Ownership Diary - LR Discovery 5 R-Dynamic HSE

In fairness, I hear you. I’ve had HUD on a multitude of cars over the years and each time I’d say I’d never be without it and then several cars go through my hands which don’t have it and that turns out to be ok too.

Just dropped the second key off this morning for the security update. Getting excited about picking it back up this evening.

 

So, it’s back!

Had a mixture of excitement and dread today but after 50mile return trip from East London to home, I can say the car is 100% where it should be and feels aligned with the loaner we have had for nearly 2.5k miles (albeit loaner feels a tad softer ride quality). It seems the windscreen was the root cause not only of the leaks but also the strange chirping noises, chassis flex and wind noise. The brakes feel more progressive and powerful now that the pads have been changed. And the centre console trim is new.

I am, however, shocked at the very poor valeting and annoyed at myself for handing it over covered in crap since said crap has now been rubbed all over the nearside doors in particular and it’ll need a very significant Stage 1 if not Stage 2 Detail to remove the swirl marks.



However, I am just pleased to have it home now. I missed the HUD a few times on the motorway and the extended leather does add the extra air of specialness but now I have a fully functional car back, I can now see the ridiculousness of potentially spending another £30-40k on a newish Metropolitan over mine which is not even 3yrs old yet and one from the top trim level.

I love the aesthetics of the roofbars, side steps and mudguards. In some ways I think it makes it look more rugged but sporty at the same time.

Before:


After:


As I was getting the cars swapped around (and car seats) the neighbours, who have now grown used to seeing the loaner, were convinced I’d got his & hers Disco’s!



I’ll miss the Metropolitan for sure. Of the 6k miles we’ve done since November, a third have been done in that car. Plus it was the car which brought our youngest home from hospital so I will kind of miss it for that. I get a last drive in it tomorrow back down the M11 / A12 to drop it off at Bow. Hopefully that’s the last time I need to use Rockar. Marshalls Cambridge will be given a go for servicing going forwards.

 

Thanks @Wynne71.

The best compliment the car received was when I asked my wife what it was like having our car back and she responded with “it’s just the same as the loan car!”

It’s not to the cognasetti but the fact it’s as wafty and quiet is a super thing and we’re all delighted to have it back.

Interestingly, I thought the Metropolitan had grown on me with its slightly subtle good looks but I’ve realised I really like the fully blacked out look with the exception of the wheels & side step brushed chrome.

Looking forward to a big European roadtrip with the family for the summer holiday. Planning on either the Med or South Bay of Biscay. Roofbox here we come…!

 

So we're about 500miles in following collection and everyone is delighted to have it back in the family.

All the issues have firmly been resolved, which has been very comforting.

Forgot to provide photos of the new trim:



The only issue which looked apparent a few days ago was a significant drop in mpg. It used to clear 30mpg on pretty much every trip and the average was hovering around 30mpg longterm. But since getting it back, I'd noticed it <30mpg with longterm (since coming back) down at 27mpg-ish. This was also odd against the loaner we had which was doing 33mpg-ish. I kept an eye on it, but it was still down and eventually spoke to my wife about it, saying I'd have to take it back for them to look at.

Eventually, we both landed on the answer. She confessed to me that with baby and two school runs in opposite directions, she frequently finds herself running late for one, if not both runs. Consequently, she's either booting it away from the house, or booting it to the next school, so driving it much harder than normal. With this in mind, I thought about my driving - subconsciously, I think I'd been driving it slightly harder than the loaner just because I know it's mine and not someone else's.

I then started driving it consciously the way that I had been driving the loaner and immediately I was up at 33-35mpg. Best of the last few days is 37.8mpg. So all good.

Problem solved!

So with the car being judged to being on point, I pulled the trigger on a host of accessories:

- Thule Wingbars Pro
- Thule Motion XT XXL roofbox (500L)
- JLR 2nd & 3rd row sunshades
- JLR windscreen sunshade
We've finally booked our summer holiday and will be heading to the Loire Valley for 3weeks, so I anticipate c. 2k miles with 5 up. Will be a super use of the car and we're really looking forward to the road trip; with a car which seems in tip top condition currently. Fingers crossed.

I eventually decided not to get the car detailed. My local chap quoted me £795 for a Stage 1 plus Ceramic Coat, which was a great price but in light of the above purchases and the fact that the car looks super when it's dirty, I decided against it. I've booked a day off work in early June to give it a full Spuffington treatment. It won't look as good as NDK but it'll be fun to do and will be good enough.

So for now, we're at 34,500miles and overall (since owning) 29.2mpg. Really pleased with it and can forgive all of its previous issues now they're resolved.

 

I spoke too soon.

Got in the car yesterday morning for the Wife to drop me off at the station en route to the school run and there was a weird intermittent vibration from the nsr. Wife checked the tyre pressures but nothing untoward. I get out at the station, have a cursory look and can’t see anything.

5mins later I get a call saying the dashboard has lit up with TPMS warnings. The NSR is down at 1bar (usual 2.6bar). She limps back to the station and then onward to the house, by which point we have a pancake tyre. I then take the Campervan to whip the littleun to school, return and then set about removing the wheel. All goes well until I try putting the space saver on and with the air suspension somehow expanding beyond the off-road setting, the hub has dropped lower and I can’t jack it any higher. I have a small moment of wondering whether I leave it on the axle stands and use my trolley jack to prop the hub but then decide perhaps there’s a JLR way and any further mess-ups could get expensive so I call for their roadside assistance. 2hrs later an AA patrol turns up. First thing he does……trolley jack under the hub!

In the meantime, I managed to secure a same day supply and fit at Halfords in Cambridge. So limped up there on the spacesaver and was relieved of £374 for the privilege (incl £7.99 for their tyre insurance). In fairness, it was done within an hour, really personable chaps and they took on board my request to inflate to 2.6bar and 140NM torque on the nuts (I watched them do it and verified).

This is now the second puncture wrecking the tyre in 4months. I’m hoping my tyre luck is due a change after shelling out ~ £1.8k on new rubber this year.

Given how reliant we are on the car and our luck to date, I’m considering sourcing a full-size spare wheel to take the panic/urgency out of replacing/repairing tyres. I’m doing some research now on whether a 22inch rim will fit under there or if I’d need to get a 21.

Roofbox arrived yesterday. OMG - need to do some serious clearing in the garage loft. It’s enormous!!

 

Honestly, I’m not sure. Both punctures seem to be a case of incredibly bad luck. 1st was an enormous scaffolding sized bolt and this one another large piece of metal embedded sideways rather than a straightforward plug type puncture. Given how vicious they both were, I’m not sure more sidewall would’ve helped.

That said, I do wish I had 21’s on it. If I was speccing from new, I’d go for the slightly smaller rims. Ride quality currently is astonishingly good but I can’t help thinking smaller would be better still.

However, given I’ve spent nearly £2k on tyres this year, it would seem a false economy to spend another £1.6-1.8k for a “new” used set at this stage.

 

Thats really helpful, thanks @Carl W. I looked at loads of YouTube videos but they only covered the pre-facelift where the instruction was to put it in off-road setting (highest). Access (locked) makes sense though.

Hope not to have to do it again but at least know for next time.

 

Thanks mate. I'll see how I go for the moment. Given I have a full set of brand new 22" tyres now, I'll see about wearing those out and then review my options again down the line. I'm not so keen to go back to the tyre hotel topic with my local tyre fitter and it's cleaner having one set of all seasons remaining on the car than going back to winters & summers (which I'd do if I didn't have any other option).

In other news - my Auto Electrician has been to fit my dashcam (front & rear) and I told him about the woes with the bodywork previously. He told me that the panel gaps on JLR are notoriously bad from factory. We discussed the fact I'd had a really good nosey under the car when I took the spare wheel out of the underslung carrier and I couldn't see any signs of new parts or accident damage and he wasn't surprised at all. In the past he's realigned the rear bumper after fitting towbars from cars which have never seen any accident but just poorly aligned from factory. He pointed to a couple of common problems with rubbing he's seen on such cars previously and they were exactly the points which my car suffered with. So as a result of that conversation, I'm feeling a lot happier about the history of this car and the fact there's no further gremlins (hopefully) lurking below.

Fuel economy is back to where it should be (c. 30mpg) with a 50mile trip down the M11 to see my folks in East London yielding 38mpg yesterday with the car brimmed with fuel, kids and baby crap. Astonishing mpg considering the heft of the thing.

Only downside to report - wife managed to catch the nearside on some branches sticking out from the hedgerow last week - I have two parallel (ish) scratches running the length of the nearside. Thankfully my fingernail isn't getting caught on it, so think an hour or so with some polish and a DA should see them right. But a pain in the backside.

 

So, I realised I haven't actually given the car a wash since December!! That was the first and only time I'd washed it. The only time since was when JLR "valeted" it back in April before handing it back to me. Although it wasn't the detailing I wanted to give it - both work & new baby getting in the way of that - I did set aside a couple of hours to bring it back from its dreadful state it had got into in the last 2.5months since being returned to us.

First job was to set the suspension into high offroad mode to allow me to scrub the arches properly. Then I set about with an initial hit of AF Citrus Wash, rinse, then AF Dynamite TFR, rinse. Then AF Avalanche and rinse before hitting the wheels with AF Tread for the tyres, AF Reactive for the wheels. Then to the contact wash with AF Lather. It then started raining on the rinse cycle so hit it with AF AquaCoat (a hydrophobic coating which can be applied wet). I jetwashed that off and then waited for the rain to stop. Removed the standing water and residue with AF Finale (Detailing fluid).

Next step was to see to a couple of strikes the wife had had with some branches/unruling hedgerows locally on the nearside. Managed to polish out the worst of the marks with AF Tripple although it will need a proper machine polish to deal with the deepest scratches (not through the lacquer so still room for improvement), but I didn't have the time. If I had have done, I'd like to have removed the swirls from JLR's valeting previously.

However, for now it was a case of doing the best job possible with as little time as possible. AF Gilsten spray wax applied to all the panels, AF Crystal on the glass and AF Gloss on the tyres. Another drop of Finale to remove any last watermarks on the wheels and bodywork and very pleased with the overall result. It'll give it a nice bit of protection to help was it over the summer before hopefully getting a chance to give it a proper detailing during August upon returning from France.


Before:


After:



Next up - need to fit a set of Thule roofbars ready for the holiday!

Car currently is doing 50miles per day with the school run for my daughter. In exciting news, she's going to the local secondary school (on the bus) from September, so the car will get a rest and the mileage will flatten from then. Average fuel economy on longterm trip is 29.8mpg. Most school runs see between 33-35mpg.

Prior to the holiday I fitted JLR sunblinds in the 2nd & 3rd rows and bought what appeared to be a horrifically expensive JLR branded sunshielf for the front windscreen. That said, the quality is superb with hard-backed, insulation, alcantara-type feel to the inside of it, fits superbly and does a great job at blocking out heat & light. A bit bulky, but does the job brilliantly. I'll try and take some photos after detailing the interior which is feeling a little worse for wear after 2.5months of no TLC and kiddies in and out.

 

Well that was close.....! Found out yesterday that the car needed its first MOT on Sunday 14th!! It had completely slipped my mind. I think because I normally buy cars at 3yrs old, I'm used to them being MOT'd before purchase and then just getting on and driving them for a while before needing to get the MOT done.

Anyway - car turns 3 on Sunday. A quick and frantic ring around this morning and thankfully my local garage told me they could squeeze me in at short notice this morning. 90mins after calling, I had a freshly printed PASS certificate in my hand (no advisories) and I can relax for another year.

Mileage - 36,298miles. How's that for an almost average 12k per annum?! Hoping that drops a bit flatter over the coming 12m, but let's see.

I've just set up the reminder service now so I don't end up with another frantic moment in a year's time!