Thinking of a change
I tow with Honda crv great car ,thought I might change to a Discovery sport manual has any body towed with this.i,m a bit worried about reliability Thanks
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If you look on many Landrover forums, there are many unhappy owners, especially with cars with the euro 6 diesel engine. early cars with the euro 5 Freelander engine were much better but being euro 5 they do not meet the criteria for many new low emission zones (London for instance) these zones will be applied in other towns and cities so it's something to consider.
If your thinking of buying new then its not an issue but as you say there does still seem to be a lot of reliability issues with the DS, A lot of what I have read about them is the accelerated oil dilution with the Euro 6 diesel.
Like I said, look at some LR forums before you make your mind up.
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I think there are a lot better towcars out there than the LRDS. look at the Santa Fe or Sorento with longer warranties. have you looked at the pulling weight as it's not as big as you may think. An auto would be so much better than a manual for towing.
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I have been read something lately about the Kia 7 year warranty, I have no personal experience but from what I have read and understand the 7 years is only the drive line and and there is a lot of exclusions buried in the small print under wear & tare. Some of the things I read related to suspension components needing replacement at 3 years old and around 30k miles being rejected.
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Are you sure about Euro 5 in London? I ran my Euro 5 MH through the TfL website gizmo and it said I was "persona gratia", not that I plan crawling round Hyde Park corner anytime soon.
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As a general rule the ULEZ is euro 6 for oil burners. there are a few exceptions where certain later euro 5 vehicles qualify based on emissions. There is a lower requirement for the LEZ
ULEZ is the same area as the congestion charge for now.
LEZ is basically inside the M25
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I know that surveys question the reliability of Land Rover products but I can only speak as I find. A friend and I previously had Freelanders. He now has a Discovery whilst I have a Discovery Sport. After 4 and 3 years respectively, we are both very satisfied with our cars. He tows a Bailey Unicorn and I have a Coachman VIP and we both travel widely on the continent. Although not entirely disregarding surveys, I treat them warily having previously owned cars with poor reliability reputations (eg. Rover 800 and Saab 9000) with no problems whilst a Mercedes E Class was a complete dog. My experience of the Discovery Sport (auto) is that it's supremely comfortable, an excellent tow car, relatively economic for a 4X4 and has a'feel good' factor well ahead of its far Eastern competitors. As for magazine reports, look back at Cars of the Year...... Chrysler Alpine?!!!
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I have no experience of Landrover products, however, in the case of the Discovery Sport, the advice from the Which? magazine is don't buy.
Fortunately, there are many vehicles in the list that have been rated and recommended. Going out on a limb, I think the car reviews are probably nearer to the truth than the caravan reviews which, to some extent, seem to be something of a lottery.
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I am on my 5th Discovery over a period of 26 years. Currently I tow a 1900 kg caravan with the D/Sport which has the current 2-0lt engine and auto gearbox. It has been faultless and tows this heavy caravan effortlessly without any stability issues. Whilst in Portugal we drove down a steep private cobbled stone road to an ACSI site with a 1-in 5 descent from which there was no width to turn round had we wanted. When most outfits were leaving they took up the offer of the site owner to tow their caravan back up the site road with his tractor. It wasn't available on our departure but I was able to tow out using the Sports 'Low Traction start' facility. I have also towed two large motorhomes off muddy fields. There are a few knockers of Landrover, usually those who have never owned or even driven one. Once you have you are unlikely to settle for any other tow car. How many times do you read on this forum of people who have bought other large SUVs only to find they need oil coolers or tow bar problems etc.
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I'm finding this type of post often turns into a 'my car's better than your car' affair, whilst those, be it for or against, have no real knowledge of, or have driven said vehicle. We are all passionate about our vehicles and are very quick to praise them, but it's a different story if they develop a fault. Let's face it - even those regarded as 'most reliable' will sometimes fail.
There is no doubt that Land Rovers are built to off-road and to tow. They are supremely good at it and have won many awards in doing so, they're also very comfortable to drive in solo every day mode.
There will be 'knockers' of all type of vehicles and what suits one will not suit all.
Go for a test drive and if it suits you - buy it. If not, keep on looking/researching. I always make a point of asking owners on sites about their tow vehicles which I personally may be interested in (for future reference and not limited to Land Rovers) and once you get passed the obvious first reply of 'Oh! Just brilliant, best tow car ever!' It's surprising after a few more questions at the responses (had a new clutch at....18-22mpg when towing.......broke down on the M6....etc etc)
From my own personal findings I would discount a Discovery Sport from my shopping list - but only because my van is a little heavy for it and I would have to look at the bigger sibling.
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As with surveys and personal experiances if you have "problems" then it gets shouted from the rooftops but the thousands of satisfied owners of anything are just happy with their purchase,
When getting any feedback complaints to companies allways no matter what it is wiil always outstrip ,the positives because very few will complement, the majority just accept that they have made the right choice
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I'm finding this type of post often turns into a 'my car's better than your car' affair, whilst those, be it for or against, have no real knowledge of, or have driven said vehicle.
I tend to agree but also I get little confidence from somebody who has had many of the same model range and trades in at 3 years and never has a significant problem.
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Hi, Think that jonray has pretty well summed up my feelings, that owners praise what they have and criticise what they don't have.
For me the issue of tow car choice has two overriding factors. The first is that I drive app 22000 miles a year and my car has to be suitable for that first and so its suitability for towing is second.
At the moment our choice of car is a good tow car, so that's, OK but if we were considering a car that was maybe not a great tow car it would be the van that we would look at changing not our car choice.
However, it would need to be an Audi!!!
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That’s ironic, A&J. Praising what you have😁
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Our neigbour on ,retirement was going to buy his company Audi ,which was just under three years old,and had been regularly "serviced"via his company, he decided to get an mot which it failed dramatically, with major brake and suspension faults, ,which shows in some circumstances that mot are needed earlier,, and three years is when if not looked after all vehicles are not fit
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In March this year we changed our Discovery 4 for a new Discovery. I was thinking of getting the Discovery Sport (re cost!) But was over ruled by my husband who said it would be on the limit to tow our TA caravan and definitely not tow a trailer full of cows! So it’s the full fat version sitting outside the house. And it coped brilliantly towing up and down hills in Wales. Not tested with the cow trailer yet - we have an old Defender for that .
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I am the only driver so no need for more than one car.
Not sure it would change things if I had other cars available though as I prefer medium size, or larger, vehicles and these have always been suitable for towing the size of vans we have had.
I could try and sell the idea of an Audi R8 as a second car but not sure I would be convincing enough.
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Why, thank you.............
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I don't need more than one car but choose to do so ..... I don't think my other cars would suit your criteria of medium to large as one is a Smart Fortwo & t'other is a Smart Roadster
But I never thought I'd fancy a little car either until I drove the Roadster 
Just buy a R8 and put A6 badges on it .... she'll never know the difference
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Just caught up with this post while searching for info on tow cars.
I hope you got sorted with a replacement for your Honda.
I too have a Honda 2.2 CR-V as a tug, having had an FR-V previously. Both excellent at the job and ultra reliable, but Honda no longer cater for caravanners. The CR-Vs newer than mine only come with 1.6 twin turbo diesels which you need to spin up before you get enough power, so I am having to leave a brand I love.
It is a hard act to follow and after much searching I have bought a 2014 Kia Sorento KX-2 manual. More power than the Honda, shed loads of torque and self levelling rear suspension. I am sure I shall miss some of the gadgets and the comfort in the Honda, but as my new caravan has a higher MTPLM I decided to go for brawn!
Pick it up on Friday so haven’t towed with it yet, but a friend swore by his so am hopeful it will all go well. Only time will tell!
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I have a 16 plate Disco Sport and tow a twin axle Eldis 860 with no problems.
If you purchase a used one, I did, from a LR dealer it comes with the JLR two year all singing and dancing warranty. The warranty is rated by What Car as the best used car warranty in the UK.
My blower fan packed up after the car had been idle for four weeks which was a pain. The local LR dealership got it fixed and working again and told me I needed a new one. There is a technical bulletin apparently about the issue and a redesigned part is fitted. They need it for two days as the dashboard has to come out and it is booked in for the end of the month. I will have a courtesy car, a Jaguar or a Land Rover to play with.
All on warranty.
Oh, if you decide to go for a used one, filter your search to bring up ones with towing equipment and you will get loads. A factory fitted hook is a bonus.
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