Land Rover Problems

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.

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.

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.

For maximum space and tow rating you should definitely be going for the Touareg V6 TDI. It will do both your jobs with a 3500kg tow rating and 280kg ball weight.

There was a time when you wouldn’t touch a British brand with a barge pole, they were badly built, poorly engineered, under-developed, and, well … rubbish. But that was then and this is now, and we should put our prejudices to one side. Early Discoverys do tend to look untidy with things like you mention, but they do keep going pretty well over the long term. You would like to think that the issues that have been a problem in the past, like the trim etc., have been fixed. We get little feedback from Disco owners, suggesting they’re a happy bunch. Recent research for an upcoming used-car story paints a positive picture of the reliability of the Disco. The only downside we can see is the cost of servicing and repairs, the same can be said for any European brand.

The Freelander is well past its use-by date and both the CX-3 and XV could be too small in the back for his needs. He should try to stretch to a Mazda CX-5, which is still best in class.

It gets top marks as a fashion item, less for practicality, and remember Land Rover still has question marks over long-term reliability. Still, I like it and would give it The Tick.

The factory service information says the manual gearbox oil should be renewed every 10 years and the advice is 240,000km for oil and filter on autos. Tim Krieger of Jaguar Land Rover says: "The first service to be completed on a 2010 Discovery transmission would depend on the engine and transmission fitted to the vehicle. It is probably best if the customer contacts their nearest dealer to discuss further."

Buttons on the steering wheel mirror the controls on the touchscreen, so that should not be a giant drama. As for the safety gear, Land Rover spokesman Tim Krieger says: "There have been some restrictions on these features because of global demand but both are available to order."

The new look is quite different, so it's worth waiting. The Evoque drives well enough and we've heard no bad reports on reliability, but Land Rover fares poorly in overseas quality surveys.