2010 Land Rover Discovery 4 owner review

The Land Rover Discovery. The core of the British brand since 1989 has had the ability to carry you and your family wherever your heart desires, so long as it's not too far from a dealer.

I'll not harp on about their reliability too much, because if you're reading this you'll likely know enough about them that I don't need to delve too far into it. What I will say is that after working on them for over a decade, I was quite jaded and said I'd never own one as they're nothing but trouble.

However, since moving away from the spanners and into a desk job, my perspective changed. Life happened and the introduction of a new family member justified the search for a bigger family hauler that could also be comfortable, rugged enough for beach trips, spacious, and have a big boot. I also had to know how to fix it if or when something went wrong, and it needed a badge that would satisfy my wife's craving for an upgrade from her old Camry – and wouldn't you know it, the Discovery 4 fits the bill.

Working at a place that regularly sees Land Rovers coming through the door meant I knew exactly what I was looking for. A 2.7 diesel, impeccable service history, and the big ticket items prone to failure already taken care of. Man maths worked out the budget and eventually we came across our Alaska White D4 with 156K on the clock, five seats, cloth interior (my preference), with a service record to be envious of, all for the sum total of $20K (before the covid tax era).

Having now owned the car for over a year and accrued around 40K in that period, I can see exactly why they're so popular and why people are so attached to them. They do exactly what they say on the tin. This isn't a four-wheel drive pretending to be a sedan or in any way remotely sporty. You drive it in a relaxed manner, riding the wave of low-end torque sitting in your armchair and enjoying the relaxed inputs from the steering and air suspension. Lovely.

The little guy has all the room he could ever need in the back, along with the commodious boot full of our gear for beach trips, family holidays, airport runs etc. And everyone always comments on how tight it all feels despite the age and kilometres.

There are a few gripes, and these are more to do with the era it was built in than anything else. The ZF six-speed, while there's nothing mechanically wrong with it, does show its age. Shifts are slow and it can take a bit of patience when using Tiptronic to allow for the converter to lock up.

The infotainment is also very basic. This being a lower-spec model, it does come without the touchscreen (which in itself can feel very dated these days) and we only have Bluetooth at this point. As with anything, though, modern upgrades are easily available with an Android Auto/Apple CarPlay head unit on its way to bring it up to date.

Aside from general wear and tear items (brakes and suspension bushes), it has not put a single foot wrong during our ownership, and I'm not sure if it's down to my almost obsessive levels of maintenance or pure luck but time will tell.

On the whole, I could not be happier with it, and despite my best efforts to think of a car we could replace it with, nothing comes close to offering the same amount of space, luxury, comfort, useability and versatility for the same amount of money. Bravo Land Rover.

Owner: Michael H

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