Used Land Rover Discovery long-term test

Our deputy editor thinks that by choosing a used company car, he can live the high life on a budget – over the new few months, we'll see if that's the case...

Darren Moss

Updated28 November 2025

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 4032 Mileage now 4566 List price when new £82,925 Value on arrival £16,500 Official economy 33.4mpg Test economy Options Towing Pack (£1615), Full-size spare wheel (£1010), 20-way heated leather seats (£800), Safety Tracker Pro (£530), 22in alloy wheels (£500), Cold Climate Pack (£310)

28 November 2025 – Luxury on a budget

There’s a lot to be said for living within your means, but by thinking a little outside the box, I think you can live slightly beyond them. A case in point is the Land Rover Discovery that’s currently parked underneath my flat. I would never be able to afford such a car new, not without re-mortgaging my home and selling most of my belongings, but by going for a used model, I’ve been able to.

Specifically, this Discovery comes from Jaguar Land Rover’s Approved Used scheme. That means it’s been through a 165-point inspection process, comes with a year’s warranty and a year’s worth of free roadside assistance, among other things. And that’ll go a long way to ensuring peace of mind.

Why? Well, Land Rover’s reliability record is, shall we say, a bit spotty. While Land Rover’s score in the latest What Car? Reliability Survey is now more than 90% as a brand, it was still in the bottom five of all manufacturers. And the Discovery ranked towards the bottom of the list in terms of reliable seven-seaters, being beaten by current versions of the Kia Sorento and Mercedes GLB, among others.

Still, I’m hoping that coming from JLR’s own approved stock, my Discovery will be blemish free. And it certainly looks showroom-fresh, from its Santorini Black paintwork to its 22in black alloy wheels. And despite having already covered xxxx miles, there’d be no sign of it from looking at the Windsor leather-clad interior. Indeed, collecting my car from one of the swanky handover bays at JLR’s flagship West London dealership, you’d think my car was new.

My car is a 35th Edition car, built, as you’d expect, to celebrate 35 years of the Discovery name. And it comes with a huge amount of kit, from heated, cooled and massaging front seats to four-zone climate control and a head-up display to put the most relevant information in my line of sight. Nevertheless, the car’s original owner raided the extensive list of options to include the towing pack, which brings an electric tow bar, as well as the cold climate pack, which includes heated washer jets – useful as the temperature starts to dip.

Elsewhere, the original owner also went for a full-size spare wheel, 20-way electrically adjustable seats and a tracker. And considering that Land Rover was the third most commonly-stolen car brand in 2024, that brings real peace of mind.

I went for the sole engine choice which you can get on the Discovery, a 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel unit badged as D350. It should be pretty punchy, with an official 0-62mph time of 5.9sec, which is about in the same league as diesel-engined versions of the rival Audi Q7 and BMW X7. It’s paired with an eight-speed automatic gearbox which should help to make the most of that power. But while this engine is powerful, it’s not especially economical, with official fuel economy of 33.4mpg, and my real-world economy hovering at around the 30mpg mark so far. Coming to the Discovery from the hybrid-engined Toyota RAV4 I ran previously, the increased running costs has been a bit of a shock.

The kids, not footing the diesel bill, think we’ve won the lottery. They’ve never had so much space to stretch out from the comfort of their child car seats, and are enjoying just how high up the Discovery places them. It’s something I love as the driver, too, because I can see over most other cars. Unsurprisingly, the commanding driving position reminds me of the full-size Range Rover I ran in 2023.

In my early journeys, I’ve been impressed with how well the Discovery smoothes out lumps and bumps, thanks to its standard-fit air suspension. That’s particularly the case on faster roads, and has helped to make our regular trips from London up to Stoke-on-Trent a breeze. And while the Discovery is undoubtedly a big and heavy car, threading it along city streets is made easier by accurate steering which, to my hands, is well weighted.

I plan on putting my Discovery to the test both on and off-road, not least because every Approved Used Land Rover also comes with a half-day off-road driving experience, which I’ll be doing in the New Year. And beyond my workday commute, there’ll be days out, motorway jaunts to see family and friends across the country, and plenty of opportunities to fill the Discovery with both people and things. Plus, of course, I’ll be hoping that the spectre of reliability issues will stay firmly out of sight.

Hopefully, if that is the case, I’ll have proved that by choosing a used model for my company car you can live slightly beyond your means. If not, well, it might be a very expensive few months.

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