Congrats! and love the interior color!
Can you explain what the differences between 2016 and 2016.5?
Can you explain what the differences between 2016 and 2016.5?
Hello, thanks and some thoughts on my new DS HSE Lux
Hi all! As of yesterday afternoon, I'm a proud new owner of a 2016 DS HSE Lux. I think I read almost every post on this and the UK forum before buying, I really appreciate how much people have shared.
I wanted to share my first impressions of the car and some of the buying experience - it was hard to find some of this information so hopefully it will be useful.
What I bought and why:
To start off, I had intended to buy an Evoque - but when drove it, I couldn't get past how cramped it felt. When we parked back at the dealership there was a discovery sport HSE Lux there and I knew it was the right car. I actually spent months trying to talk myself out of it - I looked at the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Volvo, Audi, etc. In the end, design, tech features and cabin really were the selling factors.
I got a black 2016.5 (meaning the model year is the second revision of the 2016 model) HSE Lux with the black design package, vision assist, driver assist, heads up display and climate control pack. Interior is tan leather. I absolutely didn't set out to buy the highest end version (there's really not much more you can get in terms of features), but I got a great deal through TrueCar / USAA. For me, the vision assist, black package, and the tan leather were the key things - it was really really hard to find any other cars that had this so I jumped on this model.
Some first thoughts and details on buying:
- Vision assist: there's a LOT of debate on this online, but the vision assist package (cameras, blind spot monitoring etc) is indeed available again with the 2016.5 MY. Several sales people told me it wasn't coming any time soon, but clearly that's not true. This was a key feature for me and I'm very very glad I waited for it. I'm used to much smaller cars and found I really relied on it in the first couple hours of driving.
- Driver assist: honestly, I think this isn't that useful (yet). I can read and remember traffic signs and I don't tend to randomly veer out of my lane. But the car came with it. hooray!
- Heads up Display: after driving with it for a few hours, I went from hating it to feeling like it's kinda useful. Based on a dealer invoice snfu, I didn't pay full price for this and I'm glad about it - if you drive on the highway a lot, it's really useful to have the display and nav there. In the city, not so much. Oh, and there's this white little strip (that I assume is the projector?) on the dash that reflects on the inside of the windshield on bright days. I'm planning on spray painting over this (kidding). I wouldn't call this essential tech.
- Climate pack: this comes with a heated steering wheel, climate control seats and heated front windshield. That last bit is kinda interesting and problematic. Love that the front glass is heated, BUT it's got little wires (barely visible) that are the heating elements. I noticed it a lot and it created some additonal glare from tail lights at night. If you're considering this, I would strongly suggest you test drive a car that has this feature before you buy. I'm ok with it but was surprised when I first saw it.
- Wheels: my car came with the 20in black gloss wheels. After reading through the forums here, I was considering asking them to swap out with 18in black wheels. Then my vanity kicked in and I stuck with the 20s. Seems to ride fine and they aren't really low profile tires - I'm pretty confident about the decision. But, I am thinking about getting set of "beater" 18in rims with all weather tires for when I go into really rough territory (e.g. the bronx or staten island). I wish Pro Comp made these for the disco: http://bit.ly/1nFS47j
- finally, the engine / transmission: this is the thing that gave me the most pause before buying and it's what consumer reports, etc have complained about so much. My feeling after the first day is "I'm fine with it." Let's be clear - the discovery sport isn't a car with a "performance" engine. I agree that the low gears are sluggish, and I found myself keeping it in S and using the paddle shifters a lot when I wanted more pep. I think this is something that Land Rover could prob patch via software, but I assume that this would dramatically impact the fuel efficiency which is why they haven't. I did look at other car with more power / pick up, and fuel efficiency was indeed the trade off. In the end, I wasn't ok with a car that got 13mpg or cost $70k with options.
- Look / interior: I'm in love. I work in a creative field and design is important to me. The cabin is the perfect mix of luxury that is understated and utilitarian. I don't want bling but I want some VIP treatment.
Ok - that's about all off the top of my head, happy to take pictures or dive deeper into other features if that would be useful to anyone.
thanks!
I wanted to share my first impressions of the car and some of the buying experience - it was hard to find some of this information so hopefully it will be useful.
What I bought and why:
To start off, I had intended to buy an Evoque - but when drove it, I couldn't get past how cramped it felt. When we parked back at the dealership there was a discovery sport HSE Lux there and I knew it was the right car. I actually spent months trying to talk myself out of it - I looked at the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Volvo, Audi, etc. In the end, design, tech features and cabin really were the selling factors.
I got a black 2016.5 (meaning the model year is the second revision of the 2016 model) HSE Lux with the black design package, vision assist, driver assist, heads up display and climate control pack. Interior is tan leather. I absolutely didn't set out to buy the highest end version (there's really not much more you can get in terms of features), but I got a great deal through TrueCar / USAA. For me, the vision assist, black package, and the tan leather were the key things - it was really really hard to find any other cars that had this so I jumped on this model.
Some first thoughts and details on buying:
- Vision assist: there's a LOT of debate on this online, but the vision assist package (cameras, blind spot monitoring etc) is indeed available again with the 2016.5 MY. Several sales people told me it wasn't coming any time soon, but clearly that's not true. This was a key feature for me and I'm very very glad I waited for it. I'm used to much smaller cars and found I really relied on it in the first couple hours of driving.
- Driver assist: honestly, I think this isn't that useful (yet). I can read and remember traffic signs and I don't tend to randomly veer out of my lane. But the car came with it. hooray!
- Heads up Display: after driving with it for a few hours, I went from hating it to feeling like it's kinda useful. Based on a dealer invoice snfu, I didn't pay full price for this and I'm glad about it - if you drive on the highway a lot, it's really useful to have the display and nav there. In the city, not so much. Oh, and there's this white little strip (that I assume is the projector?) on the dash that reflects on the inside of the windshield on bright days. I'm planning on spray painting over this (kidding). I wouldn't call this essential tech.
- Climate pack: this comes with a heated steering wheel, climate control seats and heated front windshield. That last bit is kinda interesting and problematic. Love that the front glass is heated, BUT it's got little wires (barely visible) that are the heating elements. I noticed it a lot and it created some additonal glare from tail lights at night. If you're considering this, I would strongly suggest you test drive a car that has this feature before you buy. I'm ok with it but was surprised when I first saw it.
- Wheels: my car came with the 20in black gloss wheels. After reading through the forums here, I was considering asking them to swap out with 18in black wheels. Then my vanity kicked in and I stuck with the 20s. Seems to ride fine and they aren't really low profile tires - I'm pretty confident about the decision. But, I am thinking about getting set of "beater" 18in rims with all weather tires for when I go into really rough territory (e.g. the bronx or staten island). I wish Pro Comp made these for the disco: http://bit.ly/1nFS47j
- finally, the engine / transmission: this is the thing that gave me the most pause before buying and it's what consumer reports, etc have complained about so much. My feeling after the first day is "I'm fine with it." Let's be clear - the discovery sport isn't a car with a "performance" engine. I agree that the low gears are sluggish, and I found myself keeping it in S and using the paddle shifters a lot when I wanted more pep. I think this is something that Land Rover could prob patch via software, but I assume that this would dramatically impact the fuel efficiency which is why they haven't. I did look at other car with more power / pick up, and fuel efficiency was indeed the trade off. In the end, I wasn't ok with a car that got 13mpg or cost $70k with options.
- Look / interior: I'm in love. I work in a creative field and design is important to me. The cabin is the perfect mix of luxury that is understated and utilitarian. I don't want bling but I want some VIP treatment.
Ok - that's about all off the top of my head, happy to take pictures or dive deeper into other features if that would be useful to anyone.
thanks!
