Road to Discovery
The Defender goes into storage as Dave buys himself a new daily driver
Oh my God, what have I done? I’ve gone and bought myself a Discovery 4. Despite all the Discovery 4s I’ve seen with problems and faults in workshops, I’ve still bought one. I’m now the proud owner of a 2010 Discovery GS. So far, I’m enjoying every minute of driving it, the only thing I don’t like is I’m going to have to clean it and there is a lot of vehicle to clean. I might even be forced to visit one of those hand car washes. I’m really immersing myself into Discovery ownership, I’m already signed up to the Disco4 Owners forum.
I hadn’t planned to buy a Disco 4, it just sort of happened. My Defender, which I’ve used as my everyday car since it was built in 2004, was coming up to its MOT. There were no major problems as far as I could see that it might fail on, but I was starting to get concerned about the corrosion in the bulkhead. Nothing too serious as yet, but it was something that’s only going to get worse and in a couple of years will need serious attention.
The bodywork is also starting to do what all Defenders succumb to and the notorious aluminium scabbing has taken a hold in several areas of its backside. Every time I close (slam shut) the front doors (fitted in 2004) another bit of rusted metal drops off from the bottom of the frame. The outer skins are also showing signs of Defender scab. When I bought them I went for ones that were powered-coated and was told by the suppliers they would last. Well maybe they consider 14 years lasting; personally I’m not too impressed.
I had thought about sorting all of these issues and getting a full makeover in fact. But I’m in no rush and started thinking about the long-term future for my Defender and putting it into storage and having a change of Land Rover for a while. Maybe I’m getting older too, and thinking a Discovery would be more comfortable.
My initial plan was to find a Discovery 3 that was not overly expensive and run it while I decided the long-term future of the Defender and find someone reputable to
“I hadn’t planned to buy a Disco 4, it just sort of happened”
do the work. I didn’t want a high-spec model, so no sunroof to leak or electric seat motors to fail or even a factory sat-nav, as they are never up-to-date and cost a fortune to get updated. Most D3s I found were either very expensive for their age, or if a reasonable price had very high mileage. I did find a few D3s that might have been suitable, but when I then checked their MOT history online I discovered a long history of failures – often for the same problem – and the same advisory notices year after year.
I did look at a few in secondhand car yards were, well let’s say they were well loved. Then by accident I came across a Discovery 4 at a main dealer. It was a late 2010 GS model, which was odd as main dealers normally don’t sell vehicles over five-years old. But this one had only done 34,000 miles and was in very good condition; the downside was the price, it was more than I was expecting to pay. But after seeing and driving it I bought it. It came with a main dealer service and belt change, not having done the mileage for a belt change but it was over seven-years old. Moreover it had full service history and mileage documentation, all past Mots and a full warranty. Sometimes you have to stretch your budget if you find something you want.
As for the dealership itself, the salesman Tony Conway at Farnell, Nelson, was brilliant. When you consider I was buying the oldest Land Rover they had in and the salesman at the next desk was selling a £110,000 full fat Range Rover with all the extra toys, the service was second to none. I was more than very impressed. I did have a small problem with it the next day, a rear door wasn’t locking with the central locking. I called them up at 9.00 am on Monday, and was told to bring it in and a new door catch was fitted there and then that morning. Again brilliant service. While I was sat waiting for the Discovery to be done, I was constantly asked if I needed anything, food, drink or a newspaper. But I guess that’s what you should expect from a main dealer.
I’m sure in the months to come I will have more to report as I drive and enjoy the Discovery 4. So far, I’m still playing with switches and stuff which being a GS model it doesn’t have too many, just enough to make things comfortable. I especially like the heated front windscreen and manual seats, which I always find easier to get into the right position. Presently I have averaged 32 mpg, but that was a 50 mph drive on A-roads; time will tell. So far, I’m more than pleased and I’m looking forward to the first long drive in it down to Wales. I still wonder if I have done the right thing, especially after looking at the D4 workshop manual and finding the first 240-odd pages is just a list of fault codes, and it doesn’t even have a dip stick. What’s that about? How are you supposed to check the oil on a Sunday morning without going for a drive? But it does have Land Rover on the bonnet, so what more do you need?