Land Rover Monthly – October 2019

LANDROVER MONTHLY 41

one of those owners, which Iremoved –
partly because I hate LPG systems, but
also because I managedto fry the LPG
control unit when Iconnected thebattery
the wrongway round! Yes, I makestupid
mistakes, just likeeveryone else.
JLR were also interested in borrowing
the oldest-known Discovery 2, registered
S101 KHP, that Dunsfold acquired justa
few months ago and which I’ve written
about previously in thiscolumn. Howeve r,
I demurred because it’s not really good
enoughto be a showvehicle; it’s very
much driver-quality. JLR doesn’t have a
Discovery 2 on its heritage fleet, which is
surprising whenyou think whata
significantevolution itwas for the model.
It was a majorstep-up from the Discovery
1, much as the latest Discovery 5 has
been from the outgoing Discovery 4.
Coincidentally, I’ ve just ordered a new
Discovery 5 to replacemy everyday D4.
LandRover’s ever-helpful PR manager,
Kim Palmer, kindly lent me a D5for the
duration of the LandRover Legends show
at Bicester Heritageback in May, and I
was so impressed that I decidedto buy
one. Itwasn’t aneasy decision because
I’ve now had three Discovery 4s and I’ve
absolutely loved them, but the latest one
was coming upto three-years old and

would therefore soon be outof warran ty.

I spendmy life fixing old LandRovers, so

for my daily driver Iwant something on

which I never ha ve to lift the bonnet.

Each of my D4s has beentotally

reliable, which I think isworth shouting

about because peoplegenerally only

mentionsomething when itgoes wrong.

The only problem I’ve ever hadwas when

an enginecover was incorrectly fitted

after a service and it chafed through atop

hose. I managedto ge t home after some

good old-fashioned bodging, and the

dealershipreplaced the hose (which I

believe took aboutfour hours’ labour)at

its own expense. Other than that, all I’ ve

had to do isreplace aset of tyres every

20,000 miles orso.

The Dis covery 5 that I’ve ordered isa

Landmark edition, which isgoing to cost

me about £70,000 by the time afew

options have been added. Iwanted tyres

with the deepest possible sidewalls for

comfort, which meant 20 inch five-spoke

alloys – although Iwould fit16s if I could!

And Iselected theAdaptive Headlight

option, in which the lights tu rn with the

front wheels, because I live in an area

with lots of country lanes and it’s very

useful to be ableto see round corners.

Apart from that, I also ticked the Heated

Steering Wheel box – silly, but I do likea

heated wheel – and the onefor the

Multi-HeightTow Bar, because I’m

old-fashioned and like agood, rigidtow

bar rather than thefold-awaytype.

Towingcapacity is oneof the main

reasons I’m buying a Discovery 5, even

though I dislike therestricted access

provided by the tailgate whencompared

with the Discovery 4. But really, what else

could I have chosen? A full-fat Range

Rover is too luxurious andtoo expensive,

and the Discovery Sport andEvoque

aren’t man enoughfor the job. If the new

Defender was outby now, I might have

ordered oneof those, but it isn’t andI

can’t delay any longer.

All my D4s have been bought through

Roger Young LandRover in Saltash,

Plymouth, which I’ve always found has

given me the best combinationof low

purchase price andgood service. Shortly

I’ll be drivingmy current D4 downto

Devon, andcomingback with the D5.

I believe that Roger Young has already

found a buyerfor my D4, since

low-mileageexamples are in great

demand; theycan even fetch more thana

comparable D5 with buyers who don’t like

the latest model.Will I regret making the

switch?Watch this space andsee.

While it runs and drives, ‘Schizo’ has no wiring loom – and no doors orB/C-pillar either

... While this 1998 model is the lastoff the line A loaned Discovery 5 from the JLR press fleetconv inced Philip that he should buy one

‘Schizo Disco’ is half-Camel, half-civilian 300Tdi

Pre-production 1988 Discovery is the oldest left...