I am new to the forum. I am seriously considering an 01-04 Discovery or 01-02 Range Rover. This vehicle would primarily see highway use and I drive 30,000 - 40,000 miles each year (outside sales). Curious about real world gas mileage and actual reliability. I here a lot of concern about both of these issues, but I am inclined to believe that they are quality vehicles. Any info would be appreciated.

 

I don't know why anybody would consider an LR or any other SUV for primarily highway miles in this day and age of high gas prices . LR's burn premium as well, do NOT get good milage, don't have much power, and do not handle real well on the highway. I have a 97 Disco fixed up for offroading that does fine for that but is not a good highway vehicle and wasn't that good before I sunk megabucks into offroad items. Unless you live in an area with 6 months of winter than you are much better off getting a good allwheeldrive car that may get twice the milage of an LR or any other SUV. As for reliability then you need to understand that some LR's are quite reliable but many have had problems. LR repairs are much higher than other makes as well.

 

I'm getting about 12-13mpg with my '99 disco. I mainly use mine to pull my jetski and short errands. If gas goes down I'll be using it for camping trips. Bottom line, great truck...drinks gas.

 

I get 17 mpg pure highway. I'm very happy with the way it handles and drives. I've had mine almost a year and the only real problem I had was a bad crank sensor, which would have left me stranded if I wasn't close to home. I almost replaced itbefore it went bad during my tune-up and maintenance, but decided to take a chance andnot do it, oh well. I've spent a lot of time and some money servicing it, so that may have avoided a lot of problems.

By the way, at 40k miles per year, that would be close to $9500 per year on gas (assuming $4/gallon), vs. about $5k with a 30 mpg vehicle ($3.80/gallon).

 

You are looking at the wrong kind of car. LR's are very reliable, I have a '97 and I get 20+ on the exspressway, but I only drive 65mph. You MUST use premium gas and I am sure that your car/gas allowance wont cover it.
Driving a LR down the exspressway is like driving your leather sofa down the exspressway. Very smooth and quite. These are not sports cars, you cannot weave in and out of traffic.
They will last 100's of thousands of miles.
If you need cargo room for samples and stuff you would be much better off buying a Volvo or Subaru wagon. Or better yet a Jetta wagon with the deisel, 40+MPG and then pocket the rest of your gas allowance.

 

LR's are reliable... BUT you may not buy it that way. It may take a few trips to the shop before its in tip top shape. But once you get it to that point (possibly 1K later) the truck will be just fine. As for MPG I get about 18-19 HWY and drive at 70. City I get 14-15 and I coast whenever I can and dont gun it or use heavy braking. Between the Disco and Range Rover, the Range rover has better road manners, but I quite like the way the disco handles on the HWY, its tall and you can feel that sometimes but its a nice ride. I hate to say this because I love LR's but you may want to consider a smaller car that gets better MPG. Unless of course you go test one of these trucks out and fall in love with it, and are willing to pay the extra costs.

 

What has not been said is that both are full time four wheel drive and will need
service as a full time 4x4 .

Most owners love their Rovers and like to see others enjoy what they see in theirs when they
get a Rover, BUT the down time in a shop for normal service maybe something you need to think about.

Mileage if you have to ask look else where, its BAAAD.
Most get 12 to 13mpg in town hwy 15 to 17mpg if you drive like a hypermiler you can get better
but its not normal.

 

As BIG a Rover owner as I am, I question your selection for a high mileage road vehicle.
You could do better, especially with todays economy buying something more road friendly.

 

Hey everyone. I just typed a long detailed response and when I went to send the computer timed out and I lost it. Here goes again. Thank for all of the advice. I am glad to hear that the Discovery gets around 17 on the highway. Thevehicle I am looking at right now is a 2004 DiscoverySE75,000 miles with all the options that I like (dual sunroofs, misc. other good stuff). I understand the difference between 17 mpg and 30 mpg, but I am also considering other factors when looking and will probably stick to an SUV of some sort. If I start feeling the pain too much I guess I could always switch to my wifes Volvo S40 asa last resort. I consider myselfobsessive when it comes to regular maintenance and have always done it myself. I like synthetic fluids and change all filters at or before service intervals. Typically when I buy a vehicle with this type of mileage I have been able to get 180,000 to 200,000 miles with little trouble. I get the impression from your responses that this is not unreasonable for the Land Rover. Eventually I would like to move up to a 2003 or better Range Rover, but may be a while before I am ready for that $$$$$. Any other comments would be appreciated.

 

Also wanted to add, I will check out some of the wagons listed. I may have a change of heart. Very reluctant though .......