Ownership Diary - LR Discovery 5 R-Dynamic HSE

Here we go (god help me! )......for the first time in longer than I can remember, the Spuff fleet will not have a BMW in it. I doubt that will last for long (the motorhome replacement will be either BMW or Porkie flavoured), but for the moment we're placing our trust in the Best of British (a-hem, India).

I have just placed a deposit on a late 2020 (70 plate) Discovery 5 SDV6 HSE Luxury, which is due to turn 3 tomorrow! It is a one owner car which has been meticulously serviced within days of its Birthday each year since new and just serviced by Lloyds Land Rover with new front tyres, new rear discs & pads, oil service and wheel alignment. It has 33k on the clock and comes with 12m MOT and 12m Extended Warranty.

As for the car itself - it's Carpathian Grey with 21" silver wheels, side running boards, detachable towbar and roofrails. I mention those specifically since they're difficult options to find and costly to retrofit. Wife wanted the running boards since she'd seen them in the showroom car last week and found it easier to get in and out. I wanted roofrails as I predict we'll be using a roof box on ski trips and a towbar for bikes, plus (gawd forbid) towing a caravan if Mrs Spuff gets her way upon selling the campervan.

It's a bit of an old man spec versus the Dynamic Pack optioned cars I'd initially set my sights on. Lacking a bit of muscularity and road presence, but the absence of diamond cut 22" alloys will allow my OCD to rest easier, probably allow for a slightly better ride quality and cheaper tyres. Plus given we do actually live in a fairly rural location, it looks the part more than the Chelsea Tractor. The interior is cream, which is what we wanted and having got it on the current X1 and it having stood up to kids & babies, I'm confident it'll be ok.

I managed to get £1.5k off the sticker price and the obligatory full tank of fuel.

For the non-JLR experts, the HSE Luxury brings about following standard features and a good bit more I think too:

- Heated & Cooled 18-way adjustable front memory seats
- Four zone Climate Control
- Rear heated seats
- Pro Media (Apple CarPlay/Android Auto)
- Reversing Camera & 360 parking sensors
- Rear Media built into headrests
- Electrically operated 7 seat positioning

Very excited wife and kids (and myself) although will be very sad to see the X1 depart.

 

Looks good - I hope it lives up to your expectations.

 

Very smart, bit of a leap of faith is a JLR product! I should really update my ownership thread(s), my FFRR is still going strong with only one minor issue that managed to disable the car! In a nutshell, ABS sensor got damaged which sent the car into a right wobble. LR Assist came out and replaced it there and then for the princely sum of about £46.

 

Thank you all!

Full of trepidation - any new car is a step into the unknown but no more so than a walk into JLR world.

What has proved challenging though is how quickly the market has cooled. Two months ago I was consistently getting WBAC bids on the X1 at £17,500. Now they’re at £13k. The best indication I’ve had so far is £15.2k from Motorway which is making the cost to change less palatable than it would otherwise have been. Heyho.

X1 is fully prepped externally, summer wheels put on and interior just needs a clean before lodging photos on Motorway site to see what bids come in.

It’s advertised on Autotrader and eBay but not a sniff about £13.5k which feels a bit too cheap given its condition and transferable warranty. If I had the space on the driveway and the cash, I’d probably keep it.

As for the Disco - the plan is to collect from
Carlisle Wednesday week. Either drive up the X1 and leave it to be collected by a Motorway Buyer from the JLR site or sell privately and get the train up and drive back.

 

If you change your mind, happy to sell it to a ‘Lander for the Motorway price.

 

Thanks! That’s the way I viewed it also, there are a lot which have changed hands quickly. I think this kind of profile shows a happy ownership experience. Similar to our X1 which was 3.5yrs with first owner and 3.5yrs with us. I do think we’re paying slightly over the odds for this one but if it’s as good as I think it is, it’ll hopefully be a good buy.

Great to hear your iPace is serving you well. I’ve read the build quality of JLR from 2019 onwards seems to be better than previously. Maybe that’s wishful thinking from my side but I’m ever hopeful.

You read my mind on the Lakes trip. I’ve mentioned it to Mrs Spuff. Unfortunately she’s a bit of a fair weather camper and the colder days/nights have never entirely been her cup of tea, but even less so at 19/20wks pregnant. Would’ve been my optimum collection but fear it’ll
be a solo trip.

 

Hmmm - I think I’m going to have to update the title to this thread……!

All change!

Going into the weekend I was delighted with the purchase, although something was niggling at me and I couldn’t figure out what it was.

First thing dawned on me at 3am on Monday when I was struggling to sleep - on the video I’d been sent, there were droplets of water in the centre cubby hole. Having read umpteen posts on forums about leaking windscreens, this worried me and sent my spidey senses into overdrive. I sent the Salesman a message asking for clarification on warranty work done. He was out but promised to get back to me today.

At the same time, my bank (who will remain nameless but is the subject of a different story) turned down my loan application (I like to keep investments invested so prefer loan proceeds to buy cars and then repay them adhoc when cash comes in) so my main way forwards was PCP.

The quote from the dealer was palatable but only just. The APR was verging credit card style but given it’s only for 6m before I paid it off, it was fine. That said, and given I’d seen lower APRs
from some dealers, I decided to compare what else was out there.

It became very apparent very quickly that the monthly payments (driven by APR and lower RV due to age) couldn’t compete with newer stock. Discussing with my wife whether significant movement on their price would shift our attitude and maintain our interest swiftly concluded that we’d need another £3k-ish off the car (on top of the £1.5k I’d already achieved) to half way persuade us towards continuing with the deal. I felt guilty but distance selling regs gave us a way out and there should be no arguments over getting the £1k deposit back. As @Harry has always said “where there’s doubt there’s no doubt”.

This has honestly been one of the hardest car searches since it’s not just for me but for the family and primarily my wife. We have to get it right.

Whilst all of this was going on, Motorway ran the auction for the X1. They achieved £300 over reserve from a firm just a few minutes away from us. I’m now bartering with them over how long I can keep it for before they need to take possession. In the meantime, trade in values have dropped another £1k so makes sense to complete on this deal.

With Motorway in hand and some real urgency now to get a replacement car, I set about shortlisting as many 1 owner Discovery’s of the right spec from JLR Approved Used. The first, at the top of the list, was a MY22 car (mid-2021 plate) with 29k on the clock in R-Dynamic HSE spec (the replacement for the HSE Luxury post-facelift) based in Canary Wharf (close by given I work in the City). It has all the usual items plus electric factory fitted towbar and front console coolbox, which would be invaluable for kids/young baby. I reserved it online for £99, received a call at 10am - a quick haggle over getting a full tank of fuel and OEM roof bars fitted to it and it was bought by midday and finance signed off and processed by COB.

It’s all come in £40 pcm cheaper than the car I originally sought out, for the face lifted (and generally considered more reliable) MHEV D300 with the MUCH improved PiviPro ICE system.

Car is pretty much ready to go and I’ll collect from
Canary Wharf on Tuesday

Given the R-Dynamic trim it comes with the black/dynamic pack which I originally wanted but was happy to forgo for the OCD and practicality. So ignore all my hopeless “trying to persuade myself all is ok” thoughts above. I do think the rims are too big and I do think the colour scheme is a bit gangster - however, I’m delighted with the spec, being able to get into the post-facelift car with all the benefits that brings and the over average mileage will even itself out during our ownership.

Here’s the video I was provided with: