[Junior]

Auto Guide Labels Discovery Sport, "The Worst Car You Can Buy in [Its] Category"

They say that any press is good press, and Land Rover will be hoping that that saying holds true because being labelled, "the worst car you can buy in [its] category" is not an enviable title. The dubious award was based upon a Consumer Reports ranking that scores vehicles on a combination of road test score, reliability, owner satisfaction and safety, including government and insurance industry crash test results.

Here is what Auto Guide has to say:

This might come as a surprise, but the Land Rover Discovery Sport has an overall score of 47 and a road test score of 58. Powered by a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, the Land Rover Discovery Sport’s power delivery is spiky, feeling as if there’s either too little or too much acceleration for the SUV. The transmission mated to the engine is neither smooth nor responsive and its stiff-legged ride and handling doesn’t live up to its sporty nameplate.

Do you find the harsh criticism of the Discovery Sport to be accurate?

 

[DrJJC]

Too harsh in my opinion. Not really up on those sites. Many say positives. Oh well.... I love mine!

 

[jsyteng]

Their assessment is not off-base when referring to the transmission. Let's face it, it's suboptimal at best and on average usually pretty terrible (despite recent improvements due to adaptive transmission . . . . I think?)

But there are many positives and I'm quite happy it's still relatively unique vs. all the other premium compact SUVS out there (I must see at least a couple dozen Q5s wherever I go). Of course, once they fixed all the glitches I'm sure the DS could become more popular.

 

[Quarksbar]

The transmission is the key to the issues here.

My background:
1. purchased new 2015 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk -- was returned/refunded due to system malfunctions centered around transmission and related sub-components
2. replaced #1 with another 2015 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk -- was returned/refunded due to system malfunctions centered around transmission and related sub-components
3. gave up on Jeep (the above spanned 9 months and was a horrible experience - lost $10,000+ when all was said and done; very long story)
4. went to Land Rover to get something similar in size and capabilities without breaking the bank (further) - chose 2016 Discovery Sport

Guess what? The Discovery Sport has the identical transmission. These transmissions require numerous computers/modules/Processing Units and software/firmware to function correctly. The manufacturer of the transmissions provides reference firmware and software programming; but each company makes it their own. Therein lies the problem. Most car companies are learning to become software companies and are struggling to make the transition. This is well beyond anything they've done before. Any glitch in the software can equate to significant and serious impacts on vehicle functionality and safety.

My Discovery Sport has been in the shop due to software/hardware issues for about 4 weeks and I've had it for about 4 months. Very much like what happened with the Jeep Renegade. Check Engine lights, malfunctioning shifting, issues with transmission engaging (mostly happens after backing out of a parking space and shifting into drive), navigation resetting, entire computer rebooting (while driving), etc., etc.

There are dozens of modules and computers requiring software/firmware. Almost all of these things are intertwined. The key/center of all of these is the transmission.

The good news is (yes, keeping optimistic) that the software can be fixed/revised/enhanced and over time, most all of these issues should be resolved -- for existing customers.

The bad news is, sometimes the implementations of these components/modules/"features" may require hardware alterations to correct -- as is the case with Jeep Renegade. The CEO of Fiat stated that they screwed up and will have to physically alter a component that ties to the transmission to resolve some of the issues (he actually used much stronger language - may be worth looking up if you are interested).

I hope this doesn't discourage anyone. This is just how it is. I like my Discovery Sport and have found that both the service and the corporate support have been stellar.

Happy Disco'ing!

Quark

 

[jsyteng]

Quark: you are better person than me and all the rest of the people on this site put together. If I had my DS in the shop 25% of the time I would be absolutely outraged. The fact that you like your DS still beyond me!

 

[stzombie]

I do have to say this is pretty "one-sided" and they just covered a couple of (let's be honest) low points.
But I say the other positive areas of this vehicle far outweigh those.
The uniqueness factor puts it ahead of the Q5 and X3 for me already, add in the off road modes and I have a winner in my book.

 

[DiscoDisco]

It's not been perfect but this is way to harsh.

My wife and I have owned over 2 dozen cars between us over the past 25 years. Out of all our cars, the Disco Sport is in the top 3. Only beat out by a F150 that I had completely tricked out and a Roush Mustang 427R.

If LR would do a little work to the fuel and shift mapping, this vehicle could be outstanding.

 

[loire17]

The problem with modern automobiles is that they are half software. It's not like the old days of manually adjusting things or electronic ignition that just worked.
Today multiple aspects of each item in a car is software controlled. Engines, nav systems, climate control, transmissions etc. Tens of thousands of lines of code. There will be bugs.
In the old days, if you had a lemon, you had a mechanical problem or worse a design problem. Now an update to the software and an upload of the new firmware and voila` fixed.
Obviously that's not every case (i.e. B pillar rattle). The problem is that code is easy to screw up as well as reload, and it may be really difficult to troubleshoot/debug. So there may well be more issues because of that. I had a 2004 X3 that IMO was less than positive and service was worse, got rid of it and bought a MKX. You can have the best car in the world and if the service department is poor you have real problems. But if you have a less than perfect car and the service is great, you know you can get through it.

 

[Guest]

The problem with modern automobiles is that they are half software. It's not like the old days of manually adjusting things or electronic ignition that just worked.
Today multiple aspects of each item in a car is software controlled. Engines, nav systems, climate control, transmissions etc. Tens of thousands of lines of code. There will be bugs.
In the old days, if you had a lemon, you had a mechanical problem or worse a design problem. Now an update to the software and an upload of the new firmware and voila` fixed.
Obviously that's not every case (i.e. B pillar rattle). The problem is that code is easy to screw up as well as reload, and it may be really difficult to troubleshoot/debug. So there may well be more issues because of that. I had a 2004 X3 that IMO was less than positive and service was worse, got rid of it and bought a MKX. You can have the best car in the world and if the service department is poor you have real problems. But if you have a less than perfect car and the service is great, you know you can get through it.

Agree. If you look at the posts here, and complaints, almost all of them are related to the electronics - and seem to be very sporadic as well. These issues are not limited, by any stretch, to the DS. I have been lucky (knock wood) and have had very few issues (loose heat shields).

I have a friend who bought a Cadillac XT-5 about the same time I got the DS. Interestingly enough, his ex-wife also got a XT-5 around the same time. He has had no issues with his, hers has been in the shop 6 times for various issues. You never know.

 

[DiscoDisco]

It's not been perfect but this is way to harsh.

My wife and I have owned over 2 dozen cars between us over the past 25 years. Out of all our cars, the Disco Sport is in the top 3. Only beat out by a F150 that I had completely tricked out and a Roush Mustang 427R.

If LR would do a little work to the fuel and shift mapping, this vehicle could be outstanding.

WOW! What a difference a year has made! Day to day the vehicle is a pretty good car. Great looks, great interior, good ride, capable, versatile...but.... the transmission in ours has needed to be replaced due to terribly bad low end response and sluggishness. Climate control completely failed on us... during a ski trip in the dead of winter. And those are just the major faults. Those things wear on you. I'm a nervous wreck that something will fail or a warning light will come on any time I leave the city limits...I've NEVER had a new vehicle with as many issues...well, except one, a 2006 Jeep Commander that was a complete basket case. It was jettisoned from our driveway and out of our lives very quickly.
For some dayum strange reason I can't seem to give the DS the boot!?!?!? It helps that Land Rover handles the issues, has gone above and beyond to make up for our troubles and we get a loaner during the significant time it's been in the shop....even for oil changes.
However, As soon as the warranty is up our Land Rover experiment is likely over. Too much $$$ for too little piece of mind. I need that piece of mind because we actually use our vehicles to their capabilities.
Even still I can't totally write off LR. I keep finding myself looking back over my shoulder at the DS, checking it out through the window, I like to drive it (when it's shifting well) and still get a healthy bit of satisfaction out of loading it up and taking it out and using it for what it's made for.
I even found myself taking a Big Disco for a test drive... justifying it by the possibility of a lease... best way to own a LR imo.
I'm still excited to see the new Defender too.
I REALLY tried to get excited about the new JL Wrangler or maybe a built up JK Wrangler...then that fizzled after a week or two of seeing 18-20 Wranglers on the road every single day. It's weird, LR bug is still biting despite the issues. I know the smart thing to do is to walk away...and I can not, with clear conscience, recommend any LR vehicle to anybody I actually like.
I just don't know what the draw is to LR and I don't know what is yet to come.

 

[dinkeldorf]

I think the article is fair, it depends how much you value the pros vs the cons. We knew the engine + tranny + AV were non optimal going in. We'd had an overnight test drive, and a 2008LR3 HSE back in the day. So we leased. My hope is they bring diesel DS to NA in time for us to upgrade in 3.x years.

 

[Tracey]

My 2016 Disco Sport is sitting with a blown motor. 65,000 miles Not sure what to do.

 

[DiscoMania]

I think in general the writeup is accurate but my 2020 Discovery R Dynamic has been the exception. Smooth ride, quiet engine, great pickup and passing, transmission is flawless, no problems with the exception that the blind spot monitoring becomes disengaged on its own 9nce in a while. I just continue to reset it when that happens. The interior is two tone black and ivory, just gorgeous. I have 19000 miles on it, I bought it last December and it had 8,600 miles when purchased. The vehicle is CPOd so I don't have to worry about unexpected expenses for several more years. Exceptional vehicle.