Roadshow's long-term 2017 Land Rover Discovery: Bidding farewell
Cars
[MUSIC]
The fourth dimension and I have issues.
So it came as quite the surprise to me when I realized that we've already spent one whole year with our long-term 2017 Land Rover Discovery.
Now I was a huge fan of the LR4 that preceded it, so I went into this loan with some pretty lofty expectations.
After some initial rough patches, the Discovery turned out to be hella capable at every task we gave it, whether it involved work.
Or play.
[SOUND]
The Discovery started it's road show life with our fearless Editor-in-Chief, Tim Stevens, in the wilds of Upstate New York.
He used it to schlep about his land, hauling dogs and even taking an Airstream on a glamping trip.
After 8,000 miles of use or so, it arrived here in Detroit, where we've used it for two primary purposes, video production and interstate travel.
But during the early period, something felt a little off.
It never really displayed the trademark sure-footedness that its predecessor, the LR4, displayed in spades.
The Disco displayed a few other problems, as well.
Take the second and third row headrests, for example.
They block just about all the rearward vision, requiring you to climb back there every time a passenger gets out and fold them down manually.
A button up front would be a nice touch.
Then there's the matter of the B pillar blind spot, which is about the size of a small country.
Finally, we have the infotainment system, which while new is still sadly pretty slow.
And when it came time to take the Disco in for an oil chance, we finally discovered the root of our suspension-related qualms.
The dealership applied an update to the air suspension which had been throwing warnings by that point.
And the reflash subsequently fixed just about every complaint we had with the ride, but that wasn't all the warranty work left to do.
The dealer also reflashed an HVAC module as well as replaced a small motor in the cargo area in that little flap that comes down that prevents all your stuff from spilling out every time you open it up.
The actual service we went to the dealer to perform is pretty straight forward but hot diggity damn was it expensive.
We went in for three things, an oil change, a tire rotation and an alignment.
So pretty easy and straight forward stuff right?
Well, the tire rotation was $40.
Cheap enough, but the alignment got a little more expensive at 200 bucks.
And then there was the matter of the oil change, which somehow costs $227.48.
Feel like burning through maintenance budgets like the federal government, you are going to love your time at the Land Rover dealership.
[SOUND]
Now don't let our experience scare you off.
There is plenty to love about the Discovery.
The seats are endlessly comfortable, specially on multi hour slugs from state to state.
It's three liter V6 puts out 340 horse power and 332 pound feet of torque, which is enough to give this car some surprising hustle, specially with the [UNKNOWN] transmission in the sportier [UNKNOWN] With the suspension sorted, the ride quality went from just ok to damn comfortable.
Sure it's not as cushy as the more expensive Range Rover, but it glided from point a to point b and back with plenty of comfort.
Our video producer, Nick, also borrowed the Disco to haul is 19 foot boat, and he found the self-leveling air suspension made for a really pleasurable towing experience The Discovery has some presence too.
It makes you feel like the king of the mountain, carrying just enough aesthetic of its more expensive sibling, the Range Rover.
But that footprint eats through gas.
Even with a light foot, we never managed above a 20 mpg average.
While that's still 2 mpg above the EPA combined estimate, it's still pretty middling overall.
[BLANK_AUDIO]
Now this car worked so well as a production vehicle.
It swallowed up every pelican case we could throw at it and the interior took on far fewer scratches than the hard plastic in our former long termer, the Chrysler Pacifica.
Hell, there was even enough room to throw a cameraman in the cargo area, with a harness of course, for car to car shooting.
[SOUND]
Now the real meat and potatoes of the discussion is this, would we put the 2017 Land Rover Discovery on our own driveways?
Now, I and my video producer Nick, are both inclined to say yes.
$64,940 as tested, is a steep price but Land Rover's not exactly a brand for small budgets.
Especially when it comes to maintenance.
Now if this were the segment of choice for the next Clark mobile, which I can hear my accountant shouting off camera that it most certainly is not, I'd have this near the top of my list.
It looks good and it will haul a pretty big family across the country in a world of comfort.
I guess I'll need to start saving up my pennies.
I'm gonna need a lot of them.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC]
