Land Rover Problems

Who told you a luxury car can't be a work car? If that's what you really want then you should go for it. You will probably turn it over faster but I've not heard anything about the Evoque that is a particular concern.

Land Rover spokesman James Scrimshaw has your answer: "If Mr Walford took his 2011 Range Rover Sport to an authorised Land Rover dealer, they have access to the special tools that are required to remove and replace the rear camshaft seal. The suggested time allocated for this work is approximately 3.5 hours and the body would not need to be removed from the vehicle".

The only reason to go European with that budget is to buy a badge, as the Asian cars do the job and are surprisingly classy with great warranty. Once again, I'd send you first to Kia to check out the Sportage.

You need to know the all-up weight of the trailer with the three horses all your gear aboard. The horses alone weight 1500 kg, and the float is going to be 1500 to 2000 kg, so you need a vehicle capable of towing 3500 kg. There are a number on the market rated to tow that load, vehicles like the Holden Colorado, Mazda BT-50, Ford Ranger, Land Rover Discovery etc. You also need to be mindful of the Gross Combination Mass of the vehicle when you're going to tow at or near its maximum rating to ensure you don't exceed it.

You could go for a Mercedes-Benz GLC with similar features and save money. My choice — perhaps surprisingly — is the Jeep. Just make sure you find a good dealer.

Range Rover does not have a great reputation for reliability or resale but the Sport is a great drive. So the X5 is the safe choice but the Range Rover is likely to give you more enjoyment.

The Discovery 3 was hailed as a great car when it was introduced and it has largely lived up to the hype. The fundamentals like engine, gearbox and diffs are sound, but you have to be prepared for irritating things like electrics, driveshafts, compressor on the airbag models to give trouble. It’s that when the Disco becomes expensive. On average a 2007 model will be showing 180,000 to 240,000 km on the odo, and I would be going for a newer model with fewer kays on the clock. Same goes for the Range Rover.

I would take the Touareg over the Discovery but the real outback towing champion is the Toyota LandCruiser — which gets a big tick from me — because of its bulletproof reliability and Toyota's service network. The badge is not as prestigious and it will cost more for a fully luxury package but the 200-Series 'Cruiser is still The King.

There’s no reason to believe that the Range Rover won’t be reliable over the long term, but it will almost certainly be more expensive to own and run. Servicing will be more expensive than a lesser model from an Asian carmaker for instance.