In-depth reviews

Land Rover Discovery SUV - Reliability & safety

Standard safety kit is decent, but reliability is more of an unknown for the new Land Rover Discovery – but we’ll reserve judgement for now

Carbuyer Rating

4.2 out of 5

Owners Rating

3.5 out of 5

Read owner reviews
Reliability & safety Rating

3.5 out of 5

As the Discovery is a relatively recent model, limited reliability or safety data is available just yet - but we can certainly give you some background. In summary, safety should be strong, however reliability is less of a given.

Land Rover Discovery reliability

The Discovery didn’t feature in our top 75 best cars to own in 2022, but Land Rover's recent performances in our annual Driver Power survey have been rather lacklustre – the brand came 14th out of 29 manufacturers covered in 2022 – a big improvement from 22nd in 2021 and 25th in 2020. However, despite being a happier bunch, 42% of Land Rover owners still reported at least one fault in the first 12 months.

Safety

The Discovery secured the maximum five-star rating in Euro NCAP crash-testing. All cars come with driver and passenger airbags, naturally, as well as curtain airbags that run the entire length of the interior. Land Rover also fits lane-departure warning and autonomous emergency braking as standard, and this last item is a real lifesaver – it’s estimated to reduce rear-end collisions by 38%.

The optional technology pack includes a driver tiredness detection system, as well as adaptive cruise control. This matches the speed of the vehicle in front and can even follow the car ahead in heavy traffic, braking automatically and moving off once you tap the accelerator.

Andy is Carbuyer's managing editor, with more than a decade of experience helping consumers find their perfect car. He has an MA in automotive journalism and has tested hundreds of vehicles.

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