Used Land Rover Discovery long-term test

The car Land Rover Discovery D350 35th Edition Run by Darren Moss, deputy editor

Why it’s here To show that you don’t have to buy new to enjoy big-car luxury

Needs to Be both practical and comfortable for family trips, cosseting on the motorway and unflinchingly reliable

Mileage on arrival 13,325 Mileage now 16,355 List price when new £82,925 Value on arrival £65,900 Value now £57,390 Official economy 33.4mpg Test economy 31.5mpg

15 March 2026 – A journey of Discovery

“If nothing else works,” the fictional General Melchett once said to Captain Blackadder, “a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.” And so, if I refuse to acknowledge the situation for long enough, I’m hopeful that I won’t have to give up my Land Rover Discovery. But why will I cling on to its keys even as the delivery driver arrives to take it away? It is, quite simply, the best company car I’ve ever owned.

What endeared the Discovery to me most of all was how easy it was to drive anywhere. On the motorway, for example, its adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance made our regular round trips to Stoke-on-Trent to see family a breeze. And on my commute, its high-up driving position and excellent visibility made spotting gaps in the traffic easy. Plus, when I took it off-roading, it conquered everything I put in front of it, even when that included the sort of ruts, mud traps and water-filled trenches which would have stumped most other cars.

My car’s 3.0-litre diesel engine, which pumps out a healthy 345bhp, was a consistently strong performer, providing the kind of low-end pulling power which made getting this considerably bulky SUV up to speed easy. Indeed, the first couple of times I joined a motorway and properly put my foot down, I had to warn everyone to hold on to their drinks, such as the surge in force.

While the fuel economy I achieved is still some way short of the official figure of 33.4mpg, what I ended up getting was a) incredibly close and b) better than what I managed from the full-size Range Rover I ran in 2023. And that car wasn’t as versatile as my Discovery, principally because it didn’t come with seven seats.

Yes, the addition of a third row transformed my car from a family SUV into one which could safely accommodate me, my partner, our two children and two of their friends, meaning impromptu playdates became a common occurrence. And even if adults were relegated to the third row, the only comment I received was that they were surprised by how much space they had to stretch out in.

With bottoms on every seat, there wasn’t much room in the Discovery’s boot for anything other than a few bags of shopping, but in five-seat mode, as we used it most often, the boot was cavernous. Even on family days out, where the kids wanted to take bikes, scooters, blankets, toys and a full picnic, we didn’t come close to filling the available space. And since I’m now an amateur jogger, I appreciated being able to tie up my running shoes on the lower tailgate, which is rated to carry 200kg.

Of course, going into this experience, I chose an Approved Used Discovery, which meant my car had already been through a 165-point inspection prior to me picking it up. And that gave me confidence that very little should go wrong. Even so, the spectre of Land Rover’s relatively poor performance in our annual Reliability Survey hung over the Discovery like a raincloud. But, I’m pleased to say that my car proved to be mostly reliable.

I say mostly, because there was one hiccup, where the car’s infotainment system refused to start up when we fired up the engine, and only came to life when we shut the car down again and restarted it. Fortunately, this only happened once, but at that moment I was dreading that this was only the start of a slippery slope. 

The only other calamity to befall the Discovery was a stone chip, but that can’t be blamed on the car and, thankfully, was small enough to be fixed using resin rather than needing a complete replacement.

Other niggles? Well, I could never get the wireless phone charging pad to conduct electricity to my phone – or my partner’s – and the electrically folding second and third-row seats take a long time to move, but really that’s it. By every other respect the Discovery was simply amazing. 

When I started this test, I wanted to see if I could live the high life on a budget by choosing a used Discovery as my company car. And I certainly did. For the past few months, the Discovery placed me in the lap of luxury every time I went to go forth, and for that I’ll miss it terribly. The only thing which makes the parting easier is knowing that for the Discovery’s next owner, it’s likely to do exactly the same. That’s after they’ve prised the keys from my hand, of course.

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