Land Rover Discovery 4 HSE
Discussion
I often read other Reader's Cars threads and take interest in the ownership experience so I thought I would contribute one of my own (if anyone is interested!).
The story starts when we chose to leave the world of PCH leasing. We were coming to the end of our lease agreement on a 2015 VW Touareg that we had put 30k miles on from new. It was a great car, it carried our two kids around from being really small, swallowed up all of the baby paraphernalia, took us to the South of France on a couple of occasions and was just an all round mega family car. With a set of AT tyres on it, it was virtually unstoppable even during severe snow up here in Yorkshire. The only thing that failed during our 2.5 year relationship was a self levelling xenon headlight which was replaced under warranty (£850 from VW!).
The issue we faced however, is that because it was such a good car we used it lots, and went way over the 10k/yr mileage allowance. It got to the point where each additional mile was costing us 9p+VAT as well as the ongoing lease payments, and it just felt like we were chucking a lot of money at something we were reluctant to use. I did the maths and with our annual mileage it made sense to terminate the lease and return the vehicle and cut our losses. Shame really, as I really liked that car. That wasn't before I found the replacement though...
Whist we aren't serious off-roaders, we do live down a private farm track in Yorkshire, which is gravel and not tarmac. We also live on the side of a hill and are quite exposed, which means when we get the weather, we get the extreme of the weather, and when the wind whips up we have in the past had 2ft+ snow drifts down our lane. People do occasionally get stuck. So I knew I wanted a 4x4.
The checklist for the replacement was as follows:
Budget - £23kish
Sub 100k miles
Four wheel drive
Good ground clearance
Nice to look at
Plenty of space for camping equipment/tip runs/general family duties
Good towing capability (just in case I'm allowed a track car again)
Good bike carrying options
Decent stereo
Heated seats
Bluetooth
For a short time I considered something like a Skoda Yeti with some chunky tyres, but it just wouldn’t have been big enough for holiday road trips and bikes etc, and I'm not sure it would have ticked the tow-car box either.
I previously owned a Disco 2 (it was awful) and a good friend had a Disco 3. Whilst the jump from D2 to D3 was a significant improvement, the D3 still felt a bit agricultural when I drove it. Whist the D3 and D4 share a lot of components, a lot of the issues have been sorted well into D4 life, and the jump from D3 to D4 felt massive. I’ve always liked the look of the D4, it just looks ‘right’. I did look at early D5s but I think they look awful. The sweet spot was therefore the best D4 I could afford.
After a lot of research, the spec we wanted was:
SDV6 (not the earlier TDV6)
8 speed ZF gearbox (not the earlier 6-speed)
Black or dark grey
Black leather
20” wheels (I’ll explain why later!)
Our budget put us into pre-facelift territory with the SDV6 and 8-speed box. This seemed to be around the MY2012 mark. You can tell the facelifts apart as they have different headlights, different front grille, usually the letters DISCOVERY along the bonnet rather than LAND ROVER, different rear lights with a black border, indicators removed from the front wings and installed into the smaller door mirrors instead. Whilst I would have liked a facelift model, at the time it was out of our budget.
So, rewind to June 2018 and although I had not physically looked at lots of vehicles I had done loads of reading and ‘looked’ at lots of adverts, both private and trade and begin to get a good understanding of what to look for. Then this one popped up for sale about an hour from home (dealer pics):
8-speed - CHECK
Black - CHECK
20” wheels - CHECK
From the pictures it looked in great condition, so I arranged to go and view and drive it with the wife in tow. The dealer was really easy to get along with, he answered a lot of my questions in advance by e-mail even though he was on holiday. He stocked a lot of Land Rovers/Range Rovers and specialised in the marque which gave me some confidence. Upon arrival he had the car ready, and let me have a good poke around. On the inspection I observed no structural rust or rot on the frame, the lower front arms were new having been replaced by the previous owner, the interior was spotless although I think the previous owner was a dog owner. Everything worked, air suspension went down to access mode, up to normal mode and up again to off-road mode, no errors or leaks, and it drove just fine. Mileage was a tad over 80k with full LRSH. I was reluctant to buy the first car I’d seen and driven but I generally know what to look for when buying second hand and this one just screamed at me it was a good one. Mrs Mac and I went for lunch at a pub next door, had a chat, decided we wanted it, and she left me to do the negotiation (she hates negotiating and would gladly just pay the sticker price to avoid it!).
My negotiation tactic was not to ask for money off the screen price, instead my proposal revolved around offering the full asking price but getting a few bits and bobs included at the same time. First up was a minor service and MOT. No brainer, that was agreed. Next up, the car was running some 255/50/20 road biased tyres. On my walk round the workshop I noticed the dealer had some nearly new looking 275/45/20 Cooper Zeon LTZ all terrain tyres stacked up gathering dust, that he'd taken off a car that had come in as PX. I asked for those to be put on the Disco 4, but I also wanted to keep the road-biased 255/50/20 tyres that were on the car (there is a method to my madness, bear with me). He agreed to that. There was also some dog-scratch marks on the inside of the rear screen, just on the tint, so the rear screen was re-tinted. The final negotiation point was the belts. From the research I’d spotted that the timing an auxiliary belt service was due at 90k miles or 7yrs whichever came first. The car was at 80k miles and 6 years old, so a big belt service was due early to mid 2019 anyway. So, cheekily I asked for that service to be done prior to collection. After some thought and a handshake it was agreed. I got an early belt service done (allegedly a £1600 dealer body-off service or a £900-ish indie service) for his trade price of £450 which was included in the sticker price. Result. I got the train over and collected the car a week or two later. The car at home on the drive the day of pickup:
So why the faffing around with the tyres I hear you ask, well, only a couple of months earlier I’d put a £600 set of General Grabber AT2 tyres on the Touareg, in a 275/45/20 size, they still had 7+mm of tread left and there was no way I was returning the car to VW with those tyres on, I wanted to get my money’s worth!
So, down to the local tyre place with cash in hand and we spent a morning swapping tyres between wheels... The Disco 4 had a nearly new set of 275/45/20 Cooper Zeon LTZ tyres. The 255/50/20 cheap (but legal) road tyres were put onto the Touareg wheels prior to collection by VW.
The 275/45/20 General Grabber AT2 set were taken off the Touareg wheels and are now in my garage attic under a dust sheet waiting for the time I need new tyres.
All in all, I was pretty happy with how it turned out and I could begin getting to know and tweaking the D4 under my new ownership!
More to follow…
The story starts when we chose to leave the world of PCH leasing. We were coming to the end of our lease agreement on a 2015 VW Touareg that we had put 30k miles on from new. It was a great car, it carried our two kids around from being really small, swallowed up all of the baby paraphernalia, took us to the South of France on a couple of occasions and was just an all round mega family car. With a set of AT tyres on it, it was virtually unstoppable even during severe snow up here in Yorkshire. The only thing that failed during our 2.5 year relationship was a self levelling xenon headlight which was replaced under warranty (£850 from VW!).
The issue we faced however, is that because it was such a good car we used it lots, and went way over the 10k/yr mileage allowance. It got to the point where each additional mile was costing us 9p+VAT as well as the ongoing lease payments, and it just felt like we were chucking a lot of money at something we were reluctant to use. I did the maths and with our annual mileage it made sense to terminate the lease and return the vehicle and cut our losses. Shame really, as I really liked that car. That wasn't before I found the replacement though...
Whist we aren't serious off-roaders, we do live down a private farm track in Yorkshire, which is gravel and not tarmac. We also live on the side of a hill and are quite exposed, which means when we get the weather, we get the extreme of the weather, and when the wind whips up we have in the past had 2ft+ snow drifts down our lane. People do occasionally get stuck. So I knew I wanted a 4x4.
The checklist for the replacement was as follows:
Budget - £23kish
Sub 100k miles
Four wheel drive
Good ground clearance
Nice to look at
Plenty of space for camping equipment/tip runs/general family duties
Good towing capability (just in case I'm allowed a track car again)
Good bike carrying options
Decent stereo
Heated seats
Bluetooth
For a short time I considered something like a Skoda Yeti with some chunky tyres, but it just wouldn’t have been big enough for holiday road trips and bikes etc, and I'm not sure it would have ticked the tow-car box either.
I previously owned a Disco 2 (it was awful) and a good friend had a Disco 3. Whilst the jump from D2 to D3 was a significant improvement, the D3 still felt a bit agricultural when I drove it. Whist the D3 and D4 share a lot of components, a lot of the issues have been sorted well into D4 life, and the jump from D3 to D4 felt massive. I’ve always liked the look of the D4, it just looks ‘right’. I did look at early D5s but I think they look awful. The sweet spot was therefore the best D4 I could afford.
After a lot of research, the spec we wanted was:
SDV6 (not the earlier TDV6)
8 speed ZF gearbox (not the earlier 6-speed)
Black or dark grey
Black leather
20” wheels (I’ll explain why later!)
Our budget put us into pre-facelift territory with the SDV6 and 8-speed box. This seemed to be around the MY2012 mark. You can tell the facelifts apart as they have different headlights, different front grille, usually the letters DISCOVERY along the bonnet rather than LAND ROVER, different rear lights with a black border, indicators removed from the front wings and installed into the smaller door mirrors instead. Whilst I would have liked a facelift model, at the time it was out of our budget.
So, rewind to June 2018 and although I had not physically looked at lots of vehicles I had done loads of reading and ‘looked’ at lots of adverts, both private and trade and begin to get a good understanding of what to look for. Then this one popped up for sale about an hour from home (dealer pics):
8-speed - CHECK
Black - CHECK
20” wheels - CHECK
From the pictures it looked in great condition, so I arranged to go and view and drive it with the wife in tow. The dealer was really easy to get along with, he answered a lot of my questions in advance by e-mail even though he was on holiday. He stocked a lot of Land Rovers/Range Rovers and specialised in the marque which gave me some confidence. Upon arrival he had the car ready, and let me have a good poke around. On the inspection I observed no structural rust or rot on the frame, the lower front arms were new having been replaced by the previous owner, the interior was spotless although I think the previous owner was a dog owner. Everything worked, air suspension went down to access mode, up to normal mode and up again to off-road mode, no errors or leaks, and it drove just fine. Mileage was a tad over 80k with full LRSH. I was reluctant to buy the first car I’d seen and driven but I generally know what to look for when buying second hand and this one just screamed at me it was a good one. Mrs Mac and I went for lunch at a pub next door, had a chat, decided we wanted it, and she left me to do the negotiation (she hates negotiating and would gladly just pay the sticker price to avoid it!).
My negotiation tactic was not to ask for money off the screen price, instead my proposal revolved around offering the full asking price but getting a few bits and bobs included at the same time. First up was a minor service and MOT. No brainer, that was agreed. Next up, the car was running some 255/50/20 road biased tyres. On my walk round the workshop I noticed the dealer had some nearly new looking 275/45/20 Cooper Zeon LTZ all terrain tyres stacked up gathering dust, that he'd taken off a car that had come in as PX. I asked for those to be put on the Disco 4, but I also wanted to keep the road-biased 255/50/20 tyres that were on the car (there is a method to my madness, bear with me). He agreed to that. There was also some dog-scratch marks on the inside of the rear screen, just on the tint, so the rear screen was re-tinted. The final negotiation point was the belts. From the research I’d spotted that the timing an auxiliary belt service was due at 90k miles or 7yrs whichever came first. The car was at 80k miles and 6 years old, so a big belt service was due early to mid 2019 anyway. So, cheekily I asked for that service to be done prior to collection. After some thought and a handshake it was agreed. I got an early belt service done (allegedly a £1600 dealer body-off service or a £900-ish indie service) for his trade price of £450 which was included in the sticker price. Result. I got the train over and collected the car a week or two later. The car at home on the drive the day of pickup:
So why the faffing around with the tyres I hear you ask, well, only a couple of months earlier I’d put a £600 set of General Grabber AT2 tyres on the Touareg, in a 275/45/20 size, they still had 7+mm of tread left and there was no way I was returning the car to VW with those tyres on, I wanted to get my money’s worth!
So, down to the local tyre place with cash in hand and we spent a morning swapping tyres between wheels... The Disco 4 had a nearly new set of 275/45/20 Cooper Zeon LTZ tyres. The 255/50/20 cheap (but legal) road tyres were put onto the Touareg wheels prior to collection by VW.
The 275/45/20 General Grabber AT2 set were taken off the Touareg wheels and are now in my garage attic under a dust sheet waiting for the time I need new tyres.
All in all, I was pretty happy with how it turned out and I could begin getting to know and tweaking the D4 under my new ownership!
More to follow…
Thanks, I'll put a few more updates in this thread from the previous year of ownership. Off the top of my head fuel-wise:
Pottering around town, short journeys with Mrs. Mac driving (she's not the most economical) - 24mpg ish
Longer motorway journeys cruising around 70-75mph, that starts to creep up to 28-30mpg.
Best I've seen on a really long run was around 32mpg.
With the roof box and bikes on the back, fully loaded to France (4+hrs) cruising was around 28mpg on a hot day.
That means it's usually a £95-£100 fill up, with between 340-420 miles per tank depending on who is driving and where.
In terms of servicing, I've left the main dealer network now and either do the work myself or by a trusted independent. I wouldn't say it was overly expensive for general consumables, brakes, oil etc. There's generally a lot of parts available online and from specialists. If things do start to go wrong I suspect that a lot of cost would be incurred from diagnostic and fault-finding, but I generally do a lot of that myself by reading the excellent Disco4 forum, there's a wealth of experience on there and you can generally figure out what needs doing by asking on the forums.
Pottering around town, short journeys with Mrs. Mac driving (she's not the most economical) - 24mpg ish
Longer motorway journeys cruising around 70-75mph, that starts to creep up to 28-30mpg.
Best I've seen on a really long run was around 32mpg.
With the roof box and bikes on the back, fully loaded to France (4+hrs) cruising was around 28mpg on a hot day.
That means it's usually a £95-£100 fill up, with between 340-420 miles per tank depending on who is driving and where.
In terms of servicing, I've left the main dealer network now and either do the work myself or by a trusted independent. I wouldn't say it was overly expensive for general consumables, brakes, oil etc. There's generally a lot of parts available online and from specialists. If things do start to go wrong I suspect that a lot of cost would be incurred from diagnostic and fault-finding, but I generally do a lot of that myself by reading the excellent Disco4 forum, there's a wealth of experience on there and you can generally figure out what needs doing by asking on the forums.
A good PH friend had one of the last Disco 4s and reckons in many ways it’s equal to if not better than his Disco 5 (& more reliable) - he sold his D4 to a colleague whose said it’ll see 6-7 yrs family use with him. I think they’re great looking cars & where we are are a common sight.
So a bit about the car, spec and performance wise…
2993cc V6 diesel
255bhp @ 4,000rpm
443lbft @ 2,000rpm
8 speed ZF automatic gearbox with tiptronic paddle override (also has a Sport mode, I think this just holds the gears for longer)
Permanent 4WD with Terrain Selection control
2600kg (give or take)
It's obviously no b-road weapon, but what it will do is transport 7 people in utter comfort with a surprising turn of speed when needed. That said, any decent cruising speed and you could probably watch the fuel gauge dropping.
The spec sheet according to the VIN reads:
Harmon Kardon sound system, this is ace.
Black leather with grey stitching
Black carpets
DAB radio
EU5 (no Adblue, bonus!)
Heated front screen (this is a great thing in winter)
Heated front and rear (!) seats
Touchscreen audio/sat nav is reasonable, maps are a bit dated now but it has full European maps too which is nice. Real time traffic updates (not entirely sure how this works as I don’t pay for a subscription to anything?)
Bluetooth telephone prep and Bluetooth audio streaming.
Fridge (yep, there's a fridge between the driver and passenger seat in the cubby hole, probably large enough for 4 cans)
Cooled glove box.
The lowlights:
I would have liked tyre pressure monitoring as standard, apparently this was an option extra that became standard fitment in MY2014.
Heated steering wheel would have been a nice touch in winter (the Touareg had this as standard).
2993cc V6 diesel
255bhp @ 4,000rpm
443lbft @ 2,000rpm
8 speed ZF automatic gearbox with tiptronic paddle override (also has a Sport mode, I think this just holds the gears for longer)
Permanent 4WD with Terrain Selection control
2600kg (give or take)
It's obviously no b-road weapon, but what it will do is transport 7 people in utter comfort with a surprising turn of speed when needed. That said, any decent cruising speed and you could probably watch the fuel gauge dropping.
The spec sheet according to the VIN reads:
- 7 SEAT CONFIGURATION
- 19 ALLOY WHL STYLE C (L319) this confused me, as it's running the 20" Style L319 wheel?
- 255/55R19 111W AS
- 3240 KG GVM ECWVTA
- AMBIENT LIGHTING
- ATC AIR CONDITIONING
- AUTO DIMMING REAR VIEW MIRROR
- AUTO HEADLAMPS-FOLLOW ME HOME
- AUTOMATIC HEADLAMP LEVELLING
- BADGE-SD6 HSE
- BBU WITH TILT SENSOR
- BRANDED SOUND SYS (L3)
- CARGO COMPARTMENT NET
- CARPET-EBONY
- CD HOLDER-FACIA
- CENTRE CNSL-DOUBLE LID/COOLER
- DIESEL FUEL CAPABILITY
- DIGITAL AUDIO BROADCAST
- DOME MAPLIGHT
- ELEC FRT ST WITH DRV MEMORY
- ELECTRONIC AIR SUSPENSION
- ENGINE TORQUE-625 NEWTON METRE
- ENGLISH/UK LITERATURE PACK
- EU5 + DPF EMISSION
- EXT MIRROR FINISH-BODY COLOUR
- EXTERIOR DOOR HANDLE-OBERON
- FLOORWELL LIGHTS
- FRONT FOG LAMPS
- FRONT PARKING AID
- FRT FENDER GILL-TITAN
- FRT SEAT ARMREST-FULLY ADJUST.
- FUEL OPERATED HEATER
- GOODYEAR TYRE VENDOR
- GRILLE-TITAN
- HEADLAMP POWER WASH
- HEATED FRONT WINDSCREEN
- HEATED SEATS - FRT/REAR
- HEATED WASHER JETS-W'SHIELD
- HLDF TOUCHSCREEN
- HTD/P-FOLD/MEM/APP.LIGHTS
- I/P DISPLAY LANG STRIP-ENGLISH
- INTERIOR SCANNING ALARM
- IP FAC CNTRST-EBONY/EBONY
- KEYLESS ENTRY/START-PASSIVE
- LEATHER GEAR SHIFT KNOB
- LOADSPACE COVER
- LOADSPACE MOULDINGS
- LOCKING WHEEL LUG NUT
- LUMBAR SEAT SUPT-DRIVER PWR
- LUNAR STITCHING
- MANUAL SPEED CONTROL
- MPH SPEEDO-EU
- NAVIGATION CENTER - EUROPE
- NORMAL TEMP ZONES
- OPTIKOOL GLASS
- PARK HEATING
- PERSONAL TELEPHONE INTEGRATION
- PUDDLE LAMPS-FRONT/REAR
- PWR TILT/SLIDE SUN ROOF
- RAIN SENSOR-WINDSCREEN MOUNTED
- REAR AXLE OPEN DIFF
- REAR BENCH SEATS 1X2
- REAR BUMPER-PLASTIC-PAINTED
- REAR VIEW CAMERA
- REMOTE ICE CONTROLS
- REVERSE PARKING AID
- ROOF RAILS - LR1
- RR SEAT-35/30/35 SPLIT
- SCISSOR JACK
- SOLIHULL ASSEMBLY (UK)
- SP WHL-CONV ALLOY (DNU)
- SPECIAL VALUE PACK E
- STNG WHL-LEATHER WRAPPED
- STRG COL-ELECTR TILT/REACH ADJ
- SUNVISOR,DUAL-PASS ILLUM
- SWITCHABLE GEARSHIFT
- TRAFFIC MESSAGE CHANNEL-TMC
- UNITED KINGDOM
- XENON HEADLAMPS
- LESS SPECIAL EQUIPMENT PACKAGE
- LESS TOWING EQUIPMENT
- LESS TYRE PRESSURE MONITORING
Harmon Kardon sound system, this is ace.
Black leather with grey stitching
Black carpets
DAB radio
EU5 (no Adblue, bonus!)
Heated front screen (this is a great thing in winter)
Heated front and rear (!) seats
Touchscreen audio/sat nav is reasonable, maps are a bit dated now but it has full European maps too which is nice. Real time traffic updates (not entirely sure how this works as I don’t pay for a subscription to anything?)
Bluetooth telephone prep and Bluetooth audio streaming.
Fridge (yep, there's a fridge between the driver and passenger seat in the cubby hole, probably large enough for 4 cans)
Cooled glove box.
The lowlights:
I would have liked tyre pressure monitoring as standard, apparently this was an option extra that became standard fitment in MY2014.
Heated steering wheel would have been a nice touch in winter (the Touareg had this as standard).
Just food for thought
I went from a Disco 4 HSE to a Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland
For £23k we got a vehicle in warranty, with all the toys, better reliability and better off road
The only thing it lacked was 7 seats and it wasn't quite as good through the corners- on a cruise they were basically the same.
Love the Discos, but i was gobsmacked at how good the Grand Cherokees were, especially for the money.
I went from a Disco 4 HSE to a Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland
For £23k we got a vehicle in warranty, with all the toys, better reliability and better off road
The only thing it lacked was 7 seats and it wasn't quite as good through the corners- on a cruise they were basically the same.
Love the Discos, but i was gobsmacked at how good the Grand Cherokees were, especially for the money.
Mikebentley said:
May I ask what it cost you? I am considering doing similar next lease renewal.
Price paid last year (June 2018) was £22,995 from memory, but with the extras (servicing, belts, tyres etc) thrown in as above. Basically I financed it with a low interest rate loan from my bank with a subsequent monthly repayment that was less than the PCH payments on the Touareg, with the added bonus that we own the vehicle at the end of it and it should still be worth something. popeyewhite said:
Very nice car. I recognise the dealership in your photographs OP, I have purchased from there myself in the past. What are your A/T tyres like for road noise? I've currently got some 20" Pirelli A/T Plus on order - supposed to be very quiet.
They're actually quite loud, and I don't think they'll be doing too much for fuel economy. They make a rumbling sound similar to a wheel bearing starting to fail. However the cabin is that well insulated you don't really notice it unless a window or sunroof is open. The General Grabbers that are in the shed are a lot quieter than these, they were more like a road tyre noise. I suspect my fuel economy may improve once I've seen off these. Having said that they've done 16k miles since we got the car and don't look to have suffered whatsoever. magooagain said:
Very nice discovery that. I would like one myself one day. I've had a couple of older models and owned a fair few other 4x4s.
Can they pull 3.5 ton legally?
I have the VERY useful Discovery 4 workshop manual in PDF form (all 5528 pages of it!) which states:Can they pull 3.5 ton legally?
Maximum weight of unbraked trailer
On-road 750kg (1650lb)
Off-road 750kg (1650lb)
Maximum towable weight (mass) - Trailers with overrun brakes
On-road 3500kg (7700lb)
Off-road 1000kg (2205lb)
In true Land Rover fashion, the first repair was required after only a few hours. I'd noticed on the drive home that the windscreen washer pump wasn't working for either the front or rear screens. I would go to wash either screen, the wipers would wipe but no screenwash came out. I thought about going back to the dealer but I couldn't be bothered with the rush hour traffic and took the gamble that I'd be able to fix it easily at home.
'It'll be a lack of screenwash' I said to myself, which turned out to be rubbish. The screenwash was full. Next up I checked the fuses, all fine.
On consulting the D4 workshop manual I started the process of elimination. The first clue was that the wipers were activating when pulling the stalk. This ruled out a faulty stalk. The next clue came from screenwash being squirted onto the xenon headlights from the headlight washers, but not onto the screen. Blocked pipe perhaps? When I got to the exploded diagram in the workshop manual, I noticed that there is only one washer reservoir, but two pumps:
Pump labelled (3) serves the headlight washer system, this was working fine. Pump labelled (2) serves the front and rear washers. Faulty pump then most likely?
I took the punt and ordered a new one from eBay, £17 (LR part number LR013950 for reference).
According to the D4 Workshop Manual:
I don't have any photographs of this bit, but jacking the car up, removing the NSF wheel, wheel arch trim and wheel arch liner gives access to the reservoir and pump, it was a 5 minute job to change them over. You will lose most of the contents of the screenwash bottle when you remove the pump, but the new one pushed into position and fired up immediately. Problem solved, knackered pump.
In true Haynes fashion, reassembly is the reverse of disassembly and everything was back together in no time. If I was doing the job again I'd order some new trim clips to pop the wheel arch trim back on with new clips (I think I broke one).
'It'll be a lack of screenwash' I said to myself, which turned out to be rubbish. The screenwash was full. Next up I checked the fuses, all fine.
On consulting the D4 workshop manual I started the process of elimination. The first clue was that the wipers were activating when pulling the stalk. This ruled out a faulty stalk. The next clue came from screenwash being squirted onto the xenon headlights from the headlight washers, but not onto the screen. Blocked pipe perhaps? When I got to the exploded diagram in the workshop manual, I noticed that there is only one washer reservoir, but two pumps:
Pump labelled (3) serves the headlight washer system, this was working fine. Pump labelled (2) serves the front and rear washers. Faulty pump then most likely?
I took the punt and ordered a new one from eBay, £17 (LR part number LR013950 for reference).
According to the D4 Workshop Manual:
Access to the Washer pump may be gained by partly removing the inner wheel arch of bumper trim. The Pump is push fitted into the washer bottle. The washer pipes should be push fitted on, some may have a clip to release them, if push fitted on and they are hard to remove heat them up with a hair dryer and they will come off very easily.
I don't have any photographs of this bit, but jacking the car up, removing the NSF wheel, wheel arch trim and wheel arch liner gives access to the reservoir and pump, it was a 5 minute job to change them over. You will lose most of the contents of the screenwash bottle when you remove the pump, but the new one pushed into position and fired up immediately. Problem solved, knackered pump.
In true Haynes fashion, reassembly is the reverse of disassembly and everything was back together in no time. If I was doing the job again I'd order some new trim clips to pop the wheel arch trim back on with new clips (I think I broke one).
That’s really nice.
Other than having 3 children I have no genuine practical need for one, but for some reason I REALLY want a Discovery 4. They just look so right.
I saw a rather posh new-ish one in 2016 at Le Mans which was a lovely metallic green with built in rear DVD screens in the headrests and an electric slide out boot floor. No tints and really smart wheels.
Other than having 3 children I have no genuine practical need for one, but for some reason I REALLY want a Discovery 4. They just look so right.
I saw a rather posh new-ish one in 2016 at Le Mans which was a lovely metallic green with built in rear DVD screens in the headrests and an electric slide out boot floor. No tints and really smart wheels.
Mac. said:
Thanks, I'll put a few more updates in this thread from the previous year of ownership. Off the top of my head fuel-wise:
Pottering around town, short journeys with Mrs. Mac driving (she's not the most economical) - 24mpg ish
Longer motorway journeys cruising around 70-75mph, that starts to creep up to 28-30mpg.
Best I've seen on a really long run was around 32mpg.
With the roof box and bikes on the back, fully loaded to France (4+hrs) cruising was around 28mpg on a hot day.
That means it's usually a £95-£100 fill up, with between 340-420 miles per tank depending on who is driving and where.
In terms of servicing, I've left the main dealer network now and either do the work myself or by a trusted independent. I wouldn't say it was overly expensive for general consumables, brakes, oil etc. There's generally a lot of parts available online and from specialists. If things do start to go wrong I suspect that a lot of cost would be incurred from diagnostic and fault-finding, but I generally do a lot of that myself by reading the excellent Disco4 forum, there's a wealth of experience on there and you can generally figure out what needs doing by asking on the forums.
Thanks Mac, does your car come with a smaller engine which is slightly more economical at all? Pottering around town, short journeys with Mrs. Mac driving (she's not the most economical) - 24mpg ish
Longer motorway journeys cruising around 70-75mph, that starts to creep up to 28-30mpg.
Best I've seen on a really long run was around 32mpg.
With the roof box and bikes on the back, fully loaded to France (4+hrs) cruising was around 28mpg on a hot day.
That means it's usually a £95-£100 fill up, with between 340-420 miles per tank depending on who is driving and where.
In terms of servicing, I've left the main dealer network now and either do the work myself or by a trusted independent. I wouldn't say it was overly expensive for general consumables, brakes, oil etc. There's generally a lot of parts available online and from specialists. If things do start to go wrong I suspect that a lot of cost would be incurred from diagnostic and fault-finding, but I generally do a lot of that myself by reading the excellent Disco4 forum, there's a wealth of experience on there and you can generally figure out what needs doing by asking on the forums.
Lovely looking D4, they really are great cars. I've had my 2012 for a few years now and can't think what I'd replace it with. Two really great upgrades are an Alive remap and installing Apple CarPlay on the factory screen. Here's a link to a thread on mine:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=16...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=16...
In putting this thread together I've been going back through some old pictures. This one is when we took the kids up to the local dairy farm that produces their own ice cream. Not exactly 'off roading' but couldn't resist looking back and taking a picture of it in the middle of a field, it just looked at home. 
The air suspension really comes into its own when the ground is uneven. Sometimes on the road if you hit some broken tarmac or a small pothole it 'jars' a bit and is similar to scuttle shake on a convertible. Stick it on a lumpy field though and you could drive across it at 30+mph and some suspension wizardry takes over and it feels as smooth as silk, very impressive.
The air suspension really comes into its own when the ground is uneven. Sometimes on the road if you hit some broken tarmac or a small pothole it 'jars' a bit and is similar to scuttle shake on a convertible. Stick it on a lumpy field though and you could drive across it at 30+mph and some suspension wizardry takes over and it feels as smooth as silk, very impressive.
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 6th September 09:31
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 6th September 09:33
Like you I had a RLine 262 Treg from 15-18 and loved it but went to a Kodiaq so I could see 50mpg!
How does the D4 compare to the Treg for consumption, I think my Treg averaged 36mpg over near 30k miles.
Don’t get me wrong I Love the idea of D4/5 but
1. Scared stiff of unplanned repair bills
2. Resent upping my fuel bills by 30%
3. Wince at LR servicing ‘fees’
Convince me......
Edited to add; Just checked my own notes the Treg averaged 32mpg....
How does the D4 compare to the Treg for consumption, I think my Treg averaged 36mpg over near 30k miles.
Don’t get me wrong I Love the idea of D4/5 but
1. Scared stiff of unplanned repair bills
2. Resent upping my fuel bills by 30%
3. Wince at LR servicing ‘fees’
Convince me......
Edited to add; Just checked my own notes the Treg averaged 32mpg....
Edited by HarryW on Friday 6th September 09:54
First addition was a set of roof bars so that I could attach our roof box when needed, for camping trips. I sold the bars and bike carriers that I had on the Touareg and replaced them with a set of Thule Wingbar Edge, in the optional black finish to match the car. Can't fault Thule products, they know what they are doing and I'm always impressed with the quality. The feet attach to the OEM roof bars on the Discovery and are as streamlined as you're going to get.
In fact, I haven't taken them off since for a few reasons.
1. I can't be bothered.
2. Given that the Disco isn't exactly rocking a low drag coefficient they'll have a negligible affect on fuel economy.
3. It gives the car a bit more of a practical utilitarian look
4. I can't be bothered.
With the roof rack in place the car was put into service during an August bank holiday weekend camping up in the North East. The air suspension is great, with the car fully loaded with tent, porch, groundsheet, windbreaker, chairs, rugs, bedding, food, water, kids, clothes etc the suspension was sitting a little low on the rear. That is until you start the engine, and the car goes through the motions and self levels. With a little pssssttttt, the rear end rises and voila, perfectly level again. Never gets old
The grass was a little wet on the campsite and there were a few people struggling on the inevitably bald, summer tyres, the Disco just rolled quietly across the site onto our pitch. No drama.
Here's a nice vista overlooking the village we were camping in:
In fact, I haven't taken them off since for a few reasons.
1. I can't be bothered.
2. Given that the Disco isn't exactly rocking a low drag coefficient they'll have a negligible affect on fuel economy.
3. It gives the car a bit more of a practical utilitarian look
4. I can't be bothered.
With the roof rack in place the car was put into service during an August bank holiday weekend camping up in the North East. The air suspension is great, with the car fully loaded with tent, porch, groundsheet, windbreaker, chairs, rugs, bedding, food, water, kids, clothes etc the suspension was sitting a little low on the rear. That is until you start the engine, and the car goes through the motions and self levels. With a little pssssttttt, the rear end rises and voila, perfectly level again. Never gets old
The grass was a little wet on the campsite and there were a few people struggling on the inevitably bald, summer tyres, the Disco just rolled quietly across the site onto our pitch. No drama.
Here's a nice vista overlooking the village we were camping in:
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