Land Rover Discovery Sport Problems

That’s quite a broad range of abilities you’ve listed there. Both the Jeep and the Land Rover are pretty serious off-roaders while, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio is an SUV that really has no pretenses to working on a bush track.

None of this trio would be cheap to service, and modern turbo-diesel engines really do need their maintenance to remain reliable. In terms of industry reputation, the Jeep has a background of electrical and build-quality problems, while the Land Rover and Alfa Romeo also have their share of quality glitches. Many owners put up with this stuff, but if you’re going to head seriously outback, there are probably better choices.

The other part of the equation is what happens when you wish to sell the vehicle in a few years. Frankly, all three of these cars will be a reasonable bet to suffer plenty of depreciation although, to be fair, a 2021 version of each will already have done some of that.

The Everest has a longer list of safety features, a higher towing capacity, is more family-friendly, and drives nicer; the Prado is more refined, but feels dated, the Discovery Sport is a true off-roader with car-like road manners. The Discovery for mine. Another to try is the Toyota Fortuner.

There are plenty of SUV choices to look at, such as a Toyota Prado or Jeep Grand Cherokee. Both should serve your needs well.

With 2000 kg towing capacity the Discovery Sport has the towing capacity you want, it's more than the CX-5, and it's not limited to 80 km/h like the Subaru is. That's a big plus. The only criticisms we've heard about are some niggling interior fit and finish issues, and one or two electrical gremlins. The Land Rover also has more ground clearance than the CX-5 and a traction control system better set up for actual off-road work. 

The cheapest new Land Rover is a Discovery Sport SE TD4, which lists at $56,595. For more info on the latest model, check out our pricing and specs page, and you'll find all Land Rover reviews and news here. 

Seek advice from the state government consumer affairs people, or take LRA to VCAT.