• Not particularly economical
• Diesel best suited to motorways
• Up-front servicing plans available

What are the running costs?

This is a large, heavy and powerful SUV and isn’t particularly economical. Officially on the WLTP fuel consumption score, the D350 will do 33.5-33.8mpg.

Expect to get around 30mpg in normal driving, but we found it to be surprisingly efficient on motorways, returning more than 40mpg on a steady 60-70mph run. It’s here where the Discovery feels most at home.

The Discovery’s 222g/km CO2 emissions are also rather high, with this Land Rover on the back foot for its lack of plug-in hybrid version, which are commonplace on the majority of rivals.

Servicing and warranty

Land Rover offers a number of service plans, which are designed for cost-effective maintenance of new and approved-used vehicles up to 10 years old with fixed up-front payments. You can make a one-off payment or spread the cost with monthly payments. Service plans are transferable between owners as long as the schedule is adhered to via Land Rover dealers.

Land Rover’s recommended service intervals on the Discovery are every two years or 21,000 miles (whichever comes sooner). If you don’t have a service plan, the rough cost of a first, second and third service at a Land Rover dealer are £800, £1,000 and £1,700, so this will not be a cheap car to run, though neither will the majority of its rivals. You can quickly find out the cost of what your Discovery will cost to service, and for consumables, on the Land Rover website here.

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The Defender comes with Land Rover’s standard three-year/60,000-mile warranty. This is the same as the Audi Q7, while the BMW X7 comes with an unlimited mileage warranty.

Reliability

• Discovery reliability is not a strong point
• Owners complain about tech
• Feels well screwed together though

The Land Rover Discovery’s reliability doesn’t have a stellar reputation. Land Rover’s build quality has improved in recent years, but it still lags behind Japanese and German opposition.

The company has some way to go in customer satisfaction surveys and it didn’t trouble our most reliable cars list. The car has been subject to several recalls and while our owners’ reviews are mainly positive, several people complain about the reliability of the technology.

Engine and electrical problems aren’t uncommon, particularly on early 2017 cars. If test driving a used example, check everything works (and there are a lot of things to check) and walk away from a car that feels hesitant when accelerating.

There have also been numerous problems with leaking panoramic roofs, and – of more concern – water coming in through the top of the windscreen, caused by the glass coming away from bond at the top edge.