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Used test: Land Rover Discovery Sport vs Mercedes GLB costs
As three-year-old used buys, these premium, seven-seat SUVs are £10,000 cheaper than their new car prices. Which should you buy? We have the answer...
Buying and owning
Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security
When new, the Land Rover Discovery Sport and Mercedes GLB were very close in price. It remains a similar story as used buys of three years old, with each coming in at around £32,000.
Fuel economy introduces some clear differences, mind you. The Discovery Sport will be pricier on fuel; it averaged just 33.2mpg on our test route, while the GLB averaged a much healthier 40.4mpg. Due to both cars being diesel models registered after April 2017, they come in at £165 per year each in road tax. You'll have to pay an additional £355 per year (for years two to six of the car's life), though, because each car's price exceeded £40,000 when new.
On the other hand, the Discovery Sport should be slightly cheaper to insure. It belongs to insurance group 33, putting it at around £865. The GLB, in group 35, should set you back around £903.
We were quoted £467 for a service of the Discovery Sport through Land Rover. Again, the GLB proved slightly more expensive; we were quoted £539 for a single service through Mercedes.
Whichever car you choose, you'll get 19in wheels, heated front seats, leather upholstery (artificial in the GLB), cruise control and an electric tailgate. The GLB has keyless entry and wireless phone charging, too. The Discovery Sport counters with traffic sign recognition, but both cars come with automatic emergency braking and lane-keeping assistance. This helped them earn five-star safety ratings when assessed by the experts at Euro NCAP, although the GLB was awarded its rating in 2019, whereas the Discovery Sport was assessed back in 2014, when standards were more lenient.
In our latest What Car? Reliability Survey, the Discovery Sport ranked 30th out of 32 cars in the large SUV class, only managing a 80.8% reliability rating. Needless to say, this isn't a comforting result. The GLB was too new to feature in the survey.
As brands, Land Rover placed 31st out of 32 manufacturers, so there's more bad news. While Mercedes performed better, it coming 23rd isn't exactly something to write home about.
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