

The Evoque is the most affordable Range Rover and many consider it to be one of the most desirable cars in the class, so resale values are very strong. It isn’t exactly cheap to buy, though, being priced more in line with larger SUVs such as the Audi Q5 and BMW X3 than similar-sized rivals such as the Audi Q3 and BMW X1. We’d certainly avoid the range-topping trims, but cheaper versions – particularly the SE Tech – make more financial sense.

The 2.0-litre diesel models are pretty efficient, particularly the front-wheel-drive (eD4) version, but all are worth considering for company car users looking for low emissions and tax.

Avoid the petrol Evoques; they’re expensive to buy and run, and won’t hold their value as well as the diesels. Anyway, if you have that much money to spend, there are better alternatives.

Use our True MPG calculator and see what your car really does to the gallon

Entry-level SE cars come with plenty of luxuries, including climate control, automatic lights and wipers, front and rear parking sensors, 18in alloy wheels and heated front seats with eight-way electric adjustment. Simply adding sat-nav to an SE car is a good way to get all the kit that most buyers are likely to need.

However, we still reckon SE Tech makes the most sense. It doesn’t just add sat-nav but also 12-way electric seat adjustment, xenon headlights, a heated windscreen and some subtle styling upgrades.

The rest of the trims add lots of lavish extras, but the enormous jump in price makes them very hard to recommend.

Land Rover didn’t do very well in our most recent reliability survey, where it ranked 23rd out of 32 manufacturers examined.

A three-year, unlimited mileage warranty betters the standard 60,000-mile limit offered by many rivals, but there is no set-price extended warranty; you have to negotiate one with your dealer. You do, however, get three years' roadside assistance, which includes UK and European cover in the warranty.

The Evoque gets seven airbags, including a driver’s knee airbag, while stability control, hill hold assist (which brakes the car automatically for a few moments to prevent you from rolling backwards when pulling away on a hill) and tyre-pressure monitoring are standard. You even get trailer stability assist, which uses the car’s stability control systems to automatically help correct a trailer if it starts to weave.

However, despite a five-star Euro NCAP overall rating, the Evoque didn’t do as well on adult, child and pedestrian protection as some of its rivals. In particular, it lost points for providing only average whiplash protection in rear-end shunts, for not displaying clearly enough whether the passenger airbag was switched on or off and not clearly showing the dangers of using rear-facing child seats without first switching off the appropriate airbag.

All Evoque models come with lane keep assist and automatic emergency braking, which works at motorway speeds as well as around town. Blindspot warning and traffic sign recognition – which displays the speed limit on the driver’s display – are standard on the range-topping trims and optional on all others.

An alarm and immobiliser are included. Thatcham rates the Evoque highly for resistance to break-ins and theft.

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