What 93 owners told NHTSA about the 2017 Land Rover Discovery Sport (7 Seat)

My vehicle just hit over the 90,000 mark. I did all recommended services when they were due, less the spark plug replacement as I just hit that marker. I was driving on 285 in Atlanta in the far left lane and went to speed up which did not occur. My car was still on but would not accelerate. I ended up being able to get to pull over 5 lanes and park. Turned off my car and it would not crank. Called Land Rover SOS and waited 2 hours for a tow to the dealership. In that time I was able to get my car running to get some AC flowing 3 times and heard no crazy noises or knocking noises; attempted to drive each time and pushing the gas got me no more than 5 mph. Dealership called a couple days later stating that although my engine was sludge and metal free ‘meticulously clean’ I needed a new engine due to my engine jumping time. I corrected the service advisor that the timing chain jumps time, not the engine. Requested a service manager to contact me and was told the same thing and that it is a very common problem with my make and model around 100,000-120,000 miles. I requested they pull codes as they encounter this issue and know what it is and didn’t want to waste time and money in the process cuz they knew what the problem was. They provided the codes later that afternoon(P0011 & P052A) and I retrieved more than what they gave me when I took my car off the property to another mechanic as I was not forking over $14,000 for a new engine. I replaced the camshaft sensor myself as a starting point and car would turnover and sputter off like it wasn’t getting gas. After reading other complaints, I see this happens often. Not safe at all to be driving in 5-7 lanes of Atlanta hwy traffic. Still waiting to see what this other mechanic is going to fix.

NHTSA ODI 11559805

Driving down the highway, the vehicle all the sudden started smoking, forcing me to pull over. Upon pulling over, I found it was a fire under the left front hood based on the smoke pouring out. I called 911 immediately. I attempted to save some belongings, including my $200K boat, but failed to save anything as the fire rapidly grew forcing me to step far away. I then watched my car, boat and belongings all perish to nearly nothing before the fire department arrived and put out the fire. While I am lucky to be safe and have adequate insurance, others may not fair so well when their Land Rover Discovery 5 petrol catches fire.

NHTSA ODI 11537799

I purchased a used 2017 Disco sport last July in great condition. After one year of driving it, and reaching a total of 70k miles, the camshaft intake actuator broke off, separating from the car. Clearly highlighting a textbook NHTSA “critical safety defect”. I only noticed the issue due to the check engine light and an engine fluttering noise. My local LR technician openly confirmed with me that this routinely happens with the 2015-2017 discovery sport and other Evoque models, as reported in LR’s technical bulletin (LTB00916NAS5 - Intake Camshaft Variable Cam Timing Actuator - Component Failure). In order to to fix this part I was been quoted $2362.00, and was told the part is essentially the same and could likely break again, putting myself and passengers at serious risk. When I told Land Rover’s customer service center of the issue they said they are not responsible since the warranty only cover the first 50k miles. Since this has been acknowledged by Land Rover as a common component failure, which has led to the part being on back order, it warrants LR to submit a formal recall on the part. Fixing it should also be free of charge. I feel it is unethical and irresponsible to Land Rover’s customers, to expect them to pay for an engineering failure both with their wallet and potentially their lives.

NHTSA ODI 11434297

I WAS DRIVING ON MAIN ROAD AT THE SPEED LIMIT (45 MPH). I HAD SLOWED DOWN AS I OBSERVED A CAR PULLING OUT AHEAD OF ME ONTO THE ROAD. AS I GAVE MY VEHICLE GAS IN ORDER TO GET BACK UP TO SPEED, I FELT A PAUSE IN THE ENGINE AND THEN THE CAR COMPLETELY LOST POWER- THE ENGINE STOPPED, THE RED BATTERY ICON APPEARED ON THE DASH, AND MESSAGE APPEARED ON THE SCREEN WITH THE HEADING "SPECIAL PROGRAM SUSPENDED" OR SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT-- I HAD NO TIME TO READ THAT MESSAGE AS I HAD TO STEER MY CAR AS FAR TO THE RIGHT AS I WAS ABLE TO. I TRIED TO RESTART THE VEHICLE, IT WOULD NOT START AND THE MESSAGE DISAPPEARED-- I HAD NO CHANCE TO READ IT AS I WAS ON A BUSY AND HEAVY TRAVELED ROAD AND HAD TO ENSURE I WAS SAFELY PULLED OVER. UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME AS TO WHAT CAUSED THIS MALFUNCTION. THIS CREATED AN UNSAFE CONDITION AS THE CAR LOST POWER WITH NO FOREWARNING. I AM LUCKY THAT IT DID NOT HAPPEN ON THE HIGHWAY ON WHICH I TRAVEL MOST OF THE TIME. I CONTACTED LAND ROVER ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE AND THE CAR WAS PUT ON A FLATBED AND BROUGHT TO THE DEALER.

NHTSA ODI 11209915

FIRST THREE DAYS BEFORE 5/14/2019 THE SEATBELTS LIGHTS WERE ON AND OFF, AND ON MAY14/2019 I WAS ON MY WAY TO WORK THE CAR JUST STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. .. THE BREAK WERE LOCKED.

NHTSA ODI 11208546

FRIDAY MAY 11, 2018 WHILE DRIVING WESTBOUND ON TWO LANE HIGHWAY US 90, APPROXIMATELY 8 MILES EAST OF LIBERTY, TEXAS POWER FAILED. WAS DRIVING 60 MILES PER HOUR, APPROXIMATELY, AND TWO WARNING MESSAGES APPEARED. GEARBOX FAULT AND PARKING BRAKE FAULT. I WAS ABLE TO PULL OUT OF TRAFFIC LANE BY COASTING AND STOP ON SIDE OF ROAD. PLACED VEHICLE IN PARK AND READ THE FAULTS AGAIN. WAS NOT ABLE TO MOVE GEAR SELECTOR OUT OF PARK. SHUT OFF ENGINE AND RESTARTED WITH FOOT ON BRAKE. STILL SAME FAULT MESSAGES ALTERNATING. UNABLE TO SHIFT OUT OF PARK WITH FOOT ON BRAKE. CALLED LAND ROVER ASSISTANCE AND THEY SUGGESTED TURNING VEHICLE BACK OFF AND THEN ON AGAIN. NO RESOLUTION AFTER THREE TRIES. VEHICLE TOWED BY FLATBED WRECKER TO SOUTHWEST LAND ROVER HOUSTON TEXAS. WRECKER DRIVER STATED THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH LAND ROVERS IN GENERAL AND WAS VERY HELPFUL. AT DEALER THE VEHICLE WAS UNLOADED FROM WRECKER AND NO PROBLEMS FOUND. DEALER DID NOT HAVE EXPLANATION FOR REASON NO POWER AND COULD NOT SHIFT OUT OF PARK. NO FAULT CODES WERE RECORDED BY COMPUTER. IF ROAD DID NOT HAVE SHOULDER, COULD HAVE CAUSED SEROUS OR FATAL ACCIDENT. MANY ROADS IN HOUSTON DO NOT HAVE ESCAPE LANES OR SHOULDERS AND SPEEDS ARE IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. CONCERNED NO FAULT CODES RECORDED AND NO GUARANTEE WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN.

NHTSA ODI 11093577

VEHICLE HAS SEVERE DEFECTS RELATING TO THE CLIMATE CONTROL FUNCTIONS. 1) IN HOT WEATHER, IT CANNOT COOL DOWN THE CAR, 2) DUE TO HAVING TO KEEP THE CLIMATE AT LO/MAX, I AM GETTING 9-10 MPG (16 CITY IS STATED), 3) INDEPENDENT CLIMATE CONTROL FUNCTIONS DO NOT WORK, 4) NO VENTILATION IN 2/3 OF CAR.

NHTSA ODI 11002969

THE 2017 DISCOVERY HAS BEEN DESIGNED WITH ONLY 4 AIR VENTS IN THE FRONT DASH AND 2 VERY WEAK AIR VENTS IN THE 2ND ROW. THIS IS A 3 ROW PASSENGER VEHICLE WITH NO VENTS IN THE 3RD ROW. THE CAR IS MISSING AT LEAST 4 VENTS AND IS CREATING A SAFETY HAZARD IN HOT AND COLD ENVIRONMENTS. I CANNOT HAVE PASSENGERS OR ANIMALS IN THE REAR OF THE CAR DUE TO THE LACK OF VENTILATION IN THE VEHICLE. IN ADDITION, DUE TO ATTEMPTING TO COOL THE CAR DOWN, RUNNING THE CAR WITH MAX AC IS GIVING ME ONLY 9-10 MPG. CAR IS ADVERTISED AS 16 MPG CITY. THIS IS A BLATANT DESIGN AND SAFETY ISSUE FOR CLIMATE CONTROL AND FALSE MPG STANDARDS.

NHTSA ODI 11002620